Quarter 2 Term Project Overview

Extraterrestrial Life Term Project

One of the most interesting aspects of the universe, to many people, is the possibility that life exists outside of our own little planet. But what does “life” really mean? What would a living thing on another planet look like? Would it be similar to Earth life because life can only develop a certain way? Or (more likely), would it look very different because it evolved in a vastly different environment? If it is very different, would we even recognize it as living? The final project for this semester will be to consider, and research, what is involved in the search for extraterrestrial life.

Instructions: Each group will be researching some aspect of the search for extraterrestrial life—whether here at home or out amongst the stars. Choose one topic from the list below. Remember that the focus of the project is extraterrestrial life, and your paper/ presentation should concentrate on how your topic relates to extraterrestrial life. Write a 2-4 page research paper on your topic and present what you’ve learned to the class. Each paper must discuss

How would we recognize life if we stumbled across it?
What are we looking for, and how are we looking for it?
Explain what your topic is, and how it relates to the search for life

**Each group will present their topic, but each cadet must write their own, unique outline,

rough draft, and final paper.

**This is a group effort. Each member of a group will review the other members’ participation.

A poor review WILL affect the cadet’s grade.

Topics:

Close Encounters SETI Exoplanets Titan

Europa Drake Equation New Horizons Mars

Kepler Mission Search for Water Aliens and ancient cultures UFOs

Giant Magellon Telescope Area 51 OTHER IDEAS…..

Schedule:

Research and Outline (Due Dec 3): Spend time researching your subject. Sources may include books, scientific journals, RELIABLE websites (NOT wikipedia, answers.com, yahoo, etc), interviews, etc. Based on what you learn in your research, write a brief outline for your paper.

Required: outline of paper, at least THREE reliable sources.

Rough Draft (Due Dec 10): Submit a rough draft of your report for comments/editing. Be sure to include all of the guidelines listed for the final paper.

Final Paper and Presentation (Due Jan 2)

Final Report:

Report must be typed and printed/uploaded before the end of the due date
Must be submitted as Word Doc, pdf, or Google Doc--or typed and handed in on paper
Must be 2-4 pages (not counting title page, pictures, or bibliography)
Must be single to double spaced, portrait orientation, with 1” margins
Font must be 11 or 12 point, black, preferably in Times New Roman (no artistic fonts)

Outline: The report must include all of the following information (Title Page and Bibliography must have their own pages).

Title Page: Includes title, author’s name, class name, date—all centered on separate lines
Introduction: Write a few sentences to introduce the topic. What is the paper about? Why is it interesting or important?
What is Life: Explain how we would recognize life if we did run into it.
Search: What would we look for? What tools? What clues?
Explanation of Topic: Write a few paragraphs explaining what your topic is. Define it, describe it, relate it to the search for life.
Conclusion: Summarize what you learned about your topic. What is the most important way your topic relates to the search for life?
Acknowledgements (Optional): Write a quick “Thank You” to anyone who helped with the paper helped with understanding difficult concepts, or anything else you appreciated while doing this paper.
Bibliography: List of sources utilized at any point during the project. Must have at least 3 sources. MLA format preferable.

Presentation:

Cadets may choose how they would like to present what they learned while writing their paper (powerpoint, poster, video, other--clear with teacher).

Presentations should be limited to 5-10 minutes, briefly explaining what was learned during the research phase.