I need those outlines!

Come on folks, push has come to shove! ASU needs their stuff. Send it to me NOW!

The News is not good!

There is no way you people are going to have these things done Monday.

Craters - You need to tell me what the classification of craters looks like. You can't just say the words.

Volcanoes - What happened to finding the relative ages of lava tubes on the slope? That was a great topic! What you gave me doesn't even make sense.

Confluence - You're still way to vague. How are you going to identify these features. You really said nothing.

I'll see you on Monday.

More Information from ASU!

This was some feedback from a scientist for your cratering group’s question:

In general, I think that it is a good set of questions. Thedistribution of crater sizes to get at ages will be a bit differentfor the Moon and Mars just because the cratering rate is a bitdifferent in different parts of the solar system. The difference is probably not that big of a deal, however.One general comment that I have is that I think that anything that canbe done to keep the question simple and well tied to the data thatneeds to be collected would be good. The atmosphere problem seems alittle vague still and of course should have a null result for theMoon.Students should think of the specific features they arelooking for.

Comments from ASU

Listed below are the comments that the scientist in charge of the MSIP project posted. Review and do what she says!

Cratering question -

This sounds interesting – though the students should keep in mind that these ages would be relative ages not true ages. They should also be careful to consider the fact that there are processes that have affected and changed the martian surface that have had no effect on the lunar surface.


Lava Tubes -

For this one, I would steer them more towards “Does the number and size of lava tubes on Martian volcanoes relate to the possible age of a volcanoes. There is no way they can determine the age of a flow, unless they can differentiate between flows and if a lava tubes is detected on that particular flow. It they looked at the number and size of lava tubes on different volcanoes, almost looking at the distribution of lava tubes on volcanoes, they may hypothesize that the more collapsed lava tubes, the older the volcano. They should look up scientist thoughts on relative ages of volcanoes. For example, the Tharsis volcanoes are thought to be younger than Alba Patera (which is the large structure to the north of Tharsis). Other volcanoes, like Syrtis Major, are less “noticeable” and thought to be quite old. Maybe this group should watch the archive of our volcanoes presentation. That is available at: https://breezemeeting.asu.edu/p59558709/

Channels Question:

For this one, they may want to focus on what characteristics are generally associated with channels formed by water or lava and then use that criteria to find images in whatever area they are looking at, to see if they can make a determination. This group may also want to look at the archived distance learning presentation listed above on volcanoes as there is a discussion about lava textures and lava channels. They may also be interested in the Surface Features on Mars presentation that talks about volcano features as well as water related features. That archive is available at: https://breezemeeting.asu.edu/p50033490/

Sorry about Monday!

I totally forgot that I had two meetings on Monday after school. Let's try for Wednesday.

Can we do it?

I formally applied to ASU for orbits during January. Here is the reply. "Just wanted to let you know that I did get your MSIP application. I'm glad you'll have at least 16 students participating. I will give you and your students a good date to submit their proposal so we can make sure they can target in early January. I am thinking that perhaps if we get their proposals before Christmas break or right after Christmas break we can work on targeting soon after that.Do you think it would be possible to have proposals before Christmas break? Looking forward to see what your hs students chose to do and how they do. Looking forward to also having you out in Houston! I will confirm those dates hopefully by next week."

So . . . can we get the whole proposal written before the winter break? There's the challenge.

Invitations

All those who didn't respond to the first request to join the blog have been invited again. Don't let this week slip by! Come in with two questions about your general topic. One of the questions should be answered by something like "yes" or "no." The second question should have some type of mathematical operation involved. Start work on the background research for your topic. Believe it or not, time is running out! Have a great Thanksgiving!

Clear Skies,

Mr. Lindgren

Science Fair Logo

Be sure to go to the official science fair site at http://www.gatesscience.info/teamescience/shsfair.htm and check out the great logo created for us by Mr. Carroll in the Art Department.

What's Due Next Thursday

Don't forget that you should come to the meeting in 121 with a feature you want to study. In addition to the type of feature you should have a rational for studying that feature along with the Massachusetts frameworks you will cover with your topic.

Welcome!

I forgot to mention one area on Mars that we can't study. That is either the northern or southern polar areas. Other than that - go for it!