Google Drive Blog: To Mars, and beyond

Google Drive Blog

The latest news and updates from the Google Drive team.

Posted by: Garnet GrattonFollowing her last post describing her use of forms in the classroom, Garnet Gratton is back, this time with a simple, creative lesson-plan for you teachers, involving current events, Mars and Docs' forms, among other things.

Start with the Phoenix Mars Lander section of the JPL site. NASA has more here.

Have your students form small groups to compile information onto a Docs presentation, embedding images and videos, and linking to the interactive exercises.
A great way to get your students engaged it to have them to have them write up reports covering the mission's progress, from beginning to end. By having each group set up Google alert, set to search for the words Phoenix Mars Lander, a wealth of topical information will be at their fingertips.

When complete, the students can publish their projects, and send you the link through a very simple Google docs form, something like this:

To learn more on creating forms, see the instructional article in our Help Center. If you're a teacher who's excited to get started using Docs, but isn't sure where to start (or, if you know a teacher who fits this profile), check out our quick start teachers' guide, Using Google Docs in the classroom.