Lesson 14 of 84 · Space
Lesson⭐ 30 XP🚀 StarbaseExploring Mars
Exploring Mars.
🎯 Your mission
Learn the rule. Then catch nature using it.
⚡ The twist
The light you see now started its trip a long time ago.
Mind = Blown
🪐 A day on Venus is longer than a year on Venus.
Make a hypothesis first
Guess: how big does that look from here vs. from there?
What You'll Learn
Mars is called the Red Planet because iron oxide (rust) covers its surface. Scientists send rovers to Mars to search for evidence of past water and possible microbial life.
Key Words
- orbit
- rotation
Steps
Review the background information on Space before starting.
Time how long it takes for a shadow to move 10 cm. Use this to calculate how fast Earth is rotating.
Note any unexpected results and think about why they happened.
Share your findings with the class or a partner and discuss what you learned.
Check Your Understanding
Question 1
1 of 3How long does it take Earth to orbit the sun?
Where you see this in real life
GPS, weather forecasts, and the seasons all rely on this.
Stretch Challenge
Try this in real life this week.
Find a constellation in the sky. Look it up. Tell someone its story.
For the dinner table
“If you could visit any planet, which would you pick and why?”
Next Smart Experiment
We'll pick an experiment that matches exactly how you're thinking right now.
Share this experiment
Send it to a parent who's looking for a 10-minute kitchen science win.
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