Science Lesson Plan · Grades 4-7

Planet Mars Lesson

Teach students about Mars, the fourth planet from the sun and known as the Red Planet. The lesson covers Mars’s reddish iron-rich soil, thin carbon-dioxide atmosphere, dust storms, mountains and craters, two moons (Phobos and Deimos), and how a year on Mars compares to Earth. Includes comprehension questions and answer key.

Lesson Overview

The Red Planet: Mars

Mars gets its reddish color from iron oxide in the soil. Strong winds cause massive dust storms that fill the atmosphere and turn the sky orange or pink. Mars has mountains, canyons, and craters, and its thin atmosphere — about 1% of Earth’s — is mostly carbon dioxide. It is 141 million miles from the sun, and a year on Mars is 687 Earth days.

This five-page lesson includes a reading passage on Mars, comprehension questions, and an answer key. Students learn about Mars’s surface, atmosphere, moons, and how conditions on Mars compare to Earth.

How to Use This Lesson

1. Read the passage together or have students read silently. Ask students why Mars is called the Red Planet and what causes the color.

2. Compare Mars to Earth: atmosphere thickness, length of year, number of moons, surface temperature. Have students identify which features make Mars hostile to life.

3. Assign the comprehension questions independently. Review answers using the key.

Printable Resource

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