MARS IN THE CLASSROOM
EDUCATOR’S RESOURCE PACK
David Heather, Sarah Dunkin,
Matt Balme and Paula Martin.
Pack Contents
Section
No. of Pages
Teacher’s Introduction
1 page
Introduction Lesson Plan
Mars Data Sheet
1 page
2 pages
Impact Cratering
Teacher Notes
Student Notes
Activity Sheets
3 pages
5 pages
3 pages
Playdoh Volcanoes
Teacher Notes
Student Notes
Activity Sheets
4 pages
2 pages
15 pages
Remote Sensing/Reflectance Spectrometer
Teacher Notes
Student Notes
Activity Sheets
Data Sheet
3 pages
2 pages
5 pages
2 pages
Lego Rover
Teacher Notes
Student Notes
Activity Sheets
4 pages
2 pages
5 pages
Chocolate Rocks
Teacher Notes
Field Notes
Student Notes and Activity Sheet
2 pages
1 page
3 pages
Mission Planning
Teacher Notes
Student Notes (Introduction)
Technical Notes (Goals and Landing Sites)
Technical Notes (Technical Data)
Activity Sheets
Activity Sheet Examples
3 pages
2 pages
3 pages
7 pages
9 pages
10 pages
Summary Lesson Plan / The Future and Contact Details
3 pages
Teacher’s Introduction to Mars in the Classroom
Mars in the Classroom provides an exciting program of hands-on and thought-provoking
science activities for children aged 13 to 16. The project is themed around the students
planning their own Manned mission to Mars, and comprises a series of modules to be
carried out in small groups. When undertaking the full project, groups will be competing
with each other to develop the best mission to fly the first humans to Mars. Each
module consists of both practical and theoretical work, designed to illustrate the many
physical processes that occur on the terrestrial (i.e. solid surface) planets and the
complexity of planning a Manned space mission. These range from the construction
and analysis of their own volcano or the use of a Mars Rover in a simulated experiment
area, through to guided discussions investigating the details of mission design and the
physiological / psychological effects of such a program on the astronauts. At the end of
the project, students will have learnt not only about the science and technology involved
in planetary missions but, more importantly, about the complexities of working in a
team.
The experiments within each module of Mars in the Classroom can be used either as
stand-alone projects or in combination with any or all of the other modules provided. In
this way, the teacher has complete control over the duration and level of the program
undertaken. There are two lesson plans and six experiments in this pack, separated
into teacher notes, student notes and activity sheets. If the project is to be completed in
full, then an introductory lesson and summary lesson should also be given. Below, we
provide a guide as to the optimum length of each experiment (including time for the
students to ‘settle down’ at the beginning of each lesson), and a suggested order in
which the modules should be undertaken if the project is being completed in full. These
are of course only suggestions, and can be adapted to fit the needs of individual
classes.
LESSON/MODULE
1. Introduction / Mission Briefing
2. Impact Cratering
3. Playdoh Volcanoes
4. Remote Sensing/Reflectance Spectrometer
5. Lego Rover
6. Chocolate Rocks
7. Mission Planning
8. Summary Lesson / Presentations
Total:
OPTIMUM DURATION
1 hour
2 hours
2 hours
2 hours
2 hours
1hour
2 hours
1 hour
13 hours
All of the information you require to undertake Mars in the Classroom is contained in
this pack. However, for future updates and further information regarding these and
other experiments under development, please also refer to our Mars in the Classroom
web pages: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/GeolSci/MITC. These pages will be updated regularly
to include online versions of these, and new, experiments.
We hope you enjoy your time on Mars! We would very much appreciate any feedback
from the completion of these experiments so as we can improve and continue to
develop the project. Please send comments to us at the address provided in ‘The
Future and Contact Details’ section at the end of this resource pack.
Project Introduction
Introductory Lesson Plan
and Mars Facts
INTRODUCTION LESSON PLAN
The introductory lesson should be used to introduce the project you intend to carry out
(this will of course depend upon which modules you choose to undertake), and provide
the students with an overview of Mars and Mars exploration. Students should be
encouraged to respond to questions posed during the talk and to think about specific
points. The direction of the discussion will depend upon the modules you wish to
undertake, but points they should perhaps think about for the full project range from
what we can learn by studying the features on Mars, to how the astronauts could best
cope with the long travel time in low or zero gravity and still be ready to do their job
upon arrival at Mars. The key thing to stress here (for those wishing to undertake the
full project) is that the students should think of all of the modules they complete in terms
of their mission planning, and how the information they have learned can be used to
improve their mission design.
Slides and pictures should be used where possible to highlight points made during your
introduction to the students. While we are unable to provide these in this resource
pack, the Mars in the Classroom website has some useful images, and provides links to
other Mars related sites with excellent pictures. To access the Mars in the Classroom
pages, point your browser to http://www.ucl.ac.uk/GeolSci/MITC.
On the next few pages is a reference sheet of Mars facts to help you plan out this
lesson and the project as a whole. Further details of Mars and Mars exploration can
also be found on our web pages. The students should be made aware of some of the
basic properties of the planet that make it difficult to explore, such as its distance from
Earth, low surface temperature, thin carbon dioxide atmosphere etc. In addition, it
would be useful to outline some of the important science that can be done and the
outstanding geological features present, such as Olympus Mons (the largest volcano in
the Solar System; similar to some terrestrial volcanoes such as those in Hawai’i), Valles
Marineris (a vast, 4000 km long canyon system, similar to the Grand Canyon in Arizona,
but far larger) and the polar caps which, in some places, contain frozen water.
Finally, in this introductory session it is useful to give a description of the Mars in the
Classroom project itself and the individual modules the students will be completing. If
you are undertaking the entire Mars in the Classroom project, then we would again
encourage you to approach each subject using the same theme: what does it mean with
respect to planning a Manned mission?
Introduction Lesson Plan
1
MARS FACTS
8
Average distance from the Sun
1.524 AU (2.279 × 10 km)
Maximum distance from the Sun (aphelion)
1.666 AU (2.491 × 10 km)
Minimum distance from the Sun (perihelion)
1.382 AU (2.067 × 10 km)
8
8
Sidereal Period (length of year)
686.98 days = 1.88 years
Rotation Period (length of day)
24h 37m 23s
Equatorial Diameter
Equatorial Diameter (Earth = 1)
Mass
Mass (Earth = 1)
Mean Density
Surface Gravity (Earth = 1)
Escape Velocity
Surface temperatures
-
-
-
-
6,794 km
0.532
23
6.42 × 10 kg
0.107
3940 kg/m
3
0.380
5.0 km/s
maximum = 293 K (20° C or 70° F)
minimum = 133 K (-140° C or -220° F)
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the third smallest, about half the diameter
of the Earth.
It has a surface area that is about the same as the land area on Earth, so there is
plenty to explore!
Mars has perhaps the most varied and fascinating landforms of any of the rocky
planets apart from the Earth, including the largest known volcano in the Solar
System (Olympus Mons) and a massive canyon system called Valles Marineris that
would stretch across the entire North American continent!
Unlike the Earth, Mars appears to lack active plate tectonics, and there is no
evidence of mountain building similar to that which we see on our own planet.
An explorer on Mars will have to be equipped to cope with a temperatures ranging
from as cold as 133° K (-140° C, -220° F) to almost 293° K (20° C, 70° F),
depending on where they are on the planet and what time of year it is.
Mars also lacks a breathable atmosphere, so any explorer would have to be
equipped with breathing apparatus that would last for the duration of the mission.
The Martian atmosphere is composed mostly of carbon dioxide (95.3%) plus
nitrogen (2.7%), argon (1.6%), oxygen (0.15%) and water (0.03%).
Ice caps are present at both poles. On Mars they are composed mostly of `dry ice'
(frozen carbon dioxide), although layers of water ice are also known to be present in
the north (it is not known if similar layers exist to the south).
Many scientists think that there may also be water ice below the surface at lower
latitudes.
Many of the surfaces on Mars show signs of water erosion, so it is fairly obvious that
there was running water on the surface at some time in the past.
Introduction Lesson – Mars Data Sheet
1
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This raises the possibility of life having evolved on the planet during this time. The
Viking landers performed experiments to determine the existence of life on Mars, but
no conclusive evidence was found.
The interior of Mars cannot be observed directly, and it is difficult to discover much
information about this without carrying out extensive work on the ground (perhaps
the student’s missions should reflect this?). Even so, scientists predict that the most
likely scenario is a dense core surrounded by a molten rocky mantle (probably a little
denser than the Earth's) on top of which is a thin crust.
What do we hope to answer?
Here are just a few ideas as to the kind of science that can be undertaken by sending
humans to Mars. Ask the students to try to think of some more for themselves and to
think of ways we may be able to answer these questions.
-
Is there still active volcanism on Mars?
How much water is there and where is it?
Is, or was, there any life on Mars?
Are we able to send people as far afield as Mars?
Do we have the technology to set up a semi-permanent base on another planet?
Introduction Lesson – Mars Data Sheet
2
Impact Cratering
IMPACT CRATERING – TEACHER NOTES AND HANDY HINTS
The Impact Cratering module can take one of many forms, depending on time available,
equipment, and the nature of the students. The lesson could be entirely non-practical,
with the teacher leading a discussion using slides and pictures from books or the
Internet, and encouraging participation from the students. If the teacher wished, this
could be interspersed with demonstrations from the activity sheet. These could be used
to demonstrate to the students a) the effect of larger projectiles on the final crater, b)
ejecta patterns and rays, c) the effect of oblique impacts, d) the effect of velocity on the
final crater form and e) the effect of target material on the crater. Alternatively, the
teacher could opt to have the students carry out the full activity themselves. In this
case, it is recommended to use two lessons (depending on the working speed of the
students). The choice is yours.
Activity sheet - aims and benefits
This activity has been taken from the Hawai’i Space Grant College who should be
acknowledged if your results are placed in public access areas (i.e. displays, web pages
etc).
They also have many more classroom activities that you can try (see
http://imina.soest.hawaii.edu/SPACEGRANT/class_acts/ for details).
In its full form, this experiment requires many scientific skills from a student. Good
experimental practices are needed, and to obtain accurate results the students must:
a)
b)
c)
d)
work methodically
take good notes
record information accurately
transfer written data into graphical form
In addition, the students will find some of the measurements difficult to take, and will
need to think carefully about how to get the most accurate readings. Hints for these
problems are below. The students will also be encouraged to think about the
experimental setup and consider where possible errors may occur.
Hints
1. This practical really can be messy - ensure that precautions are taken to stop the
flour ending up all over the floor and students. Certain coloured powders may stain
clothes - if this type of material is chosen, aprons are strongly recommended.
2. When carrying out the experiment, the target (i.e. flour and paint) may have to be reprepared several times. There is no need to start out with fresh materials each time;
as long as the top layer contrasts the lower layer strongly enough, the materials can
be used again and again.
3. Measuring the diameter of the craters can be difficult, particularly if the bowl is
smaller than the ruler. Use a compass instead to span the diameter and then
measure the compass separation. The same method can be used to measure the
diameter of the projectiles. If you have an able class, increase the complexity by
Impact Craters (Teacher Notes)
1
using two or three different projectiles of different size/mass and get them to repeat
the experiment and compare the results of each.
4. (Q2) The graph should show that the diameter of the crater and length of rays
increases with increasing velocity (i.e. increasing projectile height).
5. (Q4) The compaction of the flour is very important. You will get very different results
from flour that has been sieved into the bowl and flour that has simply been dumped
into the bowl from the bag. Results will be better if the flour is sieved, or at least
"fluffed up" with your fingers/hands. Discrepancies may result if a particularly thick
layer of coloured powder is put on top. Also, it may sometimes be difficult to
determine where the rays end, particularly if the rays of one crater overlap with
another. You should encourage the students to discuss these points.
6. (Q5) The students may or may not have a raised rim at the edge of their crater. All
fresh impact craters in reality have this feature. The student version will also lack a
central peak or terraced walls. The main reasons for this is the lower velocity of the
impactor in the experiment and the small size of the impactor. In real impacts, the
velocity of the projectile will be of the order of 10km/s or more, and the projectile is
vaporised on impact. The student's projectile of course will still be there.
Extensions
1. Discuss the possibility of asteroids/projectiles impacting the Earth. There has been
a lot of interest in this recently. Get the students to predict what would happen if an
asteroid were to hit the Earth - what difference would an impact into water make
compared to an impact onto solid ground?
2. Look at a succession of craters that have been weathered to different degrees on
Mars/Moon/Earth. This can lead to discussions of weather patterns on the different
planets, superposition of craters, and the effects of surface material on the
degradation of craters.
3. Take the discussion of the effect of water on Martian craters a bit further. Get the
students to experiment with different kinds of wet material - flour/sand/plaster of
paris and see if they can reproduce any of the Martian features. Water is not the
only liquid that can be used for this - perhaps a liquid like sunflower oil would also
work (the difficulty in this experiment is to get the final shape to hold). UNTESTED
BY US SO TRY THIS OUT BEFORE THE LESSON!! Please let us know if it works!
4. Try multiple layering. In a real impact event, the material from below the surface
ends up on top in the ejecta blanket - this is shown nicely in the experiment here.
Further to this try adding another colour on top of the current experimental setup and
see if the reverse layering still holds. UNTESTED BY US – please let us know if it
works!
5. Try oblique impacts. Get the students to predict what will happen to the ejecta
before they carry out the experiment. The ejecta will be thrown preferentially
downrange. We haven't worked out a way of measuring the angle yet, but 90° vs.
non-90° is good enough to demonstrate the effect. If you can find a way of
Impact Craters (Teacher Notes)
2
measuring the angle, you should be able to undertake a more scientific study by
plotting graphs of angle vs. ray length.
Answers to questions from the background information sheet and "What can
impact craters tell us?"
1. The picture with the larger number of craters is older. The students should try to
give a reason why the age of one part of Mars would be younger than another. The
answer to look for is something covering over the older impact craters and
"resetting" the crater count to zero. Lava flows can cause this on Mars, for example.
2. The main difference between the two craters is the appearance of the ejecta blanket.
The reason for the difference is that the ejecta in a) was emplaced ballistically, i.e. it
was thrown out, and it stayed where it landed, while that in b) flowed along the
ground once it landed. The flow resulted from the presence of melted ice in the
ground, which created a mud-like flow. Therefore, by studying this crater we can tell
that water was once present beneath the surface in this area.
3. Again, there could be many answers to this question. The obvious answer is to go
to a place that had water (and hence where life may once have existed). Make a list
of the answers you get for future reference - they may be useful during mission
planning!
Impact Craters (Teacher Notes)
3
IMPACT CRATERING – STUDENT NOTES
What is an impact crater and how do they form?
An impact crater is basically a large hole in the ground caused by a meteorite
smashing into the surface of a planet or moon. Every solid body in the Solar System
suffers from the effects of impact cratering, and you can see this when you look at our
own Moon through binoculars. The projectiles (i.e. meteorites) that cause impact
craters travel at very high speed, faster than anything we see in our everyday lives.
They travel so fast that they are vaporised upon impact, and very little is left of the
projectile after the impact event has taken place.
What do impact craters look like?
Impact craters are normally circular features, and range in size from the microscopic to
the very large (>2000km diameter). The size and shape of an impact crater depend on
the size of the projectile, its velocity and the type of material that it hits. Small impact
craters (like Meteor Crater, Arizona) have simple shapes like a bowl. Larger craters
have a different shape (see Figure 1). They have mountains in the centre of the crater
called a central peak and huge landslides occur on the inside of the crater to form what
we call terraces. When an impact occurs, lots of material is thrown out around the
crater, and this material is called ejecta. Ejecta is made up of rock and soil from the
surface, and sometimes forms bright rays (you can see this around the bright crater
Tycho on the Moon).
Impact Craters (Student Notes)
1
Figure 1: Some features of an impact crater.
What can impact craters tell us?
1. The age of a surface.
The only way to be certain about the age of the surface of another planet is to get a
sample of rock from that surface and date it in a laboratory on Earth. Unfortunately, this
is not yet possible for most of the planets and moons in our Solar System. To date, it
has only been achieved with rocks from the Earth, Moon and a bit of Mars, so we have
to use other techniques to work out the age of most planetary surfaces. Impact craters
can give us an idea of whether a surface is old or not simply by counting the number of
craters in a certain area. The older a surface is, the more impact craters it will have.
Question 1: Look at Figures 2a and 2b, which show two different regions on Mars.
Which area is older and why? Why would two areas on Mars have different numbers of
craters - what could have caused their difference in age?
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2. The geology of an area.
The shapes of impact craters can vary due to the type of material they form in. A solid
surface will have different looking impact craters to those in a softer, powdery surface.
The presence of water can also affect the way a crater looks and by studying the shape
and appearance of impact craters from photographs, scientists can get some idea of
what the area is like.
Question 2: Look at Figure 3, which shows pictures of two different Martian craters.
Label the different features you see on each, using Figure 1 as a guide. Name some of
the differences between two craters. Can you suggest what may be present under the
surface of crater 3b that is not present under crater 3a?
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What happens to a crater after it forms can also tell us something about the area it lies
in. For example, if a crater has formed on very loose material, then the winds on Mars
will erode the crater quite quickly. Other craters on Mars look as though they have
been in the middle of a river of flowing water (they have a streamlined appearance,
similar to that of small islands in rivers on Earth).
Impact Craters (Student Notes)
2
3. Rocks below the surface
When an impact crater forms, it throws out material in a particular way. The ground is
‘flipped upside down’ so that the layers from deep in the ground end up being on top
(you will see this in your experiment). This means that by looking at the ejecta of
craters, you are looking at the material that is present below the surface. This is
interesting for scientists who want to know about the history of Mars. Digging down into
the ground is a little like going back in time. Events that happened long ago may have
been covered over by later events such as lava flows. Only by probing into the surface
will we be able to see what the surface was like billions of years ago. Perhaps some
rocks will be able to tell us what the atmosphere was like, or contain fossils of early life.
