NASA Astrobiology

Grades K-2 or Adult Naive Learner

Storyline
NGSS Connections for Teachers
Concept Boundaries for Scientists
Resources

Have you noticed that everything alive needs water? Your pets, trees, and your family, too. So why do you think that is? It’s true that our bodies and other living things are made from all sorts of different things but water makes up a lot of it. Also, when you look at a globe of Earth, there really is a lot of water! Scientists have found that all living things need water. So, if we would like to try to find living things from some other planet, then maybe we should look for places that also have water.

Disciplinary Core Ideas

LS1.C: Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms: All animals need food in order to live and grow. They obtain their food from plants or from other animals. Plants need water and light to live and grow. (K-LS1-1)

ESS3.A: Natural Resources: Living things need water, air, and resources from the land, and they live in places that have the things they need. Humans use natural resources for everything they do. (K-ESS3-1)

LS2.A: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems: Plants depend on water and light to grow. (2-LS2-1)

ESS2.B: Plate Tectonics and Large-Scale System Interactions: Maps show where things are located. One can map the shapes and kinds of land and water in any area. (2-ESS2-2)

ESS2.C: The Roles of Water in Earth’s Surface Processes: Water is found in the ocean, rivers, lakes, and ponds. Water exists as solid ice and in liquid form. (2-ESS2-3)

Crosscutting Concepts

Patterns: Patterns in the natural world can be observed. (2-ESS2-2),(2-ESS2-3)

Big Ideas: Water is critical for life. Living things are made up of water. When looking for life beyond Earth, places that have water are of great interest.

Boundaries: Students in this grade band describe patterns of what plants and animals (including humans) need to survive. Examples of patterns could include that animals need to take in food but plants do not; the different kinds of food needed by different types of animals; the requirement of plants to have light; and that all living things need water. (K-LS1-1)

K-8 Water in the Biosphere. In this one-hour lesson, students make their own qualitative observations outdoors. Then they examine the life they saw and how water in the biosphere is part of the greater water cycle on Earth. This lesson can stand alone or be a part of a larger unit which includes the water cycle, Earth’s water and interacting spheres. NASA. https://pmm.nasa.gov/education/lesson-plans/water-biosphere

K-8 The Water Cycle. In this one-hour lesson, students participate in a web quest to learn about the water cycle, and then build a mini-model of the water cycle to observe how water moves through Earth’s four systems. This lesson can stand alone or be a part of a larger unit which includes the water in the biosphere, Earth’s water, and interacting spheres. NASA. https://pmm.nasa.gov/education/lesson-plans/water-cycle

All living things on Earth need water. Everything from people, plants, animals, and even mushrooms and things too small to see need water to survive. Even things like cacti in a desert need some water to live. Water seems to be very important for life. Have you ever looked at a globe – there is a lot of water! Since all living things that we know of need water and many of us want to know if there could be other living things out there beyond Earth, then one thing we can do is investigate places with water beyond Earth. Mars had rivers and lakes of water a long time ago and there could still be some water deep underground there today. Also, there are some moons around other planets that have lots of water. We need to continue to investigate these places and more because if there is water, then there might be life, too.

Disciplinary Core Ideas

ESS2.A: Earth Materials and Systems: Rainfall helps to shape the land and affects the types of living things found in a region. Water, ice, wind, living organisms, and gravity break rocks, soils, and sediments into smaller particles and move them around. (4-ESS2-1) *Earth’s major systems are the geosphere (solid and molten rock, soil, and sediments), the hydrosphere (water and ice), the atmosphere (air), and the biosphere (living things, including humans). These systems interact in multiple ways to affect Earth’s surface materials and processes. The ocean supports a variety of ecosystems and organisms, shapes landforms, and influences climate. Winds and clouds in the atmosphere interact with the landforms to determine patterns of weather. (5-ESS2-1)

ESS2.B: Plate Tectonics and Large-Scale System Interactions: The locations of mountain ranges, deep ocean trenches, ocean floor structures, earthquakes, and volcanoes occur in patterns. Most earthquakes and volcanoes occur in bands that are often along the boundaries between continents and oceans. Major mountain chains form inside continents or near their edges. Maps can help locate the different land and water features areas of Earth. (4-ESS2-2)

PS3.D: Energy in Chemical Processes and Everyday Life: The energy released [from] food was once energy from the Sun that was captured by plants in the chemical process that forms plant matter (from air and water). (5-PS3-1)

LS1.C: Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms: Food provides animals with the materials they need for body repair and growth and the energy they need to maintain body warmth and for motion. (5-PS3-1) *Plants acquire their material for growth chiefly from air and water. (5-LS1-1)

LS2.A: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems: The food of almost any kind of animal can be traced back to plants. Organisms are related in food webs in which some animals eat plants for food and other animals eat the animals that eat plants.

