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E. F. M. Albin (Fernbank Science Center)
In this investigation, the author reports on the efforts of nine highly motivated high school juniors / seniors, who were involved in a semester long independent study planetary mapping project. Each student was required to select an area of Mars (e.g., an impact basin) for study from the “Mars Global Digital Image Mosaic” data base (http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/Projects/MDIM21/). Participants then created a detailed geologic map of the region using “Map Maker” software (download at http://www.mapmaker.com/). The software is relatively simple to use and allows students to create professional quality maps with an unlimited number of layers. A 3-D topographic study of the student’s map area was also modeled using “Gridview” software (download at http://core2.gsfc.nasa.gov/gridview/) in conjunction with available MOLA data sets. High resolution Global Surveyor imagery (acquired from http://ida.wr.usgs.gov/graphical.htm) of individual map units was gathered in order to assist in map unit description / origin and delineating the geologic history of the study region. Map units were placed in a relative age sequence from statistical data collected by counting the number and size of craters over a given area. A report was then written for submission with the finished map. Key elements of the manuscript included the following: an overview of the map area, a description of each map unit, an interpretation of map unit origin, crater statistics / relative age dating, and a summary of the geologic history of the map region. Finally, a poster of each participant’s findings was created, which were displayed in the exhibit hall of the science center during the last week of class.
If you would like more information about this abstract, please follow the link to http://fsc.fernbank.edu. This link was provided by the author. When you follow it, you will leave the Web site for this meeting; to return, you should use the Back comand on your browser.
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: ed.albin@fernbank.edu
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 36 #4
© 2004. The American Astronomical Soceity.