But to find these things out we need rock and soil samples from that time, and
sometimes that can only come from deep down. Impact craters give us a chance of
finding out about the rocks deep below the surface without the need to land there. This
is one of the reasons impact craters are so important to study.
Question 3: Write a summary of how impact craters can help you understand more
about an area. If you were selecting a site on Mars for a human landing, what kind of
area would you like to go to and how could impact craters help you decide where to go?
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GLOSSARY
CENTRAL PEAK - a mountain formed in the centre of large impact craters. These do
not occur in small impact craters.
EJECTA - a sheet of material (rocks, soil) surrounding the crater that was thrown out
during the impact event.
ERODE - the process by which something is worn away over time.
FLOOR - the floor of an impact crater (usually either flat or bowl-shaped), lying below
the surrounding ground level.
IMPACT CRATER - a hole in the ground (usually circular) caused by the impact of a
meteorite onto the surface of a solid body.
METEORITE - a lump of rock or ice that hits the surface of a planetary body.
PROJECTILE - an object that strikes a surface to produce an impact crater. These can
include dust particles, pebbles, rocks, comets and asteroids.
RAISED RIM - this is the edge of the impact crater and is composed of rocks and
material piled up on top of one another.
RAYS - bright lines of ejecta coming from an impact crater. These can extend for vast
distances in the case of large impacts.
TERRACED WALLS - these only occur in large impact craters. After the crater forms,
the walls of the crater slip, creating huge landslides inside the crater.
Impact Craters (Student Notes)
3
IMPACT CRATERING
Figure 2a
Impact Craters (Student Notes)
Figure 2b
4
IMPACT CRATERING
Figure 3a
Impact Craters (Student Notes)
Figure 3b
5
IMPACT CRATERING – ACTIVITY SHEETS
This experiment is a slightly modified transcription of the web pages of the Hawai’i
Space Grant College. You may find more information about the experiment from their
pages (http://imina.soest.hawaii.edu/SPACEGRANT/class_acts/CrateringDoc.html).
Aims and objectives
To investigate the way the diameter of a projectile affects the final form of an impact
crater. To compare the results from this activity with real craters observed on the Moon
and Mars.
Apparatus (for each group)
1 large high-sided bowl (~30cm diameter)
2 bags of flour
1 pot of dry powder paint (not white!)
1 flour sifter
1 sieve (optional)
projectile (i.e. large gobstopper or projectile)
1 ruler
1 compass
1 pair of tweezers
1 spoon
data tables/paper/pens/graph paper
Aprons and old newspaper/table
covering
Experiment, observations and measurement
1. Preparation
-
-
Put on your apron and roll up your sleeves - this could get messy! Put down some
old newspaper or a table covering to catch any overspill from the bowl.
Put an even layer of flour in the high-sided bowl to a depth of approximately 6cm.
Cover with a thin layer of dry coloured powder paint (any colour will do as long as it
contrasts well with the flour underneath. A flour sifter often helps at this point to get
an even layering).
Measure the diameter of your projectile, and record this on your data chart.
2. The Experiment
-
-
Take the projectile and drop it onto the prepared surface from a height of 30cm.
Make a note of the diameter of the crater, the number of rays and their length. The
rays will be visible as white streaks radiating from the crater. Measure the length
each ray and take an average value. Record all information in your data table.
Record any other observations you make about the crater.
Repeat the above, this time dropping your projectile from 60cm, 90cm and 2 metres.
Remember to record all information in your data tables.
Data analysis
1. Plot graphs using the data you recorded in your tables. Plot Graph 1 as the crater
diameter vs. projectile height and Graph 2 as average ray length vs. projectile
height.
Impact Craters (Activity Sheets)
1
2. Explain what each graph tells you about the relationship between the projectile and
the crater.
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3. If the projectile was dropped from a height of 6m, estimate the size of the final crater
from your experimental data.
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4. Describe and discuss where possible errors could occur in your experiment. In
particular, how could your experimental set-up and procedure differ from those of
another group carrying out the same experiment with the same instructions?
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5. From your experimental observations, describe the appearance of an impact crater.
Give reasons why your craters differ from the real craters observed on the Moon and
Mars.
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Impact Craters (Activity Sheets)
2
IMPACT CRATERING DATA TABLE
Sheet No. _____ of _____
Class:
Name:
Date:
Other members of group:
Projectile diameter (mm):
Trial
No:
Height
(cm)
Diameter
of crater
(mm)
Impact Craters (Activity Sheets)
No. of
rays
Length of
Ray 1
Length of
Ray 2
Length of
Ray 3
Length of
Ray 4
Length of
Ray 5
Length of
Ray 6
Average
length
Notes
3
Playdoh Volcanoes
PLAYDOH VOLCANOES – TEACHER NOTES AND HANDY HINTS
The Playdoh Volcano module is composed of two ‘hands-on’ practicals, one to construct
a volcano and a second to analyse a volcano. Both practicals require a full hour each to
complete, but either can also be run on their own (although the analysis section will
require the students to be given a pre-constructed volcano). Depending on the time
available, equipment, and the nature of the students, the lesson could also be entirely
non-practical, with the teacher leading a discussion and encouraging participation from
the students. In the latter case, it is strongly recommended to use several images such
as slides and internet pictures to illustrate the talk and place the topics into a context the
students can understand more readily.
Activity sheet - aims and benefits
This activity has been adapted from the ‘Lava Layering’ experiment run by the Hawai’i
Space Grant College who should be acknowledged if your results are placed in public
access areas (i.e. displays, web pages etc). They also have many more classroom
activities that you can try (see http://imina.soest.hawaii.edu/SPACEGRANT/class_acts/
for details).
This experiment has been designed for students working in small groups. In its full
form, the experiment demands good analytical skills from a student. Pupils should be
made to carefully consider and discuss the placement of their drill cores during analyses
in order to draw out as much information as possible about the history of the volcano.
They will soon find that five cores are not enough to fully analyse a volcano, and this will
be highlighted further by their river valley and cross section. In order to get a good
result from these analyses, students must be able to:
a) work methodically
b) record information accurately in sketch form
c) demonstrate good analytical skills and develop an awareness of the third dimension
when studying the model
Throughout the practical, the teacher should stress that the problems facing the
students are also limitations when studying real volcanoes, where we are of course
unable to drill as deeply as they are on their models, and certainly can’t take cross
sections etc. Make certain that the information they are gathering is placed in context
with the real situation, particularly if you are running the whole Mars in the Classroom
project.
Hints
1. This practical can be extremely messy and smelly (with the vinegar) - ensure that
precautions are taken! Some commercial playdoh can stain when mixed with
vinegar, so aprons are strongly recommended during the construction of the
volcanoes. It is possible to produce your own playdoh using simple cooking
ingredients. See the recipes at the end of these teacher notes for details.
2. If students are constructing and analysing volcanoes themselves, make sure they
don’t tell each other about their volcanoes! This is perhaps one of the most difficult
Playdoh Volcanoes (Teachers Notes)
1
aspects of this practical from a teaching perspective!! However, it is important for
the analysis that each group is faced with a volcano they know nothing about.
3. During construction, if a four sided dice is not available to randomly generate the
number of flows, tell each group how many flows their volcano should have – a
number between 4 and 7 is fine, and it is good to vary the amount between groups.
You should give each group only enough different coloured playdoh to make sure
that at lease two of the flows will be the same colour. For example, if a group has to
produce a volcano with just 4 flows, you should give them a maximum of 3 different
colours for playdoh, so that at least two of their flows will be the same colour.
4. Encourage the students to make their flows of a differing thickness and extent, but
be aware of a typical preference for the larger scale flows!
5. Make certain that each group is producing careful sketches of their volcano after
each flow, as these will be used to compare with the history inferred by another
group during analyses.
6. After construction, label each volcano with group names before you pass them
around so as you know which group is analysing which volcano.
7. During analyses, encourage the groups to discuss the location of each drill core
carefully. Ask them what they hope to learn about the volcano by placing their drill
core in a given place. Once the core is taken, ask if they have learned what they
wanted. If not, did they learn anything unexpected? Make sure all of the cores are
sketched, and located on their diagrams.
8. For the river valley and cross section, use these to illustrate the limitations of the drill
cores they took. The cross section might show a completely different history to the
one they inferred from the drill cores alone.
9. At the end of the experiment, compare the oldest, youngest and total number of
flows measured by the group doing analyses with the corresponding numbers from
the group that constructed the volcano. Discuss the differences with the class and
ask where they think the problems lie and what they think they could do to improve
the measurements. Take more drill cores? Be more careful about the placement of
drill cores? Is it possible to be any more accurate with the limitations that are
inherent to this experiment? How would these measurements equate with
measuring a real volcano?
Answers to questions from the background information sheet and the “Results
and questions” sheet
1. Volcanoes can teach us about the thermal history of a planet. The lavas and
magmas are of course produced from deep within the planet, so how they develop
and move to the surface over time will tell us about how a planet’s thermal regime
alters over time.
Playdoh Volcanoes (Teachers Notes)
2
2. Heat is an important energy resource for potential life. Students may wish to use the
search for life (ancient or otherwise) as a scientific goal for their mission, so these
areas are important.
3. To see the older buried flows we will have to dig. This can be achieved to a small
degree using robotics, but on the scale we are looking at here, it is better by far to
send humans. Another point you may wish to discuss here is that not all of the
ancient flows will be completely buried. Some may still be partially visible, similar to
those in the volcanoes they will make, and these can be used to tell us a little about
the feature without the need to land on the surface. If you are completing the
Remote Sensing experiment as well, then this can lead on to a discussion of how we
can see things such as this from orbiting spacecraft and will provide a useful link
between the two experiments.
Results and questions sheet notes
1. Compare these values to the correct ones from the group that constructed the
volcano (see Hint number 9)
2. Flow direction should be influenced by the topography of previous flows and by the
‘speed’ of the flow being produced (i.e. how fast the vinegar is poured onto the
soda). In reality, many things can affect flow direction, including older flows and
natural channels (or manmade ones such as streets!). The speed and ‘effusivity’ of
the flow (i.e. how quickly it erupts) is also important as it will govern the amount of
energy a flow has to pass obstacles, so the speed with which vinegar is poured onto
the soda is a good analogy to this.
3. Decreasing the number of colours of playdoh would mean more of the flows would
be the same colour, making it more difficult to distinguish between successive flows.
In reality, lava flows will appear very similar and it can be difficult to tell them apart
without going there in person and analysing the rocks in-situ.
4. Also see point 9 in the ‘Hints’ above. It will be difficult to draw criteria to satisfy all of
the volcanoes, but there are certain common scenarios where it is useful to take a
core. For example:
a) Every flow will be present at some point around the vent (candleholder) as they
were all sourced from there. Taking cores from that area will give you a good
idea as to the total number of flows, but you will need to take several cores from
all around the vent to be certain you have sampled all the flows. In addition, this
will not tell you about the extent of the flows.
b) Taking cores in two separate sites where a buried flow of similar colour is visible
may help to find out whether or not they are the same flow by looking at them in
sequence with the other flows.
c) Some drill cores should be taken to try and measure the extent of the flows. This
is difficult to do reliably, but will often entail sampling near the edge of a volcano
or visible flow (e.g. sites 2 and 5 on the example sheet).
There may be others depending on the nature of the volcanoes and level of the
students, but these are the main points to try and get across.
Playdoh Volcanoes (Teachers Notes)
3
5. Students often find this question difficult to answer, so it should be approached as a
discussion. From photographs and images, scientists are faced with a picture
similar to the students before the drill cores, valley and section were taken. It is of
course possible to learn a small amount about a volcano’s history from these
studies, but their analyses should tell the students that it is far better to work in-situ if
possible. More advanced groups may wish to briefly discuss Remote Sensing
(especially if the Reflectance Spectrometer experiment is to be carried out) as a
means for looking at different compositions remotely. These methods can help us
unravel more of the volcanic history of an area without the need to land, but are still
restricted to the upper layers.
6. Hopefully, students will by now realise the importance and advantages of having a
Manned presence on a planet during analyses such as this! Drill cores and in-situ
sampling of rocks for studies in a laboratory would be the ideal way to study
volcanoes on Mars.
RECIPES - from the Hawai’i Space Grant Consortium’s Lava Layering teacher web
page. See http://imina.soest.hawaii.edu/SPACEGRANT/class_acts/LavaLayTe.html for
details of their experiment.
Play Dough (stove-top recipe) - best texture and lasts for months when refrigerated in
an air tight container.
2 cups flour
1/3 cup oil, scant
1 cup salt
2 cups cold water
4 teaspoons cream of tarter
food colourings (20 drops more or less)
Make this large batch one colour or divide ingredients in half to make 2 colours etc.
Combine ingredients and cook mixture in a large saucepan, stirring constantly, until the
dough forms a ball. Turn dough out onto a floured surface to cool. Then kneed until
smooth and elastic. Cool completely; refrigerate in air tight containers.
Play Dough (no-cooking recipe)
2 cups flour
2 Tablespoons oil
1 cup salt
1 cup cold water
6 teaspoons alum or cream of tartar
food colourings (as above)
Make this large batch one colour or divide ingredients in half to make 2 colours etc. Mix
ingredients and kneed until smooth and elastic. Store in air tight containers.
Playdoh Volcanoes (Teachers Notes)
4
PLAYDOH VOLCANOES – STUDENT NOTES
In this activity, you will make your own volcano out of playdoh and find out what you can
learn about the history of a volcano by looking at its stratigraphy or layering.
What is a volcano?
On Earth, volcanoes are caused by magma rising beneath the crust, forcing it to bulge
up as a mountain and eventually break open and erupt lava. There are many types of
volcano on the Earth, generally governed by the amount of water or volatiles that are
present in a magma.
Question 1: What do you think we can learn about by looking at volcanoes on other
planets? Hint: think about where the magma and lava come from.
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
Why are volcanoes important?
Volcanoes or evidence of volcanic activity are present on all of the rocky bodies in the
inner Solar System: Mercury, Venus, Earth, the Moon, and Mars. Active and dormant
volcanoes are a natural source of heat, so extinct volcanoes tell you that there was
once a lot of heat in that area.
Question 2: Why is a source of heat important, particularly on Mars? Hint: Think about
what you could be looking for with your Manned mission.
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
Volcanoes have played a large role in shaping the surfaces of these planets. For
example, about one third of the nearside of the Moon (the side permanently turned
towards the Earth) is covered by the maria, dark lava flows that have flooded large
basins.
What about volcanoes on Mars?
On Mars, the whole northern hemisphere is covered by lava rock from a series of very
large shield volcanoes. One of these is the largest known volcano in the Solar
System: Olympus Mons. This volcano is around 24 km (78,000 ft.) tall; that’s more than
2.5 times as tall as Mount Everest. Including the surrounding flooded plains, Olympus
Mons is similar in size to Spain!! It is large enough in volume to contain about 100 of
the biggest volcano on the Earth! Alongside Olympus Mons lies a huge bulge in the
Playdoh Volcanoes (Student Notes)
1
surface known as Tharsis, on top of which lie three more massive volcanoes: Arsia
Mons, Pavonis Mons and Ascraeus Mons.
On Mars, the volcanoes grew as lava flow after lava flow built up on top of one another.
As the volcanoes are so large, this means that there was a source of heat under each
volcano for an extremely long time. What we don’t know is how the composition of the
lava changed over time and whether the volcanoes produced more or less lava in
earlier flows than in later ones.
Question 3: To answer these questions, we need to look at the old lavas and compare
them to the recent flows. How can we do this if the old flows have all been buried by
the more recent ones?
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
Missions to Mars have to date found no evidence of current volcanic activity, but it is
difficult to be certain or to place accurate dates on the duration of Martian volcanic
activity without directly sampling a number of volcanic rocks from the surface.
GLOSSARY
ACTIVE VOLCANO – a volcano that is currently erupting lava.
COMPOSITION – what something is made (i.e. composed) of.
CRUST – the outermost layer of rock of a solid planet.
DORMANT VOLCANO – a volcano that is not currently erupting, but is not yet extinct.
EXTINCT VOLCANO – a volcano that no longer erupts at all.
LAVA – molten rock that has been released from a volcano across the surface of a
planet.
MAGMA – molten rock within a planet, building up beneath a volcano before it erupts
SHIELD VOLCANO – a type of volcano common on Mars, with very broad and shallow
slopes formed as flow after flow gradually build up on top of one another.
STRATIGRAPHY – the layering of the rocks.
VOLATILES – these materials cause the build up of pressure in a volcano causing
violent or ‘volatile’ eruptions. Water is a common volatile on the Earth, but there are
many others.
VOLCANO – a mountain formed from the build up of magma beneath a planet’s crust.
Playdoh Volcanoes (Student Notes)
2
PLAYDOH VOLCANOES – ACTIVITY SHEETS
This experiment has been modified from the ‘Lava Layering’ experiment designed by
the Hawai’i Space Grant College. More information about the original experiment can
be found on their web pages:
(see http://imina.soest.hawaii.edu/SPACEGRANT/class_acts/VolcanologyDoc.html for a link to
the different ‘Lava Layering’ pages).
Aims and objectives
In this experiment, you will be constructing a volcano out of playdoh, and trying to learn
about the history of a volcano produced by another group. It is important that you don’t
tell the other groups about how you construct your volcano and don’t ask other groups
about theirs!!
Activity 1 – Constructing your volcano
Your volcano will consist of several flows of lava (represented by the playdoh). Each
colour of playdoh represents a different texture or composition for the lava. The teacher
will tell you how many colours of playdoh to use when you have found out the total
number of flows your volcano will have (see steps 4 and 5 in the Procedure, below).
