1. Mars Student Imaging Project MSIP
Lakewood High School
Mars Student Imaging Project MSIP
This is Lakewood High School’s Mars Student Imaging Project.

2. Was there once water on Mars that may potentially lead to life?
Big Picture Question
Was there once water on Mars that may potentially lead to life?
Is there or was there life on mars?
Script-
The big question is: was there once water on mars. The reason we ask this question is because if we find water on mars then there is a great chance of finding life. When searching for water we looked at different regions to study chaos, landforms, hydrated minerals, hematite, and chloride.

3. Introduction: Observations and Thoughts
We were observing pictures of Mars and analyzing them through JMARS. Then as a class we decided to research the question; was there once water on mars that might potentially lead to life? We are going to research this question and get information through chaos and floods. We are trying to figure out if there was water on the surface of Mars. If there was water on the surface of Mars, then there is a high possibility for life, but we are using our knowledge of what we know is a livable environment. Everyone in the class has got into groups and we have been assigned a slide to create and explore.
We made a few observations like the chaos landforms which are indicative of water and other fluids that appear on mars in liquid form. This is interesting not only in this regard but also in that the fluids can potentially hold life.

4. Research Question
Our research question is can we find evidence of fluid on Mars and if it is water; what minerals does it leave behind? Where did the fluid go and are the hydrated minerals indicative of what fluid it is? Does this mean there was or could be life on Mars?
The research question we chose as a class is, can we find evidence of fluid on Mars? We were also wondering what minerals it could leave behind and where this fluid went? Are the hydrated minerals on Mars indicative of what fluid it is? Does this mean there was or could be life on Mars?

5. Background Earth vs. Mars JMARS findings
We have looked at the possible similarities between Earth and Mars. Carbon dioxide is a very important element because it helps the process of photosynthesis for plants. We have also looked at flooding being found on the surface which has to be caused by some sort of liquid, like Lake Missoula in Montana and then looking at Valles Marineris on Mars. We have been trying to compare Earth and Mars to figure out the possibilities of past or even current forms of life on Mars, while also looking at the surface and seeing how it has the same effects with the water on Earth.
On JMARS we have looked below the surface, and have found H20 which can be crucial to possibilities of life, also finding hydrated minerals, which is most likely that a past ocean could have been on the surface because of the high levels of sodium.

6. Background 2 Composition of Dust Water findings
The dust has carbon dioxide in it, which is a major part for life because plants convert carbon dioxide into food, glucose, and oxygen. This process is called photosynthesis.
There has been chaos, hydrated minerals, and the ice caps on the north and south poles of Mars, which consist of icey water, this is very important for possible life on mars. There has also been findings of underground ice/water using JMARS. Also with Valles Marineris on Mars relates to Lake Missoula which is a valley that was carved out by a glacier ice cap melting. This could be the same for Valles Marineris, or it could have been a very large and deep river on the Mars surface.

7. Finding Chaos Landforms
To find Chaos landforms go into JMARS and double click on “Nomenclature”. After that you go to “Dock Me” and find the chaos section. Then, all the chaos’ on JMARS will be highlighted and you can find them. A couple criterias for something to be a chaos is very rigid land. On all of the highlighted areas it is rigid. Another criteria, is that it will look like a river has flown through it. Chaos’ are formed by flood or rivers so looking for indented land, that looks like it could have held a river, is a sign of chaos.
In order to research these chaos landforms we need to be able to look at them. We do this by going to JMARS and filtering through chaos landforms and finding ones that have hematite, chloride and hydrated minerals. The chaos’ have to be very rigid and look like a river has flown through it. If it fits that, and is highlighted, you found possible past liquid

8. Here are some examples of Chaos landforms we found while in JMars
Here are some examples of Chaos landforms we found while in JMars. As you can see, there is very rigid ground and looks like a river could’ve flown through them.

9. Working Hypothesis
As a class, we began with a simple interest, “Was there once water on Mars that may lead to potential life on mars?” This began our first discussion where we broke the question into several others. We think there needed to be water or ice on Mars to find life. If so, where is the potential water now? In addition we thought looking for minerals that previous water may have left behind could contribute to a more thorough search for water. While we look for water/ice on mars we examined regions and landforms that are on Mars’ surface.Once we find water on mars then we can discover whether there is life on mars in the future.
•The hypothesis that we chose is “ was there once water on mars”
•We chose this for a few reasons including that it was the easiest to research due to it being a wide subject with many sub-layers of subject matter but the main reason was that it was the most interesting question. we all know that there is some very interesting ramifications if we do in fact find water on mars such as finding life.
•We think this is the best question because it will not only answer how water may form in the low pressure low temperature environments but also help us find the likelihood of past life on mars or potentially current life on mars.

10. Methods Control
Our group is in charge of distributing all the information amongst all the other groups. One of the two ways we have thought of how to do this is to go into the group chat and make sure everyone has all the critical information that without, would lead to a disfunctioning group. Less helpful but easier way, is to go to each group and talk to each person specifically in order to effectively distribute the information along the whole group.
We wanted to make sure we did not exclude any information so we made a few precaution. as a primary precaution we chose to use any zoom in order to insure we did not segregate any individual data. And as a secondary precaution we chose to have a specific group dedicated to distributing the information to each person so we don't lose information in the project. And finally as a final precaution we chose to put everything through a specific slide so we could insure a simple but non polluted informative slide which will hold all *random* information as to make the hunt for information much easier.

