Inside Mars - Recipe for a Planet

Correlations to National Science Standards

Grades K–4
Physical Science – Content Standard B
Properties of Objects and Materials

• Materials can exist in different states — solid, liquid, and gas. Some common materials, such as water, can be changed from one state to another by heating or cooling.

Grades 5–8
Science as Inquiry – Content Standard A
Abilities Necessary to Do Scientific Inquiry

• Scientific explanations emphasize evidence, have logically consistent arguments, and use scientific principles, models, and theories. The scientific community accepts and uses such explanations until displaced by better scientific ones. When such displacement occurs, science advances.
  

Earth and Space Science – Content Standard D
Structure of the Earth System

• The solid earth is layered with a lithosphere; hot, convecting mantle; and dense, metallic core.
• Lithospheric plates on the scales of continents and oceans constantly move at rates of centimeters per year in response to movements in the mantle. Major geological events, such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and mountain building, result from these plate motions.
• Land forms are the result of a combination of constructive and destructive forces. Constructive forces include crustal deformation, volcanic eruption, and deposition of sediment, while destructive forces include weathering and erosion.

Earth's History

• The earth processes we see today, including erosion, movement of lithospheric plates, and changes in atmospheric composition, are similar to those that occurred in the past. Earth history is also influenced by occasional catastrophes, such as the impact of an asteroid or comet.