Apparatus (for each group)
candle holder,
foil,
paper cups,
tray,
teaspoon,
baking soda (bicarbonate of soda),
white vinegar,
paper towels.
playdoh or clay in up to 4 colours (see steps 4 and 5 in the Procedure),
Experiment procedure
1. Cover your tray with foil, making sure there are no gaps for vinegar to leak through.
2. Secure a candle holder to the centre of the tray. (You may use a small loop of tape).
This is your eruption source (or volcanic vent), and the tray is the surface of the
planet.
3. Place one teaspoon of baking soda in the candle holder.
4. Roll a 4-sided dice provided (the number on the bottom of the pyramid is the value).
Add 3 to this number. This is the number of flows your volcano will have. If no dice
is available, your teacher will tell you how many flows your volcano should have.
5. Set aside small balls of playdoh, one of each colour provided by your teacher.
6. Fill some paper cups with white vinegar.
7. You are now ready for your first ‘eruption’ to produce a lava flow. Pour some
vinegar onto the baking soda in the candle holder. The mixture will fizz and overflow
onto the tray. This represents your flow of lava. Remember, the size of your
eruption depends on the amount of vinegar used. Real eruptions vary greatly in
size, so try changing it a little (but don’t use too much or you will run out of room on
your tray!).
8. Mark out the edge of this flow using a pen and mop up the vinegar with paper
towels.
Playdoh Volcanoes (Activity Sheets)
1
9. As best you can, use a single colour of playdoh to cover the areas where the vinegar
(lava) flowed.
10. On the sheets provided, carefully sketch the extent of the flow and the appearance
of the volcano, taking note of the colour of each flow, as shown in the example
sketches. The history of your volcano will be used later, so make sure you note this
down carefully. Some example sketches for a volcano with 8 flows are provided to
show you what is expected.
11. Repeat steps 7, 8, 9 and 10 until you reach the total number of flows for your
volcano, using all the colours of playdoh provided by your teacher. You may add
fresh baking soda to the source cup or spoon out excess vinegar from the source
cup as needed. Once you have used all the colours of playdoh, begin the cycle
again until your volcano has the same number of flows given in step 4.
Before handing your volcano on to the next group:
a) sketch the final appearance of the structure.
b) Choose five areas that you think it would be best to locate drill cores if you had to
find out about your volcano. Note these down on your sketch, and explain what you
would learn from these in the space provided.
Hint: Try to locate the areas that would show the most complete history of the
volcano, like the total number of flows and the thickness or extent of different flows.
Now your teacher will pass your volcano on to another group and will give you a
volcano to try and study.
Playdoh Volcanoes (Activity Sheets)
2
Sheets for noting the construction of your volcano
Name ………………………….
Sketch of volcano after first flow
________________________________________________________________________
Sketch of volcano after second flow
Playdoh Volcanoes (Activity Sheets)
3
Name ………………………….
Sketch of volcano after third flow
________________________________________________________________________
Sketch of volcano after fourth flow
Playdoh Volcanoes (Activity Sheets)
4
Name ………………………….
Sketch of volcano after fifth flow
________________________________________________________________________
Sketch of volcano after sixth flow
Playdoh Volcanoes (Activity Sheets)
5
Name ………………………….
Sketch of volcano after seventh flow
________________________________________________________________________
Sketch of final volcano and chosen sites for drill cores
Playdoh Volcanoes (Activity Sheets)
6
Name ………………………….
Explain why you have chosen each location for the five drill cores on your volcano (i.e.
what you would learn about the flows in the volcano by taking a core there).
Drill Core 1:
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
Drill Core 2:
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
Drill Core 3:
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
Drill Core 4:
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
Drill Core 5:
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
Playdoh Volcanoes (Activity Sheets)
7
EXAMPLE SHEET (Remember, your pictures should be larger, and can use colour!)
Playdoh Volcanoes (Activity Sheets)
8
Playdoh Volcanoes (Activity Sheets)
9
Activity 2 – Analysing your volcano
After you have constructed your volcano, you will be given another example made by a
different group and asked to analyse it as best you can. When doing this, you are not
only looking to find out the number of flows in the volcano, but you should also try to
look at their extent and thickness. Bear this in mind when taking your measurements.
In order to help you with this, you will be allowed to take up to five ‘drill cores’ using the
straws provided. You may then cut one ‘river valley’ and finally, one ‘cross section’ can
be taken.
When studying the volcano, try to remember what you did to construct your volcano and
use that information to guide you in locating the best places to take your measurements.
Apparatus (for each group)
straws cut into ~ 4 cm lengths
a craft knife
toothpicks
coloured pencils
Experiment procedure
Step 1 - Initial Impressions
Take a careful look at the complete volcano. This is what geologists are first faced with
when analysing volcanoes on Earth. For volcanoes on other planets such as Mars, we
are currently restricted to photographs and images taken by spacecraft, so we must
learn as much as possible from views similar to those that you now have. Sketch the
volcano on the sheet provided and try to answer the following questions:
Question: How many flows are visible?
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
Question: What is the stratigraphy or layering telling you about the ages of the flows?
Try to place the flows you can see in their correct age order:
Colour Of Oldest Flow: ……………………….………………………………….………………
Colour of Youngest Flow: …………………………………………………………...….……….
List of Flows (oldest to youngest): ………………………………………………….....……….
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
Step 2 - Drill Cores
Think very carefully about where you take each of your drill cores, using the information
from Step 1 to guide you in choosing the best positions to “drill”, and noting the criteria
you use to locate each drill site. In real life, drilling is a difficult and expensive
procedure, and you would be restricted in the depth to which you can probe. However,
to make things easier for you in this experiment, each of your cores will reach the base
of the volcano (so you will see all of the flows at each drill site). You may use up to five
Playdoh Volcanoes (Activity Sheets)
10
drill cores to analyse your volcano. For each core, the following procedure should be
followed:
1. Take a cut straw and push it into your volcano at your chosen site. You won’t have
to push hard before you reach the tray.
2. When it reaches the tray, twist the straw to make sure the bottom layer is free, and
carefully pull the straw back up.
3. Poke a toothpick into the top of your core and pull the playdoh from the straw – the
layers of the volcano at that site should be visible in your core.
4. Carefully note the location of each drill core taken on your original sketch of the
volcano, and sketch the cores in the boxes provided. Take care to note the number
of flows of each colour, and the stratigraphy (layering) seen at each site.
Step 3 – ‘River Valley’
To help with your analysis, we will say that through the millennia after your volcano
formed, water ran through part of the flank, forming a valley and revealing the layering
of different flows. As creating a valley in your playdoh volcano with water would be
rather messy, use a craft knife to cut a wedge from the flank (side of the volcano) of
your choice instead. In reality, we would be very fortunate indeed if a valley cut through
any more than the uppermost layers of a volcano, but to make your study easier, you
can cut to the tray and reveal all of the layers. Once again, be very careful when
locating your valley and note the criteria you use to choose its position. When the valley
is cut, carefully note its location on your initial sketch, and draw it in the box provided,
noting the different layers and age relations for each.
Step 4 – Cross Section
As a final aid to your analysis, you may take a cross section of your volcano. There is
no natural process that is likely to produce such a feature in a real volcano; this is
simply to help you in your study, and help you test the results you have gained from the
valley and drill cores. As with the river valley, the cross section should be cut with a
craft knife, its position sketched onto your original diagram of the volcano, and the
results carefully noted in the space provided on the sheet.
Playdoh Volcanoes (Activity Sheets)
11
Sheets for analysis of a volcano
Name ………………………….
Initial sketch of volcano and chosen sites for drill cores
________________________________________________________________________
Drill Core 1
Drill Core 2
Drill Core 4
Drill Core 3
Drill Core 5
Sketch of the layers in the drill cores
Playdoh Volcanoes (Activity Sheets)
12
Name ………………………….
Sketch of river valley section from volcano
________________________________________________________________________
Sketch of cross section from volcano
Playdoh Volcanoes (Activity Sheets)
13
Results and questions
Once all of the measurements are taken, try to answer the following questions using the
information you have gained through both your analysis and your experience in
constructing a volcano. During this, you will be shown the real history of the volcano
you were analysing by the group that constructed it. Similarly, your group will be asked
to show the history of the volcano you constructed to the group that analysed it
1. On the volcano you have analysed:
a) How many flows are there in total? ……………………………………………………
b) What colour is the oldest flow? …………….……..……………………………………
c) What colour is the youngest flow? ………….………..………………………………..
2. What influenced the flow direction during the construction of your volcano? Did the
previous flows have any effect? Is there anything else in real life that would affect
the flow of real lava?
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
3. You were told how many colours of playdoh to use in your volcano. What would
have been the effect if you had increased or decreased the number of colours?
Would it be easier or harder to determine the flow history? Explain your answer.
Which is the most realistic scenario?
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
4. Compare the drill core locations you chose on the volcano you constructed with
those taken by the group that took the samples. Are they similar? What criteria did
you use in selecting the sampling stations? Discuss with your classmates whether
you can produce a set of rules that could be used to locate drill sites on all of the
volcanoes constructed.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………...
……………………………………………………………………………………………………...
……………………………………………………………………………………………………...
……………………………………………………………………………………………………...
Playdoh Volcanoes (Activity Sheets)
14
5. From your initial analysis, do you think there is any way we can identify lava layers
on Mars from images and photographs?
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
6. If part of your mission plan is to explore the volcanic history of the Mars, what would
be your recommended method of analysis and why? Remember that you will be
sending people to Mars, not just robots. This will be discussed in class and could
form an important part of your final mission plan, so make your arguments clear.
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
Playdoh Volcanoes (Activity Sheets)
15
Remote Sensing/Reflectance
Spectrometer
REMOTE SENSING / REFLECTANCE SPECTROMETER – TEACHER NOTES
The remote sensing experiment is designed to take a full hour to complete, and can be
undertaken using just the materials provided within this pack as a paper based
experiment. If you wish to introduce a practical aspect, it is possible to purchase the
ALTA Reflectance Spectrometer to allow the students to take their own reflectance
measurements. All of the data in this module was taken using an ALTA.
The ALTA is available from: Orders Department, Lunar and Planetary Institute, 3600
Bay Area Boulevard, Houston TX 77058-1113, USA (Tel: 281-486-2172, Fax: 281-4862186, Email: order@usra.lpi.edu).
At the time of writing (August 2000) the cost of each spectrometer (including activity
sheets) is $129.95 + post & packing. If this cost is prohibitive to you, an ALTA is
available for loan for the cost of post and packing from:
Dr. Wendy Kirk.
Department of Geological Sciences,
University College London,
Gower Street,
London WC1E 6BT.
Please contact Dr. Kirk on 020 7679 7900 for more details.
This experiment will also soon be available online. The Mars in the Classroom pages
are housed at http://www.ucl.ac.uk/GeolSci/MITC. This will follow the same structure as
the pack, but will allow students to take a more hands on approach to taking and using
the reflectance measurements.
Activity sheet - aims and benefits
To obtain accurate results from this practical and answer the questions correctly, the
students must be able to:
a) work methodically
b) transfer data into graphical form
c) interpret graphs and tabular data
There is a lot of graph work in this experiment, so it is important to provide a context for
the data. Stress the importance of the graphs regarding the nature of the Martian
surface and make certain they understand the usefulness of transferring the information
to ‘image’ format for interpretation and location purposes.
Hints and answers to the question in the ‘Student Notes’ pack.
We have given only a short introduction to the electromagnetic spectrum and remote
sensing. Depending on the ability and level of your group you may wish to spend more
time on this to ensure that the students have a firm grasp of wavelengths. For the
questions (see answers below) it would be better for you to lead a discussion to get the
students to really think about their answers.
Remote Sensing (Teacher Notes)
1
Question 1: Some advantages are that it is less costly/dangerous to send an orbiter.
The remote sensing craft is able to safely spend a lot longer in orbit around the planet,
and will be able to look at a lot more of the planet than a probe would by landing in just
a single place. Disadvantages are that you get less surface detail from an orbiting craft,
and you can’t obtain or study rock samples from remote sensing. There will be many
other advantages and disadvantages that the students will think of for themselves.
Question 2: We would expect the student to send a remote sensing craft first to search
for the most interesting (and safe) landing sites.
Question 3: Reflectance spectroscopy uses mainly ultra-violet, visible and infrared
wavelengths. Again it would be useful for the teacher to take the students through the
electromagnetic spectrum if they are unfamiliar with it.
Notes on Activity Sheet 1
The students should be led through these activities and encouraged to think carefully
about their answers with full justification. Some of the points we would expect for each
question are:
Question 1: Where there is water there may be life. Is there water there now? If not,
where did all that water go, and will there still be any signs of life?
Question 2: Red – as that is the colour of the surface of Mars. The students will
actually find though, that the red things plotted are brightest at the infrared wavelengths.
Question 3: Anything red (i.e. paper, blood, apples). Nothing other than rock, soil or
dust is likely to be found on the surface of Mars.
Question 4 (from point 3): Yes, they should find that Object 2 will have a similar
shape, but will not be as bright. Object 6 will also be similar but has a slight difference
in shape. For your information, the actual objects used for this experiment are:
Earth Rock: Play sand
Object 1: Red card
Object 2: Martian soil simulant
Object 3: Dark red flower petals
Object 4: Red house bricks
Object 5: Glossy red car
Object 6: Grey cement powder
The Martian soil simulant is actually volcanic rock from a volcano in Hawai’i and has
similar spectral properties to Martian soil. Graph 1 is an adaptation of Mars Pathfinder
data, and shows the shape and brightness of the Martian soil as measured by the rover
on the surface of Mars.
Question 5: At least one spectrum should be the same/similar to the “Earth rock”.
From this, the students should conclude that water was present, as we have stated
earlier that the Earth rock formed in the presence of water. In reality it is not this simple
of course!
Remote Sensing (Teacher Notes)
2
Notes on Activity Sheet 2
Question 1: In the higher orbit, the images will cover a larger area, but at a lower
resolution (i.e. less detail). In the lower orbit, less area will be covered, but more surface
details will be seen. Which is most useful depends on what they want to do – if they
want to find out how the composition varies across the whole planet on a large scale,
then the higher orbit is best. If they want to locate a specific landing site, as they do in
this experiment, then the lower orbit (higher resolution) will be better in order to fully
characterise that site.
Question 2: The main difference will be that they will see more blue squares in the
lower orbit ‘image’. Figure 3 is the more detailed – one pixel in Figure 2 is represented
as 9 pixels (3×3) in Figure 3. This information should be given to the students as you
lead the discussion.
Question 3: This has been answered above (depends on what they want to do etc.).
Try to draw out more specific examples from them using the information they gained
from answering the previous questions.
Question 4: Use the lower orbit data as this will give more detailed information for the
small spacecraft that will land within a single pixel.
Question 5: This will be up to the students. Some will go right in the middle of the blue
squares to be sure of hitting an area containing the right rocks while others will want to
land at the boundary between two colours to look at how the surface varies across the
boundary (this will require confidence in their ability to achieve a pinpoint landing).
There will be a number of responses to this question and there is of course more than
one correct answer. Encourage discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of
some of the suggestions.
Question 6: The Mr data has only provided limited compositional information. If you
are going to have a human landing, you need to make sure that the ground isn’t too
rocky, and that there are no other “nasties” like crevasses, cliffs or dunes of dust that
will make the surface unstable to land on. There are a number of other remote sensing
instruments that can be used to characterise the landing site in some of these ways.
While we do not expect the students to know the names of such instruments you should
try to get them to think of the kind of information they would want from other remote
sensing instruments (i.e. topographic data, climate information etc.).
Remote Sensing (Teacher Notes)
3
REMOTE SENSING / REFLECTANCE SPECTROMETER – STUDENT NOTES
In this experiment you will be using reflectance spectroscopy to learn about the
surface of Mars and try to find a good landing site for your Manned mission.
Reflectance spectroscopy is a form of remote sensing often used to study planets.
What is ‘remote sensing’?
Some spacecraft (satellites) in orbit around the Earth and visiting other planets carry
different kinds of cameras to look at features on the surface of the planet, or at its
atmosphere. The information gathered by these satellites is used by scientists to
discover many things about the planet, without having to land on the surface. Because
these satellites find things out (i.e. sense things) about the planet without ever touching
the ground (i.e. remotely), this method of exploration is called remote sensing. These
cameras can collect information at many different wavelengths. Looking at an object at
lots of wavelengths across the electromagnetic spectrum can tell us different things
about that object.
But what is the electromagnetic spectrum?
Most of you will have seen light split into its various colours, such as in a rainbow. You
will all have heard of things such as X-rays, microwaves, and radio waves. What you
might not know, is that all of these are part of the same thing, called the
electromagnetic spectrum (Table 1). The only difference between them is their
wavelength: at one end of the spectrum are the long wavelength, low energy radio
waves and at the other are the short wavelength, high energy gamma-rays, with many
other wavelengths in-between. Remote sensing uses all of these wavelengths to get
information about a planet.
Question 1: What are the advantages and disadvantages of using remote sensing
instead of landing on the surface? Give a reason for your answers.
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
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Question 2: With these in mind, which type of mission would you send to the planet
Mars first, a landing mission or a remote sensing mission? Why?
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Remote Sensing (Student Notes)
1
How does reflectance spectroscopy work?
Reflectance spectroscopy is a type of remote sensing that looks at the way in which a
surface reflects light at different wavelengths. The reflectance value or brightness at
each wavelength can be plotted on a graph to produce a spectrum, and the shape of
the spectrum can tell you things about the object you are looking at.
Question 3: Look at Table 1. What parts of the electromagnetic spectrum does
reflectance spectroscopy use?
