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Day 4: Mars: The Red Planet
Activity 1: Why Is Mars Red?
Introduction
The soil (dust) on Mars contains iron, one of the elements found in nature. People have used
iron to make things like tools and weapons for more than 3,000 years.
Astronomers believe that Mars once had liquid water and it has a tiny amount of oxygen.
When iron mixes with water and oxygen, it produces iron oxide, or rust.
Rust is reddish brown in color. That’s where Mars gets its name, the Red Planet, because it’s soil
is full of iron turned to rust.
Supplies
•Photograph of the Martian landscape (provided)
• Two jugs of water
• Small tray filled with 1-2 cups of light-colored sand
• Rusty nail or other rusty object
• Pens, pencils
• Crayons and/or colored pencils
Work in teams of 2-3 kids. For each team:
• Plastic container or small tray
• About 1 cup of light-colored sand
• 1-2 plain steel wool pads (do NOT use soap pads or stainless steel pads)
• Worksheet to record observations (one for each child, see the template on page 87)
This experiment takes 3 days to complete
Get kids thinking
Mars is sometimes called the Red Planet because of the color of its soil. How did the soil
become red or rusty colored. Have you ever seen a rusty object — maybe the handlebars on
your bike or an old nail you found in your neighborhood. Ask kids: Do you have any ideas
about why the metal turned rusty?
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Plain steel wool pads look like this:
