March 25, 2021

Europlanet Mars Collection: 2. A Brief History of Mars

For this lesson, we will be looking through the history of Mars to find out if it may have ever been a suitable home for life, as we know it here on Earth. 

Overview

Activity Outline: Investigate how Mars has changed over its history and how that might affect the habitability of the Red Planet.

Age Range:

10-14

Equipment Needed:

  • Computer
  • Projector

Lesson Time:

45 Minutes (including 1 videos)

Topics Covered:

  • Chemistry
  • Geological time
  • Biology (Life in extremes)
  • Astronomy (Mars surface conditions)

Learning Outcomes

After completing this activity, pupils will:

  • Understand how Mars has changed over time.
  • Hypothesise how this has affected its habitability.
  • Draw a conclusion as to which era of Mars’ history was most likely to be able to support life.

Download presentation

PowerPoint (8 MB)

PDF (1.1 MB)

Download teachers’ resource

Word (365 KB)

PDF (255 KB)

Video experiments

Teacher Continuing Professional Development (CPD)

Italian versions of the resources with video lessons produced by EDU INAF are now available at: Terra chiama Marte.