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
Table 1. The Electromagnetic Spectrum
Radio
waves
Micro
waves
Infrared
Visible
Ultraviolet
Long wavelength
Radar
Mapping
Thermal
(heat)
mapping
Gammarays
Short wavelength
Low energy
Use
in
remote
sensing
X-rays
High energy
Thermal
Mapping
Visible
imaging
Compositional
mapping
reflectance spectroscopy
GLOSSARY:
ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM – radiation of different wavelengths make up the
electromagnetic spectrum. Radio waves and X-rays are examples of electromagnetic
radiation that make up the electromagnetic spectrum.
REFLECTANCE SPECTROSCOPY – a remote sensing technique that measures
reflected sunlight to get information about a planet’s surface.
SPECTRA – plural of spectrum.
SPECTRUM – a plot of brightness at different wavelengths.
WAVELENGTH – the distance between the peaks of two waves.
Remote Sensing (Student Notes)
2
REMOTE SENSING / REFLECTANCE SPECTROMETER – ACTIVITY SHEET 1
As a part of the ‘Mars Reconnaissance’ or ‘Mr.’ program, the Space Agency has
decided to launch a remote sensing spacecraft carrying an instrument to undertake
reflectance spectroscopy and search for possible landing sites for a future mission to
land humans on the surface. You are in charge of the mission, and have been told to
look for areas where water may have existed when Mars was much warmer.
Question 1: Why do you think these are important areas to study?
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
Your mission is a success and the spacecraft is sending backs lots of data. Now you
have to analyse it! Your team is provided with the results from a region of Mars that
experts say once contained water. These scientists also have a spectrum of an Earth
rock that they think is the same as the rocks in this part of Mars and which proves that
water once existed there. They want you to find a place in your region that has a
spectrum similar to the Earth rock, as this will confirm the presence of water in the past.
It is up to you to locate these rocks (if they exist) and decide whether this really is a
good candidate for a human landing site.
Your task:
Your data is contained in Tables 2 and 3 with brightness (reflectance) values versus
wavelength for a number of objects. You will be using these values to plot a graph for
each object. The graph you plot is known as a spectrum and provides information
about the object (i.e. brightness etc.). Before you plot your spectra, take a look at
Graph 1. This shows two spectra as an example and guide for your graphs.
Look carefully at the example spectra in Graph 1. The measurements were taken at
very similar wavelengths that the cameras on-board your spacecraft work at. Using
the information provided on Graph 1 and the colour that relates to wavelength in Table
2, answer the following questions.
Question 2: At what colour (i.e. wavelength region) would you expect the surface of
Mars to be brightest?
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
Remote Sensing (Activity Sheets)
1
Question 3: What other objects can you think of that are this colour, and are these
likely to be present on Mars? Try to think of at least four.
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
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……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
Now you have to determine whether the scientists were correct when they said that
rocks similar to the sample from Earth are to be found in your region, and hence that
water once existed there. Do the following:
1. Using the data table for the Earth rock in Table 2, plot out the spectrum using Graph
1 as a guide, with wavelength on the x-axis and brightness (reflectance) on the yaxis.
2. For each object in Table 3, plot a separate graph as you did for the Earth rock. You
should have 6 more graphs.
3. Look carefully at all of the graphs you have drawn.
Question 4: Do any of the spectra from the ‘Mr.’ mission look like the Earth rock?
Which one is most similar?
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
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……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
Question 5: From your answer to Question 4, do you conclude that water once existed
in this particular region of Mars? Give a reason for your answer.
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
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Remote Sensing (Activity Sheets)
2
REMOTE SENSING / REFLECTANCE SPECTROMETER – ACTIVITY SHEET 2
The remote sensing instrument of ‘Mr.’ passed over the region of Mars you have been
given twice during the mission, once from a very high orbit, far from the planet and once
from a lower orbit closer to the planet’s surface.
Question 1: How do you think the results from the two orbits will differ? Which will
provide the most useful information to you and why?
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
You learned a lot from the spectra that you plotted in the first exercise. But now you
want to find out exactly where those spectra are located on the surface. To do this, you
decide to create a picture from your data.
The ‘Mr.’ sensor uses an electronic camera to take measurements, consisting of a grid
of 36 ‘picture elements’ or pixels. Each pixel has a number from 1 to 36, as shown
below in Figure 1.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
Figure 1. A grid of pixels, as used by the ‘Mr.’ mission.
The number of pixels covered by a given area or spectrum depends on the camera’s
resolution i.e. how much of the surface detail can be seen in the data. To make the
data easier to visualise, we will assign a colour to each of the spectra plotted in the
previous exercise. The colours assigned are:
Earth Rock: Blue
Object 3:
Yellow
Object 6:
White
Remote Sensing (Activity Sheets)
Object 1:
Object 4:
Red
Green
Object 2:
Object 5:
Brown
Black
3
Each pixel will contain a single spectrum that represents the strongest signal from the
area the pixel covers. Tables 4 and 5 reveal which spectrum was recorded at each
pixel. Colour in the pixels accordingly in the two blank camera displays provided.
Table 4. Distant Measurement
Table 5. Low Orbit Measurement
Pixel No.
Spectrum
Pixel No.
Spectrum
Pixel No.
Spectrum
Pixel No.
Spectrum
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
Yellow
Brown
Brown
Brown
Brown
Red
Brown
Brown
Brown
Brown
Brown
Red
Brown
Brown
Brown
Brown
Brown
Red
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
Brown
Brown
Blue
Red
Red
Red
Brown
Brown
Red
Red
Red
Red
Red
Red
Red
Red
Red
Red
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
Blue
Brown
Brown
Brown
Red
Red
Brown
Blue
Brown
Blue
Brown
Black
Brown
Brown
Blue
Blue
Brown
Red
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
Red
Brown
Blue
Blue
Blue
Brown
Green
Brown
Red
Blue
Red
Red
Red
Red
Red
Red
Red
Red
Figure 2. Distant Measurement
15
16
17
18
Figure 3. Low Orbit Measurement
Question 2: What differences can you see in the two images? Which is the more
detailed?
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Remote Sensing (Activity Sheets)
4
Question 3: Give reasons why both kinds of resolution are valuable in some instances,
with examples.
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Question 4: Which of the two would you use to locate a landing site, given that the
scientists want to send the astronauts to a site that once held water?
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
Question 5: Where would you land and why? Use the pixel number from Figure 1 as a
label.
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
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Question 6: Are you certain that the site seen by ‘Mr.’ is suitable for a Manned landing?
What other information do you think you need to be sure? Can remote sensing be used
to obtain any of this information? If not, what else can you use?
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
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Remote Sensing (Activity Sheets)
5
REMOTE SENSING / REFLECTANCE SPECTROMETER DATA SHEET
Table 1 : Reflectance values for the Earth rock material.
Colour
Blue
Green
Yellow
Amber
Orange
Crimson
Red
IR-1
IR-2
Wavelength (nm)
470
555
585
605
635
660
695
880
940
Reflectance Value
0.11
0.24
0.25
0.28
0.30
0.28
0.26
0.33
0.30
Table 2 : Reflectance values obtained from the Mr. mission.
Colour
Blue
Green
Yellow
Amber
Orange
Crimson
Red
IR-1
IR-2
Wavelength
(nm)
470
555
585
605
635
660
695
880
940
Reflectance Values
Object 1 Object 2 Object 3 Object 4 Object 5 Object 6
Remote Sensing (Data Sheet)
0.13
0.27
0.51
0.75
0.90
0.96
0.97
0.99
1.00
0.02
0.09
0.11
0.12
0.13
0.11
0.11
0.16
0.15
0.02
0.08
0.10
0.17
0.25
0.21
0.24
0.60
0.81
0.10
0.18
0.25
0.28
0.31
0.33
0.33
0.32
0.37
0.28
0.27
0.41
0.48
0.48
0.48
0.53
0.51
0.53
0.13
0.22
0.20
0.20
0.23
0.19
0.17
0.24
0.23
1
REMOTE SENSING / REFLECTANCE SPECTROMETER EXAMPLE SPECTRA
Graph 1 has wavelength on the x-axis and reflectance value (brightness) on the y-axis.
Two spectra are plotted on the graph – one bright soil and one dark soil. You can see
that the bright soil has much higher reflectance values, because it reflects more light.
Graph 1: Example spectra
0.3
Reflectance Value
0.25
0.2
0.15
0.1
0.05
0
400
500
Remote Sensing (Data Sheet)
600
700
Wavelength (nm)
800
900
1000
2
Lego Rover
LEGO ROVER – TEACHER NOTES
This project can be run as part of the Mars in the Classroom program but is just as
suitable for an after school science club or other small (4-6) group of students. Larger
classes with access to several sets of Lego Mindstorms could, of course, do the project
‘en masse’. This would enable different groups to compare results and share in a wider
discussion after the project has been completed. A small group of students should be
able to finish the practical part of the project in one 1 hour session although 2 hours is
recommended to complete the questions and fill out the data sheet.
To do this project you will require some materials that are not provided within this pack:
-
Lego Rover with Mindstorms RCX unit. *
PC computer (P200+ recommended) with one serial port connection free.
Lego Mindstorms software on CDROM. *
Lego RCX remote control *
Floppy disc with ROVER1 program. *
5 red and 1 black coloured card circles (20mm diameter)
A large table or uncarpeted floor space 2m x 2m (must be lightly coloured!)
All the items marked * can be obtained from UCL Geological Sciences for the cost of
postage plus a deposit:
Dr. Wendy Kirk,
Department of Geological Sciences,
University College London,
Gower Street,
London WC1E 6BT.
Please contact Dr. Kirk on 020 7679 7900 for more details.
This experiment will also soon be available online. The Mars in the Classroom pages
are housed at http://www.ucl.ac.uk/GeolSci/MITC. The online rover experiment will
follow the same structure as in this pack, allowing students to complete the module
without the need to obtain the rover directly.
Activity sheet - aims and benefits
To obtain accurate calibration values and run through this experiment smoothly,
students must be able to work methodically and follow systematic instructions. The
module aims:
a) To highlight the differences between autonomous rovers and remotely controlled
vehicles and to give the pupils an idea of some problems involved in sending robotic
vehicles to other planets.
b) To explore the concept of calibration – one of the fundamentals of experimental
measurements.
c) To introduce the ideas of computer programming and provide a stepping stone for
further work if required.
Lego Rover (Teacher Notes)
1
Handy hints and experiment overview
The RCX is an intelligent Lego brick. Using a PC, a simple program can be built up
and then downloaded into the RCX via the infrared transmitter tower. When the RCX is
connected to sensors (touch, temperature, light etc) and motors, the program can run
using the sensors inputs, activating the motors as outputs. All sorts of interesting
scientific experiments can be carried out using this system, but this project uses only a
simple 2 motor, 4-wheeled rover with one light sensor.
It is strongly recommended that you read the ‘Lego RCX Handbook’ that comes with the
project and that you play around with the rover and the program before running the
experiment in class. Aside from being good fun, this will lead to a good understanding
of the system and enable you to deal with the (almost inevitable) problems the students
will have with the system.
The pupils will calibrate the light sensor by placing the rover over three different
coloured areas. They can read the output of the sensor from the RCX itself and then
must input this reading into the program. This is the only time they need to access the
program but there is no reason why, if time and interest allows, they cannot write their
own simple programs or modify the existing one.
Once the rover is calibrated they use the rover to find a black circle amongst several red
ones as a simulation for a rover searching for a rock of a particular composition on
Mars. They then have to repeat the experiment using the hand held controller to guide
the rover. The problem here is that, to mimic the 8 minute time lag involved in EarthMars communication, they have to wait ten seconds between button-pressing and have
to close their eyes while controlling the rover! This simulates how controllers on Earth
do not know exactly how the rover will respond when they send out a command from
Earth to a rover on Mars.
Finally, the students hold the sensor in their hands as an astronaut would and measure
the ‘rocks’ directly. This shows how flexible and powerful human beings are for
exploration of the planets compared with remotely controlled rovers (slow, due to time
lag) and autonomous robots (faster, but inherently ‘stupid’).
Things to do before the project starts
-
Install the Mindstorms program and complete the 30 to 45 minute tutorial.
Unfortunately, this is a prerequisite for using the Mindstorms program.
-
Once you have the Mindstorms package up and running, load the ROVER1 program
from the floppy disc. The ROVER1 program guides the rover in a zigzag search
pattern from the lower left to the lower right of a square.
-
You will need to adjust the wait time in the “turnleft”, “turnrigh” and “goforwd”
commands (the yellow ones) to make the rover do accurate 180o turns and cover the
required amount of space. The reason these have to be changed is that the rover
turns faster or slower depending on the surface it is placed on.
- To calibrate the “wait times”, open the commands (right click) and try out a
few values (numbers between 8-12 are the norm for a flat, wooden surface).
Lego Rover (Teacher Notes)
2
-
You will need to download the program to the RCX and run program 5 each
time. In “turnleft” and “turnrigh”, the first and third “Wait” commands tell the
rover how long to reverse the motor directions to do a 90o turn. The second
“Wait” time is how long the rover advances in between successive 90o turns
and should be left as it is.
In the “goforwd” command the wait time is set to 60. This means the rover
advances about 1-2 metres before doubling back. If you want the rover to
search a larger area, increase this number as appropriate.
Remember to save the program once you have calibrated the movement of the rover!
This process shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes once you are at least slightly familiar
with the software. Now, when the students run the program the rover should execute
accurate 180o turns linked by an appropriate distance.
Points at which the students could need help!
•
•
•
•
•
Loading the Mindstorms program and opening the ROVER1 program.
Learning about the RCX and understanding how to use it.
Inputting the light reading measurements into the program.
Downloading the program into slot 5 of the RCX.
Making sure they don’t “cheat” when using the remote control.
Other issues
It is important that the students don’t think they are looking for coloured rocks. The
colour of the card circles represents the chemistry of the rocks, not their colour and this
should be emphasised throughout the experiment. Thus they should investigate every
‘rock’, not just pick out the black one.
You should make sure the students put the black circle in a position where at least
some of the red circles are driven over by the rover first. If the black circle is the first to
be examined then very little difference between the methods will be discovered. The
recommended placement for the circles is shown below
Lego Rover (Teacher Notes)
3
If the students like this project and time permits, they can write their own code and even
make their own rover. A good idea is to ask them how to get the rover to make a
different noise for each different composition of rock (coloured card) it samples, maybe
using 4 or 5 coloured circles. Also, ask them how they could get the rover to avoid
obstacles automatically (we can send you the touch sensors if required), and whether a
random or planned search pattern is better.
If you require help, further information or have any feedback about the project, please
check out our website, which also has a summary of how to build the rover if you wish
to do it yourself (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/GeolSci/MITC).
HAPPY ROVING!!
Lego Rover (Teacher Notes)
4
LEGO ROVER – STUDENT NOTES
In this project you will use a rover-vehicle to analyse different areas of Mars and find an
area that is suitable for sampling. Well, actually you will use a Lego rover to search the
floor of your classroom for a coloured circle. You must imagine that all the coloured
circles are rocks that all appear the same to the naked eye, and that the black circle is a
rock suitable for sampling. The colour of the circles doesn’t represent the colour of the
rocks, but instead represents their chemical composition. You will have to pretend that
only a special sensor can tell the difference between a black and a red circle!
You are also going to have to calibrate the sensor that detects what colour the circles
are. Calibration simply gauges a measured quantity against a standard reading. For
example, if you were to measure the width of the playground in metres by counting how
many paces it took for you to walk across it, you would first need to know how many
metres long your pace was. By measuring your pace in metres (using a metre rule for
example) you are calibrating your measurement of the playground.
Getting started (ask your teacher for the RCX help guide if needed)
In your group you must start your computer and load up the Lego Mindstorms program.
You should open the program called ROVER1 from the program vault. Also, make sure
that there are batteries in the RCX (the large yellow block on the back of the Rover), the
remote control and in the Lego transmitting tower. Finally, you will need 4 or 5 red
circles cut out of card and a single black one.
Calibrating the light sensor
The rover control program is already set up. It consists of a light sensor watcher which
checks to see if the rover has moved into a suitable area, and a basic search program
that enables the rover to thoroughly cover an area. All you have to do is input some
numbers to make sure the rover stops when it is over a black circle (the ‘rock’ you want
to sample).
To calibrate the sensor:
Place the rover on one of the red circles. Turn on the RCX. Press the “view” button on
the RCX several times. You will see a little triangle move from one input/output to
another from 1 to 6. The light sensor is attached to sensor input 2 so press the “view”
button until the triangle is under sensor input 2. You can now read the value the sensor
is measuring from the display on the front of the RCX.
What value did the sensor return for the red circle? …………………………………………
Next, place the rover on the black circle and retake the measurement.
What value did the sensor return for the black circle? ……………………………………….
Now put the rover on the floor of the classroom where it will be used.
What value did the sensor return this time? ……….………………………………………….
Lego Rover (Student Notes)
1
Typical results may be 45-55 for the red circle, 34-37 for the black and perhaps 60 for
the classroom floor (don’t worry if your results are different unless the value for the
black is higher than the red or the floor! If this is the case, then try again or go to see
you teacher).
Now go back to the computer and look at the ROVER1 program. Open the sensor
watcher block (the blue one next to the main program) by clicking on the small button in
the top corner.
-
In the top window of the “light” panel (the right hand side), type in a number that is
2-3 less than the value you measured for the red circle.
In the bottom window of the “dark” panel (the left hand side), type in a number that
is 2-3 higher than the number you got for the black circle.
This should mean that when you set your rover off to explore ‘Mars’, it will continue on
its way ignoring red circles, and will stop and beep at a black one!
Testing the rover
When you have done this, right click on the first block of the program (it should be
green and say ROVER1 on it). Then, making sure that the transmitter tower is 10-15cm
from the front of the RCX (the end with the darkened plastic ‘window’), press the
“download” button. After 10-20 seconds the RCX will beep to tell you the program has
been downloaded successfully.
The ROVER1 program should always load into program slot 5. Press the program
button a few times until the number 5 appears in the display.
