MO-4: Investigating Atmospheres
The greenhouse effect plays a crucial role in the atmospheres of Venus, Earth, and Mars. In this MO, teams will investigate the greenhouse effect using hands-on experiments, models, and simulations. Students will explore how factors such as atmospheric composition, surface material, cloud cover, and water vapor influence planetary temperatures. Then, they will use the evidence collected for MO-3 and MO-4 to make a claim with evidence about why the Earth and Venus are so different now.
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Thermometers or temperature probes
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Large (1-2 liter) plastic bottles or other sealable clear glass or plastic containers (2 per team)
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Light source (such as a grow bulb or sunlight outdoors)
Some additional materials will depend on the testable question that your students chose. See Companion Course Lesson 4 for ideas.
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Explore Section: Scaffolding tips and a template to help students plan and carry out their greenhouse experiment.
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Explain and Elaborate Section: Teacher tips and student-facing templates for making claims from evidence from an experiment.
NASA missions have been studying the greenhouse effect on Venus, Earth, and Mars for decades. Probes like Venus Express and Pioneer Venus revealed how Venus’s thick CO₂ atmosphere traps heat, making it the hottest planet in the solar system. Meanwhile, the Curiosity Rover and Perseverance Rover are investigating how Mars lost its once-thicker atmosphere, leaving it cold and dry. On Earth, satellites like OCO-2 and Aqua monitor greenhouse gases and climate changes in real time. Future missions, including VERITAS and DAVINCI, will explore Venus’s atmosphere and surface to uncover how its runaway greenhouse effect developed.
See the Getting up to Speed with ROADS from Earth to Venus document to learn more about the greenhouse effect and how NASA is studying it.
In this Mission Objective, teams will design and carry out experiments to better understand the greenhouse effect, which is key to studying the atmospheres of Venus, Earth, and Mars.
First, teams will consider the surface temperatures on the inner planets and discuss the factors that might affect those temperatures. They will then design a hands-on experiment to test how different factors influence temperature on simulated planets. Using clear, sealed containers, they will create small test environments and change one variable at a time, such as the amount of carbon dioxide, water vapor, surface color, or cloud cover. As they work, teams will record temperature changes to see how each factor affects heat trapping. They will also document their experiment with drawings, labeled photos, and data tables or graphs. Resources in the Companion Course lesson will help students develop and refine their ideas.
Next, teams will make a claim about why Earth and Venus are so different today, even though they were once very similar. To support their claim, they will use evidence from their own experiment as well as from activities and resources in Lessons 3 and 4 or MO-3 and MO-4. Younger students will focus on one cause and support it with three pieces of evidence, while middle and high school students will identify multiple causes, provide evidence for each, and explain their relative importance. For every piece of evidence, teams will write at least one sentence showing how it supports their claim.
As they work, teams should keep track of their results in their Science and Engineering Notebooks (SENs). At the end of the Challenge, teams will be asked to submit a Mission Development Log (MDL) to NESSP that shows how the students worked through the Mission Objective and summarizes their results. NESSP provides an MDL Template to help guide what teams should include in their MDL. Please see MO-1 for guidelines on the format and length of the MDL.
Investigation
- Describe the experiment by drawing or taking a picture of the experiment set-up and identifying the independent, dependent, and controlled variables.
- Describe the frequency of measurements and when measurements were taken.
- Include at least three photographs of the experiment in progress. Photos should be dated and labeled with a description of what they show.
- Include the experimental data in table or graphical form.
- Claim: Make a clear claim about why Earth and Venus are so different now despite being very similar in the past.
- Evidence: Evidence must come from the activities and resources provided in Lessons 3 and 4. The source of the evidence must be included. Teachers may decide to allow additional resources from reputable sources.
- Grades 3–5: Identify one important cause and support it with at least three pieces of evidence.
- Middle School: Identify at least three important causes and support each cause with at least two pieces of evidence.
- High School: Identify at least three important causes and explain their relative importance, with at least two pieces of evidence for each cause.
- Explanation: For each piece of evidence, supply at least one sentence that explains how that evidence supports the claim.