Mars is in the news as of late. Mars One is the name of the project to put a human colony on the Red Planet by 2025. Individuals are being recruited now to be the first colonists. Some of your students may be part of this group. You never know.
Space travel and science fiction engage youth and can be used to explore physics and aerodynamics, as well as, such diverse subjects as life support systems and all there inherent machinery. Here are some of the best PG films out there to pique your students' interest and to use as a springboard in your classroom discussions.
Space travel and science fiction engage youth and can be used to explore physics and aerodynamics, as well as, such diverse subjects as life support systems and all there inherent machinery. Here are some of the best PG films out there to pique your students' interest and to use as a springboard in your classroom discussions.
- Mission To Mars (2000) - The best science discussion will come out of a scene when the hull of the space ship is damaged and the crew must perform repairs.
- John Carter (2012) - This is science fiction based on the novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs. It's entertaining and will provide good material for students to analyse and say "why that couldn't have happened like that". For instance, John Carter finds he can breathe the air on Mars (hardly). He also finds he can bounce really high and leap great distances (why?)
- The Martian (2015) - slated for release this October. This would be a great field trip to the movies for your class. I suspect the science in this one will be far truer than any we've seen so far.