Put the rover on the floor with a couple of metres space both to the front and left of it,
then press “run”. The rover should zigzag up and down the test area until you catch it
and stop the program (by pressing “run again”). If it doesn’t turn good 90o corners or
goes too far without turning, ask you teacher to check the calibration of the control
program.
Now, run the program again, but this time put several of the red circles in the path of the
rover as it moves. Then, put a black one in the way. If the rover stops and beeps when
it reaches the black circle then, “mission accomplished!”, you have tested and calibrated
the rover successfully!
Lego Rover (Student Notes)
2
LEGO ROVER – ACTIVITY SHEETS
Rover/Astronaut comparison
You will now use three different methods of getting the sensor to the ‘rocks’. Firstly you
will use the ROVER1 program to control the rover automatically. Then you will use the
remote control to control the rover manually. Finally you will carry the probe to the
‘rocks’ by hand as would an astronaut.
Procedure
Set up ‘Mars’ by putting several red circles and one black one on the floor of the
classroom (see diagram).
1) ROVER1 controlled rover
Run program 5, starting the rover as in the diagram above. Record how long it takes
the rover to find the black ‘rock’. Also record if the rover failed to find the ‘rock’ or if
other malfunctions occurred. Finally, you should record how many of the red ‘rocks’
were also visited by the rover. Place all your measurements in the datasheet provided.
Repeat the experiment three times.
When you have done this, put a couple of heavy books down to represent obstacles
such as boulders. Repeat the experiments three more times, again writing down how
long the rover took to find the correct ‘rock’ and how many red ‘rocks’ it visited. You
must write down whether the rover was stopped from reaching the rock due to an
obstacle.
DO NOT MOVE THE CIRCLES IN BETWEEN EXPERIMENTS, AND MAKE CERTAIN
YOU NOTE DOWN WHERE THE OBSTACLES WERE PLACED!
Lego Rover (Activity Sheets)
1
2) Remote controlled rover
Before you start, open the program LSWATCH and put the same values in the sensor
watcher block as you did for ROVER1. Download the program to the RCX as you did
before, overwriting the ROVER1 program in slot 5.
You must now control the rover using the remote control. Pressing the buttons marked
A, B or C controls motors A, B, or C. (note that only motors A and C are used in this
rover!). If you run the motors in opposite directions, the rover will turn. Remember that
the remote control unit works like a TV remote control, so you may have to move
around to keep pointing the controller at the back of the rover as it turns!
Practise controlling the rover for a few minutes before you perform the experiment. You
should try to get a feel for how long you have to hold down the buttons to get the rover
to turn 90o or to travel a certain distance.
The big problem in remote controlling a rover on Mars is that it takes eight minutes for a
message sent from Earth to reach Mars.
Why do you think it takes so long to send or receive messages?
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
Obviously, for this experiment we can’t wait 8 minutes in between each command, so a
delay of 10 seconds will be introduced instead. Also, to simulate the effects of not
knowing the response to your commands the controller of the rover must keep their
eyes shut while controlling the rover!
The controller can look at the situation for 10 seconds, then he/she must close their
eyes and perform ONE COMMAND ONLY! This command could be something like ‘run
motor A and B for a few seconds’ or ‘run either motor A or B to turn the robot’. What the
controller is not allowed to do is change the motors that are running without waiting 10
seconds in between.
After each ‘command’ the controller can look at the situation for another 10 seconds
before they close their eyes and perform another command, etc, etc.
Try to visit each circle, starting with the nearest, until you ‘find’ the black one.
Remember that the ‘colour’ of the ‘rock’ represents its composition, not what it looks
like. You will have to imagine that each ‘rock’ looks the same and only the special
sensor on the rover can distinguish between them. No driving straight towards the
black circle without investigating the red ones!
You will quickly find that the best way to control the rover is to be careful and not drive
too far per command. You will also discover how frustrating and slow the process is!
Lego Rover (Activity Sheets)
2
When you have had enough practise driving the rover under these difficult conditions,
place the rover at the start position and run program 5. This is a simple program that
monitors the sensor and beeps when it detects the black ‘rock’.
Now, time how long it takes to find the black ‘rock’ INCLUDING all the time spent
waiting between commands. Your teacher will check that you are closing your eyes
fully and only performing one ‘command’ at a time! Count how many red ‘rocks’ you
visit along the way and record the length of time taken to discover the black circle in the
data sheet. If you have time, repeat the test three times.
Now, as you did in the first part of the project, put some heavy books in the way as
obstacles (put them in the same place as they were before, using the sketch you made
in part 1). Time how long it takes to discover the black rock whilst avoiding the
obstacles (you still have to visit all the nearer red circles remember!). Record the same
observations you measured before.
You will probably only have time to do each of the remote controlled experiments once.
However, if you have more time, try to do them three times to compare with the
programmed rover.
3) Astronaut
Finally, take the RCX and the light sensor off the rover and run program 5 as you did
for part 2). One member of your group should go from ‘rock’ to ‘rock’ and hold the
sensor about half a centimetre from it. The RCX will beep when it detects the correct
‘rock’. Record how long it took to discover the black rock and how many of the red
rocks you also tested. Repeat the experiment three times.
Conclusions
Look at the results you got from the first two experiments. Which was quicker at finding
the black rock, the ROVER1 controlled rover or the remote controlled rover?
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
Which method (rover or remote controlled) sampled the greater number of rocks in total
(red and black)?
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
Was the astronaut far worse, worse, better or much better than the rover?
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
What are the disadvantages of remote controlling a rover?
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
Lego Rover (Activity Sheets)
3
What are the disadvantages of having a programmed rover?
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
Write a paragraph about the advantages and disadvantages of using human beings
instead of rovers to explore Mars.
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
Lego Rover (Activity Sheets)
4
LEGO ROVER – DATA SHEET
DATE………………………
NAME………………………
CLASS…………………..
GROUP NAME…………………………………………
There are spaces to record all you measurements if you repeat each experiment three times.
Measurement
1) ROVER1 program
2) Remote controlled
3) Astronaut
Time taken to find black
‘rock’ (in seconds)
Time taken to find black
‘rock’ with the obstacles
present (in seconds)
How many red ‘rocks’
were also tested?
How many red ‘rocks’
were also tested with the
obstacles present?
Were there
problems?
any
other
Lego Rover (Activity Sheets)
5
Chocolate Rocks
CHOCOLATE ROCKS – TEACHER NOTES AND HANDY HINTS
The Chocolate Rocks experiment is an adaptation of the Hawai’i Space Grant
Consortium’s ‘Edible Rocks’ experiment
(see: http://imina.soest.hawaii.edu/SPACEGRANT/class_acts/EdibleRocksTe.html).
The experiment will take approximately one hour to complete, but can be expanded or
contracted, depending on the amount of time and resources available and the nature of
the students. The lesson could be entirely based on pictures of rocks and edible
samples if actual edible samples are impractical. The number of samples described
and the length of any discussions may be extended or reduced by the teacher as
appropriate. The discussion and/or the scope of the activity may be extended to include
other rock types and their equivalent edible form. The choice is yours.
Activity sheet – aims and benefits
The aim of this activity is to introduce students to rocks and meteorites through the
observation and description of the physical characteristics of edible samples chosen as
models of real rocks or meteorites. It has been designed as a comfortable introduction
to describing meteorites. It helps students to become better observers by making a
connection between the familiar (chocolates) and the unfamiliar (meteorites). Edible
rocks are used in scientific context, showing students the importance of observation,
teamwork, and communication skills.
Hints
1. This one is a real winner with the students, so some are likely to get over excited –
make sure all your samples don’t get eaten at the start of the lesson! Save some of
the edible samples to be handed out simply for the pleasure of eating them at the
end of the lesson.
2. The edible samples are likely to melt in hot weather, especially when being handled.
Store them in a cool, dry place until they are needed.
3. Make sure none of the students has an allergy to any of the ingredients of the edible
samples before starting the experiment, particularly if any samples are substituted
for others containing nuts!
Extensions
1. Extend the discussion to include the concepts of igneous, sedimentary and
metamorphic rocks. Get the students to suggest other everyday things that may be
used as analogies for rocks. What other edible samples might they be able to look
at, and what kind of rocks would they be similar to?
2. Discuss the formation history of the samples. Why do some have phenocrysts or
vesicles when others do not?
3. Discuss ways in which the samples may have been modified (e.g. by weathering).
Are the surfaces or the interiors of the samples more likely to be modified? What
would the effect of running water over the samples? Would these weathering
process have happened on Mars or on the Earth? How would they be different on
the different planets?
Chocolate Rocks (Teacher Notes)
1
4. Tie this module in with the Impact Cratering module if you are running it. Would
these samples have formed impact craters when they landed (yes, but only very
small ones)? What kinds of rocks form large impact craters? Why do some rocks
survive travelling through the Earth’s atmosphere to land on the surface when others
don’t?
Field note answers
1. an iron meteorite
2. a chondritic meteorite
3. a meteorite with a fusion crust
4. an igneous rock from an explosive eruption
5 an igneous rock that cooled slowly as a magma
6. an igneous rock that cooled quickly as a magma
= Dairy Milk
= Rocky Road
= Milky Way
= Chocolate Aero
= Chocolate Brownie
= Cadbury’s Mint Crisp
CHOCOLATE ROCKS – RECIPES
Chocolate Brownies:
50g (2oz) cocoa powder
200g (7oz) self-raising flour
250g (8oz) soft margarine
300g (10oz) caster sugar
4 eggs
200g (7oz) glace cherries
100g (4oz) chocolate drops
Pre-heat oven to Gas Mark 4/180C/350F.
Sift cocoa powder and flour.
Cream sugar and margarine together. Beat in eggs, adding a little of the flour mixture
each time. Fold in remaining flour mixture, cherries and chocolate drops.
Spread mixture into a tin and bake for 30-60 mins, checking constantly.
Cool before slicing. Remove cubes as needed for samples, but keep rest intact.
Rocky Road:
400g (14oz) chocolate pieces (melted)
100g (4oz) marshmallows.
Line a small, but deep tin with aluminium foil and pour in about half the melted
chocolate. Add marshmallows, and mix until coated. Pour remaining chocolate over the
marshmallows and spread flat. Refrigerate until cold. Remove some cubes for samples,
but keep rest intact.
For other Rocky Road samples, add fewer marshmallows, cut in half.
Chocolate Rocks (Teacher Notes)
2
CHOCOLATE ROCKS – FIELD NOTES
1. Sample is a solid, dark brown, dense mass, with
no obvious fusion crust.
2. Sample consists mostly of coloured, soft, rounded
to angular blebs, approximately 10mm in diameter,
completely surrounded by a dark brown, uniform
matrix.
3.Sample has homogeneous light brown interior with
a few small vesicles. The exterior is a fairly
regular, dark brown, fusion crust with some
patterning.
4.Sample has a dark brown fusion crust with some
patterning. Interior consists of a brown vesicular
rock. There are no obvious inclusions.
5.Sample largely consists of a dark brown, vesicular
matrix, with two phases present as phenocrysts.
The first is red, rounded, approximately 15mm in
diameter, and makes up ~10% of the sample. The
second is orange, approximately 5mm in diameter,
and makes up about ~5% of the sample.
6.Sample consists mostly of a solid, dark brown,
dense matrix, with approximately 15% green, hard
phenocrysts, and no obvious fusion crust.
Chocolate Rocks (Field Notes)
CHOCOLATE ROCKS – STUDENT NOTES
If you landed on Mars, what would you see?
If you landed on Mars you would see lots of rocks! You would be able to collect rock
samples and study them to find out what kind of rock they are and what happened to
them in the past, in the same way that geologists study rocks to find out more about the
Earth. We can study Mars from the Earth too by using pieces of rocks from Mars that
have fallen to Earth as meteorites.
What are meteorites?
Meteorites are mostly pieces of rock, but some can be made of different materials such
as iron. All meteorites fall to Earth from space, and most come from broken asteroids
which are themselves large lumps of rock and metal.
How can we identify meteorites?
Meteorites come in a variety of types and a wide range of sizes and shapes, but most
meteorites have two things in common:
1) they have a dark brown or black glassy crusts on the outside.
2) they contain enough iron metal to attract a magnet.
The outside crust of the meteorite is produced as the rock is heated by friction when it
comes through the Earth’s atmosphere. This outer part of the meteorite melts and
forms a fusion crust, which often has marks and indentations like thumb prints. The
inside stays cool and is usually light grey to black in colour, but some may be light
brown, or if they have been weathered and rusted, dark brown.
How many meteorites come from Mars?
Scientists have 13 meteorites that have come from Mars. They are thought to be from
Mars because they are much younger than other meteorites, and because gases found
inside them have the same composition as the Martian atmosphere. They are similar to
rocks found on Earth called basalts, which form when molten rock is erupted from a
volcano. This molten rock is called magma (before erupting onto the surface) and lava
(when flowing on the surface after eruption). The magma can change when it is below
the surface. As it cools, crystals can form (called phenocrysts) - the faster the magma
cools, the smaller the crystals are. For larger crystals (up to 1cm) to form, the magma
must cool very slowly. Also, as the magma rises to the surface, the pressure
decreases, releasing bubbles of gas (very similar to the way a bottle or can of Coke
bubbles when you first open it). If these gases are released very quickly, explosive
eruptions can occur (equivalent to opening that Coke can after shaking it up). These
bubbles can leave their imprint on a volcanic rock, leaving it like a frozen sponge with
lots of holes in it. The number of these holes or vesicles, varies greatly between rocks.
Question: Look at the surfaces of the samples. Are they similar to one another? If
these were lava flows on Mars and you were looking down on the surface from above,
would you be able to tell what the rock was made of or looked like inside? On your
mission to Mars you will be landing on the surface. What will you be able to learn about
the rocks when you get there? How will you study them?
Chocolate Rocks (Student Notes and Activity Sheet)
1
CHOCOLATE ROCKS – ACTIVITY SHEET
Aims and objectives
The aim of this experiment is to describe in scientific terms, samples of edible rock
supplied to you by the teacher. These descriptions will be used by others to identify the
samples you observed, and attempt to describe the history of the sample.
Procedure
1. Your group will be given three different rock samples by the teacher. Do not handle
the samples or taste them!
2. Make a detailed sketch of each sample, showing the appearance of the surface and
interior. You may use separate sketches for the surface and interior if you wish.
Label the various features in your sketch, but do not use food terms (i.e. chocolate
or cake).
3. Write two or three sentences describing the physical characteristics of the interior
and exterior of the sample. Make your description as clear and complete as you
possibly can, as others will be using your description to identify a sample later.
4. Nominate one person from your group. This person will tell the rest of the class one
of your descriptions. The other groups will then have to identify that sample from the
examples at the front of the class. Repeat this step for each group in the class. Try
not to describe the same sample as the last group if possible. How descriptive were
you? Was it easy to match each of the descriptions to the right sample?
5. Listen to the teacher read out the descriptions from the "Field notes" sheet provided.
This is how a scientist may describe the same samples you have worked with. Were
you able to identify the sample from these descriptions? How did they differ from
your descriptions of the same sample?
GLOSSARY
Angular – having angles or sharp corners.
Bleb – a small, rounded inclusion.
Chondrite – a type of meteorite, characterised by chondrules.
Chondrules – a small round body found as an inclusion in some meteorites.
Homogeneous – all of the same kind.
Inclusion – a material enclosed within another.
Matrix – material surrounding inclusions or phenocrysts.
Meteorite – a rock that has fallen to Earth from space.
Phase – a homogeneous form of matter, separated from other forms by its surface.
Phenocryst – a large crystal found in some types of rock.
Vesicle – a small hole in a volcanic rock produced by gas bubbles.
Chocolate Rocks (Student Notes and Activity Sheet)
2
CHOCOLATE ROCKS – OBSERVATIONS SHEET
Name .…………………
…………………..
Sketch the interior and exterior of your three samples in the boxes below (large box =
interior, small box = exterior). Label each of your sketches carefully.
Sample One
Sample Two
Sample Three
Give a short, 2-3 sentence description of each sample, without using food terms:
Sample One :…………………..……….………………………………………………………...
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
Sample Two:………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
Sample Three:….…………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
Chocolate Rocks (Student Notes and Activity Sheet)
3
Mission Planning
MISSION PLANNING – TEACHERS NOTES
The Mission Planning module can be used as the concluding part of the whole Mars in
the Classroom project, or as a stand alone practical. It should be noted, however, that a
certain amount of prior knowledge (such as some idea of what the globe of Mars looks
like and a broad understanding of planetary subjects such as impact cratering,
volcanoes and geological vocabulary) is assumed. The project will take about two
hours and is entirely paper based. This is another reason why it is best run after a
series of practicals, so that the students can apply what they have learned
experimentally to an abstract, ‘pen and paper’ exercise.
Activity sheet - aims and benefits
The aim of the module is to design a viable mission to Mars. The equipment, funding
levels and aims are all purely fictitious but the basic questions asked of students are
exactly those that real mission designers have been struggling with for decades. The
problems of cost, public (and political) support, risk analysis and scientific return are all
dealt with, albeit in a simplified manner.
Compromises and difficult decisions must be made in order to make the mission
workable. The students will soon find that they can’t do everything and must learn to
abandon certain goals. This kind of divergent thinking is important because there are
no right or wrong answers. The same aims may be achieved in several ways using
different strategies.
It is suggested that the students work in small groups. This will result in a lot of
‘arguing’ about landing sites, goals and equipment, and teaches students to justify their
decisions to their peers, and to distribute the workload and brainstorm for ideas. The
project can be set for individuals, but weaker students may find some of the concepts
difficult.
Handy hints and procedure
Only the two page Student Notes (Introduction) handout should be given to the
students to begin with so that they are not distracted by the amount of technical data
that comes later. The second sheet of this provides a list of important things they
should use as a reference/checklist throughout mission planning.
