Little Green Men

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This resource was funded by the Spacelink Learning Foundation and written by Sheffield Hallam University. It is aimed at students between 14 and 16 years of age.

The resource investigates the idea of alien life, and consists of eight exercise sheets for students:

• Earth Calling looks at messages that have been sent out from Earth into space. Students have to decode a message and design a graphic to be sent out into space.
• Is There Anyone Out There? Requires students to create a presentation about the efforts being made to find life on other planets, the chances of success and the benefits to people of Earth.
• Life on the Edge is about extremophiles. Students have to investigate the extreme conditions in which organisms can live and how this fits in with conditions in our solar system.
• The Long Way Round looks at the large distances within the universe. Students have to make calculations based on these distances.
• Gliese 581d is an extrasolar planet that scientists think may support life. Students must answer some questions based on the conditions for life on this planet.
• Life As We Know It requires students to classify living things and pick planets that they think might support life.
• Searching for SETI (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) is a research based exercise – to find out what SETI is and the main projects to date.
• What’s the Chance looks at the Drake Equation, which estimates the chance of finding alien life.

URL: http://stem.org.uk/rx7zc

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