| We expect that Live From Mars will be something of a wild ride
for you and your students, just as for the spacecraft traveling to
the Red Planet. Just as in traditional field trips down here on Earth,
there may be some bumps along the way! This section of the Guide,
however, is designed to encourage your students to look back over
the experiences they've shared and the new information they've explored.
Contemporary educational research convincingly demonstrates that understanding
is reinforced by the process of articulating new information for others.
We hope these multi-dimensional, inter-disciplinary Activities suggest
ways to do that in an engaging and exciting manner rather than as
a dry "course review". These Activities should encourage students
to go back to their Mars Mission Logbooks and see their own work as
a valuable resource, as they synthesize the new facts they've mastered,
digest the comments they've heard or read from the expert scientists
and engineers, and use the research skills they've developed. Direct
your students to review the pre-assessment activity they completed
as they began this journey (see p. 10)--they will be amazed at what
they've accomplished!
These three Activities also appeal to different grades, and utilize
different types and levels of resources.
Activity B.1, "A Flag for Mars", is
appropriate for younger students, tapping artistry and language
skills as well as new knowledge of the Red Planet.
Activity B.2, "Where Next?", invites
more extensive technical and scientific research: PTK proposes two
variants, one with, and one without, on-line access.
Lastly, Activity B.3, "To Terraform,
or Not to Terraform?" relies less on the science and logistics of
exploring Mars and more on discussing and debating moral and philosophical
issues.
LFM does not expect any class to do all of these, but we are
sure you and your students will benefit from an opportunity to
look back over what you've learned. We also know that student
work on any of these Activities will be some of the most compelling
and specific evidence of what they've absorbed/retained from this
unusual learning experience.
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"Red Rover, Red Rover"
Featured in LFM Program 2 will be "student drivers"...
operating mini-planetary
rovers. From around the
world, middle school students
are learning how to explore
Mars remotely with robotic
rovers when they participate
in the "Red Rover, Red Rover"
Project, a hands-on, educa-
tional project launched by
The Planetary Society.
Students design and build
robotic vehicles from LEGO
Dacta kits (the educational
division of LEGO) and operate
the rovers via sophisticated
computer software that mimics
the control programs used by
planetary scientists to explore
other worlds. Each "Red Rover,
Red Rover" team also creates a
Mars-scape at their site so that
the rovers may operate in an
"alien" terrain of miniature
volcanoes, impact craters, canyons
and starry skies. for more informa-
tion see:
http://www.planetary.org/tps/
explorers-red-rover.html
or call the Planetary Society
(see Multimedia Resources)
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