2. The Lay of the Land: Introducing Landforms
Learners explore how different landforms are formed by wind and water.
Guiding Question
What are landforms and how are they formed?
Activity TimingSetup: Prep Time 60 min
- As needed, dry sand the day before.
- Set up Water and Wind Stations.
- Print resources.
*See Materials & Preparation in the Educator Guide linked above for full info.
21st Century Skills
- Critical Thinking
Science Practices
- Developing & Using Models
- Analyzing & Interpreting Data
Learners Will Do
- Explore how wind and water can create the same landforms on Earth and Mars.
Learners Will Know
- Landforms are the result of the history and climate of a location.
Connecting Across Activities
- Activity 1: Sharing Experiences: Last time, learners share experiences with, and stories about, technology.
- Activity 2: Introducing Landforms: Today, learners generate questions about Mars before they explore how wind and water can make landforms on a planet’s surface using models.
- Activity 3: Exploring Landforms on Mars: Next time, they will examine images of Mars to identify landforms which may have been formed by liquid water. These images are the first set of data they will use to choose a landing site.
Level Up!
- Craters are visible in the images of Mars. IIf you have time, add a Crater Station by
following online directions such as those on https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/resources/project/make-a-moon-crater/.Craters are fun and interesting to model but usually are not directly related to finding water on Mars. (30 min.)
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To help learners understand what they will be doing, show the translatable video RS Science How To (0:16–1:08). Translatable wind station and water station instructions are also available.
- The Engineering Pathway, Worlds Apart: Engineering Remote Sensing Devices, challenges learners to design many different remote sensing technologies to gather data from a distance.
