Name ______________________________________________________________
Question Mars
Below you will find two examples of stories from real research on Mars. These
examples are stories about how the scientists came up with their questions for
research. Read through each of these scenarios looking for the hypothesis and research
question. The big picture question has been provided for you. Be prepared to share
your findings with the class. Don’t forget, sometimes the question may not be written
in the form of a question, but more as a statement.
Gale Crater Landing Site of Curiosity (MSL) Rover
Whether life has existed on Mars is an open question that this mission, by itself, is not
designed to answer. NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory mission will study whether the
Gale Crater area of Mars has evidence of a past environment. Curiosity will look for
three conditions that are crucial for habitability; liquid water, a source of energy and
other chemical ingredients utilized by life, such as carbon, amino acids, nitrogen,
phosphorus, sulfur, and oxygen.
Big Picture Question
 Is there evidence of a past habitable environment in Gale Crater?
~1~
Hypothesis
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Research Question
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Meridiani Planum Landing Site of Opportunity (MER) Rover
Meridiani Planum interested scientists because it contains an ancient layer of hematite.
This hematite was identified using Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) data.
Hematite is an iron oxide that, on Earth, almost always forms in an area containing
liquid water. So how did the hematite get there? There were five or six hypotheses to
explain this hematite on Mars. For example, the hematite could have been produced
directly from iron-rich lavas. This process would not require liquid water. But if water
was involved, then the hematite either formed from the iron-rich waters of an ancient
lake, or it formed when Martian groundwater bubbled up through layers of volcanic
ash. Another idea was to look for minerals such as goethite and magnetite. If goethite
were found among the hematite, which would mean that it was formed in watery
conditions, but if magnetite were found instead, a watery past was not likely.
On the ground, Opportunity discovered
the hematite is in BB-sized spheres, also
called "blueberries" by scientists. These
loose blueberries are all over the landing
site, making what geologists call a lag
deposit. It is thought the blueberries
formed when strongly acidic groundwater
soaked the basaltic sandstone. This
sandstone was rich in goethite, another
iron-bearing mineral. The water altered the
goethite into hematite, forming spherules
Hematite Spheres (blueberries)
within the rocks. Then, over time, as the acid-rotted sandstones weathered away, the
tougher spherules came free and collected on the surface.
~2~
Big Picture Question
Is there evidence for long standing water in Meridiani Planum?
Hypothesis
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Research Question
___________________________________________________________________
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Establishing a Research Topic of Interest
Within your group, brainstorm four general topics that can be studied about Mars. For
Example: volcanism, cratering, water, human exploration, etc. These can be whatever
interests you and your group.
a. _____________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
b. _____________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
c. _____________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
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~3~
d. _____________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
For this activity, your group has been given an image of Mars. Record your
observations about the image. Discuss with your team what is unique and interesting
about these observations. Brainstorm possible big picture questions about your image.
What is ____________________________________________________________?
(Should be a specific description of an interesting feature you are unable to identify)
How did _______________________________________________________ form?
(Should be a specific feature)
Why does ________________________________________ appear _____________
__________________________________________________________________?
(A specific feature and a description of the appearance)
Why is __________________________________________________ different from
__________________________________________________________________?
Identifying the Big Picture Question
Now that you have a list of possible big picture questions, discuss each possible
question. Select two and be prepared to share these with the class. Explain why you
are interested in answering this question and what observations were made that
brought you to the question.
~4~
Top 2 Big Picture Questions to share
#1:
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
This question is interesting and important because:
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
#2:
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
This question is interesting and important because:
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
Identifying the Explanations
As a team, you will now need to debate which Big Picture Question you would like to
use. Once your team has selected a Big Picture Question, record it here.
Big Picture Question
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
~5~
Unnamed crater located on the
floor of the much larger Newton
Crater. This crater had a central
peak, gullies on the inner rim and
dunes on the northern part of the
crater floor.
~6~
Image ID: V56056001
This is a landslide deposit within a
complex crater (note the ejecta to the
top and bottom of the image). There
is a smaller complex crater on the
ejecta to the north of the larger
crater. This "doublet" crater with the
linear interior rim is formed when
two impactors hit the surface
simultaneously. The impactors are
initially all part of the same meteor.
The larger crater may have formed
from multiple impactors.
~7~
Image ID: V11030007
This image shows a portion of Hebrus Vallis, a
channel system located south of Granicus Vallis.
Like Granicus Vallis, Hebrus Vallis originates
close to the base of the Elysium volcanic
complex. The criss-crossing of channels seen in
the image is not typical for fluvial systems,
indicating that this channel system was likely
formed by volcanic activity.
~8~
Image ID: V05055010
This sinuous channel begins at the edge of
Cerulli Crater in northern Arabia and snakes its
way across 1000 km of cratered highlands before
reaching Deuteronilus Mensae at the boundary of
the northern lowlands. The fluid that carved the
channel, either lava or water, flowed from the
bottom of this scene to the top. The quasistreamlined features on the channel floor may
have nothing to do with flow and instead may be
due to a permafrost creep process.
~9~
Image ID: V56476022
Lava flows of Daedalia Planum can
be seen at the top and bottom
portions of this VIS image. The
ridge and linear depression in the
central part of the image are part
of Mangala Fossa, a fault bounded
graben.
~10~
Image ID: V53284020
The pits, fractures and channel-like
features in this image are located on
the northern flank of Ascraeus
Mons. Most of these features were
created by collapse into lava tubes
that existed below the surface.
~11~
Image ID: V51669007
This VIS image shows part of the dune
field located on the floor of Rabe
Crater.
~12~
Image ID: V05020002
At the easternmost end of Valles Marineris, a
rugged, jumbled terrain known as chaos displays
a stratigraphy that could be described as
precarious. Perched on top of the jumbled blocks
is another layer of sedimentary material that is in
the process of being eroded off the top. This
material is etched by the wind into yardangs
before it ultimately is stripped off to reveal the
existing chaos. Some of the material ends up in
the surrounding depressions, forming small sand
dunes.
~13~
Image ID: V00979003
This image was collected March 5, 2002 during the
southern summer season. Layering in the South polar
cap interior is readily visible and may indicate yearly
ice/dust deposition. Note also the strong eastnortheast linearity, which suggests winds in this region
have been unchanged in prevailing direction for some
time.
~14~