🚀 “THE RIVER HOUSES” is Exploring Mars!

“The River Houses” landed on Mars three years ago this week and we’re still exploring the Red Planet today. (Really!)

NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover was launched in the summer of 2020 and it landed safely in February 2021 at its target location, Jezero Crater, a site that is thought to have once had flowing water. Prior to the 2020 launch, NASA offered people the opportunity to have their names etched onto three chips that would be mounted on the rover’s frame. I submitted “The River Houses” and it was accepted and duly etched, microscopically by electron beam, along with the names of more than ten million other people who registered. Here’s our official NASA “boarding pass” (click to see the details).

And here’s the result: first, a view of the rover’s frame prior to launch, with the three chips carrying the names of all of us travelers; and second, the rover on the Martian surface with “The River Houses” and everyone else safely on board.

The Perseverance mission, which is still very much alive and ongoing, is just one of hundreds of NASA missions, past, present, and planned for the future, that you and your homeschool scientists can learn about. If you want a great regular science activity to do with your students, why not pick one of those missions and check in on it each month for news and new discoveries. You can find them all listed right here (scroll down the page):

• ➢ Past NASA Missions (nasa.gov)
• ➢ Currently Active NASA Missions (nasa.gov)
• ➢ Planned NASA Missions (nasa.gov)

Most of the current and future mission websites have regular news releases, and some have special educational pages for students and the general public. Have a look around and find one that would match your homeschoolers’ interests today.

What celestial sights and astronomical apparitions have you and your students been exploring in your homeschool this Orion Term? 🔭

❡ Come, here’s the map: Did you know your recommended homeschool atlas has a large and beautiful map of Mars? It’s true! Turn to Plate 124 to explore the Red Planet today with your students from the comfort of your homeschool living room. 🗺️

❡ All the star-sown sky: Teaching your students the major constellations and the names of the principal stars is one of the simplest and most enduring gifts you can give them. Our recommended backyard star guide and homeschool world atlas both contain charts of the constellations that will help you learn your way around the heavens. Find a dark-sky spot near you this month and spend some quality homeschool time with your students beneath the starry vault. ✨

❡ Star bright: If you’d like some light and easy homeschool astronomy lessons, download and print a copy of our annual River Houses Star Calendar and follow along with us month by month as we make twelve heavenly friends-for-life over the course of the year. 🌟

❡ The starry archipelagoes: For a great weekly astronomical essay, perfect for older homeschoolers, pay a visit to “The Sky This Week” from the U.S. Naval Observatory. These well-written pages usually focus on one or two special astronomical events or phenomena. If you have high school astronomy students, have them read these pages aloud to you each week, or ask them to study them and then narrate a summary back to you. 🌌

❡ Watchers of the skies: This is one of our regular Homeschool Astronomy posts. Add your name to our free River Houses mailing list and get great homeschool teaching ideas delivered right to your mailbox every week. 🔭

❡ Homeschool calendars: We have a whole collection of free, printable, educational homeschool calendars and planners available on our main River Houses calendar page. They will help you create a light and easy structure for your homeschool year. Give them a try today! 🗓

❡ Support our work: If you enjoy our educational materials, please support us by starting your regular Amazon shopping from our very own homeschool teaching supplies page. When you click through from our page, any purchase you make earns us a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for helping us to keep going and growing! 🛒

❡ Join us! The aim of the River Houses project is to create a network of friendly local homeschool support groups — local chapters that we call “Houses.” Our first at-large chapter, Headwaters House, is now forming and is open to homeschoolers everywhere. Find out how to become one of our founding members on the Headwaters House membership page. 🏡