This article should inform students about the role of geologists in determining the history of Mars. What types of things are geologists looking for when studying Mars? What data is being collected and what does it indicate to geologists?
Here is the link to the article: http://news.discovery.com/space/curiosity-is-has-found-a-mars-mineral-jackpot-150402.htm
The processes that geologists complete on Earth are utilized on Mars. In this particular article, students should see that the Mars Rover Curiosity has found a unique mineral vein that demonstrates evidence of changing landscapes, particularly involving the presence of water.
The article is short and it should be read with the teacher as she models the close reading strategies. Students should read the article three times: first to make notes about what the central ideas are, next to pull out questions they have, and finally to read to answer the text dependent questions below.
The text dependent questions are:
What do scientists believe happened to make the mineral veins appear as they do?
What is unique about the Garden City mineral veins when compared with other similar veins already seen on Mars?
Why are “layers” so significant to geologists in this case?
Students should go back into the text to find evidence that explains what has been found on Mars and why it is significant. The questions above build on each other: mineral evidence has been found that indicates changes to the landscape over time; these veins are different in that they suggest a slightly different timeline (earlier water) and finally these veins suggest a sedimentary pattern that indicates significant periods of water, no water, and perhaps water again and particularly indicate the possibility of flowing water eroding some rock but leaving others behind.