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 * Lesson 2 - What else is out there?** [[image:Gonsalves.jpg align="right"]]

Once we humans got comfortable with finding our way around the Earth using this new-fangled navigation system we started to look around and ask questions about what else there was around us. One of the most famous efforts to find out what else is out there has been conducted by NASA. In the 1960s NASA assembled an extraordinary group of scientists in an effort to identify other forms of life on Mars. Dr. James Lovelock, a British chemist and instrument designer was part of that team. His efforts to come up with a method for determining, from a distance, if life existed on another planet have led to a complete revision of how we see our own planet and the role of life in maintaining habitable conditions on Earth.

Lovelock called his theory the Gaia hypothesis. He proposed that living and non-living parts of the earth form a complex interacting system that can be thought of as a single organism. Named after the Greek goddess Gaia, the hypothesis postulates that the biosphere has a regulatory effect on the Earth's environment that acts to sustain life. While the Gaia hypothesis was readily accepted by many in the environmental science community, it has not been widely accepted within the some other branches of science. Dr. Lovelock demonstrated the basis of his theory using a rather novel approach, a mathematical model called Daisy World. We will return to discuss mathematical models and Daisy World later. However, you may want to take a look at the animation at the link in the references section to get a rough idea of how Daisy World works.

The question “What else is out there?” quickly became “What makes us, the Earth, unique?” Dr. Lovelock’s work on this topic has provided a foundation for the modern study of Earth systems science and that view of the Earth has led to the widespread use of satellite borne instruments to measure changes in the functioning of the Earth’s systems in response to human intervention.

ASSIGNMENTS:

The video for this lesson is located on GoCourse. It is an interview conducted by Dr. David Suzuki made in connection with the CBC series, //The Sacred Balance.// [] Your goal in watching this video is to map out the process of science and scientific discovery as described by Dr. Lovelock and his Gaia hypothesis. How do scientists come up with theories? How do they verify their hypotheses? Before you watch it please download this flow diagram and look at the processes it describes. You will also want to download a version of the //How Science Works// flow diagram that has blank spaces where you can write or type in information TO BE INSERTED HERE . Use this blank form to enter events and developments that Dr. Lovelock experienced that fit into the blank blocks.

For example, Dr. Lovelock describes several pieces of evidence that supported his Gaia hypothesis verify his theory. These included his discovery that methyl iodine and dimethylsulfide are produced by algae on the open ocean. When the mass of those chemicals released into the air over the ocean by algae was added to mathematical models of the Earth's sulfur and iodine cycles (budgets), his findings exactly fit previously unexplained gaps between the measured and expected quantities. So, the waste products from algae were necessary to balance the sulfur and iodine cycles that had previously been thought to be independent of living organisms and only the result of geological and atmospheric cycles. This piece of evidence fits into the circle in the diagram named "Gathering data" and "Interpreting Data". 

Take notes while you watch the video and then after you have finished watching it fill in the blank version of the How Science Works flow diagram. Then use your notes and the completed diagram to describe how science worked in the development of the Gaia principle in a “Journal” entry on your personal Wiki page. Keep this journal entry down to 1 page. Use the following headings to guide you in the process:
 * Exploration/Discovery
 * Gathering Data/Interpreting Data
 * Community Analysis and Feedback
 * Benefits and Outcomes

While watching the video think about the process of discovery Dr. Lovelock describes. What makes a research question interesting and important?
 * DISCUSSION TOPICS**:

1) Continue observing phases of the Moon. 2) Question sheet and Journal posting based on the video of interview James Lovelock. 3) What's in your neighborhood 4) NASA Climate Change website and NASA missions.http://climate.nasa.gov/
 * ASSIGNMENTS**:

__**Some References of Interest**__: J. E. Lovelock (1972). "Gaia as seen through the atmosphere". [|Atmospheric Environment] **6** (8): 579–580. [|doi]: [|10.1016/0004-6981(72)90076-5]. J. E. Lovelock (1972). "Gaia as seen through the atmosphere". [|Atmospheric Environment] **6** (8): 579–580. [|doi]: [|10.1016/0004-6981(72)90076-5]. Daisyworld: []