Describe at least two of the requirements for a planet to support (and sustain) life (e.g., water, etc.).

Earth Sciences 1086F/G
Scientific Report – For an essay course you are required to compose original material that reflects your ability to
comprehend and synthesize information from a variety of sources. For this course you will be required
to write a 1500-word scientific report on an assigned topic.
The topic is “THE SEARCH FOR LIFE ON MARS”. Humans have long been fascinated with the
prospect of finding life on the planet Mars. Historically, it was believed that complex civilizations once
thrived there. However, currently we have not yet found evidence of even simple bacterial life. In the
summer of 2020 NASA launched their mission “Mars 2020”, which put a new rover called Perseverance
on the surface of Mars. The main purpose of Perseverance is to look for evidence of life and collect
samples that will later be returned to Earth. Your assignment is to write a scientific report about life on
Mars. You will be asked to research and write about two themes: 1) Why do we believe there is a
possibility of life on Mars? and 2) What kind of evidence of life are we searching for?
The most important skill in writing a scientific report is the ability to obtain useful and quality
information from published literature. To do this well, you must be able to:
1. Choose quality sources
2. Scrutinize what you are reading
3. Recognize the information that is pertinent to your report
4. Summarize the pertinent information in your own words
5. Synthesize the information into a coherent and succinct argument
To polish the skills required to write a decent report you may submit your work twice. The report is
worth 35% and is submitted in two different versions. The first version will be worth 25% of your
course grade. You will receive feedback on this version that you can use to improve your essay and
resubmit for the second version, which is worth 10% of the course grade. Revising your essay to
improve its content, based on feedback from your TA, is an opportunity both to improve your writing
and to increase your grade. The revised (second) version of the essay may be submitted at any time up to
the final submission deadline. If no revisions are made or if you do not submit a second version, the
grade for the final version will be the same as that for the first version.
Your report will be marked on:
1. Content (which reflects your ability to gather, synthesize and convey information): 60%.
Please see the detailed OUTLINE (below) for a summary of the information you need to include
in your report.
2. Formatting (based on your ability to follow instructions and your writing style): 40%
Please see the FORMATTING INSTRUCTIONS (below) for specific instructions on how to
format your report.
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This document includes the following information:
1. OUTLINE – provides a summary of the information you MUST include in your report and is a
guideline on the expected layout of the report.
2. MARKING SCHEME – provides a breakdown of mark distribution for the report.
3. DUE DATES and late penalties
4. SUBMISSION process for OWL
5. TURNITIN – This software checks for similarities among student reports and other published
work. Here you can find information on what to expect for your Turnitin report.
6. GENERATIVE AI – Although the use of Generative AI (e.g., ChatGPT) is not required some
people may choose to use it. A statement regarding Generative AI is REQUIRED for all essays.
Place this on the Title Page.
7. TIPS FOR CHOOSING GOOD REFERENCES – You must use at least 12 sources for your
report. At least 4 of your references must be from peer-reviewed scientific journals. This
document will give you tips on selecting quality sources. Marks will be given for quality of
references and formatting.
8. FORMATTING INSTRUCTIONS – This is a detailed list of how to format your report. Follow
these guidelines carefully – they are fairly standard requirements for scientific reports (and it is a
road map for free marks). Many students needlessly lose marks by not bothering to read these
instructions.
a. File format and naming
b. Word limit
c. Title Page
d. Table of contents
e. Section Headings
f. Figures and Table
g. Citation and Reference formatting
h. Spelling and Grammar
i. Help with writing
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OUTLINE:
Please use the following outline to guide your research and writing. It is expected that your report will
include discussion of all things included in this outline.
Note: In each of these sections I am looking for more detailed information here than what is provided in
the course notes. Search the literature, seek recent research studies, always provide evidence for your
statements (do not cite course notes), and always put your facts in context (e.g., provide background and
explain implications).
I am giving approximate word-counts for each section – these are loose guidelines (and will not be
marked) to help you gauge the level of detail I’m expecting and the significance of each section. Only
the overall word-count (1500) will be marked.
Introduction (250-300 words) (10 marks)
Begin by just stating very simple facts – all the details will come in later in the report.
• You’ll want to provide some introductory facts that will convince the reader that your subject is
worth discussion. You should include:
o Where/what is Mars?
o Why are we investigating life on Mars and not other planets?
• You’ll need to include a definition of “life”.
• Give some historical context – did people ever believe there was life on Mars? Why or why not?
What is the current belief?
• Statement of Aim (this may be a subsidiary heading under Introduction or simply a separate
paragraph): just a sentence or two about what the report will cover.
Can Mars Support Life? (400-600 words) (20 marks)
• Describe at least two of the requirements for a planet to support (and sustain) life (e.g., water,
etc.). Please note that liquid water and temperatures that allow water to be liquid are the same thing.
• Discuss (in detail) TWO pieces of evidence that Mars meets (or met at some time) some of these
requirements. Note – I am not asking for evidence of life, just evidence that there was a suitable
environment to support life. For each piece of evidence, you have chosen explain:
o What was observed? (e.g., ice crystals)
o How was it observed? (e.g., satellite images)
o What does the evidence prove? (e.g., Mars has water)
• Did Mars have the right conditions to support life in the past? What about now?
Ongoing Search for Life (500-700 words) (25 marks)
• In the previous section you proved (I hope) that there is a possibility that life can/could exist on
Mars (e.g., Mars has water). In this section you will discuss how we search for life on Mars. If
you are confused about the difference between these two sections, please ask for clarification on
the Forums.
• Discuss (in detail) TWO of the past strategies used to find evidence of LIFE on Mars
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o Where have we been looking? (e.g., parts of the planet, meteorites etc.)
o What have we been looking for? (footprints, fossils, methane, isotopes etc)
o What was observed?
o What has worked/failed and does failure mean that there is no Martian life?
• What are the strategies/technologies that various missions will use to search for life on Mars?
• What would be the significance if we are successful? Try to justify why we are sending missions
to Mars.
Conclusions (150 words) (5 marks)
This is a summary of the important parts of the report; neither new material nor personal opinions
should be included.
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MARKING SCHEME
Major Assignment – Scientific Report
In order that you appreciate how important format is to a scientific report, there is an almost equal split
in marks for format (40%) and content (60%) for the assignment.
Component: Marks Comments
Generative AI
Statement-NEW!
-5 No marks are given for including the statement but failing to
include one will cause you to lose 5 marks. See below.
Formatting: See the Report Preparation Instructions for formatting
information. Deductions will be made for each formatting error
Title page 2
Table of Contents 5
Word limit – See report formatting instructions for deductions
Page numbers 2
Illustrations/Tables 8 Quality and suitability: illustrations should support and enhance
your report
Headings 2
References 10 Marks for correct formatting and quality of references. See
Choosing References for instructions.
Spelling 3
Grammar 3
Style 5 Marks for coherent and clear writing and professional
presentation.
Content: See the Report Outline for details of what should be included in
the following sections. You will be graded on what information
you choose to include, the accuracy of that information and how
well you express that information, justify your arguments and
achieve your statement of aim.
Introduction 10
Can Mars support
Life?