Happy Mars Monday!

So I decided to roll out a BIG interesting science topic to my students each Monday morning. We agreed that Monday mornings are kinda awful, just by the nature of the day and time, so I thought it might be a fun way to re-motivate us for a fun week of science. And it doesn't have to be chemistry related. High interest topics that will get my kids thinking and talking science and marveling at it, as I do on a daily basis!

Today was the very first day, and I "launched" it by having students watch and then discuss this video. It is a couple of years old, and some of the info is already a little outdated, but it has a whole lot of good stuff in it as well! My students were busily working stoichiometry problems, but the vast majority were stopping to watch and were tuned in. Since my brother-in-law, Patrick Whipps, is intimately involved in the production of the "giant rockets" of the NASA SLS, it seemed only fitting!

How amazing is it to think about the possibility of going to Mars IN MY LIFETIME?