THE SOLAR SYSTEM:
MARS

PLANET MARS LESSON

Directions:

Print the Mars reading comprehension passage and questions (see below).

Students should read the passage silently, then answer the questions.  Teachers may also use the text as part of a classroom lesson plan.

Lesson Excerpt

     Mars' surface looks like a red desert.  It is called “The Red Planet” because a large amount of iron in the soil gives it a reddish color.  Strong winds blow and cause big dust storms. The red dust gets blown into the atmosphere, which causes the sky on Mars to look orange or pink. There are mountains, canyons, and craters on its surface.  It is very cold on Mars.  Mars has very little atmosphere, although there is enough atmosphere to cause clouds and winds.  Mars' atmosphere is only about 1% of Earth's.  It is mostly carbon dioxide.

     Mars is the fourth planet from the sun.  It is 141 million miles away from the sun.  The ancient Romans named it for their god of war. Mars is a rocky planet that is much smaller and colder than Earth.  Mars is about half the size of Earth.  Its diameter is about 4,200 miles or 6,800 km.  Only Mercury is smaller. Because Mars is smaller than Earth, its gravity is also less. Mars' gravity is about 38% of Earth's gravity. If you weighed 100 pounds on Earth, you'd weigh about 38 pounds on Mars. 

Continued...