LS2.B: Cycles of Matter and Energy Transfer in Ecosystems: Matter cycles between the air and soil and among plants, animals, and microbes as these organisms live and die. Organisms obtain gases, and water, from the environment, and release waste matter (gas, liquid, or solid) back into the environment. (5-LS2-1)

ESS2.C: The Roles of Water in Earth’s Surface Processes: Nearly all of Earth’s available water is in the ocean. Most freshwater is in glaciers or underground; only a tiny fraction is in streams, lakes, wetlands, and the atmosphere. (5-ESS2-2)

Crosscutting Concepts

Systems and System Models: A system can be described in terms of its components and their interactions. (5-ESS2-1, 5-ESS3-1)

Big Ideas: All living things on Earth need water. Since water is vital for life on Earth, places beyond Earth that have water are of great interest. In the past, Mars had an abundance of water and it still has water today as do some of the moons around other planets in our solar system. These may be the best places to find life outside of Earth.

Boundaries: Students in this grade band are learning to graphically represent the distribution of water on Earth, including its oceans, lakes, glaciers, ground water, and polar ice caps. (5-ESS2-2)

K-8 Water in the Biosphere. In this one-hour lesson, students make their own qualitative observations outdoors. Then they examine the life they saw and how water in the biosphere is part of the greater water cycle on Earth. This lesson can stand alone or be a part of a larger unit which includes the water cycle, Earth’s water and interacting spheres. NASA. https://pmm.nasa.gov/education/lesson-plans/water-biosphere

K-8 The Water Cycle. In this one-hour lesson, students participate in a web quest to learn about the water cycle, and then build a mini-model of the water cycle to observe how water moves through Earth’s four systems. This lesson can stand alone or be a part of a larger unit which includes the water in the biosphere, Earth’s water, and interacting spheres. NASA. https://pmm.nasa.gov/education/lesson-plans/water-cycle

5-12 Astrobiology Graphic Histories. Issue 5: Astrobiology and the Earth. These astrobiology related graphic books are ingenious and artfully created to tell the story of astrobiology in a whole new way. The complete series illustrates the backbone of astrobiology from extremophiles, to exploration within and beyond the solar system. This issue explains how astrobiologists explore analog environments on Earth in order to better understand environments that could support life on other worlds like Mars. Studying Earth is key to understanding life’s potential in the universe. NASA. https://astrobiology.nasa.gov/resources/graphic-histories/

6-12 (3-5 adaptable) Project Spectra! – Planet Designer: Kelvin Climb. The focus of these lessons (17) is on how light is used to explore the Solar System. In the lesson (60 minutes) “Planet Designer: Kelvin Climb” students create a planet using a computer game and change features of the planet to increase or decrease the planet’s temperature. Students explore some of the same principles scientists use to determine how likely it is for a planet to maintain flowing water, a critical ingredient for life as we know it. Using computer simulation is a powerful tool in the search for life and the conditions for life in the solar system and beyond. University of Colorado, Boulder/NASA. http://lasp.colorado.edu/home/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/KelvinClimb_teacher_20130617.pdf

6-12 (3-5 adaptable) Project Spectra! Planet Designer: Retro Planet Red. The focus of these lessons (17) is on how light is used to explore the Solar System. In the lesson (60 minutes) “Planet Designer: Retro Planet Red” students learn about Mars’ past and present before exploring the pressure and greenhouse strength needed for Mars to have a watery surface as it had in the past. Water is a key ingredient for life. University of Colorado, Boulder/NASA. http://lasp.colorado.edu/home/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Retro_Planet_Red_teacher_20130617.pdf

Grades 6-8 or Adult Building Learner

Storyline
NGSS Connections for Teachers
Concept Boundaries for Scientists
Resources

One attribute that is common to all living things that we know of is the need for water to survive. Even organisms that live in very dry places need water to live. Why? Why is water so important to living things? One reason that water is so important is because it’s a liquid. This means that it can move around the materials that are needed for chemical reactions. These reactions include the ability for cells to get energy in and to move waste out.