When they have read the introductory notes they can be given the two technical notes
handouts and some working copies of the five different activity sheets. When the
mission planning is complete, every group member should fill in the final report
handout, so that each student can justify the choices made in the design process. In
addition, one neat copy of each activity sheet should be made by each group to
represent their finished proposal. A complete list of the eight handouts in this module is:
Student Notes (Introduction)
Technical Notes: (Technical Data)
Activity Sheet (Timeline)
Activity Sheet (Capacity Checklist)
Mission Planning (Teacher Notes)
Technical Notes (Goals and Landing Sites)
Activity Sheet (Power Supply)
Activity Sheet (Mission Costs)
Activity Sheet (Final Report)
1
Assessing the final missions
At the end of the Mission Planning, you can set up a ‘Selection Panel’ or just act as a
selector yourself, and ask each group to make a short presentation to the class
describing their mission and why they think it should fly (see the Summary section for
more details). It is important to be able to roughly asses the quality of each mission for
these presentations, or just from the sheets if you decide not to ask for group
presentations. In order to achieve ‘high marks’ in this project, a certain amount of
imagination must be combined with rigid attention to budgets. Certain criteria HAVE to
be met…
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
The financial budget must not be overspent.
The weight capacity of spacecraft must not be overloaded.
Astronauts must be fed!
The mission must not overrun the time limit.
The Mars base must have sufficient power.
Sufficient scientists/pilots/power must be supplied for the labs in order to achieve
any scientific returns.
In addition, the choice of landing site should be compatible with the scientific aims the
students have set and the science labs they have chosen for the mission. Imaginative
thinking outside the scope of the handouts should also be encouraged. For example,
just because the main expedition aim is too study volcanoes, credit should be given to
students who realise that there are plenty of craters around as well and plan to send an
extra field geologist to study them!
The perfect mission should also aim to minimise the risk of failure. Although no
‘numeric value’ of risk is given, certain comments in the technical notes about ‘risk’
should not be ignored. A mission that uses a high risk landing site, nuclear energy and
a minimum of crew (none of whom are trained as medics!) should be penalised for its
lack of humanity!
An example mission is included with fully completed activity sheets to help both you with
assessment and the students with filling in the sheets during planning.
Things to point out to the students
1. The funding limit is left to the teacher so this must be clearly stated. $50B will be
enough for a ‘bare-bones’ mission, $70B enough for a more developed mission.
Individual groups could be given different levels of funding to contrast missions.
$55B is the recommended standard budget.
2. There is no right or wrong! As long as the various mission constraints (weight, cost
etc.) are met then the mission is ok!
3. You do not need to take all the fuel you need to power the return vehicle. Much of
the fuel can be made when you get to Mars.
4. Surface equipment that is denoted ‘deploys automatically’ can be sent to Mars early
on an Unmanned probe.
Mission Planning (Teacher Notes)
2
5. Nuclear power is much more efficient than solar power but can arouse public ill
feeling (the Cassini mission to Saturn was constantly besieged by anti-nuclear
demonstrations). Student opinion on this subject may be varied and could almost be
made into a mini project of its own!
6. Think of the astronauts as people. They are going to be away a long time and could
experience some extremely difficult conditions and emotions, so it is worth
considering their comfort. Loneliness, boredom and aggression may all hamper the
mission. Students should be encouraged to think of (and record) any other ways to
improve astronauts lifestyles they can. It may help to make one member of each
group a potential astronaut should their mission be chosen – this should get them to
be more careful about how they treat the crew!
7. Public and political support funds missions. Safety, efficiency and astounding
television pictures are all going to be essential for the funding of future missions!
Mission Planning (Teacher Notes)
3
MISSION PLANNING – STUDENT NOTES (INTRODUCTION)
NASA has finally agreed to fund a Manned mission to Mars. It is up to you and the
other members of your group to plan the mission and decide upon the details of how it
will run. You have been allocated a limited budget and given a list of goals the mission
should accomplish.
While planning your mission, ensure that you:
a) spend less than the funding limit
b) accomplish as many of the scientific goals as possible
c) make the mission appeal to the general public
d) keep the risks of mission failure low.
READ THE HANDOUTS CAREFULLY!! This is a complicated and challenging project.
You must work quickly and function as a team. The best mission will be safe,
scientifically useful and encourage public interest.
You will use the technical notes to decide on what spacecraft and experiments to
include and, together with discussion in the group, to decide which landing site and
scientific goals to aim for.
Remember! Don’t just concentrate on the technical factors; safety and public opinion
are both extremely important. A Manned Mars mission in which 3 astronauts died due
to insufficient supplies would be perceived as a disaster no matter how valuable the
scientific findings it returned! In fact, a disastrous mission such as that would most
likely set back Mars exploration 10 years rather than promote it!
Recording your mission strategy
Your group will be given several copies of the activity sheet handouts. Use these to
help plan out rough versions of the mission.
When you have finalised all the details, record your final mission design on neat
versions of the activity sheets and answer the questions in the final report handout.
There will be a lot of rough notes and decisions to make, as well as some simple
calculations. Be very careful not to write anything down on the final report until you are
absolutely sure it is right!
Designing the mission
The basic idea of the mission is simple. An ‘Earth to Mars vehicle’ is used to get to
Mars. The astronauts stay on the surface for a period of time and then fly back to Earth
in a ‘Mars to Earth return vehicle’ which they brought with them. The Earth to Mars
Vehicle must contain everything the astronauts need to live and work on Mars and must
also contain the spacecraft the astronauts use to return to Earth.
You are not limited to one launch (two or more may, in fact, be advantageous).
The details of the type of spacecraft available are in the technical notes handout
Mission Planning (Student Notes)
1
Mission design: Important things to remember
1. The mission should not take more than 30 months FROM START TO FINISH!
In order to make things easier, it is assumed that the journey to or from Mars takes 6
months and the astronauts will stay on the surface either 6,12 or 18 months.
2. Your teacher will tell you how much funding you have. This has to cover
EVERYTHING! The Technical Notes handout will tell you about the different
spacecraft and equipment available.
3. You must provide enough food for the astronauts to live on. They will be away a
minimum of 18 months. Food is heavy and must be taken to Mars onboard the
transfer vehicle (you may use the greenhouse module to grow food for your return to
Earth).
4. You must supply the astronauts with a habitat to live in whilst they are on their way
to Mars and to use as a base on Mars.
5. You must provide a power supply for the base and additional equipment whilst it is
on Mars.
6. You must provide the crew with a return vehicle. It is very bad publicity to leave
people stranded on another planet!!
7. You can send more than one spacecraft. For example, you may wish to send two
medium vehicles rather than a single large one.
8. You do not have to send all the spacecraft at the same time. In particular, the
Unmanned Earth to Mars vehicle can be used to deploy equipment before the
astronauts arrive.
Mission design procedure
1.
Read the scientific and public awareness goals. Decide which goals you
would like to achieve (remember that you can’t achieve all of them!)
2.
Read the landing site list.
accomplish your goals.
3.
Use the technical notes handouts to work out what items of equipment,
spacecraft and astronauts are necessary to complete the goals you have
set.
4.
Using the activity sheets handouts, check you have not spent too much
money, overloaded any of the spacecraft or failed to include any vital
pieces of equipment.
5.
If everything is under budget, look through the technical notes to add
astronauts / equipment / aims to the mission to make it safer or better.
6.
If you are over budget, you had better go back and make some cutbacks!
7.
When you are satisfied with the mission, every group member should fill in
one neat final report form, and a single neat version of each activity sheet
should be produced for the group.
Mission Planning (Student Notes)
Decide which landing site you must visit to
2
MISSION PLANNING – TECHNICAL NOTES (Goals and Landing Sites)
The science and public awareness goals are listed below. The goals you choose will
decide which landing site you visit and what equipment you take on the mission. You
should refer to the landing site list while choosing your goals to see if you can
accomplish more than one goal at the same site!
Scientific Goals
There are several scientific goals that can be accomplished by landing humans on
Mars. You will NOT be able to investigate all of them. If you have completed the full
Mars in the Classroom project, use the knowledge you have gained from the previous
experiments to help you decide which are the most important goals to complete.
1). Large volcano investigation
There are many large volcanoes on Mars. Scientists on earth would like to make
a full study of the geology and wish to return large samples of volcanic material
for analyses. Study of cores taken from volcanic flows is also of prime
importance in this study.
2). Large impact crater investigation
Scientists wish to study the walls of large impact craters on Mars to look for
geological features. They also want to study the ejecta patterns and floors of the
craters. Laboratory investigation of samples from these areas is also required.
3). Water in Mars’ history investigation
There is strong evidence to suggest water existed on the surface of Mars. By
looking at the morphology of surface features and sampling the rocks, scientists
hope to discover when and where the water disappeared to and to discover
whether there were once lakes, rivers or oceans.
4). Ancient life investigation
In order to investigate the possibility of ancient life on Mars, scientists wish to
take samples from as large an area of Mars as possible and study them in a
laboratory to search for evidence of ancient microfossils. Note that evidence for
ancient life is more likely to be found in areas that may once have had large
bodies of water.
5). Polar icecap investigation.
The north and south poles of Mars both have variable icecaps. Scientists would
like to sample these icecaps and to record how they develop throughout the year.
They may also contain a lot of information about Mars’ climatic history.
6). Mars terraforming experiment.
Scientists believe that by adding certain gases to the Martian atmosphere, the
temperature could be warmed enough for human beings to eventually be able to
walk on the surface. This experiment uses a machine to generate these gases
from Martian rock to test how well it would work.
Mission Planning (Technical Notes)
1
Public Awareness Goals
Further funding for Mars exploration depends upon this mission being a success. To
aid the public appreciation of this mission, certain ‘publicity stunts’ have been identified
that, although secondary to the scientific goals, may be important (similar to the famous
‘golf-shot’ on the moon) to make the event memorable to the world public.
1). Monument
A large but lightweight monument to be placed in a prominent position on the
surface, immortalising human achievements.
You’ll have to choose the
monument design.
2). Ascent of Olympus Mons
Several of the crew climb the largest volcano in the solar system. A landmark for
human exploration (may be combined with a scientific goal).
3). Expedition to the edge of Valles Marineris
Spectacular views of a canyon, four times deeper and six times wider than the
Grand Canyon. Guaranteed to capture the public imagination (may be combined
with a scientific goal).
4). Recovery of a past Martian probe
Recovery of a part of a previous mission would be a first for Mars Exploration
(note: this may also have some scientific worth for assessing lifetimes of probes
to Mars).
5). Exploration of New areas
Two probes have landed near the Ares Vallis region recently (Viking 1 and
Pathfinder). The public may react favourably to a mission to an area that looks
completely different.
Mission Planning (Technical Notes)
2
Landing Sites
You are given a choice of 3 landing sites. Each is given a rating of risk for landing a
craft, availability of solar energy, details of interesting features nearby and a description
of the geology of the local area.
1). Ares Vallis
Location.
Landing Risk.
Solar Energy possible?
Geology of local area.
Features within 100km
Features within 2000km
15oN, 35oW
Low
Yes, near equator so good supply of sunlight.
Outflow channel, thought to have been caused by
catastrophic flood of water.
Some evidence for sedimentary rocks/sand/conglomerates.
Mars pathfinder landing site.
Some small impact craters.
Large canyons.
Valles Marineris (huge canyon 25 times bigger than the
Grand Canyon)
Some medium impact craters.
2). Vastitas Borealis
Location.
Landing Risk.
Solar Energy possible?
Geology of local area.
Features within 100km
Features within 2000km
70oN, 0oW
High
No, weak sunlight due to being near north pole
Unknown, probably old volcanic bedrock with some
dust/sand covering
Some small impact craters
Borders of northern icecaps
One large impact crater
Some medium impact craters
Northern icecaps
3). Jovis Tholus
Location.
Landing Risk.
Solar Energy possible?
Geology of local area.
Features within 100km
Features within 2000km
Mission Planning (Technical Notes)
10oN, 120oW
Medium
Yes, near equator so good supply of sunlight
On Tharsis volcanic rise. Volcanic bedrock
Small volcanoes and other volcanic flows
Olympus Mons (biggest volcano in solar system)
Three other huge volcanoes
Volcanic channels
Few small impact craters
3
MISSION PLANNING – TECHNICAL NOTES (TECHNICAL DATA)
The following sheets provide you with a list of the items you can choose from in order to
plan your mission. Go through each table/list carefully before selecting your mission
requirements. You will have to select the types and numbers of spacecraft, equipment
and astronauts to use.
Make sure that:
- your spacecraft can carry everything you take
- you take all of the equipment needed to achieve your science and public
awareness goals
- you have enough power and properly trained astronauts to use the
equipment you choose
- you do not go over you budget!
Use rough copies of the activity sheets to help you in this, and fill them in as you select
your items to make certain you don’t miss anything out (there are some essential items
for all missions no matter what goals you choose). You may find that you will go over
your weight or money budget in your first few attempts. In this case, you will have to cut
back on something and this could make it difficult to achieve all of your science or public
awareness goals. Decide within your group exactly what it is that should be cut back
and why.
Once you have selected everything and satisfied all of the weight and money budgets,
your group should fill out one version of each activity sheet to outline your mission, and
every group member should fill in a neat version of the final report activity sheet.
Mission Planning (Technical Data)
1
Transfer Vehicles
All trips to Mars are assumed to take 6 months, no matter which vehicles you choose to
use. Things to remember when choosing your vehicles:
-
-
-
You may decide to make several launches or just one. Remember that the launch
vehicle you use will determine how much weight you can get to Mars and so be sure
you choose sensibly.
The Unmanned vehicle lands automatically without risk of failure.
The total weight of equipment you send on the Earth to Mars Vehicle must not be
greater than its carrying capacity.
The return vehicles must be carried in the Earth to Mars vehicle and therefore take
up some of the capacity.
The Mars to Earth return vehicles are unfuelled. You can send extra fuel on a
launcher for the return journey, or produce it on the surface of Mars (see technical
data, Equipment)
The Unmanned “Dunkin” craft can be used to transport equipment to the surface
ahead of the Manned mission or can be launched at the same time as other
vehicles.
Earth to Mars Vehicles
Name of vehicle
Maximum Earth to Mars surface
payload
Cost to launch with full
payload
“Heather” heavy launcher
60 tons
$20B
“Martin” medium launch
vehicle
30 tons
$12B
“Dunkin” Unmanned launch
vehicle
8 tons
$7B
Mars to Earth Vehicles
Vehicle type and name
Fuel needed for
return journey
Weight of
vehicle
Carrying
capacity
Vehicle cost
“Eagle” Mars surface to
Earth return vehicle
70 tons
25 tons not
including fuel or
cargo
9 tons
$8B
“Hydra” Mars surface to
Earth return vehicle
35 tons
15 tons not
including fuel or
cargo
5 tons
$5B
Mission Planning (Technical Data)
2
Transfer Vehicle Equipment
The following items may all be fitted inside the Earth-Mars or Mars-Earth vehicle.
Things to note when choosing the Transfer Vehicle Equipment:
-
One habitat module is essential for any Manned Earth to Mars Lander.
Some of this equipment is generally to make the astronauts more comfortable and is
therefore not essential.
Description
Weight
Cost
Notes
Crew habitatsmall
3 tons
$2B
Provides sleeping/recreation quarters for up to 5
astronauts. Acts as base on Mars but requires
10kW of power on the surface.
Crew habitatlarge
5 tons
$3B
Provides sleeping/recreation quarters for up to 10
astronauts. Acts as base on Mars but requires
15kW of power on the surface.
Entertainment
system
0
$1B
Fuel supplies
Variable
0
Exercise area
1 tons
$2B
Artificial
gravity
module
2 tons
Mission Planning (Technical Data)
$5B
Music/Video/Computer/Email for the astronauts to
prevent boredom
Spare fuel can be taken for powering rovers or for
supplying the return vehicle with fuel for its return
to Earth. The fuel is very cheap and assumed to
cost nothing but it will take up a large amount of
carrying capacity .
Ensures astronauts are fit and well when they
reach Mars. Without this they may be unable to
walk for the first few months until they have built up
muscle
By attaching a weight on a long cable to the
spacecraft and spinning the whole system, some
gravity can be generated in the transfer vehicle.
This means there is no need for an exercise area
and the crew will be much more effective when
they arrive at Mars
3
Surface Equipment (Rovers)
ALL SURFACE EQUIPMENT must all be stowed in the transfer vehicle if selected for
the mission. Things to note when selecting the rovers:
-
One item marked with a * may be operated by one crewmember with the appropriate
training (see Astronauts Technical Notes)
Rovers are not essential, Some geology can be done in the local area if they are not
used.
Description
“Terrance” Shortrange Rover*
Weight
1 ton
Cost
$1B
“Phillip” Longrange Rover*
3 tons
$5B
“Kenny” Robotic
Rover
1 ton
$5B
Mission Planning (Technical Data)
Notes
Can travel up to 100km over 6months using solar
power. Can carry one astronaut. Requires a
geologist to collect samples but cannot be used for
longer excursions, as it has no accommodation facility.
Has basic coring/sample collection facilities and also
carries cameras etc.
Can return 2 tons of samples over 6 months.
Can travel up to 2000 km.
Accommodation for up to 2 astronauts, one of whom
must be a geologist to collect samples.
Has storage for food and drink for 2 astronauts for 6
months.
Has basic coring/sample collection facilities and also
carries cameras etc.
Requires 1 ton of fuel for 6 months operation.
Can return 3 tons of samples over 6 months.
Solar powered, can travel up to 2000km in 6month
period and perform limited science.
Can be deployed automatically from Manned or
Unmanned Lander.
If sent ahead of Manned vehicle, it can scout for the
best landing site in the area. This makes landing of the
Manned vehicle safe in any area.
Can collect and return small samples from the local
area (100km).
Less risky than human driven vehicles.