11. Methods Criteria
We chose the area near the equator instead of just a random place on mars. We made this decision because there is more activity near the equator instead of other places of mars. For an example some activity could be more hydrated minerals, asteroids/comets, craters, caves, erosion, channels, canals, dust storms and ect.
We thought that the area near the equator was a better choice to look at because areas in random places were not as accurate .The area near the equator is warmer which also would allow possibility for liquid water which would make a better chance for life on mars. We made this decision because there is more activity near the equator such as comets, caves, craters, asteroids, channels, canals, dust storms, hydrated minerals and, ect.

12. Methods Data Collection Plan
To find the data we went on JMARS and used different layers to find the landforms and different chemical compositions on Mars that we as a class are looking for. If you look at the examples in the data table, that explains what landforms we are looking for. After looking at each at the example photos, we then can find the location of these landforms.
To collect our data, we chose to look for different landforms because it shows that water could’ve possibly been on the surface of Mars. Searching for water would be effective because it is necessary for life. We use the program JMARS to find chaos, by sorting and filtering for hydrated minerals, hematite, and chloride..

13. What We Are Looking For Hydrated Minerals
These are hydrated minerals and they are indicative of some sort of fluid because they prove that somehow the minerals are getting hydrated and this means that there has to be something hydrating them.
Locations- E,
6.062E, 7.437
Chaos
Chaos landforms can only be created by water or some other fluid flowing, which supports the theory of water on Mars.
E, 2.523
332.25E, 3.844
As you can see above,we have two categories; Hydrated minerals,which are regular minerals but have been exposed to a fluid of some sort which obviously would have hydrated them. Chaos, which are landforms created when water from an ice glacier slides down carving out a canal. Each category represents each landform that we are investigating for our big picture question which is “was there life on mars?”

14. HEND
When looking at this image, the purple is a heavier amount of water ice in the composition of the surface, while red is less. As you can see there is more water ice underneath an area that has a lot of craters; and while the flood area does have some water ice, but it’s not as much as the crater area.
While looking at this image found that there was more HEND (High Energy Neutron Detector), in the crater area, (purple). Which would make it more higher in the water ice produced in that area. Since we know that HEND finds water ice we can presume that with the impact of craters it leaves hydrogen from the point of impact, than any other area. With the findings of hydrogen we presume that there is H20 making the prediction that meteorites carry water, or there is ice water below the surface of Mars, and with the imapct of craters it is unbarring all the ice water below the surface.

15. Regions
Does it have hydrated minerals?
Does it have hematite?
Does it have chaos?
Does it have chloride?
Region A
360E, 30
Yes No
Region B
300E, 30
Region C
250E, 30
Region D
200E, 30
Region E
140E, 30
Region F
100E, 30
Region G
50E,30
Region H
0E,30
Data Table
The way we collected our data was we first went to jmars to search the regions we were assigned. Next we searched those regions to find each of the things we were looking for. hydrated minerals, hematite, chaos landforms and chloride. Next after searching the whole region we would either would have found the thing we were looking for and put yes or no in the corresponding box next we evaluated the data we collected

16. Data Graph
We examined 8 regions as a class and charted the key elements in finding water from ancient times. We used a 0-1 scale (0 being none and 1 meaning we found it). We looked for chloride, chaos, hematite, and hydrated minerals. From looking at our graph, it would be more probable for past water to be in region F because that region consist of the most things we researched.

17. Data Analysis
-Region F has all of the required things for life; Hematite, Chaos, Chloride and Hydrated Minerals
-Since F has Hematite which shows that there was water that was crystallized due to time.
-Region F also has Chaos which is formed from a liquid but the ones in F are very similar to what water does to earth. This shows there could've been water in region F
-Region F has Hydrated Minerals due to the minerals being exposed to water. These are similar to the ones on earth.
-Region F has evidence of chloride which usually forms around places that are lower than their surroundings. This supports that there could’ve been a pool of water around the chloride which then evaporated.
With allour data we collected we found that region F has the most characteristics for a possible liquid becuase tihas hematite, hydrated minerals, chloride and choas.

18. Potential Errors
People may have zoomed in too much, causing them to gain inaccurate data.
They may have applied the wrong search layer on JMARS.
May have searched the wrong regions.
Only searching part of a region.
Inaccurately entering their findings in the chart.
Not knowing what they are supposed to-be searching for.
Potential errors to take in consideration is people could have been zoomed in to much, which caused to gain inaccurate data, the wrong layer on JMARS may have been applied. Also they may have looked in wrong regions, only searching in part of the regions, inaccurately entering data in the chart, or not knowing exactly what to look for on JMARS.

19. Next steps
-Next we should take the time to go closer to where the regions are, and focus on a smaller area where hematite, chaos, hydrated minerals, and chloride is found.
-We should now take the time to find different regions further away from the equator because we have already found regions near the equator and maybe we are looking in the wrong spot.
-On regions F, we can add more layers on it so we can determine if there is more evidence of water.

20. References
Did Water Once Flow on the Surface of Mars ?" Science Clarified. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Apr
lNASA. NASA, n.d. Web. 13 Apr
Steve Connor Science Editor. "Hydrated minerals: How Nasa Discovered Flowing Water on Mars – and What It Means." The Independent. Independent Digital News and Media, 28 Sept Web. 13 Apr
"THEMIS." THEMIS | Image Explorer. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Apr. 2017
Writer, Mike Wall Space.com Senior. "Are Mars' Dark Streaks Really Evidence of Liquid Water?" Space.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Apr
•Include all credible sources you used so far in the project.
•These should be formatted and not a list of URL’s.
•Use either APA or MLA. If you need help, use an online citation generator.
•Google is NOT a reference. It’s a search engine.
This has been done in MLA format.