Properties of Living Things: Searching for Fingerprints of Life on Mars

LIVE INTERACTIVE LEARNING @ YOUR DESKTOP
Properties of Living Things: Searching
for Fingerprints of Life on Mars
Presented by: Rudo Kashiri
April 18, 2013
6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Eastern time
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Introducing today’s presenter…
Rudo Kashiri
NASA Explorer Schools Education Specialist
NASA Langley Research Center
Hampton, VA
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Properties of Living Things:
Searching for Fingerprints of
Life on Mars
Presented by Rudo Kashiri
NASA Explorer Schools
NASA Explorer Schools
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Agenda
Œ NASA Connection
Œ Featured lessons:
Extremophiles
Searching for life
Œ NASA Explorer Schools
Œ Grade level: 5-8
Œ National Science Standards
Œ Regulation and behavior
Œ Properties and changes of
properties in matter
Œ Structure and function of living
systems
Œ NGSS
Question
What does it mean to say that
finding a habitable planet is
sort of like the story of
Goldilocks?
Too hot!
Just right!
Too cold!
Too Big or Too Small
Potentially Habitable Exoplanet
Astrobiology in Your
Classroom
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What defines life ?
What does life look like?
Where is life found?
What sustains life?
Grow
Move
Breathe
Reproduce
Feeding
Unicellular
Multicellular
Produce energy
Use nutrients
Use energy
Metabolism
Respond to stimuli
Adapt/Evolve
Displays
organization
Homeostasis
Show heredity
Cellular structure
What are
Extremophiles?
Discovery of Arsenic
Microbe
Where is life found on earth?
Let’s Pause for
Questions.
Activity: It’s Just Right
Œ Experiment
with gas
production of
yeast at
different
temperatures.
What will the students
learn?
Œ The characteristics of life.
Œ How temperature is related to
the growth and survival of
organisms.
Œ The concept of life in extreme
environments.
Materials
A
Sugar
Yeast
No water
B
C
D
Sugar
Sugar
Sugar
Yeast
Yeast
Yeast
Warm water
Warm water
Warm water
A Sugar Yeast No water
Table
B Sugar Yeast Warm water
Sugar Yeast Warm water
C
D Sugar Yeast Warm water
Table
Warm bath
Cold bath
Graphs and Student
Handouts
How does this
activity relate to
“What is life?”
Let’s Pause for
Questions.
Earth or Mars?
Is there life on Mars?
Where should we look for life?
NASA/JPL-Caltech
Why Curiosity’s Mission to Mars Matters
Artist s Concept. NASAJPL-Caltech
Could Mars have supported
living microbes?
The Rocks Have the Right Recipe
Activity: Is it Alive?
What will the students learn?
Œ How to conduct simulated experiment with
soil samples similar to the experiments on the
Mars Viking Lander.
Œ State relationships between the soil samples
using their operational definition of life.
Œ How to make an inference about the
possibility of life on Mars based on data
obtained.
Materials
A
Sand
Sugar
B
C
Sand
Sand
Sugar
Sugar
Active dry yeast
Alka-Seltzer
(crushed)
Data Sheets
Dry Samples
Hot water
in “A”
A Sand
Sugar
B Sand
C Sand
Sugar
Sugar
Active dry yeast
Alka-Seltzer
Hot Water in “B”
A Sand
Sugar
B Sand
Sugar
Active dry yeast
C Sand
Sugar
Alka-Seltzer
Hot water
in “C”
A Sand
Sugar
B Sand
C Sand
Sugar
Sugar
Active dry yeast
Alka-Seltzer
Is it Alive?
Physical change,
A sugar dissolves.
Chemical reaction
B after 10 minutes,
reaction continued.
Immediate chemical
C reaction, but
stopped after 10
minutes.
Other Lesson Ideas
Œ Using bottles
and balloons
Œ Measure
balloon’s
circumference
Do you plan to use these
activities in your classroom?
It’s Just
Right
Is it Alive?
Both
Neither
one
Let’s Pause for
Questions.
http://explorerschools.nasa.gov
Rudo Kashiri
[email protected]
Thank you for joining us today.
Thanks to today’s presenter!
Rudo Kashiri
NASA Explorer Schools Education Specialist
NASA Langley Research Center
Hampton, VA
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