May 23-29, 2013, Current Events Lesson Plan
Current Event:
Opportunity, the Mars rover that has been exploring the red planet since 2004, has now driven farther on an extraterrestrial body than any other American rover. On May 15, Opportunity set a record of 22.22 miles (35.76 kilometers) driven. Astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt had set the previous record when they drove a lunar roving vehicle 22.21 miles (35.74 kilometers) during the Apollo 17 mission to the moon. Opportunity may soon break the world off-world distance record of 23 miles (37 kilometers). That record was set on the moon in 1973 by the remote-controlled Lunokhod 2 rover launched by the Soviet Union (now Russia). Opportunity and its twin, Spirit, were sent to Mars in 2003 to study the history of water on the red planet. Their original mission was supposed to last 90 days. However, both Spirit and Opportunity continued to gather information without any major setbacks for more than five years. In early 2009, Spirit became permanently trapped in a bed of loose soil. NASA ended that rover’s mission in 2011.
Objective:
Mars is the fourth planet from the sun. The planet is much colder than Earth–the average temperature on Mars is about –80 °F (–60 °C). Viewed from Earth, Mars is a bright reddish-orange color due to the iron-rich minerals in its soil. Mars has many spectacular features, including a canyon system that is much deeper and much longer than the Grand Canyon. Olympus Mons is the solar system’s largest known volcano and mountain. It rises about 16 miles (25 kilometers) above the surrounding plains, nearly three times the height of Mount Everest. Recently, scientists found strong evidence that water once flowed on the surface of Mars. While space probes have carried telescopes and other instruments to Mars, no human being has ever set foot on the planet. The Behind the Headlines news stories and related World Book articles explore Mars and other astronomical topics.
Words to know:
- Apollo (NASA space program)
- Astronomy
- Eugene Andrew Cernan
- Mars (planet)
- Mars Exploration Rover Mission
- Mars Pathfinder
- Mars Science Laboratory
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
- Planet
- Harrison Hagan Schmitt
- Solar System
- Space exploration
Discussion Topics:
1. Ask your students if they can name the seven other planets, besides Mars, in the solar system. (The other planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.)
2. Ask your students what they know about Mars. (Students might say that it has two moons, Phobos and Deimos; it is named after the ancient Roman god of war because its color resembles the color of blood; its radius is about half the Earth’s radius.)
3. Ask your students to debate, “By the end of this century, regular people will be able to routinely visit other planets or the moon.”
4. Ask your students to debate, “One day we will find intelligent life on another planet.”
5. Ask your students to use the World Book’s Timelines feature to create a timeline of discoveries about Mars. (Students may wish to use the “History of Mars study” section of World Book’s Mars article for help.)