Students will launch the Mars ecosystem project by analyzing an enclosed-system phenomenon, gathering first evidence about organism needs and system balance, and creating an initial habitat model they can revise in later phases.

Students will take an initial evidence-based position on whether a Mars dome ecosystem could stay balanced for two years, use models and species information to identify what the system must include, and revise their early claim after feedback and a community-partner experience.

Students will gather and sort evidence from species cards, habitat needs, plant-matter investigations, decomposer information, and a zoo educator visit to test their early Mars ecosystem position. They will separate supporting evidence from challenging evidence, identify the strongest counterevidence, revise model notes, and prepare stronger reasoning for the next phase.

Students will turn gathered ecosystem evidence into a structured Mars habitat argument by drafting clear claims, selecting strong evidence, explaining scientific reasoning, and revising a food web model and rebuttal based on peer feedback.

Students will critique and strengthen their Mars ecosystem arguments and models through peer feedback, partner challenge rounds, targeted revision, and a final performance checkpoint before the public showcase.

Students will present and defend their final Mars ecosystem models and CER arguments to an authentic audience, use questions and feedback to strengthen their explanations, and compare their first and final designs to reflect on how their understanding of balanced ecosystems changed.