Check out the details of the Mars Pathfinder Mission at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Learn more about Mars by visiting the Ultimate Mars Exploration Page Gaze at the stars and Mars at Griffith Observatory Be sure to visit CNN's special section:Mission to Mars 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 teachers guide to help you

Corona Teacher Brings Mars Down to Earth ... and into the Classroom IN A SMALL CLASSROOM IN BELL, seven-year-old third-grader Stephanie Sanchez eagerly looks through a book on space exploration. Nearby, seven or eight other students gather around a computer to see the latest pictures from Mars via the Internet. A third group is busy looking through newspapers and magazines searching for news articles to post on a bulletin board dedicated to the Mars Pathfinder mission. "As you can see, as the Mars mission unfolds it's starting to take over much of our curriculum," said Karen Hare, whose Corona Elementary School class is comprised of third, fourth, and fifth graders. "They seem to really be enjoying everything about Mars." Indeed they are. Ever since just before the Mars Pathfinder touched down on the Red Planet earlier this month, Hare and her class have been having daily discussions and engaging in activities centered around the mission. "If there was water on Mars where did it go?" asks one student. "How do they (NASA) know where the Pathfinder actually lands?" asks another student. "They have a lot of questions and if I don't have the answer we figure out a way to find out," Hare said. In addition to integrating the Mars mission into more traditional subjects such as science and math, Hare has also used the mission to enhance subjects such as social studies, spelling, and creative writing. "This is a good example of subject-driven curriculum," Hare said. "This is what a teacher dreams of--to throw out the lesson plans and teach using real-life experiences." So far, Hare has had her class write stories about what they think it would be like to live on Mars; calculate how far Mars is away from the Sun; create a bulletin board to display Mars-related articles, photos and drawings; and come up with their own names for Mars rocks. Hare also plans to have students try their hands at writing poetry about the Red Planet. All of Hare's students agree that one of the most exciting activities was when they recently got to participate in an online "chat" session with Pathfinder engineers at Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "I liked talking to them," said 10-year-old fifth-grader Anaissa Ibrahimi. "They were cool. We learned a lot." Hare said learning is much more enjoyable when the subject matter is as intriguing as Mars. She said she has never seen so much interest in a subject--both in and out of the classroom. Many students, she said, have started watching the news and reading newspapers, are visiting the library more often and are doing their own research about space exploration. One student is currently doing research on the late astronomer Carl Sagan and his contribution to the Pathfinder mission. Others are looking into why Mars is red and why the planet no longer has water. "This is the best way to teach because its so easy," Hare said. "We'll continue talking about Mars as long as they're interested and that seems like it will be a while. It's really touched their imaginations."