Author(s): Ron Garrett

E-mail Address: rgarrett@mail.sandi.net

School: Mission Bay High School

Grade Level: 10-12

Principal Curricular Areas Addressed: Math, astronomy, physics

TPFS Section: Tuesdays @ Marston

Students are to explore the likelihood of the Earth's being visited by other beings from a mathematical, statistical, physical, and astronomical point of view. The point is not the actual existence or non-existence of other life, but its likelihood of being here.

Students should proceed in the spirit of scientific inquiry, with no preconcieved answer. They should learn about the distances and thus times involved, the physics of space travel, the existence of possible habitable planets, etc.

This is not to be a rehash of astrology, back episodes of the X-files, or any of the myriad expressions of pseudo-science, but a rational inquiry into the topic.

Learning Goals:

Student will learn...

• Astronomical distance scales
• The basic ideas of relativity:
  • time and space dilation
  • The significance of the speed of light
• The basics of star and planet formation and evolution
• The structure of the known universe: Solar systems, Galaxies, Galaxy clusters and superclusters.
• The physics of propulsion systems (warp drive?)

Learner Task:

The culiminating task in this project might be to give a thoughtful answer, and to be prepared to defend the answer, to the question: Have extra-terrestrials visited Earth?

Resources:

Resources for this project idea might include....

• Any basic astronomy text.
• Books explaining relativity at a high-school level (Relativity, by Albert Einstein, Was Einstein Right, by Clifford Will,
• A High School level physics text.
• Web sites to be Identified