Lucy Kohlhoff-October 8th, 2012
Core Earth Science/ Ms. DaviesOn October 2nd, Curiosity, the rover of the Mars Science Laboratory, rolled onto a part of the Gale Crater of Mars called “Rocknest” and is preparing to get samples of the soil so scientists will be able to test if there is any microbial life. The scientists will analyze the minerals for the past environmental conditions and perform chemical analysis for the ingredients that are crucial for life, to see if life could have been possible. The process of the soil collection for Curiosity is to scoop it up and then dump it out, then scoop up more dirt and soil and store it as a sample. To ground up and make rocks into powder, Curiosity will use its hammer drill and then store the powder. Inside Curiosity are many different gears and chambers for sorting and separating the different samples, which will be helpful in sorting the samples for the labs they will be given to for testing.
Curiosity and searching for life on Mars is very important to our nation’s science department moving forward. I think life on planets is a very important part of our solar system to explore, because if there is microbial life on mars, it may lead to newer and deeper discoveries of life on other planets. This may eventually also help us find the first signs of bacteria life, on any planet in our solar system. The topic of possible life on Mars is a discussion topic in science that intrigues me, and learning more about the current and future research being done is something I would like to follow up on.
Though this article was quite fascinating to read, I felt there could be some improvements to make what the reader got out of the article increase. The article explains well how the rover collects the soil and rocks, but I think they should briefly mention how these samples are going to get back to earth for the labs to test them. Also, the description of Curiosity could have been a little more in depth, so that the reader can have a clear image of what she looks like because a picture was not included. Besides for these faults, the article was well written, insightful, and thought provoking for what the future holds for research in our solar system.
Lucy - your entry really intrigued me! I liked how you chose a topic that was so recent, because for some reason it makes the news more exciting and more realistic. Also, I thought the way you described the process of what these scientists would be doing to conduct their experiments was grea. It really made me feel like I knew what was going on, and I had enough of the background information to understand what they were going to do. Thirdly, the way you presented your opinion on why this article was full of supporting evidence and it had a nice connection with what we are learning in class now.
ReplyDeleteThis information was so new to me, and I think that is what caught my eye about it. I never knew that NASA was preparing to study the soil on Mars, although I knew that they had landed a Rover. Again, the whole process really surprised me. The way that these scientists think to gather this soil is something that truly surprises me, especially because they always find a way to get their stuff done with accurate data.
I really liked the way you set up your review, but I do think next time you could work a little more on your sentence structures.
GOOODJOBBBBBBBBB!!! woo
Sean Flanagan 10/9/12
ReplyDeleteCore Earth Science 1 Honors Current Events Comment
I read Lucy Kohlhoff's review of an article in Science Daily named "Nasa
Mars Curiosity Rover Prepares to Study Martian Soil". One of the best features of
the review was its coherency. The sentence structure and grammar never
confused me. Furthermore, Lucy brought the science in the article down to a point
where anyone could understand it. She didn't just copy and paste form the article,
in other words. Lucy understood the article and translated it for the reader. Finally,
Lucy was able to make me think about the topic. If I had read the article, I probably
would have dismissed it as unimportant to my life. But, Lucy's review made me
believe that life on Mars could be very important to the world.
Lucy's review impressed me with her knowledge. I know some things that I
didn't know before I read the article. For example, I didn't know that the Mars
rover, Curiosity, is able to analyze soil samples from Mars. I thought the only
function of rovers like Curiosity was to take pictures of the surface of Mars. I
never assumed the function of a rover was more sophisticated than that. I also
learned that there is a possibility of life on Mars. Previously, I hadn't even
considered the possibility of life on Mars. I had assumed we were sending
rovers up there to find out more about the physical characteristics of the
planet. It is a very interesting line of inquiry to follow on the internet.
Lucy's review of this article was good, but there is always room for
improvement. Lucy did a good job of summing up the science she had in the
review, but there could have been more. There was a distinct lack of general
content and information in the article, I gleaned something about the topic from the
review, but there could have been more of an explanation. Other than that one note,
the review was good
This entry really pulled me in , not only from the topic of new things found in the soil of mars but also because it was so recent it made me feel like I was part of these new discoveries. I was also impressed how Lucy made such a scientifically complicated process so easy to understand. You left me nothing to confused about . Also I appreciated in relevancy to what we had learned in class. Lastly you had a very clearly stated you opinion leaving me with no loose ends.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite thing that Lucy did was how she made something of interest to me when I probably would have just scrolled my the article. Also it is short enough to keep it interesting but long enough to understand the topic. The only criticism is that at certain parts I feel you could edit the structure of you sentences but overall the review was great.
I definitely learned a lot from this review, all of the information was very new to me as well as interesting . Even though I did know about the infamous Mars rover I had know idea that NASA planned on studding the planets soil, I didn't even know that the rover was capable of that. This entire review surprised me so much, apart from Lucy's impeccable writing skills. The whole purpose of how the scientist planned to test the soil really took me back. This made me appreciated the scientific presses that our county has made and proud to be a part of such an ambitious country.