Apple Learning Interchange Goes to Mars The Mars Polar Lander (MPL) launched in January and will land on the red planet on Dec. 3. The goal is to study the planet's geology, climate, and water to find out how Mars evolved; learn about relationships to Earth's climate changes; and to look at resources for future human exploration -- ultimately to study the potential for life elsewhere in the universe. The Apple Learning Interchange, one of Apple's many educational sections, is presenting a special feature section dedicated to the Mars Polar Lander Mission. Apple is offering several resources for elementary, secondary and higher education faculty. In December the ALI site will come alive with a special QuickTime broadcast of the MPL landing and the NASA events surrounding the landing. Tune in early to test your QTV setup (details are below). ALI expects to begin broadcasts of NASA briefings Nov. 30 with events continuing through the landing currently scheduled for Dec. 6. As with all space events, dates and times are subject to change. If your school would like to participate in these events visit the QuickTime TV Setup page prior to the events. The ALI will feature a section of pages dedicated to bringing this current event into both K-12 and Higher Education classrooms. These pages are filled with news and events, lesson plans, forums, projects, video clips and Web reference materials to make educators virtual exploration of Mars exciting. These pages will be updated and added to over the course of the year, but currently offers: news overview of new events and mission milestones; Resource Guides loaded with links to Internet resources; and video clips and images of Mars and other space subjects. And coming soon: a Student Showcase of Mars activities. Also, geared to the K-12 classroom are units of practice on Mars, space, space exploration, Earth, technology and other topics, as well as projects that collaborate across the country and around the globe. Check 'em out at http://ali.apple.com/mars/mars_index.shtml. Apple has also created a special forum area for K-12 and Higher Education faculty as well as students to discuss and collaborate on issues surrounding the event, space education in general and other topics. And stay tuned throughout the school year for all things Mars on ALI at http://ali.apple.com/mars. http://ali.apple.com/mars User Group Network News Home, school, Kids, family, games, cooking, learning, education, K-12 - (12/4/99) Back to the Topic Index