1. Mars: The Red Planet By Sarah Wolbach

2. What does Mars mean?  Roman god of war  Red color is associated with blood  Observed by Ancient Romans

3. Discovery of Mars  First observed by Egyptians – 1570 B.C.  Galileo Galilei was the first to view Mars through a telescope – 1610 A.D.

4. Distances  Fourth planet from the sun o 227,940,000 km away  Distance from the Earth: o Varies because of their orbits o Avg. 225 million km

5. Planet Measurements  Mass – 6.42 x 10 23 km  Volume – 1.63 x 10 11 km  Gravity – 3.71 m/s 2  Density – 3.93 g/cm 3 o Mars would sink in water because it is more dense than water.

6. Orbit and Rotation  687 Earth days to orbit the sun  24 hours and 40 min to rotate on its own axis

7. Mars’ Atmosphere  100 times thinner than Earth’s  95.3% Carbon Dioxide  2.7% Nitrogen  1.6% Argon .13% Oxygen .08% Carbon Monoxide

8. Temperature Range  Much colder than Earth  Temperatures average -60° to -125° C  Can reach 20° C in the summer

9. Composition/Appearance  Rocky, thick layer of oxidized iron dust and rocks  Crust – volcanic basalt rock  Solid Core – iron, nickel, sulfur  “The Red Planet”  High iron content  Dusty surface  Appears to be red from Earth

10. Moons PhobosDeimos asteroid-sized 9,377 km above Mars orbits twice a day discovered in 1877 by Asaph Hall asteroid-sized 23,460 km above Mars takes 30.35 hours to complete orbit discovered in 1877 by Asaph Hall

11. Water  Much of the water escaped because of the thin atmosphere and less gravity  Water contained in ice caps at north/south poles  More water is frozen beneath the surface and covered by red dust

12. What would happen if a human traveled to Mars?  No oxygen  Low gravity; could float  High radiation from Sun because of the thin atmosphere  Very cold temperatures

13. Special Features  Tallest mountain in the solar system – Olympus Mons  Longest, deepest canyon in the solar system – Valles Marineris  Similar tilt and seasons as Earth  Dust storms  Winds over 125 mph  Storms can last for weeks

14. Bibliography  Lavender, Gemma, Mphys. "Can We Make Mars Our Home?" Astronomy For Kids. KidsKnowIt Network, n.d. Web. Dec. 2013..  "Mars: Facts & Figures." Solar System Exploration: Planets: Mars: Overview. NASA, n.d. Web. Dec. 2013..  "Phobos and Deimos." ESA - Space for Kids. European Space Agency, n.d. Web. Dec. 2013..  Redd, Nola Taylor. "Water on Mars: Exploration & Evidence." Space.com. TechMedia Network, 26 Sept. 2013. Web. Dec. 2013..  Sharp, Tim. "Mars' Atmosphere: Composition, Climate & Weather." Space.com. TechMedia Network, 3 Aug. 2012. Web. Dec. 2013..  Sharp, Tim. "What Is Mars Made Of?" Space.com. TechMedia Network, 3 Aug. 2012. Web. Dec. 2013..

15. Image Citations http://wordquests.info/cgi/ice2-for.cgi?file=/hsphere/local/home/scribejo/wordquests.info/htm/L- Gk-mars.htm&HIGHLIGHT=ares http://www.sparselysageandtimely.com/blog/?p=18469 http://weeklyworldnews.com/aliens/8218/mars-traded-with-ancient-egypt/ http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/08/photogalleries/galileos-telescope-pictures- anniversary/ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/9250628/Mars-was-covered-in-water-just-like-the- Earth.html http://glossi.com/afryer222/57505-mars-by- aj?tkn=0253bdcc7a97423bb60863a3c1c65b77&eb=afryer222 http://mars.nasa.gov/allaboutmars/nightsky/nightsky03/ http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/releases/2003/32.cfm http://www.space.com/16903-mars-atmosphere-climate-weather.html