In conjunction with both of these events, I spent some time this week at a very cool workshop sponsored by NASA's Lunar and Planetary Institute called Explore: Life on Mars. The workshop was designed specifically for librarians and other leaders who work with children outside of schools. They gave us a ton of interesting information about the planet Mars as well as ideas for cool hands-on programs that we could use with children.
I have to say, this was probably one of the coolest and most useful workshops I've been able to attend. We were able to teleconferece and meet in person with scientists who work in the field of astrobiology and they all gave great presentations. I got to flex my science muscles as I learned about Mars' climate (dry, dusty, windy, and cold) and discussed exactly what defines life and how we might find it on a planet like Mars. We even got to spend some time talking about the Curiosity rover and past rover missions to Mars.
Best of all were the hands-on activities. Each activity could be replicated with a group of school-age kids and helps to contribute to the scientific discussion about life on other planets. These activities included:
-Planting cactus as a way of talking about what life needs to survive.
-Making volcanoes with baking soda and vinegar, and tracking the lava flow to simulate volcanic activity on Mars.
-Allowing water to flow through a controled mixture of sand and dirt, simulating the way that water would have once flowed and left tracks on Mars.
-Designing our own Mars rovers using craft supplies, equipped specifically to look for microbal life forms on Mars.
I'm so excited to work some of these activities into our library programs! Who knew that Mars could be so interesting?
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