The Martian and the Car

Marty Martian was sent to Earth by the Martian government to find life. While on Earth, Marty captured a car and brought it back to Mars. He thought he'd found a good example of life on Earth. The Martian government does not believe that the car Marty brought back is alive. Marty must stand trial for failing to perform his Martian duties.

At the trail, Marty spoke in his defense.

"I first saw these life forms rolling along roads in great numbers. They were giving off thick clouds of poisonous waste as they moved. They seemed to exhibit herding behavior, as many of the cars moved in the same direction. They appeared to have a great deal of energy, some of them moved faster than 60 kilometers per hour. When one of these life forms stopped or slow down, the others behind it responded. They slowed down and gave off a reddish light from the back, and sometimes they would make honking noises. I observed that they would stop to feed on a liquid substance."

Take the part of Marty's defense attorney and make a good case for the car's being alive. Then be the Prosecutor and describe how the car must be a nonliving thing. Describe as many reasons for both sides that you can.

Defense Attorney
1. ______
2. ______
3. ______
4. ______
5. ______ / Prosecutor
1. ______
2. ______
3. ______
4. ______
5. ______

Scientific Method In Action

Smithers thinks that a special juice will increase the productivity of workers. He creates two groups of 50 workers each and assigns each group the same task (in this case, they're supposed to staple a set of papers). Group A is given the special juice to drink while they work. Group B is not given the special juice. After an hour, Smithers counts how many stacks of papers each group has made. Group A made 1,587 stacks, Group B made 2,113 stacks. / Identify the:
1. Control Group
2. Independent Variable
3. Dependent Variable
4. What should Smithers' conclusion be?
5. How could this experiment be improved?
Homer notices that his shower is covered in a strange green slime. His friend Barney tells him that coconut juice will get rid of the green slime. Homer decides to check this this out by spraying half of the shower with coconut juice. He sprays the other half of the shower with water. After 3 days of "treatment" there is no change in the appearance of the green slime on either side of the shower. / 6. What was the initial observation?
Identify the:
7. Control Group
8. Independent Variable
9. Dependent Variable
10. What should Homer's conclusion be?