Mars+Proposal

After our vote we have narrowed our research topic to **Ice Ages on Mars.** We now have to write a research proposal and submit it to the Mars Student Imaging Program at Arizona State University. They evaluate it and can either reject it, send it back and tell us to improve it, or accept it. In our proposal, we have to explain what primary question that we are trying to answer. What kind of data do we need to do this? What will be our control? How will we analyze the data? What references have we used?
 * Mars Proposal **

If you have added something to this proposal and I have given you credit for it, it will appear in blue. If there is something you need to revise, it will be in red. Talk to me about how to revise it.

Introduction 1. What is our specific question? From Mars's glacial features, could we predict if Mars is going through an ice age. MARS IS NOT GOING THROUGH AND ICE AGE, WE WANT TO SEE IF IT WENT THROUGH AND ICE AGE. - MORGAN Is it possible for Mars to be going through a similar ice age that was forsaken upon Earth, giving that there is a large amount of ice on Mars plus a temperature drop in Mars.? 2. Why is our question interesting and important? If we look at glacial features on mars and look for symbols/patterns of an ice age, we could predict the future climate or temperature changes in mars since earth went through an ice age. I think it'd be best if we compared some info about our own ice age to Mars's climate right now to see if their ice age is starting, in the middle, or ending. We could get info to confirm that by seeing if the temperature is decreasing, staying the same, or increasing. We could see if the glaciers are enlarging or declinging and what pattern of movement they are taking. By looking at the patterns on Mar's to see if similar things have happened during an ice age on Earth. This question is interesting because we are able to compare the ice ages that have happened on Earth to the ones accuring on Mars. Could studying mars' climate changes and 'ice ages' potentially help us figure out Earth's climate change i.e. global warming? 3. Form a hypothesis about what we think is the possible answer to our research question. We think that Mars one or more ice ages. Morgan Background 4. What references have we used to develop this idea? These can be websites, books, publications, etc. For each one, we must state what we have learned from it. We had a tele confrence with Josh Benfield, and we did a lab in class looking at blown up photos of mars. -Morgan 5. What are examples of the types of features we will look for on Mars? (We can use examples from Mars or Earth). Pasted on train, polleygons, and scallops - morgan 6. Describe how the example feature is thought to form or what it shows. 7. What type of feature will we use as a control? Show an example, as above. What can we apply about Martian ice from looking and studying Antarctic Ice? Experiment Design 8. Besides the THEMIS image you hope to obtain, what other types of spacecraft data or images do you intend to use? Cite each. This could include Earth data. we have pictures to compare, and contrast. We will be able to look at images from the summer in diffrent years to see what changed 9. What geographic region of Mars do you hope to image? The Polar Regions Mostly but any other place that ice has been found so far. --Danielle H. 10. How many images do you plan to analyze? we plan to analyze 10 and compare it to one image we took - morgan 11. What data will you record from each type of image? Make a detailed list, including types of measurements. record type of image, location (lat and long) record the tempurate of the surface, patterns of the image contents - morgan 12. List each website that you will use that contains any data you intend to analyze. Analysis Plan 13. Once you collect your data, how will you analyze it to interpret what it means? W e are going to try to figure out where the ice was on the surface by looking at the patterns of the features we observe. and we will compare the tempuraters, dry ice and water ice. we want to know what type of ice it is if we find a glacier or something. - Morgan Describe any sorts of graphs you intend to make, and image comparisons, and ways of matching up other types of data to your image to interpret it. 14. Describe how the context of your image. How does your site selection (the geographical area on Mars) factor into your interpretations? Conclusion For now we restate our introduction. References For now we assemble our total list of references we have used so far. Phoenix discovers ice on Mars - one of the many new articles from the June 2008 discovery.[] Martian ice ages? [] Mars Ice Consortium [] Ice and flooding on Mars [] Polar Trek is an online web journal site that allows students and teachers to interact with researchers who are now doing work in Antarctica. One of the researchers there is working in an area that has been compared to Mars: [] This is an article off of MSNBC's website showing that ice is not only found on the surface of Mars but down further, even further than most scientists expected. [|http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27827606] Here for your reference is a short list of questions from our class related to global cooling periods: On this site they have pictures showing layers of ice on Mars. Looking at these pictures what can learn about Mars past? How these are similar to analyzing Earth's ice cores? They say the ice that was found is thin and clear, does this mean that water is being frozen and melted all the time?