4
Surface Equipment
All surface equipment MUST be stowed in the transfer vehicle if selected for the
mission. Things to note when selecting surface equipment:
-
-
Two items marked * may be operated by one Astronaut with appropriate training.
Some of these items are used to help complete certain specific goals (e.g. the
monument or terraforming experiment) while others are more general (such as the
geology laboratory or the fuel production facility).
You must choose which of the items are most useful to the mission and are best
suited to perform the science you wish to do.
Description
Weight
Cost
Notes
Fuel Production
Facility
2 tons
$2B
Can deploy automatically from Unmanned or Manned lander.
Can produce and store 25 tons of fuel in six months.
Requires 5kW of power.
Greenhouse/
Water Facility*
3 tons
$2B
Can produce and store 8 tons of food and water in six months
Requires 10kW of power and a crewmember trained as a
technical scientist.
Geology
Laboratory*
2 tons
$3B
Icecap
Laboratory*
2 tons
$3B
Fossil
Laboratory*
2 tons
$3B
Medical Station
1 ton
$2B
Monument
1 ton
$1B
A monument dedicated to human exploration of the solar
system.
Terraforming
Experiment*
2 tons
$1B
Performs terraforming experiment. Can be set up anywhere on
the surface but requires 10kW of power and a crewmember
trained as a technical scientist.
Mission Planning (Technical Data)
Used to perform laboratory analysis of rocks brought back by
rovers.
Requires 5kW of power and a crewmember trained as a
technical scientist.
Used to make laboratory analysis of icecap samples brought
back by rovers.
Requires 5kW of power and a crewmember trained as a
technical scientist.
A laboratory used to search for life in samples returned by the
rovers.
Requires 5kW of power and a crewmember trained as a
technical scientist.
Provides emergency medical aid.
Requires 5kW of power and a crewmember trained as a
technical scientist or a medic.
5
Base Power Supply
Things to note when choosing your base power supply:
-
When the Earth to Mars vehicle has touched down it will need power to run the
Habitat modules and the scientific experiments.
You may choose as many power supply units as you wish and they may be sent with
the Manned mission or ahead, on an Unmanned vehicle.
Solar power array
1 ton
$1B
Nuclear power
1 ton
$3B
Deploys automatically.
Each array provides 25 kW of power.
Deploys automatically.
Provides 200kW of power.
May prove unpopular with public.
May be risky if sent in same vehicle as crew.
Astronauts
Astronauts are assumed to weigh nothing. However, they do require a large amount of
food, water and clothes.
-
For each six months the astronauts are away they must be supplied with 1 ton of
food/water/clothing PER ASTRONAUT.
Each six months supply of astronaut food/water/clothing is assumed to cost $0.5B.
This will cover up to 5 astronauts (so, if you send 10 astronauts you must pay $1B
for their consumables).
You must decide how many astronauts you are going to take and what training they will
have. You may choose as many of each of the following as you wish as long as you
stay in budget and the food/water they need does not exceed the weight limits of the
spacecraft.
1). Pilot
The pilot is an essential part of the mission. You must have at least one pilot.
Two pilots would be better in case one becomes ill/injured. The pilot can drive rovers
on the surface and repair machines, thus reducing the risk of the mission.
2). Field geologist scientist
At least one geologist is essential if you want to collect samples when driving
rovers to distant parts of Mars. They will be an essential part of the mission if you are
intending to study geology of any kind.
3). Medical expert scientist
The medical expert is non-essential but will decrease the risk associated with the
mission. This will be vital if you have only a small crew.
Mission Planning (Technical Data)
6
4). Technical scientist
This scientist can operate laboratory equipment and other machines. As an
expert in technical matters, he/she will dramatically reduce the risk of breakdowns of
equipment.
Things to note about astronaut selection:
-
If you wish, you may train the astronauts in skills they do not have (cross-training).
This costs $0.5B per astronaut. For example you could train the pilot in geology so
that he could analyse rock samples or train the geologist in medicine to improve
safety.
-
You must decide if you will have a commander for the mission or if it will be run
democratically. An overall commander makes the mission run more smoothly but a
commander may NOT be cross-trained (he is too busy sorting things out to worry
about more than his chosen field). Remember, odd numbers mean less arguments
if the mission is run democratically!
-
Note that one astronaut may get very lonely if he/she is supposed to complete the
mission alone. The same applies with two astronauts (they may get sick of the sight
of each other!). It is best to opt for at least four astronauts.
-
The amount and type of astronauts you choose will affect what equipment you can
take to Mars. For example, a technical scientist can only operate two pieces of
research equipment on the surface. If you have more research equipment than that,
but no-one trained to use it, you will have wasted vital resources.
Mission Planning (Technical Data)
7
MISSION PLANNING – ACTIVITY SHEET (TIME LINE)
In the table, indicate what will be happen at each stage in the mission.
example sheet for help in how to fill the table in.
See the
Time
(months)
Mission
Phase
Stored
Fuel
0
Mission
start
0 to 6
Phase 1
(6 months)
6
End of
Phase1
6-12
Phase 2
(6 months)
12
End of
Phase 2
12-18
Phase 3
(6 months)
18
End of
Phase 3
18-24
Phase 4
24
End of
Phase 4
24-30
Phase 5
30
End of
Phase 5
Mission Planning (Activity Sheets)
Description of launches, research, samples
collected, aims accomplished
Stored
Food
1
MISSION PLANNING – ACTIVITY SHEET (POWER SUPPLY)
Make sure that the power supply for the Mars Base is sufficient for all the equipment
you have on the surface. Use the example sheet to help fill this in if you need to.
Power Supply 1. Type……………………. Power Output…………….………....kW
Power Supply 2. Type……………………. Power Output…………….………....kW
Power Supply 3. Type……………………. Power Output…………….………....kW
Power Supply 4. Type……………………. Power Output…………….………....kW
Total power available …………………….kW
Habitat type…………………………………….. Power used……………………kW
Equipment item 1………………………………. Power used……………………kW
Equipment item 2………………………………. Power used……………………kW
Equipment item 3………………………………. Power used……………………kW
Equipment item 4………………………………. Power used……………………kW
Equipment item 5………………………………. Power used……………………kW
Equipment item 6………………………………. Power used……………………kW
Equipment item 7………………………………. Power used……………………kW
Total power used …………………….kW
Mission Planning (Activity Sheets)
2
MISSION PLANNING – ACTIVITY SHEET (MISSION COSTS)
Use these sheets to calculate the total cost of your mission and make sure that you
haven’t overspent! Use the example sheets to help you fill these in if needed.
Earth to Mars Spacecraft
Use this sheet to write down the type and cost of all the Transfer/Lander Spacecraft you
plan to use in your mission.
Spacecraft 1……………………………………………
Cost ………..$B
Spacecraft 2……………………………………………
Cost ………..$B
Spacecraft 3……………………………………………
Cost ………..$B
Spacecraft 4……………………………………………
Cost ………..$B
Total cost of Earth to Mars Spacecraft…………………………$B
Mars to Earth Return Spacecraft
Use this form to write down the type and cost of all the Mars Return Spacecraft you plan
to use.
Spacecraft 1……………………………………………
Cost ………..$B
Spacecraft 2……………………………………………
Cost ………..$B
Total cost of Earth to Mars Spacecraft…………………………$B
Mission Planning (Activity Sheets)
3
Earth to Mars Vehicle Equipment
Use this sheet to write down the type and cost of all the equipment you plan to put on
the Earth to Mars vehicle. This should include:
-
any rovers, laboratories and other equipment you plan to put on the Mars surface
(extra fuel is free)
any equipment such as the exercise area or the artificial gravity module for use on
board the Earth to Mars Spacecraft.
and this must include a habitat for each Manned Mars Lander spacecraft and must
include a power supply for the Mars base.
Use the example sheets to show you how to fill this in.
Item 1…………………………………………………….. Cost ……………$B
Item 2…………………………………………………….. Cost ……………$B
Item 3…………………………………………………….. Cost ……………$B
Item 4…………………………………………………….. Cost ……………$B
Item 5…………………………………………………….. Cost ……………$B
Item 6…………………………………………………….. Cost ……………$B
Item 7…………………………………………………….. Cost ……………$B
Item 8…………………………………………………….. Cost ……………$B
Item 9…………………………………………………….. Cost ……………$B
Item 10…………………………………………………….. Cost ……………$B
Item 11…………………………………………………….. Cost ……………$B
Item 12…………………………………………………….. Cost ……………$B
Item 13…………………………………………………….. Cost ……………$B
Item 14…………………………………………………….. Cost ……………$B
Item 15…………………………………………………….. Cost ……………$B
Total cost of equipment……………………………$B
Mission Planning (Activity Sheets)
4
Astronauts
You should write down the type and cost of training of all the astronauts you plan to
send. Also write down how long the astronauts will require food from Earth and the cost
of this food.
Astronaut 1 ………………………… Cross trained in ?…………………………..
Astronaut 2 ………………………… Cross trained in ?…………………………..
Astronaut 3 ………………………… Cross trained in ?…………………………..
Astronaut 4 ………………………… Cross trained in ?…………………………..
Astronaut 5 ………………………… Cross trained in ?…………………………..
Astronaut 6 ………………………… Cross trained in ?…………………………..
Astronaut 7 ………………………… Cross trained in ?…………………………..
Astronaut 8 ………………………… Cross trained in ?…………………………..
Astronaut 9 ………………………… Cross trained in ?…………………………..
Astronaut 10 ……………………….. Cross trained in ?…………………………..
Total cost of cross training…………$B
Amount of time stored food supplies required?…………………………………….
Cost of food supplies……………….. $B
Total cost for astronauts………………………………….$B
______________________________________________________________________
TOTAL MISSION COSTS
Now add up the total cost of the mission and make sure it is not greater than the
initial funding amount!
Cost of astronauts and stored supplies..………………………$B
Cost of Earth to Mars vehicle………………….……………$B
Cost of Mars to Earth return vehicle.……………………….$B
Cost of equipment..………………………………………………$B
TOTAL MISSION COST ……………………….$B
______________________________________________________________________
Mission Planning (Activity Sheets)
5
MISSION PLANNING – ACTIVITY SHEET (CAPACITY CHECKLIST)
Use this checklist to make sure you have not overloaded the vehicles (you can use two
or more copies of this sheet if there is more than one Earth-Mars transfer). Refer to the
example sheet if you need help filling this out.
Earth to Mars Transfer Vehicle
Name of spacecraft……………………………………………………………..
Launch time (e.g. start of phase 1)……………………………………………
Capacity…………………………tons
How many astronauts on board?…………………………………………….
Total amount of stored food required………………………
…………………tons
Type of habitat (if present)…………………………………..
………..………..tons
Mars to Earth Return vehicle………………………………..
(unfuelled and empty if present)
…………………tons
Power supply type (if present)……………………………….
..………………...tons
Item 1…………………………………………………………..
………………….tons
Item 2…………………………………………………………..
………………….tons
Item 3…………………………………………………………..
………………….tons
Item 4…………………………………………………………..
………………….tons
Item 5…………………………………………………………..
………………….tons
Item 6…………………………………………………………..
………………….tons
Item 7…………………………………………………………..
………………….tons
Item 8…………………………………………………………..
………………….tons
Item 9…………………………………………………………..
………………….tons
Item 10 ………………………………………………………..
………………....tons
Stored fuel (if any)………………………… tons
Total weight carried in spacecraft……………..tons
Mission Planning (Activity Sheets)
6
Mars to Earth Return Spacecraft
Use this checklist to make sure you have not overloaded the return vehicle (you can use
two or more copies of this sheet if there is more than one Mars-Earth transfer). Refer to
the example sheet if you need help to fill this in.
Name of spacecraft……………………………………………………………..
Launch time (e.g. start of phase 5)……………………………………………
Capacity…………………………tons
How many astronauts on board?…………………………………………….
Total amount of stored food required…………………tons
Amount of samples being returned to Earth…………………tons
Other equipment carried (e.g. entertainment system) ……………………tons
Total weight carried in Spacecraft……………………..tons
Mission Planning (Activity Sheets)
7
MISSION PLANNING – ACTIVITY SHEET (FINAL REPORT)
Fill in these sheets with the details of your final mission plan. Once you have finalised
the mission, every member of the group should fill in one of these reports. Refer to the
example sheet to show you how to fill this in if necessary.
Group Name…………………………………………………………………………….………...
Which landing site have you selected?
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
Which scientific goals do you think you can accomplish at this site?
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
What made you choose this site and goals?
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
Are there any non-scientific aspects to your mission to capture public awareness?
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
Mission Planning (Activity Sheets)
8
What equipment (laboratories, rovers etc) are you including in your mission to
accomplish these goals and why these specifically?
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
……………………………………………………………………………………………...………
Now make a neat copy of the mission timeline each, and one neat copy of the
mission costs, spacecraft capacity and power checklists for the mission.
Mission Planning (Activity Sheets)
9
MISSION PLANNING – ACTIVITY SHEET (TIME LINE) EXAMPLE
In the table, indicate what will be happen at each stage in the mission.
example sheet for help in how to fill the table in.
See the
Time
(months)
Mission
Phase
Stored
Fuel
0
Mission
start
Description of launches, research, samples
collected, aims accomplished
LAUNCH DUNKIN VEHICLE WITH 3 SOLAR
ARRAYS, KENNY ROVER AND SPARE FUEL
(2TONS) AND FOOD(2TONS).
Stored
Food
DUNKIN VEHICLE IN TRANSIT.
0 to 6
Phase 1
(6 months)
6
End of
Phase1
6-12
Phase 2
(6 months)
12
End of
Phase 2
12-18
Phase 3
(6 months)
18
End of
Phase 3
MANNED VEHICLE LANDS. LABORATORY
AND GREENHOUSE FACILITIES DEPLOYED.
18-24
Phase 4
GEOLOGICAL SAMPLING OF LOCAL AREA.
FOOD PRODUCED. TERRAFORMING
EXPERIMENT RUN.
24
End of
Phase 4
24-30
Phase 5
CREW USE EXERCISE AREA TO KEEP FIT.
FUEL PRODUCED AT BASE FOR NEXT
MISSION TO USE.
30
End of
Phase 5
EAGLE RETURN VEHICLE LANDS WITH CREW
AND SAMPLES
DUNKIN VEHICLES LANDS. DEPLOYS
ARRAYS, FUEL FACILITY AND ROVER.
2
0
2
25
16
50
4
5
4
30
KENNY ROVER SURVEYS LANDING SITE TO
ENSURE SAFETY. FUEL FACILITY PRODUCES
FUEL.
HEATHER LAUNCH VEHICLE WITH CREW
AND REMAINING EQUIPEMENT IS LAUNCHED
WHEN FUEL FACILITY IS SEEN TO BE
OPERATING CORRECTLY.
CREW IN TRANSIT. GEOLOGY OF LOCAL
AREA SURVEYED BY KENNY ROVER. MORE
FUEL PRODUCED
RETURN VEHICLE READIED AND LAUNCHED
WITH LIMITED SAMPLES AND ENOUGH FOOD
FOR HOMEWARD JOURNEY
Mission Planning (Activity Sheet Examples)
1
MISSION PLANNING – ACTIVITY SHEET (POWER SUPPLY) EXAMPLE
Make sure that the power supply for the Mars Base is sufficient for all the equipment
you have on the surface. Use the example sheet to help fill this in if you need to.
Power Supply 1. Type..SOLAR ARRAY.. Power Output…………25……….....kW
Power Supply 2. Type..SOLAR ARRAY.. Power Output…………25……….....kW
Power Supply 3. Type..SOLAR ARRAY.. Power Output…………25……….....kW
Power Supply 4. Type……………………. Power Output…………….………....kW
Total power available ………75………….kW
Habitat type…… LARGE …………………………
Power used………15…………kW
Equipment item 1… MEDICAL STATION……….
Power used………5…..………kW
Equipment item 2 TERRAFORM EXPERIMENT..
Power used………10…………kW
Equipment item 3… GEOLOGY LAB ……………
Power used………5…..………kW
Equipment item 4 FUEL PRODUCTION FACILITY
Power used………5..…………kW
Equipment item 5……………………………….
Power used……………………kW
Equipment item 6……………………………….
Power used……………………kW
Equipment item 7……………………………….
Power used……………………kW
Total power used …… 40 ….…….kW
Mission Planning (Activity Sheet Examples)
2
MISSION PLANNING – ACTIVITY SHEET (MISSION COSTS) EXAMPLE
Use these sheets to calculate the total cost of your mission and make sure that you
haven’t overspent! Use the example sheets to help you fill these in if needed.
Earth to Mars Spacecraft
Use this sheet to write down the type and cost of all the Transfer/Lander Spacecraft you
plan to use in your mission.
Spacecraft 1..HEATHER HEAVY LAUNCH VEHICLE Cost …20….$B
Spacecraft 2..DUNKIN UNMANNED VEHICLE……
Cost …7…...$B
Spacecraft 3……………………………………………
Cost ………..$B
Spacecraft 4……………………………………………
Cost ………..$B
Total cost of Earth to Mars Spacecraft…………27……………$B
Mars to Earth Return Spacecraft
Use this form to write down the type and cost of all the Mars Return Spacecraft you plan
to use.
Spacecraft 1 EAGLE RETURN VEHICLE……..……
Cost …8…...$B
Spacecraft 2……………………………………………
Cost ………..$B
Total cost of Earth to Mars Spacecraft……………8…………$B
Mission Planning (Activity Sheet Examples)
3
Earth to Mars Vehicle Equipment
Use this sheet to write down the type and cost of all the equipment you plan to put on
the Earth to Mars vehicle. This should include:
-
any rovers, laboratories and other equipment you plan to put on the Mars surface
(extra fuel is free)
any equipment such as the exercise area or the artificial gravity module for use on
board the Earth to Mars Spacecraft.
and this must include a habitat for each Manned Mars Lander spacecraft and must
include a power supply for the Mars base.
