Introduction:

You are an astronaut and must learn about the Sun, the Earth, the Moon, and Mars.  This quest will prepare you for your journey to Mars.  You will be given a job.  Working together will be very important for your team's Mars adventure.

Congratulations!!  You were selected to be a NASA astronaut and will be on the crew of the new spaceship, Mars Prober.  You and your crew must learn everything about the Sun, the Moon, the Earth, and Mars before you leave on your quest.  You will each be given a task to complete for your crew.  Below is a list of jobs and what each job requires one to do.
 
 

Assignment	Duties
Sun Mission Expert	Studies and keeps notes on the Sun.  The sun mission expert should learn about sunspots, solar flares, an eclipse, how the Sun's distance from the Earth affects the weather.
Moon Mission Expert	Studies and keeps notes on the Moon.  The Moon mission expert learns about how far the moon is from the earth, about a moon eclipse, about why the Moon shines at night, and any other moon        facts the team might need to know.
Earth Mission Expert	Studies and keeps notes on the Earth.  The Earth mission expert learns about why the tilt of the Earth affects the seasons, about Earth's gravity and how it will affect the space craft at lift off, and  many other facts that will be needed by the team.
Mars Mission Expert	Studies and keeps notes on the planet Mars.  The mars mission expert will learn about the best places to land on Mars, how far away it is from Earth, and other facts needed for the Mars landing.

Internet Sites:
 

Sun Mission Expert Sites	Description of Site
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/solar_system_level1/sun.html	Facts about the sun are found here.
http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/billa/tnp/sol.html	These facts are a bit more difficult to read, but it has a great picture.

Moon Mission Expert Sites	Description of Site
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/solar_system_level1/moon.html	Facts about the moon are found on this site.
http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/billa/tnp/luna.html	Site has many facts about the moon.

Earth Mission Expert Sites	Description of Site
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/solar_system_level1/earth.html	Facts about the earth are found on this site.
http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/billa/tnp/earth.html	A great picture of the earth and lots of facts

Mars Mission Expert Sites	Description of Site
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/solar_system_level1/mars.html	Facts about Mars are found on this site.
http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/billa/tnp/mars.html	A great picture of Mars and many more facts

Process:

You and your team members are to find as many facts as possible about the star,   planet, or moon assigned to you.  You are to write the facts on a worksheet given to you by your mission controler.  When your team has finished your quest for the facts, you will get together and decide how to share your information with your class.  Below you will find a list of ways for you can do that.

Make a mural showing the Sun, Moon, Earth, and Mars.  under each write the facts you learned.

Write a book.  In the book include the information you learned about your assigned star, planet, or moon.  Draw pictures or find pictures on the Internet, or in magazines to make your book more interesting.  Decide on a front cover for your book.  You can write your book by hand or use the computer.

Draw pictures and write some of the facts under your picture about the Sun, Moon, Earth, or Mars.  Make your pictures very colorful and use your very best handwriting.

Give a talk to your fellow astronauts as a team.  Each team member will talk about the space object assigned to them.  You might want to draw a picture of your space object to use as you talk about it.

You could make a PowerPoint presentation and use that to give a talk to your class. (Your mission controler can help you learn to use PowerPoint.)

Your team score (and your score) will have 9 points.  Below is a chart that the mission controller (your teacher) will use to decide if your team learned enough to go on the Mars mission.
 
 

	1 Point	2 Points	3 Points
Quality of Information	Very little information	Good information	Excellent information
Quality of Written Work	Contains many spelling and grammar errors	Good with only a few spelling and/or grammar errors	Excellent quality with no more than 2 spelling or grammar errors.
Thoroughness of Complete Project	Poor effort and very little thought	Good effort was put into the project	Great effort.  All directions were followed.

Created by Barbara Jones
Revised 4/2/01
Comments can be sent to my e-mail address