December 3rd Workshop Review

Red Rover, Red Rover, can Jenny come over? Yes she can… Jenny Greene tore herself away from her galactic studies (she can sit inside the telescopes she uses) to host a workshop on the importance of water to life on Earth. Jenny did this by taking us on a quick trip to... Mars!

After an engaging pictorial comparison that went way beyond the obvious Earth blue, Mars red comparisons, Jenny explained that the possibility of life on Mars greatly depends on whether or not that white stuff currently on the surface of Mars - GAK kids correctly guessed that it is ice - hints at water previously on the planet in liquid state.

Green Apple Kids used homemade Play-Doh to create aliens they thought could survive on the planet Mars. Many created humanoid figures in multiple colors (with double mouths, septuple limbs and even scaly bodies). The kids that weren’t sculpting creatures were watching a film (similar to the one below) that documented a Mars rover leaving the Earth’s atmosphere, entering Mars' and making a landing. After the film, GAK kids had a chance to simulate their own rover data collection thanks to scale models brought in by Ms. Greene.

In an attempt to ensure that this verdant planet (Earth) doesn’t look like that barren planet (Mars) in the future, GAK founders Beatrice and Liza explained the importance of conserving wetlands and reducing water waste. Thankfully all of the Green Apple Kids came up with many imaginative ways to use less water in their own homes.


Presenter Jenny Greene (center) enjoying a Green Apple laugh.