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‘How Big Is It?’: A Lesson in Scale Comparison

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This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) shows blocks of layered terrain within the Olympus Mons aureole.

Audience

Educators, Students

Grade Levels

Grades 5-8

Subject

Mathematics, Algebra, Geometry, Measurement and Data Analysis, Numbers and Operations

Type

Lesson Plans / Activities

NASA is pushing the boundaries of human exploration forward to the Moon and on to Mars. The Space Launch System (SLS) is a powerful, advanced launch vehicle for a new era of human exploration beyond Earth’s orbit. With its unprecedented power and capabilities, SLS will launch crews of up to four astronauts in the Orion spacecraft on missions to explore multiple, deep-space destinations, like Mars.

In this activity, students will construct a scale representation comparing the heights of Martian volcano Olympus Mons and Hawaiian volcano Mauna Kea.

‘How Big Is It?’: A Lesson in Scale Comparison

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