JMARS: A DIGITAL LAB-MANUAL FOR PLANETARY SCIENCE CLASSES

Our perception of the evolution of other planets changes on an almost non-stop basis due to the continual influx of new planetary data. Subsequently, one of the biggest challenges in teaching planetary science classes is keeping the course content up-to-date; traditional text books and lab manuals are seemingly out of date almost as soon as they are published due to this flood of new data. Digital online resources, however, provide one avenue for staying on top of the ever changing content. An example of such a resource is JMARS (Java Mission-planning and Analysis for Remote Sensing; http://jmars.asu.edu/), a geospatial information system (GIS) produced by the Mars Space Flight Facility at Arizona State University (ASU) for the analysis and interpretation of Mars-related datasets. JMARS allows for the overlaying of Viking-era all the way through to some of the most recent Mars data; frequent updates by the ASU team ensure that data within JMARS is consistently recent. Therefore, JMARS provides an excellent tool for delivering up-to-date content for planetary science courses and can be used in a query-based approach to teach current planetary-related topics. Here, I will provide specific lesson plans that involve the use of JMARS in an introductory planetary geology course and discuss positives and negatives of such an approach. When crafted carefully, the incorporation of resources such as JMARS into course work provide excellent avenues for the training of students as citizen scientists.