Introductory module: Planetary Exploration (1-2 weeks)

• Involves students in the adventure of planetary exploration.
• Helps students experience some of the challenges faced by Pathfinder, a robotic rover, in exploring the surface of Mars.
• Helps students become familiar with the Mars Global Surveyor, an orbiter, its instruments, and the type of data and images those instruments will provide.
• Provides initial experiences with image analysis by looking at images of Earth and Mars.
• Sets the stage for one or both of the follow-up modules.

Follow-Up Module: Volcanoes (3-4 weeks)

• Examines how the type of magma influences the kind of volcano produced.
• Enables students to infer what volcanoes indicate about a planet's interior and geologic history.
• Shows how understanding volcanoes on Earth helps us understand volcanoes on Mars.

Follow-Up Module: Valleys, Canyons and Channels (3-4 weeks)

• Has students model the ways a planet's surface can be shaped by water, ice, rifting and faulting.
• Challenges students to determine how Valles Marineris, the largest canyon in the solar system, formed.
• Engages students in the mystery of the disappearance of the water that once seems to have been on Mars.
• Explores the issue of selecting the best landing site for Pathfinder.

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