2016 Released Items: Grade 10 Performance-Based Assessment Research Simulation Task

Transcription

1 2016 Released Items: Grade 10 Performance-Based Assessment Research Simulation Task The Research Simulation Task requires students to analyze an informational topic through several articles or multimedia stimuli. Students read and respond to a series of questions and synthesize information from multiple sources in order to write an analytic essay. The 2016 blueprint for PARCC s grade 10 Research Simulation Task includes Evidence-Based Selected Response/Technology-Enhanced Constructed Response items as well as one Prose Constructed Response prompt. Included in this document: Answer key and standards alignment PDFs of each item with the associated text(s) Additional related materials not included in this document: Sample scored student responses with annotations and practice papers PARCC Scoring Rubric for Prose Constructed Response Items Guide to English Language Arts/Literacy Released Items: Understanding Scoring 2016 PARCC English Language Arts/Literacy Assessment: General Scoring Rules for the 2016 Summative Assessment Note: This item set contains items with embedded multimedia (video). The multimedia will NOT play when viewing the PDF through a browser window. To access the multimedia, download the PDF to your computer and open the file with Adobe Acrobat. Click the "play" arrow to start the video for the items.

2 PARCC Release Items Answer and Alignment Document ELA/Literacy: Grade 10 Text Type: RST Passage(s): Can Mars Be Made Hospitable to Humans? / "Should We Terraform Mars?" / Living on Mars Item Code Answer(s) Standards/Evidence Statement Alignment VF Item Type: EBSR Part A: A Part B: B RI L VF Item Type: EBSR Part A: B Part B: A RI RI VF VF Item Type: EBSR Part A: D Part B: A Item Type: EBSR Part A: D Part B: B RI RI RI RI VH Item Type: EBSR Part A: A Part B: C RI RI RI RST RST VF Item Type: TECR RI RI : VF Item Type: EBSR Part A: A Part B: D RI RI RI VF Item Type: EBSR Part A: C Part B: D RI RI

3 VF689739_2T VF VF Item Type: PCR Refer to Grade 10 Scoring Rubric Item Type: EBSR (additional item) Part A: B Part B: C Item Type: EBSR (additional item) Part A: A Part B: D RI RI RI RST W 10.2 W 10.4 W10.10 RI RI RI RI RI RI VF Item Type: EBSR (additional item) Part A: A Part B: D RI RI

4 E10_R_ VF Today you will research terraforming, the transformation of a planet to resemble Earth in order to allow that planet to support human life. You will read the article Can Mars Be Made Hospitable to Humans? Then you will read the article Should We Terraform Mars? and view the video Living on Mars. As you review these sources, you will gather information and answer questions about the terraforming of Mars so you can write an essay. Read the article Can Mars Be Made Hospitable to Humans? Then answer the questions. Can Mars Be Made Hospitable to Humans? by William J. Broad 1 Freezing cold and forbidding, bereft of such amenities as a breathable atmosphere, more than a million miles from Earth, Mars might nonetheless become a hot vacation spot with just a little bit of, well, terraforming. 2 That s the dream of a growing number of seemingly down-to-earth scientists who ponder the possibility of using advanced technologies to make Mars s environment more terrestrial. 3 Sure, they concede, it would be the most ambitious engineering project of all time. But, hey, why not? 4 A green Mars is better than a red Mars, said Dr. Christopher P. McKay of NASA s Ames Research Center in California, who along with two colleagues recently argued for the feasibility of the endeavor in Nature, a respected science journal. 5 Skeptics dismiss the goal as absurdly expensive and ethically misguided, given mankind s propensity to scatter trash everywhere and the pressing need to put scarce financial resources into redressing the Earth s many social ills. 6 But some scientists argue that a spare planet might be handy if this one gets worn out or damaged. Bringing Mars to life, they say, might take no more than good luck and hard work.

