Lissa Ong, fifth-year PTYS graduate student studying impact craters on the Moon, Mars, and Mercury, is the recipient of a 2012 UA/NASA Graduate Space Grant Fellowship. Lissa will develop lesson plans for 1st-3rd grade students, with the objective of making planetary science interactive and relevant, using a hands-on approach for analyzing images of planetary surfaces. A major component of this project is the vast database of NASA images of the surface of Earth, Mars, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, and the icy satellites of Jupiter and Saturn.  With continuing NASA missions such as the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and Mercury Messenger, students can participate in current, ongoing science. 

About her project, Lissa writes: "My lesson plans will help students explore the major geologic processes on solid planet surfaces: impact cratering, tectonics, and volcanism. First, I will familiarize students with satellite images and the appearance of planetary surface from space.  Students will then learn basic classification techniques to group surface features into the three different processes. I will tie these processes to hands-on activities in the classroom that explore how these features are formed. Lessons will also include activities for image analysis, such as crater counting and surface mapping.  By the end of the three units, students will be able to recognize and classify surface features, and qualitatively describe how they form.  Early exposure to the planetary sciences will help young students develop a basic awareness of and interest in space science that they will carry throughout their lives, share new knowledge with family and friends, and help produce a new generation of space scientists."

Congratulations, Lissa!