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Use the activities below to celebrate the MESSENGER launch and to give the spacecraft a proper bon voyage. Although the launch occurs this summer, these are excellent standards-based, inquiry-driven resources that can be used year round to help increase students’ understanding of the Solar System and the space environment. To learn more about the mission, and to download additional educational materials, visit the MESSENGER web site at http://messenger.jhuapl.edu. |
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Solar System Puzzle (Grades 3-12) To understand the variety of worlds in the Solar System, have students create an eight-cube puzzle using the Solar System Puzzle. By assembling the puzzle, coloring the bodies of the Solar System, and viewing the puzzle’s 12 sides, students will expand and reinforce their knowledge of the many fascinating worlds that make up the Solar System. Have students explore the similarities and differences between Mercury and the other planets. Discuss with students the unique features of Mercury that make it such an interesting planet to explore. This activity is one of NASA’s educational products and is available online at http://spacelink.nasa.gov/products/ |
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Our Solar System (Grades 5-8) In the lesson Our Solar System, students tour the Solar System. They examine and define some of its various components—the Sun, planets, moons, comets, asteroids, and Kuiper Belt Objects. At the end of the lesson, the students have come to realize that the Solar System is the family of the Sun, an average star, and other stars have families of their own. By taking a close look at the planets, they find that characteristics like size, location, composition, and presence of rings and moons reveal two major categories of plants—terrestrial (Earth-like) and Jovian (Jupiter-like). But tiny Pluto seems to be in a class all its own, perhaps the largest of the many icy worlds discovered beyond Neptune. Students can use what they learn to compare Mercury to the other planets, and reveal the unique characteristics that make it worthy of the daring MESSENGER mission. This lesson is from Voyage: A Journey through Our Solar System, an Education Module for Challenger Center’s Journey through the Universe program and an Education Unit for the MESSENGER spacecraft mission to Mercury. For more information about Voyage, visit http://www.voyageonline.org/. |
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Voyage: A Scale Model Solar System (Grades 5-8 but adaptable to all grade levels) Voyage: A Scale Model Solar System allows students to create their own one-to-10- billion scale model of the Solar System to explore the size of the nine planets in the Solar System and the distances between them. After the students have constructed their scale model, have them notice how close Mercury is to the Sun and discuss what problems that might present for the MESSENGER spacecraft. In addition, you can explore with students how fast MESSENGER is moving on their scale model. On its voyage to Mercury, MESSENGER travels at approximately 38 km/s (24 mi/s); if this is divided by 10 billion (the scale of the model), this would mean it moves at about 1.4 cm per hour (0.5 in/h) on their scale model. You can have students compare this speed to, for example, the speed of a snail, in order for them to gain an appreciation for the vastness of our Solar System. Older students can calculate this speed on their own. This lesson is from Voyage: A Journey through Our Solar System, an Education Module for Challenger Center’s Journey through the Universe program and an Education Unit for the MESSENGER spacecraft mission to Mercury. For more information about Voyage, visit http://www.voyageonline.org/. |
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Landform Mapping: The Terrestrial Planets (Grades 5-12) In this lesson, students examine the surface features of the Moon and the terrestrial planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars) to determine the relative age of their surfaces. Although the Moon and the planets formed at roughly the same time (about 4.5 billion years ago) their surfaces differ in age. This difference is due to variation in the levels of geologic activity on each body since their formation, such as volcanism and impact cratering. In comparing planetary surfaces, relative ages are usually determined from impact craters. In general, older surfaces show more craters, larger craters, and more degraded craters than younger surfaces. Use this lesson to see how Mercury’s surface compares in age to the other terrestrial planets. This lesson is from Planetary Geology, a NASA Educator’s Guide and is available online at http://spacelink.nasa.gov/products/ |
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Solar System Exploration Timelines (Grades 3-12) Right now is an exciting time for Solar System exploration. Many daring missions are scheduled, like MESSENGER, and many more are already underway, such as the Mars Exploration Rovers. To learn more about these missions and others, refer to the Solar System Exploration Timeline 2003-2006 and the Solar System Exploration Launches and Events: 1998-2010 timelines. The Solar System Exploration Timeline 2003-2006 is available from NASA at http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/downloads/see_timeline_english.pdf. The Solar System Exploration Launches and Events:1998-2010 timeline is available from NASA at http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/calendar/launches_events1.cfm. |
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Solar System Lithographs (Grades 3-12) The Solar System Lithographs contains images of some of the components of the Solar System, including the Sun, the nine planets, the Moon, asteroids, and comets. Each lithograph also contains an overview of related missions, significant dates in exploration, and fast facts. Use the Mercury lithograph to discuss with students how our knowledge of Mercury will grow with the help of the MESSENGER mission. This lithograph is one of NASA’s educational products and is available online at http://spacelink.nasa.gov/products/ |
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MESSENGER Information Sheet (Grades 3-12) For a more in-depth overview of the MESSENGER mission to Mercury, read the MESSENGER Information Sheet as a class. Discuss the challenges the MESSENGER team faces as they send a spacecraft to Mercury, the closest planet to the Sun. Apply that knowledge to the activities below. |
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MESSENGER Model (Grades 3-12) To understand the parts and design of the MESSENGER spacecraft, create a 3-D MESSENGER Model. This simple model requires only glue, the paper spacecraft, and three coffee stirrers. Although seemingly simple, this model introduces students to the spacecraft’s scientific instruments and design, including its sunshade and solar panels. This activity is from the MESSENGER web site. To learn more about the mission or to download additional educational materials, visit http://messenger.jhuapl.edu. |
