Teacher's Guide for:

Geology of the Planets

Objectives:

This show conforms to the following state science standards:  12.F.3a, 12.F.3b, 12.E.4a

Brief Show Summary:
 “Geology of the Planets” was originally written for a Parkland College Earth Science class to allow them to see how similar geologic features can be found on other planets and moons in our solar system.  In the show we examine cratering and how crater counts can be used to show surface age and also how extensive cratering probably occurred during a solar system “bombardment” phase during initial accretion.   We also use the Moon as an example of a world cratered and then altered by volcanic activity.  Features on the Earth such as volcanoes, canyons, river beds and even geysers are found on other planets and compared side by side with Earth features.  The jovian planets (“gas giants”) are not covered in this programs though their moons are included. 

Pre-visit Discussion & Activities:
1) “Why study the other planets?  What is there to gain?”  This is a very legitimate question, often asked by politicians that aren’t in the know! 
2) What do you think the early Earth looked like?  What processes shaped the Earth as we see it today?   If the Moon’s craters were formed by impacts, where are the Earth’s impact craters?  It’s a larger target and has more gravity to attract asteroids. 
3) What land forms do we find on the Earth today?  Which of these might you expect to find on other planets?

Post-visit Discussion & Activities:
1) You can experiment with craters using a simple sand box.  Sprinkle some white flour on top of the sand to make the effect more pronounced.  If you now throw a rock into the sand, you’ll get a crater!   Experiment with different sized rocks and with varying the impact velocity and angle of collision.   Do the craters look different?
2) Discuss why we study the other planets.  Consider this example:  what can you learn about your city by just looking out of your windows at home, but not leaving the house?   How much can you learn by taking a walk in the neighborhood? 
3) Look at the densities of the planets on a chart.  Density is the amount of stuff packed into a volume.   Mercury is the densest planet and also the closest.  Why?  Saturn is the least dense and would actually float on water!
4) Either on the internet or by using NASA materials, look at spacecraft fly-bys of Mars, Mercury, the moons of the outer planets, and radar images of Venus.   How are they like Earth?   Are there terrains there that we don’t find on the Earth? 

Vocabulary
 Accretion          Cratering          Geyser                  Radar
 Bombardment   Planetesimal      Vallis Marineris     Scarp 
 Meteor             Meteorite          Meteoroid             Comet
 Asteroid

Internet resources:
 NASA’s Near-Earth-Asteroid page:  http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov
 Space images archive:  http://www.seds.org/images/
Multimedia solar system tour:  http://www.seds.org/nineplanets/nineplanets/nineplanets.html
Earth impact craters:  http://cass.jsc.nasa.gov/publications/slidesets/impacts.html
Radioactivity primer:  http://ParticleAdventure.org/
Sky & Telescope magazine:  http://SkyandTelescope.com