Listening to a Planet: teacher key

Mars, grade 8 edition, written for 8th grade. InSight listened to marsquakes and Phoenix studied the soil of Mars. Read what they found and what happened to the air of Mars.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. What did InSight's seismometer listen to?
   • Marsquakes (answer)
   • Dust storms
   • Rovers
2. Scientists measured the crust at the InSight site. Could it be 60 kilometers thick there?
   • Yes, anywhere on Mars
   • No, it is 15 to 47 kilometers thick there (answer)
   • Only near the poles
3. What were the results of the Viking soil searches for life?
   • Mostly negative but not a clear answer (answer)
   • A clear yes
   • Life found on rocks
4. What is the radius of the Mars core, according to InSight's data?
   • About 1,840 kilometers (answer)
   • About 6,780 kilometers
   • About 15 kilometers
5. Which chemical did Phoenix find in the Mars soil?
   • Perchlorate (answer)
   • Oxygen
   • Rust
6. What does crust mean?
   • The rocky outer layer of a planet (answer)
   • A kind of storm
   • The center of a planet

Words

• seismometer: quake listener
• marsquakes: quakes on Mars
• perchlorate: a soil chemical
• crust: rocky outer layer