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| MESSENGER Display or Bulletin Board (Grades 3-12) Use the MESSENGER Information Sheet, MESSENGER Model, Mercury Lithograph (part of the Solar System Lithographs), and your creativity to create an informational display or bulletin board for students to increase their knowledge of Mercury and their awareness of the MESSENGER mission. |
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| Mercury in the Night Sky (Grades K-12) Visit the web site! We have learned a lot about Mercury from Mariner 10 and hope to learn a lot more from the MESSENGER spacecraft, but we can explore Mercury without ever leaving the Earth using your own eyes. The trick to finding Mercury in the night sky is not to look at the night sky at all! Mercury is the closet planet to the Sun, and orbits so close to the Sun that when the Sun sets, so does Mercury. Mercury is best visible as a small star near the Sun at dusk or dawn. How can you tell Mercury from just another star? Stars twinkle and planets do not. Mercury is best visible in the morning this year from early September through the end of December. To find Mercury’s exact location in your area, visit the MESSENGER web site at http://messenger.ciw.edu/WhereMercNow.php, and select the closest city from the drop down menu. Remember, when you are looking for Mercury in the Sky, do NOT look directly at the Sun, doing so could damage your eyes! |
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Cooler in the Shadows (Grades PreK-1) This lesson is from Staying Cool, an Education Unit for the MESSENGER spacecraft mission to Mercury. For more information about the MESSENGER Education and Public Outreach program, and to download other educational materials, visit http://btc.montana.edu/ceres/MESSENGER/epomain.htm. |
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| Design Challenge (Grades 2-4 but adaptable to higher grades) Download the activity! (PDF/492 KB) One of the ways MESSENGER will be protected in the high-temperature, high- radiation environment near the Sun is by using a sunshade to protect itself from direct sunlight at all times. In the design challenge How Do You Keep Things from Getting Too Hot?, students are challenged to work as a team to design and build an effective sunshade for a model of the MESSENGER spacecraft. This lesson is from Staying Cool, an Education Unit for the MESSENGER spacecraft mission to Mercury. For more information about the MESSENGER Education and Public Outreach program, and to download other educational materials, visit http://btc.montana.edu/ceres/MESSENGER/epomain.htm. |
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Snow Goggles (Grades 5-8 but adaptable for all grade levels) This lesson is from Staying Cool, an Education Unit for the MESSENGER spacecraft mission to Mercury. For more information about the MESSENGER Education and Public Outreach program, and to download other educational materials, visit http://btc.montana.edu/ceres/MESSENGER/epomain.htm. |
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Make a Mission (Grades 6-8)
is an interactive lesson which asks students to prepare a spacecraft for a mission to the planet Mercury, similar to the MESSENGER mission. Students must design a mission while taking into account the cost of the equipment and the design constraints of the spacecraft. This lesson focuses on technology, how it allows humans to collect scientific data and information on a faraway terrestrial planet, and the constraints involved in designing the spacecraft to carry this technology to another world. Make a Mission is an interactive lesson from AAAS’s Science Net Links and is available online at http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/lessons.cfm?BenchmarkID=3&DocID=400 |
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Star Power! (Grades 9-12) Sunlight and other types of light that we cannot see with our eyes are used to study objects in the Solar System. In the lesson Star Power! – Discovering the Power of Sunlight, students estimate the energy output of the Sun using a simple device, and discover just how much power sunlight provides to Earth. They also estimate what the Sun’s effect would be much closer to the Sun, at the distance of Mercury. As a class, discuss how sunlight is both beneficial and hazardous to the MESSENGER spacecraft mission to Mercury. This lesson is from Staying Cool, an Education Unit for the MESSENGER spacecraft mission to Mercury. For more information about the MESSENGER Education and Public Outreach program, and to download other educational materials, visit http://btc.montana.edu/ceres/MESSENGER/epomain.htm. |
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MESSENGER Web Site Animations |
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| Teachable Moments in the News (Grades K-12) Visit the web site! Teachable Moments in the News is an online newsletter that takes recent Earth and Solar System science related news stories and places them in a context relevant to the science curriculum. It equips grade K-12 teachers to use a breaking news story to create a teachable moment in the classroom. From Martian rovers finding evidence of ancient seas on the surface of Mars, close approach to Earth, to solar storms slamming into Earth's atmosphere, to the upcoming launch of the MESSENGER spacecraft to Mercury, Teachable Moments in the News is meant to provide educators a seamless pathway from the news desk to the classroom. For each news story, an overview of the newsworthy information is provided, along with high quality inquiry-based lessons at various grade levels and links to more in-depth articles. The lessons develop a conceptual understanding of a topic relevant to both the news story and the science curriculum as defined by the National Science Education Standards. News becomes relevant to students in the classroom, and teachers are provided with the means to integrate the news into the curriculum. Each issue of Teachable Moments in the News contains a number of news stories with supporting standards-based lessons. Teachable Moments in the News is available online at http://www.challenger.org/tmn. |
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| Find a MESSENGER Educator Fellow The MESSENGER Education and Outreach Program Team has implemented a nationwide teacher training initiative whereby a cadre of thirty Fellows—master science teachers at the elementary, middle, and high school level—will conduct educator workshops nationally, training up to 27,000 grade preK through 12 educators over the mission’s lifetime. Fellows will train educators on concept- based, inquiry-driven lessons developed by the MESSENGER education team. These science standards-based lessons address Solar System science, planetary observations through history, and the engineering associated with building and sending a spacecraft to another world. As educators, this is your chance to make a real impact in the preK through 12 communities. Go to the Find a Fellow web page to find a highly trained and enthusiastic Fellow in your area to set up a professional development workshop. This is an excellent opportunity to increase your knowledge of the MESSENGER mission and to gain inquiry-based, hands-on science lessons for the classroom! Please feel free to use the MESSENGER Educator Fellowship Overview (PDF/68 KB) to share this exciting opportunity with your community and school |
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