This is assignment is meant for you to do independent research for each of the questions to help become better aware of some relatively recent advances in solar system research as it pertains to what we think we know about the terrestrial planets, including our own.

There are lots of web resources available on each of the topics below and its best to consult multiple sources of information in providing your answers.

1. In the last few years, scientists have discovered that the martian polar caps have more water ice in them and less frozen carbon dioxide than previously thought. Summarize some of the implications of this result in terms of our view of the geologic history of Mars.
   
   
2. Find out how the population of near-earth asteroids is formed. What is the expected frequency of impacts of these objects on the Earth?
   
   
3. A dramatic new view of the geologic history of the Earth has arisen in the last few years. This view is quite controversial and is known as "Snowball Earth." Summarize what this theory is and what is some of the evidence for and against this hypothesis.
   
   
4. Over the last 20 years, the idea of "Life on Mars" (no, not the TV show), has appeared in and out of the main stream media. Research, find and summarize some of the lines of evidence, gathered over the last 20 years, that help build the case that there may once have been life of Mars How credible do you think is the scientific evidence for the case of life having occurred on Mars?
   
   
5. What are tube worm colonies? Where are they located and what is their significance to the formation of life on Earth?