Mars

Mars!

      Our solar system is made up of eight plants that orbit around the sun and is nearly five billion years old. Mars is the forth planet from the sun with a distance of 142 million miles. It takes about 687 days for Mars to orbit the sun once. It is a rocky planet, also known as a terrestrial planet. Mars used to have a solid surface but that has been changed because of volcanoes, impacts, crustal movement, and atmospheric effects such as dust storms.

       Mars was named after the ancient Roman god of war. It is known as the Red Planet. Mars was given this name because iron minerals in the Martian soil oxidize cause the soil and the dusty atmosphere to look red. It is the seventh largest planet with a diameter of 6,794 km and a mass of 6.4219 x 10²³. Evidence proposes that Mars once had rivers, streams, lakes, and even an ocean. As Mars’ atmosphere slowly depleted into outer space, the surface water began to permanently evaporate. Today the only water on Mars is either frozen in caps or underground.

      The first successful landing on Mars was on July 4^th, 1997. In 2004 the Mars Expedition Rovers landed on Mars and sent back geologic data and pictures. They continued to operate on Mars more than three years after landing. Also Mars has two tiny moons, Phobos and Deimos. They are believed to be asteroids that were pulled into orbit around Mars. 

The following link provides more information about the planet Mars. This website was also used as a resources for our summary. 
http://www.space.com/47-mars-the-red-planet-fourth-planet-from-the-sun.html
http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Mars

Instructions

Our Solar System!

8^th Grade Science

Each group has been assigned one of the planets in our solar system, except earth. First, each group member will research your assigned planet. While doing research you should collect as much factual information as you can on your assigned planet. Below there are research question to help you organize your findings. Also website are available for you to access for your research. After you gather a good amount of information you will work as a group to create a blog entry. The blog entry should be a summary of your research. The main goal of your blog entry is to teach your fellow classmate about your assigned planet. Your blog entry should be 2-3 paragraphs and should include most of the answers to the research questions. The questions are a guide; you should not be listing the answers. In your entry be sure to use appropriate science terminology. Include at least one photo of your planet and a web link to assist your summary. Title your post with the name of your assigned planet. Be creative in your blog entry; have fun with it!

Online Resources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_System

http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/space/solar-system/

http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/index.cfm

http://nineplanets.org

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/solarsystem/

Research Questions:

1. What is our solar system?

2. How did your planet get its name/ nickname?

3. We often try to send a spacecraft into space to learn more about the planets, has there been an aircraft sent to your planet? Explain what happened when the spacecraft was sent.

4. What are some physical features of your planet?

5. What are some geological characteristics of your planet?

6. What is the approximate size of your planet; in terms of diameter and mass?

7. Discuss something new you learned about your planet based on findings of professionals?

8. How far is your planet from the sun in relation to the other planets? What is the distance in km (or miles)?

9. How long ago was your planet discovered?

10. Is your planet a terrestrial planet or a jovian planet?