Electricity and magnetism

Every rover, radio and heater runs on electricity, and a magnetic field shields Earth in a way Mars's no longer can. This topic starts with magnets and batteries and climbs to circuits, Ohm's law, fields, motors and generators, and the story of a planet that lost its magnetic field and, with it, much of its air.

8 levels, 48 lessons. The ages are only a rough guide for parents and teachers; anyone can start at any level.

Level	Rough age	Lessons
Level 1: Magnets and batteries	5-6	What magnets pick up; Two ends of a magnet; A compass; Batteries; A battery and a bulb; Magnets and batteries on Mars
Level 2: Circuits	7-8	A complete circuit; Switches; Conductors and insulators; Circuit symbols; More bulbs, more batteries; A rover's circuits
Level 3: Static and current	9-10	Static electricity; Charges push and pull; Sparks and lightning; Current is moving charge; Dust that clings; Sparks on Mars
Level 4: Volts, amps, watts	11-12	Voltage; Current and amps; Power in watts; Measuring a circuit; Power from a solar panel; Charging on Mars
Level 5: Ohm's law	12-13	Resistance; Ohm's law; Series circuits; Parallel circuits; Resistance of wires; Cold wires on Mars
Level 6: Fields	13-14	Electric fields; Coulomb's law; Magnetic fields; Earth's magnetic field; The lost field of Mars; Auroras
Level 7: Motors and generators	15-16	Electromagnets; The motor effect; Electric motors; Electromagnetic induction; Generators and transformers; Motors on Mars
Level 8: A planet's shield	17 and beyond	Charged particles in a field; The solar wind; Magnetospheres; Planetary dynamos; How Mars lost its air; Could a magnet shield astronauts?

Sources: NASA's Mars fact sheet and Earth fact sheet, NASA's pages on Perseverance's parts, InSight, MAVEN's results and the first visible-light aurora at Mars, and the studies of sparks in Mars dust and the magnetic field at InSight.