Water is made up of two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen that make a molecule. But water is a certain type of molecule called a “polar molecule”. Polar molecules have one side of the molecule that’s a bit more positively charged and the other side a little more negatively charged. This allows water to more easily break apart or dissolve other molecules. That’s why you can dissolve salt in water! There are actually a lot of other liquids that can do this but water has other advantages as well. Water is very plentiful. About 70% of the surface of Earth is covered by water, from our oceans and our lakes to our rivers and streams. It turns out that water is also plentiful in the solar system. Comets have a lot of water within them, there is ample evidence that liquid water existed on ancient Mars in great quantities, and many moons have water under their surfaces.

Water is super important for life as we know it! There might be other forms of life out there that don’t rely on water the way we do, but looking for alien life in places with lots of water is one good way to start searching for possible extraterrestrial life.

Disciplinary Core Ideas

LS1.C: Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms: Plants, algae (including phytoplankton), and many microorganisms use the energy from light to make sugars (food) from carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and water through the process of photosynthesis, which also releases oxygen. These sugars can be used immediately or stored for growth or later use. (MS-LS1-6)

PS3.A: Definitions of Energy: The term “heat” as used in everyday language refers both to thermal energy (the motion of atoms or molecules within a substance) and the transfer of that thermal energy from one object to another. In science, heat is used only for this second meaning; it refers to the energy transferred due to the temperature difference between two objects. Temperature is a measure of the average kinetic energy of particles of matter. The relationship between the temperature and the total energy of a system depends on the types, states, and amounts of matter present. (MS-PS3-3, MS-PS3-4)

PS3.D: Energy in Chemical Processes and Everyday Life: The chemical reaction by which plants produce complex food molecules (sugars) requires an energy input (i.e., from sunlight) to occur. In this reaction, carbon dioxide and water combine to form carbon-based organic molecules and release oxygen.

ESS2.C: The Roles of Water in Earth’s Surface Processes: Water’s movements — both on the land and underground — cause weathering and erosion, which change the land’s surface features and create underground formations. (MS-ESS2-2)

ESS3.A: Natural Resources: Humans depend on Earth’s land, ocean, atmosphere, and biosphere for many different resources. Minerals, fresh water, and biosphere resources are limited, and many are not renewable or replaceable over human lifetimes. (MS-ESS3-1)

Crosscutting Concepts

Structure and Function: Complex and microscopic structures and systems can be visualized, modeled, and used to describe how their function depends on the relationships among its parts, therefore complex natural structures/systems can be analyzed to determine how they function. (MS-LS1-2)

Big Ideas: All living things on Earth need water. It is critical to cellular function. Since water is vital for life on Earth, places beyond Earth that have water are of great interest. As a polar molecule, it has specific chemical properties, like the ability to dissolve other molecules. Water has been found in other places beyond Earth, like Mars and meteorites. Because water is so universal, astrobiologists look for water on other worlds as an indicator of possible life.

Boundaries: Students in this grade band construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how the uneven distributions of Earth’s mineral, energy, and groundwater resources are the result of past and current geoscience processes. Emphasis is on how these resources are limited and typically non-renewable. (MS-ESS3-1)

K-8 Water in the Biosphere. In this one-hour lesson, students make their own qualitative observations outdoors. Then they examine the life they saw and how water in the biosphere is part of the greater water cycle on Earth. This lesson can stand alone or be a part of a larger unit which includes the water cycle, Earth’s water and interacting spheres. NASA. https://pmm.nasa.gov/education/lesson-plans/water-biosphere

K-8 The Water Cycle. In this one-hour lesson, students participate in a web quest to learn about the water cycle, and then build a mini-model of the water cycle to observe how water moves through Earth’s four systems. This lesson can stand alone or be a part of a larger unit which includes the water in the biosphere, Earth’s water, and interacting spheres. NASA. https://pmm.nasa.gov/education/lesson-plans/water-cycle

5-12 Astrobiology Graphic Histories. Issue 5: Astrobiology and the Earth. These astrobiology related graphic books are ingenious and artfully created to tell the story of astrobiology in a whole new way. The complete series illustrates the backbone of astrobiology from extremophiles, to exploration within and beyond the solar system. This issue explains how astrobiologists explore analog environments on Earth in order to better understand environments that could support life on other worlds like Mars. Studying Earth is key to understanding life’s potential in the universe. NASA. https://astrobiology.nasa.gov/resources/graphic-histories/

