Level 4: Clocks on Mars

Space and time · level 4 of 8 · rough age 11-12 (a guide for parents; anyone can start anywhere)

A day on Mars is 39 minutes longer than ours. A year is nearly twice as long, and its seasons are not even the same length. This level builds a clock and a calendar for Mars, the way mission teams actually keep time there.

Lesson	You will be able to
The sol	Use the length of a sol and see how Mars time drifts against Earth time
Solar and sidereal days	Explain why a solar day is longer than one turn of a planet
Mars time on a mission	Work out local time on Mars from longitude, and read a sol count
The Mars year	Convert between Earth years, Mars years and sols
Seasons of unequal length	Explain why Mars seasons differ in length, using Ls
A calendar for Mars	Count days with the Mars Sol Date

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