The following lessons have been designed to teach and reinforce mathematics through lessons about Earth and the bodies that most resemble it in the solar system: Mars, Venus, and the Moon.  All lessons are based on California mathematics standards and also cover some Earth science content standards.  The overall goal is to achieve cross-curricular learning objectives by showing how math and science work together.  While the lessons were designed for a 7th grade math class, they could easily be adapted for a science class, or even modified for different grade levels.

SCHEDULING AND TIMING:
 The set of five lessons makes up one unit to be taught consecutively.  All the lessons were designed for the alternate day 1 hr and 50 min block schedule, however the activities could be divided up over two days to accomodate a traditional schedule.  Timing suggestions are given in parentheses and written in bold.  These are suggestions for timing the activities in order to accomplish the goals in the allotted period and can be modified given the skill level of different classes.  Instructions for the teacher are written in ALL CAPS.  Explanations and sample lesson dialogue are written in lowercase and marked by quotation marks. There are five lessons total plus a mid-unit quiz, a unit test and an alternative assessment project to be given on the sixth day of the unit.  In a normal block schedule, the unit should take three weeks.

WARM UP:
 The warm up activities should be posted on either the board or the overhead and should be started as soon as the students enter the classroom.

VOCABULARY:
 The VOCABULARY section of each lesson lists words that may be unfamiliar to students, especially those who are learning English.  If needed, time should be taken to explain the meaning of words with which the students are having trouble.

MATERIALS:
 The MATERIALS section lists all the necessary maps, diagrams, etc. that are used in the various activities.  The only necessary materials that are not included with the lessons are metric rulers, graph paper, and the transparencies (which can be printed from the included images).  None of the lessons requires a calculator.
 Classwork and homework worksheets are included and are located with the appropriate lesson plan.

PRE-REQUISITES:
 Students should have command of multiplication and division concepts as well as basic fractions and percents concepts.    Familiarity with geometric concepts of area, perimeter, and distance will be greatly helpful.  The lessons were designed to teach and reinforce the 7th grade math standards, given in [brackets] by each objective.

OBJECTIVES:
 The objectives listed at the beginning of each lesson list what students should be able to accomplish by the end of the lesson.  Each lesson is based on California 7th grade mathematics standards and so certain objectives are followed by the standard that they address [given in brackets].  ``SWBAT'' is an abbreviation for ``Students Will Be Able To''.

EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT:
 There are a number of in-class activities and worksheets to give students the opportunity to master the concepts.  These can also be useful as a formative assessment tool for the teacher.   The unit includes a mid-unit quiz, a final test, and a final project to be used as summative assessments.  The different grading weights that each activity and assessment carry are left to the discretion of the teacher.  Here is an example:

FINAL TEST:    15%
FINAL PROJECT:   20%
IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES:   30%
HOMEWORK:   25%
MID-UNIT QUIZ:  10%
 
 

These lessons were created by MacGregor Campbell, a 7th grade math teacher at Davis Middle School in Compton, California and Catherine Johnson, Assistant Professor of Geophysics at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California.
 

Acknowledgements:

This project was funded through the NASA Planetary Geology and Geophysics Program, NAG5-12281