Use the example sheets to show you how to fill this in.
Item 1……MEDICAL STATION……………………..
Cost ……..…2…$B
Item 2……TERRAFORMING EXPERIMENT………..
Cost …..……1…$B
Item 3……GREENHOUSE FACILITY………………..
Cost ….….…2…$B
Item 4……ARTIFICIAL GRAVITY MODULE………..
Cost …….…5…$B
Item 5……ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM……..……..
Cost ……..…1…$B
Item 6……LARGE CREW HABITAT…….…………..
Cost …..……3…$B
Item 7……TERRANCE ROVER…………..…………..
Cost ……..…1…$B
Item 8……GEOLOGY LABORATORY……………….. Cost …..……3…$B
Item 9……SOLAR POWER ARRAY……..….……….. Cost ..………1…$B
Item 10..…SOLAR POWER ARRAY……..….……….. Cost ..………1…$B
Item 11..…SOLAR POWER ARRAY……..….……….. Cost ..………1…$B
Item 12..…SOLAR POWER ARRAY……..….……….. Cost ..………1…$B
Item 13..…KENNY ROVER…………..………..….….
Cost ……..…5…$B
Item 14…..RETURN VEHICLE EXERCISE AREA….
Cost ……..…2…$B
Item 15…………………………………………………….. Cost ……………$B
29………………$B
Total cost of equipment…………29
29
Mission Planning (Activity Sheet Examples)
4
Astronauts
You should write down the type and cost of training of all the astronauts you plan to
send. Also write down how long the astronauts will require food from Earth and the cost
of this food.
Astronaut 1 ……PILOT…….……… Cross trained in ?……LEADER…..……...
Astronaut 2 ……PILOT…….……… Cross trained in ?……MEDIC……..……...
Astronaut 3 ……MEDIC…….……… Cross trained in ?……PILOT……..……...
Astronaut 4 ……GEOLOGIST…..… Cross trained in ?……MEDIC……..……...
Astronaut 5 .TECHNICAL SCIENTIST Cross trained in ?……MEDIC……..……...
Astronaut 6 .TECHNICAL SCIENTIST Cross trained in ?……GEOLOGIST……...
Astronaut 7 ………………………… Cross trained in ?…………………………..
Astronaut 8 ………………………… Cross trained in ?…………………………..
Astronaut 9 ………………………… Cross trained in ?…………………………..
Astronaut 10 …………….…………. Cross trained in ?…………………………..
Total cost of cross training…2.5…$B
Amount of time stored food supplies required?…………18 MONTHS……….
Cost of food supplies………3…….. $B
Total cost for astronauts…………………5.5…………….$B
______________________________________________________________________
TOTAL MISSION COSTS
Now add up the total cost of the mission and make sure it is not greater than the
initial funding amount!
Cost of astronauts and stored supplies..…..…5.5…………$B
Cost of Earth to Mars vehicle…………………27………$B
Cost of Mars to Earth return vehicle.…………8………...$B
Cost of equipment..…………………..………29……………$B
TOTAL MISSION COST ………….………69.5…….$B
______________________________________________________________________
Mission Planning (Activity Sheet Examples)
5
MISSION PLANNING – ACTIVITY SHEET (CAPACITY CHECKLIST)
EXAMPLE
Use this checklist to make sure you have not overloaded the vehicles (you can use two
or more copies of this sheet if there is more than one Earth-Mars transfer). Refer to the
example sheet if you need help filling this out.
Earth to Mars Transfer Vehicle
Name of spacecraft… DUNKIN UNMANNED LANDER …………..
Launch time (e.g. start of phase 1)… START OF PHASE ONE………
Capacity…8……tons
How many astronauts on board?……………………………………….
Total amount of stored food required….…………………..……
………………tons
Type of habitat (if present)…….……………………………..…..
………….…...tons
Mars to Earth Return vehicle…………………….……………….
(unfuelled and empty if present)
………………tons
Power supply type (if present)……………………………….
..………………...tons
Item 1…………SOLAR POWER ARRAY…………..……...
…………1…….tons
Item 2…………SOLAR POWER ARRAY…………..……...
…………1…….tons
Item 3…………SOLAR POWER ARRAY…………..……...
…………1…….tons
Item 4…………FUEL PRODUCTION FACILITY……....…...
…………2…….tons
Item 5…………KENNY ROVER………………………...…..
…………1…….tons
Item 6…………SPARE FOOD…………..…..……………….
…………2…….tons
Item 7…………………………………………………………..
………………….tons
Item 8…………………………………………………………..
………………….tons
Item 9…………………………………………………………..
………………….tons
Item 10 ………………………………………………………..
………………....tons
Stored fuel (if any)………………………… tons
Total weight carried in Spacecraft……8……..tons
Mission Planning (Activity Sheet Examples)
6
MISSION PLANNING – ACTIVITY SHEET (CAPACITY CHECKLIST)
EXAMPLE
Use this checklist to make sure you have not overloaded the vehicles (you can use two
or more copies of this sheet if there is more than one Earth-Mars transfer). Refer to the
example sheet if you need help filling this out.
Earth to Mars Transfer Vehicle
Name of spacecraft… HEATHER HEAVY LAUNCH VEHICLE …………..
Launch time (e.g. start of phase 1)… START OF PHASE THREE………
Capacity…60……tons
How many astronauts on board?………………… 6…………………….
Total amount of stored food required…18 MONTHS…………
………18……tons
Type of habitat (if present)……LARGE……………………..…..
………..5…...tons
Mars to Earth Return vehicle…………EAGLE………………….
(unfuelled and empty if present)
…..…25….…tons
Power supply type (if present)……………………………….
..………………...tons
Item 1…………MEDICAL STATION………………………..
…………1…….tons
Item 2…………TERRAFORM EXPERIMENT……….……..
…………2…….tons
Item 3…………EXTRA STORED FOOD………………..…..
…………2…….tons
Item 4…………ARTIFICIAL GRAVITY MODULE……..…...
…………2…….tons
Item 5…………ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM………….…..
…………0…….tons
Item 6…………TERRANCE ROVER…………..…..………..
…………1…….tons
Item 7…………GEOLOGY LABORATORY………..………..
…………2…….tons
Item 8………… RETURN VEHICLE EXERCISE AREA…….
…………2…….tons
Item 9…………………………………………………………..
………………….tons
Item 10 ………………………………………………………..
………………....tons
Stored fuel (if any)………………………… tons
Total weight carried in Spacecraft……60……..tons
Mission Planning (Activity Sheet Examples)
7
Mars to Earth Return Spacecraft
Use this checklist to make sure you have not overloaded the return vehicle (you can use
two or more copies of this sheet if there is more than one Mars-Earth transfer). Refer to
the example sheet if you need help to fill this in.
Name of spacecraft…………… EAGLE ……………………………………..
Launch time (e.g. start of phase 5)…………START OF PHASE 5…………………
Capacity………9………………tons
How many astronauts on board?…………………… 6…………………….
Total amount of stored food required………6………tons
Amount of samples being returned to Earth………1………tons
Other equipment carried (e.g. entertainment system) ………2…………tons
Total weight carried in Spacecraft………9…………..tons
Mission Planning (Activity Sheet Examples)
8
MISSION PLANNING – ACTIVITY SHEET (FINAL REPORT) EXAMPLE
Fill in these sheets with the details of your final mission plan. Once you have finalised
the mission, every member of the group should fill in one of these reports. Refer to the
example sheet to show you how to fill this in if necessary.
Group Name………… EXAMPLE MISSION………………………………………………...
Which landing site have you selected?
………… ARES VALLIS………………………………………………………………………
Which scientific goals do you think you can accomplish at this site?
WE WILL BE ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH THE WATER IN MARS’ HISTORY GOAL..….…
AND ACCOMPLISH THE TERRAFORMING EXPERIMENT. WE WILL ALSO …………
RECOVER A PAST MARTIAN PROBE (MARS PATHFINDER) …………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
What made you choose this site and goals?
SAFETY IS THE PRIME CONCERN OF THIS MISSION. THIS IS THE SAFEST……....
LANDING SITE AND WE CAN USE SOLAR POWER BECAUSE IT IS NEAR THE……
EQUATOR (THIS IS ALSO SAFER THAN NUCLEAR POWER) ……………….……..…
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
Are there any non-scientific aspects to your mission to capture public awareness?
THIS LANDING SITE IS CLOSE TO THE PATHFINDER SITE SO WE CAN RETURN A
PAST MISSION. THIS IS ALSO A SCIENTIFIC GOAL. …………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
Mission Planning (Activity Sheet Examples)
9
What equipment (laboratories, rovers etc) are you including in your mission to
accomplish these goals and why these specifically?
WE HAVE INCLUDED A GEOLOGY LABORATORY TO LOOK AT THE SAMPLES ……..
COLLECTED TO HELP WITH THE WATER IN MARS’ HISTORY MISSION GOAL. WE..
HAVE ALSO INCLUDED THE TERRAFORMING EXPERIMENT. THE UNMANNED…….
KENNY ROVER SURVEYS THE SITE TO MAKE SURE IT IS SAFE BEFORE LANDING
ASTRONAUTS. THE FUEL FOR THE HOMEWARD JOURNEY IS ALL PRODUCED…….
BEFORE THE ASTRONAUTS ARE LAUNCHED TO ENSURE SAFETY. A SPARE……..
SOLAR ARRAY IS INCLUDED IN CASE ONE BREAKS DOWN. EXERCISE AND ANTIGRAVITY MODULES ARE USED IN THE SPACECRAFT TO MAKE SURE THE………….
ASTRONAUTS ARE AS HEALTHY AS POSSIBLE. THIS IS NECESSARY BECAUSE..
THEY ARE ONLY STAYING ON THE SURFACE A SHORT TIME TO MAXIMISE……….
SAFETY. THE ASTRONAUTS ARE ALL CROSS TRAINED TO MAKE SURE THEY…..
CAN DO EACH OTHERS JOBS IF ONE BECOMES ILL. ……………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………………...
Now make a neat copy of the mission timeline each, and one neat copy of the
mission costs, spacecraft capacity and power checklists for the mission.
Mission Planning (Activity Sheet Examples)
10
Summary Lesson Plan / The
Future and Contact Details
SUMMARY LESSON PLAN
At the end of the Mars in the Classroom project, we recommend asking each group to
make a short presentation to tell everyone else about their mission. If you wish to make
it a little more interesting, perhaps set up a ‘Selection Committee’ of invited teachers
who will judge the missions and decide which should fly. It is even possible to take this
a step further and have class to class or school to school competitions! The choice is
entirely yours.
It is useful if a brief summary of the whole project is also given at this stage, to recap on
what the students have learned from the modules completed. By now, they will have
taken on board a considerable amount of information.
Presentations are best left ‘unrestricted’ other than in their duration, and that they must
include a clear statement as to the mission they would fly. A five minute presentation
should be adequate for most groups, but this will depend upon the ability and
confidence of your students. The time limit can of course be changed depending on the
number of groups and their ability. By placing no restrictions on the nature of their
presentation, students will use their imagination to try and capture the interest of the
Selection Panel! For some groups, you may find it useful to ask them to develop their
own Mission Badge or Logo, or perhaps even a poster to advertise their mission!
Again, this is down to the nature of the group being taught and is left to the discretion of
the teacher.
OTHER POSSIBLE ACTIVITIES
There are two additional modules that fit in well with the Mars in the Classroom project:
‘Build Olympus Mons’ and ‘The Face on Mars’, both of which are 1 to 2 hour practicals.
Further details of these projects can be found on our web pages:
(http://www.ucl.ac.uk/GeolSci/MITC).
Build Olympus Mons!
This experiment was presented by Albin (a US planetary researcher) at the Lunar and
Planetary Science Conference (Houston) in 1998, and allows students to build a wax
version of Olympus Mons (the largest volcano known in the Solar System). Dyed wax is
melted, and a small ladle used to pour it into the centre of a large tray. Once this has
cooled, another ladle of wax is poured and so on. Each ladleful represents a new lava
flow, which in reality may be separated in time by anything from days to millions of
years. As the volcano builds up with more and more flows, its shape will evolve from an
irregular form to a circular one, showing the students why volcanoes are generally
circular in plan. This technique also creates a caldera at the top of the volcano giving
the whole thing a more realistic appearance. This module will take an hour, and of
course you must trust your students with a stove and hot wax!
The Face on Mars
This simple experiment is designed to illustrate the common problem of overinterpreting data. The infamous “Face on Mars” is a perfect example of this: first seen
by the Viking orbiters in the 1970’s, the ‘Face’ is in fact a cliff or butte, protruding from
the surrounding plains. However, under the right lighting conditions and at low
resolution, the structure resembles a human face. The “Face on Mars” experiment
Summary Sheets
1
explains this to the student by showing them images of a model Face on Mars under
different lighting conditions (see the Mars in the Classroom web pages for these
images: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/GeolSci/MITC). To provide a practical aspect to the
project, students can try to make a similar face using modelling materials.
THE FUTURE AND CONTACT DETAILS
New experiments will be developed and placed on the web pages as time progresses.
These can be found at http://www.ucl.ac.uk/GeolSci/MITC. For those without internet
access, please contact Mars in the Classroom for details of new and upcoming
experiments:
Dr. Wendy Kirk,
Department of Geological Sciences,
University College London,
Gower Street,
London WC1E 6BT.
Tel: 020 7679 7900
We hope you enjoyed your time on Mars! Please let us know by writing to the address
above or e-mailing us from the web pages – any feedback would be greatly
appreciated!
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The developers and authors of this project would like to acknowledge the support and
funding provided by COPUS (Royal Society, UK). Special thanks to Douglas Heather
for help in preparing some of the practical aspects of this project, and to those who have
designed the projects upon which some of these workshops are based (the Hawai’i
Space Grant Consortium in particular; for details of their experiments, see
http://imina.soest.hawaii.edu/SPACEGRANT/class_acts).
We must give a huge vote of thanks for the enthusiasm and support of the teachers and
pupils of Nicholas Hawksmoor and Charles Edward Brooke Schools who helped us
through the pilot projects. In particular, thanks to Mr. James Thomson & Mrs. Nikki
Edwards (Nicholas Hawksmoor School, Borehamwood, Herts) and Mr. Dave Ashmore
(Charles Edward Brooke School, Lambeth, London) who bravely handed over one of
their classes to us, and to Ms. Annette Andrew (Lewisham Education) who put us in
contact with Charles Edward Brooke School.
David Heather
Sarah Dunkin
Matt Balme
Paula Martin
August 2000
Summary Sheets
2
**News Flash....28th August 2017....Humans land on
Mars....**
...Today, for the first time in history, humans have set foot
upon another planet.
After a six month journey, Sarah Dunkin,
David Heather, Paula Martin, and Matt Balme, expertly guided
their ‘MITC-1’ landing module to touch down on the flanks of
Olympus Mons early this morning.
After stepping out onto the
frosty surface of Mars, the intrepid four said "This is a
tremendous achievement, of which all Mankind should be justly
proud.”...
*End News Flash*
The Mars in the Classroom team, pre-launch! From left to right: Paula Martin, Sarah Dunkin,
Matt Balme and David Heather. Photo taken during the mission design phase.
Prepare yourself for the ultimate round of
Mars in the Classroom!!
Summary Sheets
3
MARS IN THE CLASSROOM - QUESTIONNAIRE
We would be grateful if you could find the time to fill in this short appraisal form of the Mars in the
Classroom project so as we can continue to improve and develop the scheme and resource pack in
future. Please return the completed form to:
Dr. Wendy Kirk (MITC Co-ordinator), Dept. Geological Sciences, University College
London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT.
NAME (Optional): ………………………………………………………………………
SCHOOL/CLUB/INSTITUTION (Optional): ……………………………………………………………………..
MITC MODULES USED (tick as appropriate)
!"
Full Project
!"
Introduction
!"
Impact Cratering
!"
Playdoh Volcanoes
!"
Rem. Sensing/Refl. Spect.
!"
Lego Rover
!"
Chocolate Rocks
!"
Mission Planning
!"
Presentations/Summary
Was the project you ran:
!"
Very successful
!"
Successful
!"
Not very successful
!"
A failure
Did you find the resources pack:
!"
useful (clear and instructive)
!"
average
!"
poor (difficult to follow instructions and
understand experiments)
Comments on individual modules: Please indicate whether or not you found the experiments useful by
ticking the relevant box, and provide additional comments as you see fit.
Introduction Lesson:
!"
Good (useful)
!"
Indifferent / Average
!"
Bad (not useful or
productive)
Additional Comments: ………………………………………………………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Impact Cratering:
!"
Good (useful)
!"
Indifferent / Average
!"
Bad (not useful or
productive)
Additional Comments: ………………………………………………………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Playdoh Volcanoes:
!"
Good (useful)
!"
Indifferent / Average
!"
Bad (not useful or
productive)
Additional Comments: ………………………………………………………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Remote Sensing / Reflectance Spectroscopy:
!"
!"
Good (useful)
Indifferent / Average
!"
Bad (not useful or
productive)
Additional Comments: ………………………………………………………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Lego Rover:
!"
Good (useful)
!"
Indifferent / Average
!"
Bad (not useful or
productive)
Additional Comments: ………………………………………………………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Chocolate Rocks:
!"
Good (useful)
!"
Indifferent / Average
!"
Bad (not useful or
productive)
Additional Comments: ………………………………………………………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Mission Planning:
!"
Good (useful)
!"
Indifferent / Average
!"
Bad (not useful or
productive)
Additional Comments: ………………………………………………………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Summary Lesson / Presentations:
!"
Good (useful)
!"
Indifferent / Average
!"
Bad (not useful or
productive)
Additional Comments: ………………………………………………………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
General Comments on Mars in the Classroom and suggestions for improvements:
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
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