NASA just announced that the Mars rover Curiosity has made an important discovery. “One for the history books” they say. So what is it? They’re not saying for a week or more. Why aren’t they saying? NBC News,  Space.com,  NPR

Think of the writing pieces your student could experience based on this real world opportunity. Oh, and the research possibilities too. They could write just total guesses based on having no background knowledge of space, the planets, Mars, – just fun (maybe they found Elvis? SpongeBob? Your sock that disappeared in the dryer?) – you get the idea. Students could also conjecture based on their own experience(s). OR they could do some, to a lot of research – what was the original mission of Curiosity? What are scientists looking for on Mars? Why? Why are we spending all this money to send spaceships and rovers to Mars? What other questions fit here?

So based on your research, what do you think the Mars rover Curiosity has found? What makes you think that? – share your sources.

If your students blog they could share their ideas or just plain creative pieces with others… this kind of writing is ripe for getting and leaving comments. But if your students don’t blog there are plenty of quality writing possibilities here. The kind that students might even talk about at home. The kind that get students asking questions or doing their own research just because they want to know more. You really can’t go wrong.

So what do you think Curiosity found? And PLEASE leave other lesson ideas in the comments. This is a great “messy learning” opportunity so go for it!

Learning is messy!