1.3: Investigating a Mystery Object on Mars

Warm-Up Read the story about Claire and the puddle, and then answer the questions that follow.

Argumentation wall Scientists participate in argumentation to find the best explanation for a question about the natural world. You might not have realized it, but you were beginning to create an argument in the Warm-Up.

Argumentation wall Scientists ask questions and make observations. Then, when they think they have an idea about how something works, they make an argument to support that idea and their thinking. Scientific argumentation is the way that scientists communicate, evaluate, and revise their explanations about the natural world.

Argumentation wall In this unit, we will participate in scientific argumentation to find the best answer to the question: What geologic process could have formed the channel on Mars? Today, we will learn more about the practices scientists use when participating in argumentation. How do you use argumentation in your everyday lives?

There are many different questions a scientist could ask about the natural world. This projection contains only a few examples of those questions.

Scientists can collect information from many different places.

To answer their questions, scientists collect information To answer their questions, scientists collect information. Scientists may collect information from a computer program, directly from the environment, or from a laboratory. Sometimes, as in the case of studying the channel on Mars, scientists send satellites and other spacecraft to another planet to collect the information they need. Scientists use the information they gather as evidence to help answer their question. This proposed answer is called a claim.

A complete and convincing scientific argument needs to have evidence (information about the natural world) to support the claim, as well as a clear explanation of how or why this evidence supports the claim, which is often called reasoning.

Activity You will now be using evidence to make an argument about a mysterious object on Mars. The evidence includes NASA images of the surface of Mars.

Many scientists and people from across the world were curious about this weird object that Opportunity found. How did it get there? What was it? Many people thought it looked like a jelly donut and started calling it that.

1) Read information on evidence cards 1) Read information on evidence cards. 2) Talk with a partner to decide which claim the information supports. 3)Place that evidence card under the claim it supports.

Round 1 What do you think about these claims, based on the first set of evidence? Which evidence supports Claim 1? Which evidence supports Claim 2?

Round 2 Which claim do you think was best supported by the available evidence? Which claim do you feel most confident about? Why? Did your thinking about the claims change after you looked at the new evidence? If so, what made your thinking change? How did our understanding of Earth help us learn about this object on Mars?

Activity Wrap-up You practiced using information as evidence to support a claim. You also worked to make your reasoning process clear to others. Claim 1 is better supported by the evidence presented, and Claim 1 is also the claim that most scientists agree with. Evidence can support or go against a claim and convincing arguments are supported by evidence.

How does our understanding of Earth help us learn about other rocky planets?

In the previous lesson, we began gathering information about geologic processes that form channels on Earth. Now, we will think about how this information can help us identify possible claims about the formation of the channel on Mars.

 Remember the similarities between landforms on Earth and the channel on Mars

Which claim do think is stronger so far? Who is unsure at this point?

We have seen evidence from aerial images of Earth for what landforms are formed by flowing water and flowing lava. Based on these images, there is support for both claims. Some of you already have ideas about which claim is stronger. Some of you are unsure. Gathering more evidence is an important part of the argumentation process. New evidence can help us be more sure about our claims or even cause us to change our claims. We will continue to gather more evidence about what geologic process formed the channel on Mars, just as real scientists would.

Homework Activity 4 or pages 16–17 in the Investigation Notebook