Ball State University teams up with Space Center Houston/ NASA to search for life on Mars during the next E3 Electronic Field Trip "Where Are the Little Green Men?" Dec. 7.

The Electronic Field Trip, developed by Ball State's Teachers College in partnership with Space Center Houston/NASA, will encourage students to create exploration vehicles and ponder what it would take for humans to survive on Mars.

"Teachers need to imagine what their students will see in their lifetime — man's return to the moon, more exciting rovers to Mars and beyond and the first human to set foot on another planet," said Mark Kornmann, director of Teachers College outreach services. "This field trip will help inspire the next generation of explorers by giving them an out-of-this-world look at planetary exploration."

The live, interactive field trip, sponsored by Best Buy Children's Foundation, will air at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. EST.

This field trip will also debut E3's inclusion in a National Captioning Institute federal grant. The grant, which comes from the U.S. Department of Education, funds live captioning of nationally distributed daytime programming. The broadcasts are anticipated to reach more than 15 million viewers in 45 states.

"We will be captioning all our remaining Electronic Field Trips," Kornmann said. "Captioning our programs will allow for greater access among deaf schools and hearing-impaired audiences."

Throughout the broadcast, which will feature students from Minnesota, Texas and Indiana, viewers will be able to call in with questions or submit them online in a live discussion forum. Viewers can register to receive the Internet broadcast at www.bsu.edu/eft/mars or check local cable and PBS listings.

The remainder of the E3 2004-05 season includes:

• "The Holocaust Museum Experience: Exploring Our Daily Decision Making," Feb. 15, from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, D.C.
• "Sharing Perspectives at the National Museum of the American Indian," March 22, from the National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, D.C.
• "Discovering Our American Spirit: Finding Common Ground in the National Pastime," April 26, from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Cooperstown, N.Y.
• "Biological Invasion: The Introduction of Nonnative Species," May 10, from San Francisco Bay 

E3 Electronic Field Trip partners include the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum; Space Center Houston/NASA; the National Park Foundation; Garfield and PAWS Inc.; the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; and four Smithsonian entities ─ The Environmental Research Center, National Museum of the American Indian, National American History Museum and National Air and Space Museum. 

(Note to Editors: For more information, contact Patti Northcutt at (765) 285-4680 or plnorthcutt@bsu.edu.)