Earth To Mars

In this unit, students will learn about life and what organisms need to survive.  Students will explore habitats and look at the different types of life that exist in different habitats.  They will relate survival to needs and environmental conditions in the habitats as well as adaptations.  Students will understand that life can be very small or very large, we should look for life at many levels. They will use this understanding to study extremophiles and how scientists use them to predict where we might find evidence of life on other planets like Mars. Finally, students will use what they have learned to design an organism and create an environment in which it can thrive, given its adaptations. 

Hands-on Activities: 

• Signs of life in the school yard: Students identify living things in their school yard and draw/write their observations about them 
• School yard soil investigation: Students collect and investigate soil from their school site to determine whether it contains life 
• Signs of life in soil: Investigate signs of life and needs of life in mystery soil samples to determine which sample contains living things. 
• Earth to Mars STEAM Photo Gallery: Students take polaroid pictures of Earth that they believe look like pictures of Mars 
• Funky Feet: Students test out how well different crafting supplies would function as feet on a variety of surfaces 
• Martian Creature: Students craft a model of a martian creature and must explain how the traits they have chosen would be adapted to the environment on Mars.  

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS):

3-LS4-3 • 3-LS3-2