Goal: Discover how technology has improved our knowledge of the universe

Time Required: 80 minutes (two 40-minute class periods)

Materials Required: Are We Alone in the Universe? Student Reproducible 1 (PDF); Resource Sheet 1 (PDF); library and/or computers with Internet access

Directions:
1. Ask students: Do you believe that there are forms of life on other planets? Why or why not?

2. Discuss how scientists are able to use technology to test theories, perform experiments, and gather information that helps them acquire facts to answer this question.

3. Review these key definitions: solar system (a system of planets and other bodies orbiting a star such as the sun); orbit (an invisible path followed by an object circling another body); sun (the star around which the earth and other planets revolve; a huge ball of hot gases that gives off intense light and heat and is necessary to all life on Earth). Distribute Are We Alone in the Universe? Student Reproducible 1.

4. Guide students in researching answers to the questions on the reproducible and sharing their findings in a class discussion.

Wrap-Up:
Choose several responses from Question 5 on student reproducible 1 that express opposing viewpoints and have students read them aloud. On the board, list the most compelling arguments on each side. Have students vote on whether they think we are alone in the universe. Did anyone change his or her position during the discussion?

Answer Key:
1) Answers will vary, but may include: warmth, water, an atmosphere, etc. 2) Answers will vary, but may include the discovery of other solar systems, the possibility of water on Mars, organisms that can survive the vacuum of space, organisms that live at extreme temperatures, etc. 3) Answers will vary, but may include: robotic rovers, powerful earth-based telescopes, space telescopes, computers, etc. 4) Answers will vary, but may include: the distances involved, time to travel, cost of space exploration, lack of needed technologies, etc.