5 7 In one scenario, the thin Martian atmosphere would be seeded with man-made chemicals, trapping some of the Sun s rays in a greenhouse effect and warming the planet to the point that carbon dioxide was freed from rocks and soil. Liberated carbon dioxide would then speed greenhouse warming, boosting the planet s temperature and melting polar ice caps. 8 Simple plants, perhaps genetically engineered for efficiency and vigor, could then be introduced, consuming the carbon dioxide and producing oxygen as a byproduct. Later, animals could be introduced. In the final stages, freeways, factories, condominiums and other trappings of human civilization could be introduced. 9 The process might take 100,000 years or more, experts estimate. But they say it would be worth the wait, especially if mother Earth slid into a coma. Besides, some enthuse, with luck the initial greening of Mars might progress substantially in just a few centuries, paving the way for colonies of humans (wearing special breathing gear) in the not-so-distant future. 10 Many of the great cathedrals took three or four hundred years to build, said Dr. Mel Averner, manager of biosphericresearch at NASA headquarters in Washington. Mars terraforming might be something like that. It s not an impossible time scale. 11 There are many, many barriers, but none of them are insuperable in the sense that you have to breach a law of nature, Dr. Averner added. You don't have to reverse gravity. It s very, very cold there, but it's not that much colder than the Antarctic, where people now live. There's very little water, but not much less than deserts where life now thrives. In general, it's not that much different from Earth. That s what's so interesting. 12 Popular interest in the topic has soared, even though it is old stuff to science fiction authors and fans. Lifemagazine in May devoted a long article to the terraforming idea. Its cover carried a large photo of Mars surrounded by inky blackness, Our Next Home emblazonedabove the photo. Radio talk shows are abuzz with the topic. 13 I ve given at least 12 interviews, said Dr. Joel S. Levin, a senior scientist at the NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., who was quoted in thelife article. 14 Much of the current scientific interest stems from the realization that mankind has unintentionally altered the Earth s atmosphere and is struggling to correct that influence. Similar techniques could be applied to Mars. At the very least, experts say, the intellectual exercise of understanding how the Martian atmosphere might be changed could help in fathoming the Earth s fate.

6 15 But behind the academic effort seems to be a growing feeling that the terraforming of Mars is a worthy goal in itself that would give the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and perhaps mankind, a much-needed challenge and focus. 16 NASA should see if Mars has the resources to develop a carbon-dioxide atmosphere, and then plant microorganisms, said Dr. Robert H. Haynes, a biophysicist at York University in Toronto. If one could do that, it would have many advantages for astronauts. They could wear scuba gear rather than space suits. Vacation homes might not be around the corner. But who knows? Technology advances so rapidly. Scientists who say things cannot be done tend to be rotten prophets. 17 Occasionally, some space enthusiasts have proposed that humans themselves could be selectively bred or genetically altered to better survive the rigors on a Mars whose surface was only partly tamed, speeding the day human colonization could take place. 18 But Dr. Haynes dismissed such speculation, despite his dictum about the dangers of pessimism. No Signs of Life 19 I don t see how adapting humans is possible at all, he said. The climatic situation on Mars is so far beyond the range of human adaptation that it's crazy to contemplate. 20 Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun, named after the Roman god of war because of its blood-red color. Ravaged by winds and dust storms, its surface is cold, averaging about 75 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. Its ice caps consist of water ice and frozen carbon dioxide. Its thin atmosphere is toxic to humans, being mostly carbon dioxide. Any unprotected creature would die. 21 In the 1970 s, NASA sent two robot landing craft, known as Vikings, to Mars to examine its surface for signs of life. They found none. 22 Even so, geological formations indicate that free-running water once coursed across the planet s surface, suggesting that conditions once might have been felicitous for life and in the future may become so again. 23 NASA at this point is devoting no real money to the subject of terraforming, only the spare time of individual researchers. But Dr. Averner, NASA s manager of biospheric research, said $500,000 would do wonders toward starting a program of computer simulations and laboratory experiments.

7 24 The Mars visionaries who outlined their ideas in the Aug. 8 issue of Naturedescribed several ways of starting the terraforming process. The polar caps could be warmed by giant mirrors in space, or by spreading black soot over the caps so they would better absorb sunlight and begin to melt, releasing carbon dioxide and water. 25 But the most cost-effective solution was found to be making and releasing trace amounts of greenhouse gases such as chlorofluorocarbons, or CFC s, which are villains in global warming on Earth. This might raise temperatures on the surface of Mars by about 45 degrees Fahrenheit, they calculated. It is hoped that this warming would cause the mantleof fine rock that coats Mars to release the carbon dioxide, further raising the temperature and the atmospheric pressure on the planet. 26 We know there s carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, Dr. Owen B. Toon, a NASA Ames scientist and co-author of the Nature paper, said in an interview. We know it s in the polar caps. The big question is how much is in ground, and in what form. 27 If it is bound into rocks as carbonates, or limestones, Dr. Toon said, it s a big problem to get it out. 28 You d have to heat it considerably, he said. On the other hand, if it s in the form of absorbed carbon dioxide in the soil, then a little bit of greenhouse might be enough to start to drive it out. The Question of Gravity 29 Primitive plants could be introduced and probably survive if the work of atmosphere creation was successful, the scientists wrote. They noted that although the sunlight falling on Mars is less than half that reaching the Earth, this is more than enough for photosynthesis. The plants, they added, could metabolize the liberated carbon dioxide to produce an oxygen-rich atmosphere in perhaps 100,000 years. 30 Some of the newly created atmosphere would eventually be lost. Nonetheless, Dr. McKay, Dr. Toon and Dr. James F. Kasting of Pennsylvania State University wrote in the Naturearticle, it seems that the processes acting to remove the atmosphere of a habitable Mars may be significantly slower than the processes that could create such an atmosphere, so that the resulting system could persist for tens of millions of years. 31 Some experts say that Mars, only half the size of Earth, has insufficient gravity to hold an atmosphere. It would slowly bleed into space. This, they say, happened in the

