NASA Grant Spurs Mars Exploration For LAUSD Students, Teachers

For more information about any of the Mars activities, email the Target Science teacher network

Check out the details of the Mars Pathfinder mission at Jet Propulsion Laboratory' s Web site

Learn some interesting facts about Mars' topography, moons, atmosphere and how the red planet got its name

Teachers, do you want to study Mars in your classroom? Here's a teacher's guide to help you

Find out everything you need to know about the Red Planet at the Ultimate Mars Web Page

NASA Grant Spurs Mars Exploration For LAUSD Students, Teachers

TEACHERS, PARENTS, AND STUDENTS FROM SCHOOLS in economically disadvantaged areas of Los Angeles will explore the wonders of the planet Mars in a series of activities aimed at motivating students to learn science and explore possible science careers.

On the heels of last year's Mars Pathfinder mission, Los Angeles Educational Partnership's Target Science teacher network will sponsor the Mars activities which will include a sixteen-hour workshop series for science teachers, three Mars Family Science events, and classroom visits by NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientists.

Funds for the Mars activities will be provided by a $10,000 grant from NASA's Office of Space Science IDEAS program for the Mars Exploration project. The project's goal is to reach students from under-represented groups in the physical sciences and mathematics with high-quality science instruction.

Participating teachers will learn new strategies about how to integrate science technology with classroom instruction and will receive training to use and teach telecommunications as a tool for students to gather information, share results, find resources and correspond with scientists. Teachers will be able to access lessons from Web sites as well as use content, data or images to design their own classroom lessons.

Four hundred students and parents from South Central Central, and East Los Angeles are expected to participate in Mars Family Science, aimed at bringing together families and community members for hands-on science activities. Activities will include making candy rovers, racing jet balloons, making Martian "dirt", and "driving" a rover over a Martian landscape. Activities are expected to begin in the spring.

NASA scientist John Callas and other scientists from JPL will visit classrooms to lead hands-on science demonstrations and experiments and to participate in question and answer sessions with students.

"We are very excited to be working with John Callas of JPL on this grant," said Target Science Academic Director Esther Zack. "We hope to share this excitement with the teachers, students, and families of South Central LA as we focus on the latest Mars explorations."

Target Science, is a teacher network program that engages more than 3,000 elementary and secondary teachers in a collaborative effort to improve science education in 91 schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District.