?
Mars has large amounts of iron oxide. You can make a replica of Martian
soil. Within one week, the iron particles in your replica soil should rust
and create the familiar red color of the Martian surface.
Make Martian Soil!
Materials needed: Small jars with lids, sand, small rocks (light colored
aquarium gravel works well) spray bottle with water, and steel wool pads
(without soap) or iron filings.
To do: Mix together sand and rocks to cover the bottom of the jar. Add
about one tablespoon of cut up steel wool pads or iron filings. Spray the
surface with water, about three sprays or until moist. Do not mix or shake
after wetting the surface. Make observations for a week. What does this
mean about the composition of Mars soil?
How do craters form on the Mars surface?
Meteors landing on the surface of Mars cause the craters we see. As meteors
fall through the atmosphere, they heat up from friction with the air. Those
meteors that make it to a planets surface without burning up are called
meteorites. On Earth, many meteors are burned up before they hit the surface.
The Earths strong gravitational pull causes meteors to accelerate rapidly
through the atmosphere, creating more friction and more heat.
Mars has less gravitational pull and less atmosphere than Earth, so
there is less friction and less heating. More meteors make it to the Martian
surface and therefore more craters are made. On impact, the energy from
the collision melts the surfacesof the planet and the meteorite. The molten
material bounces away from the surface. Planets with less gravity permit
the material to travel farther before being pulled back to the surface
of the planet, so the crater rings are larger and have lower walls. There
is little evidence of craters on Earth because active geological processes
on Earth, such as erosion and Earth movements, erase them over time
Form your own craters!
Materials needed: dish pan, flour, rocks of various sizes and shapes, a
ball bearing or other metal object, rulers, a magnet.
To do: Predict what patterns will form if you drop a metal ball bearing
to represent a meteorite into a dish pan with a deep layer of flour. Drop
the meteoritewhat was the shape of the crater? Carefully remove the meteorite
with a magnet and measure the width and depth.
Then test how different sizes and shapes of meteorites (use different
size ball bearings or various other metal objects) affect crater formation.
Design an experiment to test if meteors falling at different speeds affect
crater formation. (The longer an object falls, the more gravity will accelerate
the rate of the fall.)
For more Mars fun, check out these websites: Mars Pathfinder Project
at www.jpl.nasa.gov and Ames Center for
Mars Exploration at www.arc.nasa.gov
At Carnegie Science Center
Enjoy Mission to Mars and Return to the Red Planet at the Science Center.
See Mysterious Mars: Fact and Fantasy.
Having Fun with Sculpture
Man with Glass Hat is a clay sculpture by American artist Michael Lucero.
Can you find the two large shapes Lucero has stacked up to form the man
and his glass hat in the picture (at right)? Lucero makes his sculpture
out of clay then paints it with brilliant colors and pictures. As you can
see, he doesnt usually paint eyes, nose, and mouth on his sculpture where
we would expect to see them. Instead he uses his imagination to cover his
sculpture with pictures of animals, insects, scenes from nature, memories
from his childhood, or things that have special meaning for him. What has
Lucero painted where we would expect to see a face on this sculpture? Do
a rabbit and a glass hat remind you of a magician? What do you know about
moths, like the one on Luceros sculpture, that makes them seem a little
magical?
Design Your Own Figure
Materials needed: unlined paper; pencil; crayons, markers, or colored pencils;
glue, scissors, old magazines and tracing paper optional.
By combining shapes of things you see at home like milk bottles, teapots,
or flower vases, you can design your own figure and cover it with pictures
of your favorite things. Look around for shapes to sketch, or trace shapes
from Luceros sculpture that you see in this magazine. When you have arranged
your shapes as you like, glue them down to a large piece of paper. Now
youre ready to add pictures to the “person” you have created. Use crayons,
markers, or colored pencils to add pictures from your imagination or from
the world around you. Or ask an adult to help you cut pictures out of other
magazines to combine with your drawings. Will you add a glass hat? What
would be a good name for your creation? Maybe you can imagine an adventure
your character will take.
At the Museum
You can see Man with Glass Hat and 43 other sculptures by Michael Lucero
at Carnegie Museum of Art from now until May 24. Special activities for
kids and grown ups are planned in the Michael Lucero exhibition. See Michael
Lucero: Scultpure 1976-1995.
Copyright 1998 Carnegie Magazine
All rights reserved. Email: carnegiemag@carnegiemuseums.org
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