6-12 Big Picture Science: Rife with Life. “Follow the water” is the mantra of those who search for life beyond Earth. Where there’s water, there may be life. This podcast features a tour of watery solar system bodies that hold promise for biology: Europa, Enceladus, Mars & Titan. SETI scientist Seth Shostak hosts this radio show on various topics in science, cosmology, physics, astronomy and astrobiology. Shostak interviews experts and explains important discoveries and concepts including in his weekly 50-minute shows. http://www.bigpicturescience.org/episodes/Rife_with_Life and http://www.bigpicturescience.org/Astrobiology_Index

6-12 Astrobiology Math. This collection of math problems provides an authentic glimpse of modern astrobiology science and engineering issues, often involving actual research data. Students explore concepts in astrobiology through calculations. Relevant topics include Ice or Water? (page 49) and Ice to Water…The Power of a Little Warmth! (page 51). NASA. https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/637832main_Astrobiology_Math.pdf

6-12 (3-5 adaptable) Project Spectra! – Planet Designer: Kelvin Climb. The focus of these lessons (17) is on how light is used to explore the Solar System. In the lesson (60 minutes) “Planet Designer: Kelvin Climb” students create a planet using a computer game and change features of the planet to increase or decrease the planet’s temperature. Students explore some of the same principles scientists use to determine how likely it is for a planet to maintain flowing water, a critical ingredient for life as we know it. Using computer simulation is a powerful tool in the search for life and the conditions for life in the solar system and beyond. University of Colorado, Boulder/NASA. http://lasp.colorado.edu/home/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/KelvinClimb_teacher_20130617.pdf

6-12 (3-5 adaptable) Project Spectra! Planet Designer: Retro Planet Red. The focus of these lessons (17) is on how light is used to explore the Solar System. In the lesson (60 minutes) “Planet Designer: Retro Planet Red” students learn about Mars’ past and present before exploring the pressure and greenhouse strength needed for Mars to have a watery surface as it had in the past. Water is a key ingredient for life. University of Colorado, Boulder/NASA. http://lasp.colorado.edu/home/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Retro_Planet_Red_teacher_20130617.pdf

8-10 SpaceMath Problem 275: Water on the Moon! Students estimate the amount of water on the moon using data from Deep Impact/EPOXI and NASA’s Moon Mineralogy Mapper experiment on the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft. [Topics: geometry, spherical volumes and surface areas, scientific notation] https://spacemath.gsfc.nasa.gov/moon/6Page11.pdf

8-10 SpaceMath Problem 264: Water on Planetary Surfaces. Students work with watts and Joules to study melting ice. [Topics: unit conversion, rates] https://spacemath.gsfc.nasa.gov/astrob/Astro3.pdf

8-10 SpaceMath Problem 121: Ice on Mercury? Since the 1990’s, radio astronomers have mapped Mercury. An outstanding curiosity is that in the polar regions, some craters appear to have ‘anomalous reflectivity’ in the shadowed areas of these craters. One interpretation is that this is caused by subsurface ice. The MESSENGER spacecraft hopes to explore this issue in the next few years. In this activity, students measure the surface areas of these potential ice deposits and calculate the volume of water that they imply. [Topics: area of a circle; volume, density, unit conversion] https://spacemath.gsfc.nasa.gov/planets/4Page23.pdf

Grades 9-12 or Adult Sophisticated Learner

Storyline
NGSS Connections for Teachers
Concept Boundaries for Scientists
Resources

All life on this planet needs water to survive. Some life can live with very little water in extremely dry places but they still need water. As we strive to find life beyond Earth, it is important to consider what life on Earth tells us about where to look. Why is water so important for life? Water supports cell functions. All organisms are made of cells, from microbes to the largest animals. All of life’s functions are completed within cells. Life needs chemical reactions to take place in order to gain energy, grow, and get rid of waste. Water is a liquid which allows the chemistry of life to take place. It is also a polar molecule which allows most other molecules to be dissolved. Because of this, we call water a “solvent”. Having such a good solvent as water is critical for the functions of life. But there are also some other reasons why water is so important:

Water is plentiful! Hydrogen is the most plentiful element in the universe and oxygen the most plentiful in Earth’s crust. On Earth, about 70% of the surface is covered by water. But there’s also lots of water in other places in our solar system. For instance, we’ve found many lines of evidence that lots of water existed on the surface of Mars during its early times, and Mars currently has a lot of frozen water under its surface. Comets contain mostly water ice. There are lots of moons in our solar system that are made of a lot of water ice, and there are even some moons with liquid water oceans under their icy crusts (like Europa and Enceladus).

