Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

My daughter's science fair project really has two phases: Site selection (looking for a good place on Mars to test her hypothesis) and site analysis (seeing if she can find evidence to support the hypothesis at that site).

She is currently working on part one (finding a sparse dune field, not too close to the equator, and other details), but hasn't made much progress on her research plan (though I make her keep up the bibliography from day one). She says she can't write up the site analysis procedure until she finds the site (because she doesn't know how many THEMIS stamps and other data are available until she finds the exact location) And, of course, if a site like she has in her mind doesn't exist, she may have to change her idea.

OK: So, if the research plan is to be completed before any research begins (we don't have to have a review for this type of project), should I make her stop having fun looking at dunes and make her write up the site selection procedure now, or does it make more sense to just wait at this point and let her work on it after she finds her site?

In other words, does site selection count as "background research" (completed as you work on research plan) or as "experimentation" (not started until after research plan is done)? It seems like it's is a little of both.

Hi Janet,

Extraterrestrial biology is a new field for me and exciting! We all may have to head for Mars someday if an asteroid or comet approaches earth on a collision course!

What exactly is your daughter looking for on Mars? What is her hypothesis and how will she test it? Is she doing the 'citizen science' project that NASA has sponsored--BE A MARTIAN--http://beamartian.jpl.nasa.gov/citizenship-hall

Without really understanding your project, I would say that the Martian site or sites you select constitute independent variables and therefore are not experiments. What I assume from your description is that you need to find a site where the Mars rovers have done chemical analysis on the soil. Is that correct? So, your site choices are limited to those that were investigated and published by NASA.

I hope this helps. Post again with a description of the project hypothesis and methods so we can better answer your questions.

Good luck!

Sybee

Hi Janet,

SciB gave you some great advice. Based on my experience (planetary geology is my career), site selection is a key part of the process of doing planetary research. Usually the researcher develops a set of criteria that a particular location must meet in order to be studied. For example, if a particular question relied on THEMIS data (or another data set), then one site requirement would be that the location have THEMIS data available. If I were interested in studying sometime that happened at a particular time in the past, one site requirement would be that the terrain (e.g., dune field) was the correct age. For the purposes of a science fair project, I would suggest that defining the site selection criteria is part of the background research/planning stage of the project. Then, actually selecting the site would be part of the procedure.

If she needs to turn in a research plan, she should write a procedure for how she plans to choose her site (i.e., what criteria are important) and how she plans to analyze the site. Then, once that procedure is finished she can continue searching for a study site. She can also adjust her procedure if she isn't able to find the ideal site.

What is the hypothesis your daughter is testing? If I know more about what your daughter is trying to do, I can probably point her toward one or two specific sites that woudl be suitable for her study.

The research plan is turned in early only if it's vertebrate biology, hazardous materials, or otherwise needs review, otherwise it just goes in with the entry form a month before the fair, so she can write it pretty much any time according to the rules. The problem is, that it always seems to happen last minute in our household, and it's making me (the mom) nervous that she isn't writing. The general idea is that the "research plan is finished before starting research" -- but the two phases makes it hard for me to know when I should just say, OK, no more JMARS until you've written up what you've done so far!

She has a professor that she had been talking to over the summer, but she has suddenly become all shy about emailing him. She feels like she has to look for the right dunes herself, or it's getting too much help. Stubbornness is one of her strengths. Her hypothesis is along the lines of how much ice might be under a dune, and how/whether dunes affect the subsurface ice.

Hi Janet_425,

If you're nervous about your daughter pushing writing off until the last minute, then it's definitely worth having her write something now. Your daughter should have a plan for how she will analyze the site she chooses, and she should write up that plan before she starts her analysis. With that in mind, the "no more JMARS until you're written up what you've done so far" line might be appropriate when she has chosen a study site.

Her project sounds quite interesting. A couple of my colleagues had some suggestions for narrowing down her search. I'm not sure what your daughter and professor have already discussed, but perhaps these will help guide her toward finding the right dunes. But, like I said, I'm not sure what she and the professor have already discussed, so these suggestions might be old news.

- look for dunes in the bottom of craters. That is where deposits of windblown sand and falling snow tend to accumulate.
- focus on craters with dunes between 30 and 60 degrees North latitude
- use HiRISE images (which are available through JMARS) in addition to THEMIS so that she can look for other features that indicate subsurface ice, such as sublimation pits or ring mold craters (I can provide examples of what these features look like)

I still have another Mars researcher that I'm waiting to hear from. I will post back with her suggestions when I hear from her. I'm not sure if these are helpful, but I'm happy to keep poking around on your daughter's behalf.

Just a side note, it's quite common for a professor to help a PhD student find an appropriate spot to study a particular hypothesis. I don't know if that helps allay your daugther's concerns about having to find the right dunes herself. But, if someone helps her find the right dunes and then she does the rest of the project herself, she'll be doing what a lot of graduate students in planetary geology do.

Thanks, I think I'll wait to bug her to start writing after the initial site search is done, then. It seems like a natural point to pause and write.

Thanks for offering to "poke around" for her -- I think it may be best for her to ask for help on that if she wants it, though. Like I said, right now, she's worried about getting "too much help." However, I will definitely pass on the reminder that even grad students get help.