Unit Question

How can we search for evidence that other planets were once habitable?

Chapter 1

Question: What geologic process could have formed the channel on Mars?

Investigations Questions: 

• How does our understanding of Earth help us learn about other rocky planets? (1.1, 1.2, 1.3)

Key Concepts:

• Earth, Mars, and other rocky planets can be thought of as systems. These systems are made up of interacting spheres that can include the geosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere. (1.1)

• When landforms on different rocky planets look similar, it is evidence that they may have been formed by the same geologic process. (1.2)

Chapter 2

Question: What geologic process could have formed the channel on Mars?

Investigations Questions: 

• How do models help scientists answer questions? (2.2, 2.3)

Key Concepts:

• Scientists can use models to test their ideas and get evidence about processes in the natural world that are difficult to observe. (2.2)

• Landforms can provide evidence about the past because they remain after the geologic processes that formed them stop happening. (2.2)

• Models represent the natural processes being investigated in important ways, but they are not exactly the same. (2.3)

Chapter 3

Question: How can we decide which geologic process formed the channel on Mars?

Investigations Questions: 

• How do scientists construct arguments? (3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4)