8 past, and in the future would probably doom any attempt at setting up a new atmosphere on the planet. 32 But Dr. McKay of NASA Ames said the consensus among his colleagues was that the gravity issue was a false worry. 33 It s a common misconception, he said in an interview. The old atmosphere is probably bound in the soil. 34 All the terraforming enthusiasts advocate a stepped-up program of research, including computer simulations, lab tests and eventually forays across space to Mars itself for on-site investigations, first by robots and then astronauts. 35 So far this work has been done mostly out of love, said Dr. Averner of NASA headquarters. If I had the money, we d do modeling studies and then lab studies of microbial behavior in harsh environments. There s a lot of interest in this in terms of a visionary challenge. 36 He added that the work seemed worthwhile on the face of it, despite skeptics and some ethicists who say humanity has an obligation to keep its dirty fingers off the cosmos. 37 The notion of another planet being a home for mankind seems to be a sufficient justification for us to find out more about it, he said. From THE NEW YORK TIMES, October 1, The New York Times. All rights reserved. Used by permission and protected by the Copyright Laws of the United States. The printing, copying, redistribution, or retransmission of this content without express written permission is prohibited. Read the article Should We Terraform Mars? Then answer the questions. Should We Terraform Mars? by Paul Scott Anderson 1 As we continue to explore farther out into our solar system and beyond, the question of habitation or colonization inevitably comes up. Manned bases on the Moon or Mars for example, have long been a dream of many. There is a natural desire to explore as far as we can go, and also to extend humanity s presence on a permanent or at least semi-permanent basis. In order to do this, however, it is necessary to adapt to different

9 extreme environments. On the Moon for example, a colony must be self-sustaining and protect its inhabitants from the airless, harsh environment outside. 2 Mars, though, is different. While future bases could adapt to the Martian environment as well, there is also the possibility of modifying the surrounding environment instead of just co-existing with it. This is the process of terraforming essentially trying to tinker with Mars atmosphere and environment to make it more Earth-like. Although still a long ways off technologically, terraforming the Red Planet is seen as a future possibility. Perhaps the bigger question is, shouldwe? 3 One of the main issues is whether Mars has any indigenous life or not how does this affect the question of colonization or terraforming? 4 If Mars does have any kind ofbiosphere, it should be preserved as much as possible. We still don t know yet if any such biosphere exists, but the possibility, which has only increased based on recent discoveries, must be taken into account. Such a precious discovery, which could teach us immensely about how life arose on both worlds, should be completely off-limits. Small colonies might be fine, but living on Mars should not be at the expense of any native habitats, if they exist. The most likely place to find life on Mars is underground. If the surface is truly as sterile and barren as it seems to be, then colonies there shouldn t be too much of a problem. It has also been suggested that Martian caves would make ideal human habitats, serving as natural protection from the harsh conditions on the surface. True, but if it turned out that something else was already taking up residence in them, then we should leave them alone. If Mars is home to any indigenous life, then terraforming should be a non-issue. 5 What if Mars is lifeless? Even if no life otherwise exists there, that pristineand unique alien environment, so far barely scratched by humans, needs to be preserved as is as much as possible. We ve already done too much damage here on our own planet. By studying Mars and other planets and moons in their current natural state, we can learn so much about their history and also learn more about our own world in that context. We should appreciate the differences in and variety of worlds instead of just transforming them to suit our own ambitions. 6 There is also the more current but related problem of contamination. There has been a long-standing protocol, via the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, to have all spacecraft going to the Moon or Mars sterilized as much as possible. If bacteria from Earth made it to the Martian surface and survived, it would complicate the search for life there; if a lander or

10 rover was to later identify living organisms in the soil, it might be difficult to determine whether they were just contamination or true native life forms. From both a scientific and ethical perspective, it would seem prudent to try to protect Mars as much as we can from earthly intruders. This applies equally whether Mars is already inhabited or not. Fortunately, for almost any kind of bacteria or other microrganisms from Earth, it would be very difficult if not impossible to survive on the Martian surface, never mind flourish. The risk of planet-wide contamination is very negligible, but it is still better to take strict preventive measures than to play with chance. Should We Terraform Mars? by Paul Scott Anderson Public Domain/originally published on Universe Today Watch the video Living on Mars. Then answer the questions. Living on Mars Living on Mars from MARS: MAKING THE NEW EARTH, NGC Networks International, LLC

11 VF641668

12 VF641499

13 VF641753

14 VF641841

15 VH013491

16 VF641881

17 VF684525

18 VF685872

19 VF689739_2T

20 VF641852

21 VF671367

22 VF641661