Life is Found on Mars!

It starts with a message to students from NASA asking for help to sample the population at a target location on Mars. Students created a model of the terrain which eventually led to the use... See More

It starts with a message to students from NASA asking for help to sample the population at a target location on Mars. Students created a model of the terrain which eventually led to the use of a sampling grid. The rest of the simulation activity is described in full for this elementary class activity. Students learn important scientific skills while creating their own understandings.

Good way to introduce statistical thinking

The "Mission to Mars" to sample for organisms hits many science and math connections in an authentic and interesting way. It is also a nice problem-based unit that involves reasoning skills.... See More

The "Mission to Mars" to sample for organisms hits many science and math connections in an authentic and interesting way. It is also a nice problem-based unit that involves reasoning skills. As such, it could be used in upper elementary as suggested or modified for middle school classes as well. The author provides suggestions for assessment that are reasonable and which can be built on for older students. They suggest tying the sampling techniques to other units as well, and I would like to add forensics to their list, as we did something similar in a forensic unit I used to introduce students to science process skills at the beginning of the school year.