MARS EDUCATION PROGRAM

Looking for Life

Adapted from “Destination Mars” NASA JSC

Brian Grigsby

School of Earth and Space Exploration

ASU Mars Education
MARS EDUCATION PROGRAM Working with data…

What is life?
How do we define it?
Where can life survive?
How does this affect our search for life?
MARS EDUCATION PROGRAM Activity Objectives

Students will:
• Form an operational definition of life
• Conduct a simulated experiment with soil samples
• State relationships between the soil samples using
their operational definition of life
• Make an inference about the possibility of life on
Mars based upon data obtained
MARS EDUCATION PROGRAM National Science Standards (K-4)

• As a result of their activities in grades K-4, all students should

develop an understanding of:
– CONTENT STANDARD A:
• Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry
• Understanding about scientific inquiry
– CONTENT STANDARD C:
• The characteristics of organisms
• Life cycles of organisms
• Organisms and environments
– CONTENT STANDARD G:
• Science as a human endeavor
MARS EDUCATION PROGRAM National Science Standards (5-8)

• As a result of their activities in grades 5-8, all students should

develop an understanding of:
– CONTENT STANDARD A:
• Properties and changes of properties in matter
– CONTENT STANDARD B:
• Properties of objects and materials
– CONTENT STANDARD C:
• Structure and function in living systems
• Diversity and adaptations of organisms
– CONTENT STANDARD G:
• Science as a human endeavor
MARS EDUCATION PROGRAM National Science Standards (9-12)
• As a result of their activities in grades 9-12, all students should develop an
understanding of:
– CONTENT STANDARD A:
• Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry
• Understanding about scientific inquiry
– CONTENT STANDARD B:
• Structure of atoms
• Structure and properties of matter
• Chemical reactions
• Interactions of energy and matter
– CONTENT STANDARD C:
• The cell
• Molecular basis of heredity
• Biological evolution
• Interdependence of organisms
• Matter, energy, and organization in living systems
• Behavior of organisms
– CONTENT STANDARD G:
• Science as a human endeavor
• Nature of scientific knowledge
• Historical perspectives
 MARS SCIENCE STRATEGY:
Follow the Water!
MARS EDUCATION PROGRAM

Common
Thread

Determine if Life
Ever Arose on Mars
LIFE
W
A
Characterize
T the Climate CLIMATE
E
R Characterize
the Geology GEOLOGY
When?
Where?
Form?
Prepare for Human
Exploration
HUMAN
Amount?
 1970’s—Viking Landers
• Science instruments:
MARS EDUCATION PROGRAM

– Biology instrument, gas chromatograph/mass

spectrometer, X-ray fluorescence spectrometer,
seismometer, meteorology instrument, stereo color
cameras, physical and magnetic properties of soil,
aerodynamic properties and composition of Martian
atmosphere with changes in altitude
• Results: Inconclusive
MARS EDUCATION PROGRAM Fast forward 30 years…2007

• Phoenix Mars Lander

• Launch date: August 2007
• Landing: May 2008
• Science Instruments:
– Surface Stereo Imager (SSI)
– Robotic Arm (RA)
– Microscopy, Electrochemistry, and
Conductivity Analyzer (MECA)
– Robotic Arm Camera (RAC)
– Thermal and Evolved Gas
Analyzer (TEGA)
– Mars Descent Imager (MARDI)
– Meteorological Station (MET)
MARS EDUCATION PROGRAM Phoenix Lander: Science Objectives

• Study the history of the ice as

written into the soils.
• Understand the
geomorphology through
imaging.
• Study the weather throughout
the northern summer.
• Evaluate if the martian soils
can potentially support life.
MARS EDUCATION PROGRAM Activity focus points:

Evaluate if the martian soils can potentially support life.

On Earth, energy, liquid water, and carbon material are the basic ingredients needed by all life.
 Evaluate if the martian soils can potentially support life.
MARS EDUCATION PROGRAM

Ultraviolet radiation, oxidants, and other poisons would make the soil uninhabitable.
 Background Information
• We usually recognize something as being alive or not
MARS EDUCATION PROGRAM

alive.
• But the signs of life or previous life are not easy to
determine.
• Scientists must establish criteria to work with in their
research.
• How then, do we identify/define life?
Can you identify the
living things in this
picture?
Yeast

Sugar

Sand
MARS EDUCATION PROGRAM Definition of Life

• Consider a bear and a

chair:
– Both have legs, but only
one can move on its
own
– The other would need a
motor to get around
– Indicators for life:
• Locomotion, respiration, etc.
MARS EDUCATION PROGRAM

• Another example would be

a tree and a light pole
– We know that a light
pole can not reproduce,
it is made by humans.
– But a tree produces
seeds, that may produce
more trees
– The tree also takes in
nutrients and gives off
gasses and grows.
MARS EDUCATION PROGRAM Subtle, but fundamental signs of life:

• Metabolic processes that show chemical exchanges

which may be detected in some sort of respiration or
exchange of gases or solid materials
• Some type of reproduction, replication or cell division
• Growth
• Reaction to stimuli
MARS EDUCATION PROGRAM Operational Definition of Life Part 1 (5 min)

• Using the “Fundamental Criteria for Life Chart”, come

up with characteristics that make an individual item
alive or not alive.
MARS EDUCATION PROGRAM Its Alive! Part 2

• Objective
– You will examine 3 different soil samples and look for
signs of life based on the criteria from Part 1.
• Materials
– Soil samples
– Warm/hot water
– Magnifying lens
MARS EDUCATION PROGRAM Procedure (teams of 3)
1. Each team has been given a set of soil samples,
but no one knows if there is anything alive in them.
2. Using the craft sticks, place a couple of scoops into
the paper cup
3. From the sample in the cup, place a small amount
onto a flat white surface and observe with a hand
lens, then record your data on Data Chart I.
4. Make careful observations and check for indications
of living material in them, based on your criteria
from Part A.
5. Observe all 3 samples
6. You can smell and touch the samples but do not
taste them.
7. Once you have observed the samples, place a
small amount of water into the paper cup, just
covering the sample.
8. Record any changes in the sample on Data Chart II
MARS EDUCATION PROGRAM Analysis / conclusion

• Which samples showed indication of activity?

• Does that mean there is life in those samples?
• Are there other explanations for activity in those
samples?

• By applying the fundamental criteria for indicating life

we developed, which sample contained life?
MARS EDUCATION PROGRAM Sample contents

• Sample A: Soil and Sugar

• Sample B: Soil, Sugar and Yeast
• Sample C: Soil Sugar and Alka Seltzer

•Sample A: Physical Reaction

(sugar Dissolves in the
sample)

•Sample B and C: Chemical

reaction

•Sample B sustains long-term

activity
MARS EDUCATION PROGRAM

• Are there other tests that would detect life in Sample B?

– (there might be microbes in the soil that would grow on a
culture medium)
 Extensions
• Have students
MARS EDUCATION PROGRAM

answer the following

question:
– What do you think
alien life would
look like?