Water still has other advantages as a solvent for life. For instance, water stays in the liquid phase over a large range of temperatures compared to some other solvents. That allows more places to have the potential for liquid water. It also has a high heat capacity. This means that water offers some protection to organisms from quick or drastic temperature changes.

Water also has an interesting property with regard to the density of ice. For many molecules, the solid has a higher density than the liquid. So, for most molecules, the solid would sink in the liquid. But this isn’t the case with water. For water, ice is actually less dense than liquid water. This is why ice floats! If this didn’t happen, then all of the organisms that live in the bottoms of lakes in the winter time would be completely frozen. But, even worse, during times in our planet’s history when the world has become very cold (causing what we call Snowball Earth), if frozen water sank, then all of Earth’s ocean life would have become frozen and maybe died!

If we want to understand how life works, then it’s really important to understand the chemistry of water. And astrobiologists who are wondering if we’re alone in the universe need to be aware of the potential for water to be important for other kinds of life as well. Right now, we’re investigating worlds like Enceladus and Europa, Mars, and other solar system bodies that show signs of water. Also, beyond our solar system, we’re looking for exoplanets that have the potential for liquid water at their surfaces, since they might be important places for us to look for possible extraterrestrial life.

Disciplinary Core Ideas

PS3.A: Definitions of Energy: Motion energy is properly called kinetic energy; it is proportional to the mass of the moving object and grows with the square of its speed. (MS-PS3-1) ▪A system of objects may also contain stored (potential) energy, depending on their relative positions. (MS-PS3-2) Temperature is a measure of the average kinetic energy of particles of matter. The relationship between the temperature and the total energy of a system depends on the types, states, and amounts of matter present. (MS-PS3-3, MS-PS3-4)

PS3.D: Energy in Chemical Processes and Everyday Life: The chemical reaction by which plants produce complex food molecules (sugars) requires an energy input (i.e., from sunlight) to occur. In this reaction, carbon dioxide and water combine to form carbon-based organic molecules and release oxygen. (MS-LS1-6)

LS2.C: Ecosystem Dynamics, Functioning, and Resilience: Biodiversity describes the variety of species found in Earth’s terrestrial and oceanic ecosystems. The completeness or integrity of an ecosystem’s biodiversity is often used as a measure of its health. (MS-LS2-5)

ESS2.A: Earth’s Materials and Systems: All Earth processes are the result of energy flowing and matter cycling within and among the planet’s systems. This energy is derived from the Sun and Earth’s hot interior. The energy that flows and matter that cycles produce chemical and physical changes in Earth’s materials and living organisms. (MS-ESS2-1)

ESS2.C: The Roles of Water in Earth’s Surface Processes: Water continually cycles among land, ocean, and atmosphere via transpiration, evaporation, condensation and crystallization, and precipitation, as well as downhill flows on land. (MS-ESS2-4) ▪ Global movements of water and its changes in form are propelled by sunlight and gravity. (MS-ESS2-4)

ESS3.A: Natural Resources: Humans depend on Earth’s land, ocean, atmosphere, and biosphere for many different resources. Minerals, fresh water, and biosphere resources are limited, and many are not renewable or replaceable over human lifetimes. These resources are distributed unevenly around the planet as a result of past geologic processes. (MS-ESS3-1)

ESS2.D: Weather and Climate: Weather and climate are influenced by interactions involving sunlight, the ocean, the atmosphere, ice, landforms, and living things. These interactions vary with latitude, altitude, and local and regional geography, all of which can affect oceanic and atmospheric flow patterns. (MS-ESS2-6) The ocean exerts a major influence on weather and climate by absorbing energy from the Sun, releasing it over time, and globally redistributing it through ocean currents. (MS-ESS2-6)

Crosscutting Concepts

Stability and Change: Much of science deals with constructing explanations of how things change and how they remain stable. (HS-ESS2-7)

Big Ideas: All living things need water. Water is critical to cellular function, chemical reactions, and thermal regulation. Water is less dense when a solid and stays in the same state over a wide temperature range. It is abundant on Earth and a common thread between all living things. Water has been found in other places beyond Earth, like Mars and meteorites. Because water is so universal, Astrobiologist look for water on the surface and atmosphere of exoplanets as an indicator that the planet could support life. Understanding the chemistry of water is important to understanding how life works.

Boundaries: In this grade band, students investigate the properties of water and its effects on Earth materials and surface processes including chemical investigations like chemical weathering and recrystallization. (HS-ESS2-5)