Suggested Grade Level: 3 - 6

- Students will use the process of scientific questioning, observation, analysis, and communication using Mars Exploration Rover images.
- Students will analyze and learn about Mars by choosing their own questions.

Suggested Grade Level: 3 - 5

- Students will compare and contrast Mars and New Mexico.

Suggested Grade Level: 3 - 8

- Students will imagine themselves visiting Mars and write about their experiences and their observations.

Suggested Grade Level: 3 - 9

- Students will observe the characteristics of a sample that is similar to surface material NASA might one day collect on Mars.
- Students will classify the sample into groups of materials with similar properties.
- Students will infer causes for the characteristics of the various materials.
- Students will draw some conclusions about the geological history of the planet based on the sample material.

Suggested Grade Level: 3 - 9

- Students will learn how orbiting spacecraft measure the topography (surface elevations) of a planet.
- Students will construct a 2-D topographic profile on a graph.

Suggested Grade Level: 3 - 6

- Students will model impact cratering.
- Students will examine what happens to the surface upon impact.
- Students will experiment with different materials.

Suggested Grade Level: 6 - 10

- Students will create their own "rock fields" using paper.
- Students will estimate percentages of rocks covering the surface in a given area.
- Students will compare their estimates with calculated percentages from measured values and compare their rock field with images of rock fields from Mars and New Mexico.

Suggested Grade Level: 3 - 9

- Students will plan and carry out a sequence of simulated planetary missions in the classroom.
- Students will make a series of observations of an unknown planet.

Suggested Grade Level: 3 - 9

- Students will work in teams to design a space mission patch.
- In order to design the patch, the teams will use the Mission Patch Checklist to select a mission type, destination, mission goal(s), science objective(s), and mission name.

Suggested Grade Level: 3 - 9

- Students will make a model of the Mars Exploration Mission (MER) planetary lander and its airbag technology.
- Students will test their model by dropping their lander from a height onto a Mars-like area.

Suggested Grade Level: 3 - 5

- Students will work in a team to act out a mission to Mars.
- Each student within the team plays the part of one of the mission components.

Suggested Grade Level: 6 - 8

- Students will transmit and reproduce an image from Mars using numbers and pixels (picture elements) in order to model the way in which a spacecraft transmits planetary images to Earth.
- With the materials provided, students or teams will create lines (rows) and columns of numbers from an image and transmit them to other students/teams so that they can recreate the image from the numbers.

Suggested Grade Level: 3 - 9

- Students will work in a team to choose a landing site for a future mission to Mars.
- Students will review the advantages and disadvantages of six selected sites on Mars.
- Students will discover that there is always risk involved in planetary missions no matter which site is chosen.

Suggested Grade Level: 3 - 8

- The students will design and build a model of the rover vehicle from the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission using a supply of different food items.

Suggested Grade Level: 2 - 5

- Students will focus their attention on the rover from the Mars Exploration Rover mission (MER) and its components.

Suggested Grade Level: 3 - 9

- Students will identify the component parts of the MER rovers.
- Students will describe and understand the functions of the component parts of the MER rovers.

Suggested Grade Level: 3 - 9

- Students will observe rocks using a magnifying instrument as an analogy to the Microscopic Imager tool on the Mars Exploration Rover mission (MER) rovers.

Suggested Grade Level: 3 - 9

- Students will examine a simulated Mars rock and will learn how the RAT (rock abrasion tool) on the MER rovers works and why it is a useful tool for geological analysis of rocks on Mars.
- Students will discover how the exterior and interior of a rock can differ.

Suggested Grade Level: 6 - 10

- Students will study and analyze some of the images returned from the MER rovers Spirit and Opportunity.
- Students will learn about some of the significant science discoveries in the images returned from Mars.
- Students will experience real planetary science analysis

Suggested Grade Level: 3 - 9

- Students will model the steps needed to guide a planetary rover.
- Students will design a rover traverse that will avoid obstacles and reach a rock target.