Habitability
What does it mean for a planet to be habitable?
A planet can support life
What landform can be formed by flowing water
Flowing water forms a channel.
What landform can flowing lava form?
Flowing lava can form a channel.
What geologic processes can form channels
Flowing water and flowing lava can form channels
What is a model in science?
Models are objects, diagrams, or computer programs that helps us understand something by making it simpler or easier to see
What does a planet need to be habitable?
Water, and energy/sun are necessary for a planet to be habitable.
What rock that we observed in class is formed by water?
Conglomerate is formed by water.
What rock that we observed in class is formed by lava?
Basalt is formed by lava.
What are we able to look for to determine what formed a channel?
Rocks found around a channel can be used to determine what formed them
When does it make more sense to use a model in science rather than observing a scientific phenomenon directly?
it makes more sense to use a model when the phenomenon is too large, too small, or too far away to observe directly.
What is the source of the majority of energy on earth?
The sun is the source of the majority of energy on earth.
Where does water form a channel when it flows?
The water forms a channel in the ground over which it flows.
When flowing lava cools, where does it form a channel?
The channel forms in the flowing lava itself
Are there any major differences in the shapes of channels and triangle-shaped formations formed by both flowing water and flowing lava?
There are no major differences in the landforms formed by the two flowing liquids
In our reading concerning modeling, what landform on Venus was Gerya studying?
Gerya was studying Novae
If a planet does not currently have liquid water present, does that mean it has never had liquid water present? why
No, the water on a planet can change. Any liquid water can eventually become solid ice.
How can we determine if an area that no longer has water has had water in the past?
We can look for channels that were left behind by once flowing water.
Why was wax used to model lava?
Lava is impractical to work with, and wax is also a thick, slow moving fluid.
If a channel on one planet looks similar to a channel on another planet, what can we assume about the geologic process that formed both channels?
They are the same processes
How did the two models that we observed in class demonstrate the formation of channels?
They demonstrated how both flowing water and flowing lava formed channels by showing how the two different liquids act when they travel along the ground.
Why do we think Mars has once had liquid water?
Mars has channels and icecaps, so we think the ice was at one point liquid water potentially flowing through the planet's channels
How does flowing water form conglomerate rock?
Flowing water forms conglomerate rock by depositing sediments and minerals.
How does flowing lava form basalt?
Flowing lava forms basalt by cooling.
Given the Curiosity rover found a rock composed of sediments bound together by minerals in the triangle shaped formation that is part of the martian channel we have been studying, What formed the channel on Mars, and how do you know it?
Water formed the channel on Mars, and I know it because conglomerate rock, a rock formed by water depositing sediments which are then bound by minerals, matches the description of the rock found by Curiosity.
If a model does not show itself to support a claim, can it still be used as evidence for that claim? Why?
Yes it can be use as evidence for the claim. Evidence is used to support or refute a claim, and the model can be used to refute the claim.