Successful Phoenix Mars Landing Offers Educational Opportunities for Students

As another school year winds down those teachers with some time left in the school year have a golden opportunity to infuse real world excitement into what can often be a mundane end of the year countdown. With the successful landing of the NASA Mars Phoenix Lander spacecraft on Sunday, teachers have an incredible educational opportunity, one that offers the chance to bring science and technology together with endless learning possibilities for students of every age and grade level.

A simple examination of the many images available on the web, from those that revealed a spacecraft in good condition after the first ever successful landing in a polar region of Mars to those that simulate the future actions of the robotic arm for exploration, would make an interesting single day lesson. A further discussion of the soft-landing that ended a 422-million-mile journey and the upcoming three-month mission to “taste and sniff the northern polar site’s soil and ice” would also be a great single day topic.

A more in depth scientific study would involve the review of the final landing stages. Those last seven minutes of descent to the planet saw a spacecraft enter orbit at 12,000 mph and experience friction-related temperatures exceeding 2,600 degrees Fahrenheit would also yield a wealth of learning potential. Discuss the role of the rocket thrusters and the parachute that helped the craft successfully manage the first soft Mars landing since 1976. Also, have students look into the repositioning of the craft as it landed so that its solar panels could properly catch the sun’s energy and power the craft in the months ahead.

Other Deeper Lessons for Students
For those looking for computer applications, the landing may well be one of the best ways to bring both the computer and science to life in the classroom. There are a wealth of internet sites available beginning with the Phoenix Mars Mission web site that offers up to date information on the topic as well as a complete explanation of the goals of the mission. The site offers a link to explain the Phoenix Mars Mission as the first in NASA’s “Scout Program”, a low-cost method for future missions categorized as major undertakings. The site also features a direct connection to the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (Arizona is the first public university to lead a mission to Mars).

On the site is an education link that offers several sub links to a “Just For Kids” web page as well as “The Phoenix Classroom” web page. It also features a link to the “Mars Exploration Rover Mission” classroom activities. Still other sites are available for teachers including the Passport to Knowledge.

But with the internet, the sky is the limit for teachers to create additional lesson plans and research options. For example, the current landing on Mars represented only the fifth successful in eleven attempts, an issue that would prove to be an excellent research topic; one group of students could research the reason’s for failure, another the costs associated with the near misses, and yet a third research how those failures changed future missions. At the same time other groups could parallel the exploration of Mars with our prior exploration of the moon, again with sub groups taking on specific tasks.

Other aspects of science, from the solar powered research machinery to an understanding of how the robotic arm will search for traces of water, represent potential study for students. Again, the possibilities for real world science based on a relevant event are unlimited.

For teachers, a creative list of questions with specific topic formats open to student selection would give great ownership to students yet provide a diverse set of classroom experiences. In addition, students reporting out in some form of presentation format would ensure exposure of an entire class to a wealth of information.

The Wonder of Space Travel
But perhaps the greatest excitement with younger students would come with a simultaneous exploration into various literature on space travel. A thematic unit with one of the many science fiction novels that discuss space travel is a distinct possibility for the creative teacher with a little ingenuity.

And kudos to that teacher with the real gift who understands that creativity and imagination are so critical for children. If somehow, someway teachers can bring the full wonderment of the moment to their classroom and help students dream, perhaps they could help students feel that “one of the first human explorers to set foot on Mars could well be one of the students in their very classroom” (Passport to Knowledge).

Whatever the case, the Mars Mission provides teachers a golden opportunity to spice up the classroom as this school year heads to its final days or to create a special project for when the next school year opens in August.