Spring Branch ISD Featured News

Could there be, or have been, life on Mars? Three Westchester Academy for International Studies (WAIS) juniors in Amanda Wood’s International Baccalaureate (IB) English class were curious about this topic, and were invited to pose their questions to NASA engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Their video-recorded questions, and the engineers’ answers, were broadcast on NASA’s YouTube channels in advance of the recent Perseverance Rover landing on Mars. 

Wood is a former colleague of Dr. Brandon Rodriguez from JPL’s Education Outreach Program. He previously provided Wood with educational materials to teach science and language crossover lessons. This connection led to an invitation for Wood to provide a professional development session, hosted online by NASA, for other teachers around the country and world. 

“I essentially covered how language teachers could use [Socratic] seminars to have students dissect scientific language to build fluency and establish a line of reason,” said Wood. “A line of reason is essentially arranging your own evidence and ideas to form a logical conclusion. Students must be able to effectively use evidence to support their ideas and talk about how they relate.”

In Wood’s presentation related to Science/Technology/Engineering/Art/Math (STEAM), she featured the work of three of her students who expressed interest in science: Arlette Camacho, Daniela Valdes and Kenny Ngyuen. 

Dr. Rodriguez was so impressed by the students’ preparations for their discussions during the demonstration seminar, that they were asked to participate in the publicity videos leading up to the successful landing of the rover on Mars.

So, what does one ask a NASA engineer about Mars if given the chance?

Take a look at these impressive questions and listen to the engineers’ answers:

•    Arlette Camacho at the 5:43 mark in this video: If methane can be produced from many sources, including hydrothermal vents where organisms can survive, and methane is in Mars’ atmosphere, do you believe there is or was life on Mars?

•    Daniela Valdes at the 9:07 mark in this video: Do you believe humans can live on Mars despite the harsh environment?

•    Kenny Ngyuen at the 11:52 mark of this video: If you find signs of life [on Mars], what are you hoping will be the next big discovery?

“For this landing, more than any previous mission in our history, we really wanted to focus on the work teachers are doing during these trying times,” said Dr. Rodriguez. “I can confidently say it meant so much to the scientific and education communities to see young minds on our live programming. I hope they were as excited about being on TV as we were being able to feature them.”

Submitted by Becky Wuerth, SBISD Communications
becky.wuerth@springbranchisd.com