USING EARTH/MARS COMPARISONS TO ASSESS HABITABILITY IN THE FIELD: EDUCATOR SYMPOSIUM AND FIELD TRIP FOR K-12 EDUCATORS

Basic geological concepts are best learned by applying them to solve problems in the field. We have followed this approach during two recent national educator trainings for K-12 STEM teachers in which we modeled ways to use Mars as a platform for teaching basic science, math and engineering principles. The goal of this immersive educational experience was to bring teachers together with 6 practicing scientists (members the NASA Curiosity Rover CheMin science team and other Mars science experts) and 5 STEM education specialists to help them infuse current examples of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) practices and content into their teaching. Each symposium/fieldtrip consisted of ~35 teachers from across the U.S. and other countries. The symposium began with a morning session at the Arizona State University Mars Space Flight Facility. Basic geological and astrobiological concepts were presented in the session, with a focus on how these concepts are applied to the geological record to assess the habitability and in the exploration of past geological environments for preserved fossil biosignatures. This was followed by an introduction to NGSS and essential questions to highlight approaches for connecting and implementing the field experience in their classrooms. We then headed to the field for 3.5 days to visit key analog sites for Mars (including sites of evaporite deposition, basaltic volcanism, meteor impact and ancient fluvial-lacustrine deposition). Each fieldtrip stop presented unique opportunities to apply key astrobiological concepts. Fieldtrip stops emphasized using outcrop-scale observations over a range of spatial scales to assess the potential for past habitability and biosignature preservation. During and after the fieldtrip, teachers used social media to maintain a background dialog and to pass along questions and observations to the field trip mentors. High-resolution Gigapan images were also obtained for each field trip stop and made available to teachers online, thus allowing them to create important aspects of the field experience for the classroom. Upon our return to ASU, we headed back to the classroom for more instruction focused on gaining practice with classroom implementation of key geological and astrobiological concepts through NGSS-aligned curriculum.