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Abstract Email to: worgenkid@yahoo.com (Ryan)
Our research question states “Is the moon habitable by life forms?” which is us trying to see if life can live on the moon such as we do on Earth. Our hypothesis was that the Moon would not be able to inhabit life forms and our hypothesis was correct, we were able to show that the Moon was uninhabitable. We had taken a water bottle and filled it with water and sugar, then we put yeast in it and got as much air out as possible to give it the no air factor, at that point we attached a balloon and watched it get sucked into the bottle. Our results were that at 15 minutes Earth had a circumference of 18.5 cm and 0 cm for the Moon. At 30m minutes the Earth had a circumference of 21 cm and the Moon stayed at 0 cm. We have concluded that the Moon is uninhabitable by life forms without life support or breathing technology, also without an atmosphere the Moon cannot have weather therefore it cannot have water or any sort of life.
Introduction-Flesh out Intro The purpose of this lab is to determine that the Moon is or is not habitable. The two planets/moons being compared are the Earth and the Moon. The relevance of this lab is to give an idea of what a planet needs to can make it habitable by humans. There are specific to making a planet or moon habitable starting with an orbit that remains stable in output for over a billion years. The planet or moon but be at a distance from the star that results in it achieving a stable temperature so its surface water is liquid and not frozen. The planet or moon must have an elliptical orbit, so it has stable conditions all of the planet’s or moon’s year.
SPONCH is an acronym of 6 elements; Sulfur, Phosphorous, Oxygen, Nitrogen, Carbon, and Hydrogen, these are necessary for living things and are needed for such. Sulfur is used for making amino acids and enzymes and it loves electrons such as Oxygen. Phosphorous is used in cell membranes like phospholipids, bones, ATP, and hemoglobin. Oxygen is used in making fats, carbs, amino acids, and enzymes; like sulfur it loves electrons. Nitrogen is used only in making amino acids. Carbon is in the three molecules of fats, carbs, and proteins. Hydrogen is a good electron acceptor, part of the “big three” molecules, hydrogen also makes the DNA structure and proteins. Without SPONCH life on planets and moons would not be habitable. Scientists have been trying to find planets that are orbiting stars like our sun. So they have sent telescopes and satellites to try to find them but they have also discovered a method to finding these planets and stars. The wobble method was used as a starting point to give them something to look for when looking at a star like our sun. Earth’s moon is 81 times smaller than Earth and has six times less gravity than Earth. The moon also has nearly no atmosphere. Any gasses on the Moon would have leaked due to low gravity. Due to no atmosphere there is no weather on the moon such as rain, snow, or clouds. It also has no water and with no air there is no sound being carried or no way to breathe without a breathing device. The temperature can be hotter or colder than the Earth’s surface from the equator it can be 260 degrees, or -280 degrees. In the craters they can be -400 degrees Fahrenheit. We are using yeast as the organism in this lab. Yeast cant live on its own without support making it a great test subject for seeing what conditions can support life. That the “planet” the yeast lives, it will show that it (planet) can support life to where we can live on.
No the yeast will not be able to live on the Moon so the yeast will die. Independent: The planet. Dependent : CO2 production. We predict that the yeast will die within 45 minutes. We also predict that the planet Earth will support yeast to where it will live longer than 45 minutes.

Materials:
1 cup of lukewarm water
3 cubes of sugar
1 quarter-oz package of yeast
1 empty half-liter plastic water bottle
1 nine or ten inch party balloon
1 cloth measuring tape
1 small funnel (optional)
IMPORTANT you must design your lab using variations, in a section below.

The Moon Procedure: We squeeze the air out of the bottle and fill it up with water and yeast. Then put the bottle in the microwave to expose it to radiation for 15 seconds.
The Earth Procedure: Mix water and sugar in water bottle until the cubes are dissolved. Using the funnel add yeast, gently swirl mixture. Cap the bottle with a balloon. Use the cloth measuring tape to measure the circumference of the balloon every 15 minutes.

Results

15 min
30 min
45 min
60 min
Earth
18.5 cm
21 cm

Earth’s Moon
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm

Results: Earth: 15 minutes 18.5 cm Moon 15 minutes 18.5 cm Earth: 30 minutes 21 cm

Over the course of 30 minutes Earth grew 21 centimeters. The moon however stay 0 and did not inflate at all. Earth first grows to 18.5 centimeters and then grows another 2.5 centimeters to 21 centimeters.
Discussion
Paragraph 1: Answer your research question using the data as shown in your graph. State whether your hypothesis was supported or not supported.
The research question stated “Is the moon habitable by life forms?” and the answer is no. We have seen this through there was no air inside the bottle and the yeast died soon after the experiment was started. The hypothesis was that the yeast would not survive in the conditions of the “moon” and it was supported through the yeast did not survive.

Paragraph 2: Use your background research from your introduction to explain why you got the results and drew the conclusions. What is the science behind your results and conclusions?
The background information from the introduction states that the Moon has no atmosphere and no water to support any type of life. Proof of the Moon not having atmosphere is that there is no weather and weather is on Earth because of its atmosphere. Since the Moon has no atmosphere it cannot support the life of yeast or humans.

Paragraph 3: Errors and limitations: Confusing variables/ data are presented and explained. Possible errors are described. Limits of the experiment are discussed.
A couple errors were that the bottle used for the “Moon” still had air in it so it was not accurate enough to get the readings we needed so we had to restart it. Another error was that the balloon for “Earth” had a hole in it so we had to patch up the hole to the best of our ability. A limitation is that the bottle experiment doesn’t express the terrain of the planet being tested, for the Moon the terrain is useless for making crops or trees and other planets have terrain that is not easy for life to use.

Paragraph 4: What is the importance of the experimental results to science or society? Suggestions for future experiments are presented and reasonable
The importance of this experiment and its results is to give us an idea on what planet we can inhabit and what planet can support life like Earth can. If we can find another planet then when the Earth is drained of its resources then we can inhabit another planet to keep the human race alive. Future experiments can be ranging from using an aquarium and sucking the air out, giving it the no-air element and giving it terrain like the planet to give a more accurate idea. We can use an invertebrate such as a fruit-fly to give another life form example.

Literature Cited
For paragraph 2 http://ircamera.as.arizona.edu/NatSci102/NatSci102/lectures/habzone.htm For paragraph 2 http://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/SPONCH For paragraph 2
Nicole’s PowerPoint on SPONCH titled “Habitability: Earth to Universe.
For paragraph 3 http://archive.seti.org/seti/seti-science/detecting_new/wobble_method.php For paragraph 3 http://library.thinkquest.org/25097/graphics/moon.htm For paragraph 4
Talked to Nicole
For paragraph 5