Viking 1 - Mars Handout

Take your students on an exciting journey to Mars with this comprehensive Viking 1 Activity Pack. This 30-page printable resource combines factual information, historical images, comprehension questions, creative activities, research tasks and learning organizers to help students explore one of NASA’s most important Mars missions.

What’s Included

Viking 1 information reading
Key facts about the mission
Launch, journey and landing information
Viking 1 Orbiter and Lander
Chryse Planitia landing site
Historical Mars images
First clear image transmitted from Mars
First colour image taken by the Viking 1 lander
Soil-sampling activity
Earth vs. Mars comparison
10 reading comprehension questions
Complete answer key
Creative writing and thinking activities
Coloring activity featuring Viking 1
Word-building challenge
Research activities
Source evaluation activity
5W-style research organizer
KWL learning activity
Student reflection activities
Word-search creation templates
Presentation/display templates
The information section covers Viking 1’s August 20, 1975 launch, Titan IIIE rocket, June 19, 1976 arrival at Mars and July 20, 1976 landing at Chryse Planitia.

Explore Mars

Students examine imagery from the Viking 1 mission, including the first clear image transmitted from the Martian surface, the first colour image taken by the lander and photographs showing trenches made by its soil sampler.

Comprehension & Critical Thinking

The pack includes 10 questions covering Viking 1’s mission, NASA, launch vehicle, dates, landing site, achievements, images and mission duration, followed by a dedicated answer section.

Students can also evaluate information, ask further questions and conduct their own research using structured organizers.

Creative Activities

The resource includes a Viking 1 coloring page, creative templates, a word-building activity and several blank organizers that allow students to demonstrate their understanding in different ways.

Perfect For

Space & astronomy units
Mars lessons
NASA studies
STEM
Science
Space exploration history
Reading comprehension
Research projects
Early finishers
Homework
Homeschooling
Independent learning
Classroom displays
Substitute/sub plans
Great All-in-One Resource

This pack provides multiple ways for students to learn about, question, research and respond to the Viking 1 mission, making it suitable for a complete lesson sequence, space-themed unit or independent learning activities.