Lesson: Mission to Mars!

Connect to prior knowledge and brainstorm questions about Mars.

• Share an image of Mars, like one from NASA (https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/images). Ask: What do you see? What do you already know about Mars? Discuss words and phrases that describe Mars, like Red Planet and rocky. 

Read an article about the Perseverance mission to Mars.

• Read the poll question found at the bottom of the scrollable online article, “Do you think the Perseverance rover will find signs of ancient life on Mars?” Give students some time to think about what their answer is and why they think that. Discuss student opinions.
• Open the article and preview vocabulary in “Words to Know” (p. 13). Then read the article aloud. After each section, pause and have students summarize, emphasizing what Mars is like and what scientists want to learn about it.
• Revisit the poll and have students cast and submit their official votes. Ask: Did the article change your answer? If yes, what evidence changed your mind? If no, did the article have evidence supporting your opinion?

Complete a graphic organizer to explain how Perseverance will gather data to answer questions about Mars.

• Preview the Studying Mars skills sheet, describing the structure of the table and the different kinds of data in each column. Answer the first row or two rows as a class, using the article as a reference before students complete the assignment in pairs. Then discuss their responses together.

Integrate details from the article and a video to write a journal entry about a day on Mars.

• Share the video “Blast Off to Mars!” Ask students to share important information they learned from the video.
• Ask students to use the video, article, and prior knowledge to discuss what they think it would be like to explore Mars with the rover. Then preview the My Day on Mars skills sheet, emphasizing any sensory details that students shared about Mars in Step 1 (e.g., it would feel cold, it would look rocky). If needed, pick one vocabulary word to complete together for Step 2 in the skills sheet. 
• After students finish writing, they can read their story aloud to a partner or add illustrations of themselves on Mars.

Demonstrate understanding with a multiple-choice assessment or an imaginative activity.

• Allow students to complete the No-Sweat Bubble Test in pairs. Discuss answers as a class, inviting students to share their evidence and reasoning for their answers.
• Invite students to complete a Learning Extension (found at the end of the online scrollable article) that brings the Mars rover to life.

⇨ Learning Extension: Bring the Perseverance rover to life! Imagine that it has a mind of its own. Write a comic strip or graphic novel from the perspective of the rover.