MSIP at CMS

At Charleston Middle School in Charleston, Illinois

During the 2005/06 school year, students in Mr. Tim McCollum's 8th grade science classes at CMS explored another world - Mars. They conducted the work of mission scientists by examining surface images of Mars captured by the Mars Odyssey spacecraft. The students generated questions which were submitted in proposals to the Arizona State University Mars Education Program. All of the proposals were accepted, and the orbiting Mars Odyssey Spacecraft was directed to capture four new images for analysis by the CMS students and to aid in the research of the proposal questions. The students were the first to view and analyze these images from Mars and sent the results of their findings to the ASU team. By doing so, the CMS students contributed valuable scientific information to our present understanding of Mars. (See Proposals, Context Images, and Full Images below)

CMS Image Chosen as "THEMIS Image of the Day"

"To Mars and Back" CMS MSIP Article in the Charleston Times-Courier

CMS MSIP Team at Tech 2006
IL State Capitol, Springfield

Exploring the THEMIS image gallery

Kim demonstrates erosion

Ashley describes Martian surface features

112205 Orbits of Mars Odyssey

Class - Topic of Research
Core A - Channels Question - Do all channels on Mars lead away from craters and into basins? Team Proposal (by Daysha Evans) Context Image Full Image -8.77N, 279.58E Solar angle 60.86, 16.13MLT Final Report
Core B - Clouds/Storms Question - Are there patterns between clouds and storms on Mars and the type of terrain over which they occur? Do they occur at specific latitude bands? Team Proposal (by Aaron Laursen) Context Image Full Image -13.16N, 63.22E Solar angle 59.96, 16.11MLT Final Report
Core C - Volcanics Question - How do patterns of lava flows from different volcanoes on Mars compare? How do they compare to lava flows on Earth? Team Proposal (by Travis Diss) Context Image Full Image 14.49N, 225.05E Solar angle 68.29, 16.21MLT
Core D - Craters Question - In looking at THEMIS images, does there seem to be a typical shape of most craters on Mars? Team Proposal (by Taylor Sauerwein) Context Image Full Image -27.11N, 132.83E Solar angle 58.52, 16.06MLT Final Report

Deciding on a topic for a team proposal

Will creates a flood

Finding Mars in the Starlab

Choosing an image target for Odyssey

An impact from 30 cm

A cocoa crater

Releasing the impactor at 1.5 m

A Martian or CMS crater?

ASU/CMS videoconference participants

Tiffanie asks Dr. Bandfield a question

Justin directs a Mars rover...virtually

M.A.R.I.O. looks for life on Mars

Adam watches M.A.R.I.O. scale a rock

Lauren adds to the team proposal

Mars by Aaron Laursen & Matt Bollan

Filling in the gaps to ask the right question

Useful links - Mars Student Imaging Project, Mars Odyssey Mission, Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS), THEMIS Image Gallery, Mars Exploration Program, Mars for Kids, Dr. Bandfield's Surface Features On Mars PowerPoint, Mars Clickable Map

Special thanks to Paige Valderrama, Sheri Klug, Meg Hufford, Dr. Josh Bandfield, and the staff of the Arizona State University Mars Education Program for helping make our participation possible. Thanks to Dr. Kathleen Bower, Department of Geology-Geography at Eastern Illinois University and her students Kim Schiaretti, Ashley Chacun, and Will Hahn for their classroom visits and stream table demonstrations during National Earth Science Week. Thanks also to Steve Staskiewicz and Cindy Rich from EIU along with Kyle Perry and Mary Ann Brewer from CUSD#1 for making our videoconference possible.

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