Through our own experiences, it is clear that all living things on Earth need to acquire energy and have available water in order to stay alive. Different biomes on Earth have types of plants, animals, fungi, and microbes that survive better in certain environments. However, if we examine any living organism, they all need food and water, in some form, to survive.
When we want to consider if life possibly exists beyond Earth, we use the fact that life as we know it needs energy and water to guide our explorations. For instance, finding places beyond Earth that have liquid water and sources of energy is really important if we want to find alien life.
But we don’t have to just think about things like plants and animals that live in the same kinds of environments that we do. For instance, there are some organisms on Earth that can survive and even flourish in extreme conditions. These can be places like hot springs or glaciers or places that are really dry or really salty or acidic. The organisms who live in these kinds of places are called “extremophiles”. By learning about extremophiles, we can widen the search for possible alien life to even more environments beyond Earth.
Disciplinary Core Ideas
LS1.C: Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms: The process of photosynthesis converts light energy to stored chemical energy by converting carbon dioxide plus water into sugars plus released oxygen. (HS-LS1-5) *The sugar molecules thus formed contain carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen: their hydrocarbon backbones are used to make amino acids and other carbon-based molecules that can be assembled into larger molecules (such as proteins or DNA), used for example to form new cells. (HS-LS1-6)
LS2.B: Cycles of Matter and Energy Transfer in Ecosystems: Photosynthesis and cellular respiration (including anaerobic processes) provide most of the energy for life processes. (HS-LS2-3)
LS2.A: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems: Ecosystems have carrying capacities, which are limits to the numbers of organisms and populations they can support. These limits result from such factors as the availability of living and nonliving resources and from such challenges such as predation, competition, and disease. Organisms would have the capacity to produce populations of great size were it not for the fact that environments and resources are finite. This fundamental tension affects the abundance (number of individuals) of species in any given ecosystem. (HS-LS2-1, HS-LS2-2)
LS4.D: Biodiversity and Humans: Biodiversity is increased by the formation of new species (speciation) and decreased by the loss of species (extinction). Humans depend on the living world for the resources and other benefits provided by biodiversity. (HS-LS4-6)
PS3.A: Definitions of Energy: Energy is a quantitative property of a system that depends on the motion and interactions of matter and radiation within that system. That there is a single quantity called energy is due to the fact that a system’s total energy is conserved, even as, within the system, energy is continually transferred from one object to another and between its various possible forms. (HS-PS3-1, HS-PS3-2)
PS3.B: Conservation of Energy and Energy Transfer: Conservation of energy means that the total change of energy in any system is always equal to the total energy transferred into or out of the system. (HS-PS3-1) Energy cannot be created or destroyed, but it can be transported from one place to another and transferred between systems. (HS-PS3-1, HS-PS3-4)
PS3.D: Energy in Chemical Processes: The main way that solar energy is captured and stored on Earth is through the complex chemical process known as photosynthesis.
ESS3.A: Natural Resources: Resource availability has guided the development of human society. (HS-ESS3-1) All forms of energy production and other resource extraction have associated economic, social, environmental, and geopolitical costs and risks as well as benefits. New technologies and social regulations can change the balance of these factors. (HS-ESS3-2)
ESS3.C: Human Impacts on Earth Systems: The sustainability of human societies and the biodiversity that supports them requires responsible management of natural resources. (HS-ESS3-3)
Crosscutting Concepts
Systems and System Models: Models (e.g., physical, mathematical, computer models) can be used to simulate systems and interactions — including energy, matter, and information flows — within and between systems at different scales. (HS-LS2-5) Models can be used to predict the behavior of a system, but these predictions have limited precision and reliability due to the assumptions and approximations inherent in models. (HS-PS3-1)
4-12 Finding Life beyond Earth. This is a collection of seven lessons that accompany the NOVA video by the same name. Topics include the emergence of life on Earth, extremophiles, searching for life on Mars, Europa, Enceladus and Titan, as well as the search for habitable planets outside our Solar System. https://d43fweuh3sg51.cloudfront.net/media/assets/wgbh/nvfl/nvfl_doc_collection/nvfl_doc_collection.pdf
5-12 Space Math @NASA. This large collection of integrated science and math lessons includes the topics of solar system formation and evolution, volcanoes, atmosphere, astrobiology, magnetospheres, and robotic missions. It has a searchable database of problems/activities based on math level and space topic. GSFC/NASA. https://spacemath.gsfc.nasa.gov/SpaceMath.html
5-12 Astrobiology Graphic Histories. These astrobiology related graphic books are ingenious and artfully created to tell the story of astrobiology in a whole new way. Several different books illustrate the backbone of astrobiology from extremophiles, to exploration within and beyond the solar system. NASA. https://astrobiology.nasa.gov/resources/graphic-histories/
6-8, 9-12 Mars: The Xtreme-O-philes. Students in grades 6-12 use real scientific data to gain knowledge about the various types of extremophiles found on Earth and use that information to correlate to Mars’ environmental conditions, both past and present (two lessons). Students will then determine the most likely and interesting candidate landing sites for future Mars exploration, specifically missions searching for potential life. Arizona State University/NASA. http://marsed.asu.edu/content/xtreme-o-philes
6-12 A Needle in Countless Haystacks. Out of billions of galaxies and billions of stars, how do we find Earth-like habitable worlds? What is essential to support life as we know it? In this TEDEd five-minute video, astrobiologist Ariel Anbar provides a checklist for finding life on other planets. TED-ed. https://ed.ted.com/lessons/a-needle-in-countless-haystacks-finding-habitable-planets-ariel-anbar
6-12 Astrobiology Education Poster. With gorgeous graphics, supporting background reading, and three inquiry and standards-based, field-tested activities, this poster with three activities is a great addition to any middle or high school classroom. It explores the connection between extreme environments on Earth, and potentially habitable environments elsewhere in the Solar System. Activity 1-2 What is Life? Where is it? and Activity 3 Life: How do we find it? NASA.
6-12 Microbes@NASA. The website has activities, visualizations, videos and more about microbial mats and why NASA is interested in them. The site includes a photo gallery, interactive web features in which students can conduct remote experiments on a real microbial mat in a NASA laboratory, numerous classroom activities, and a seven-minute animated film taking you for a ride through a microbial mat. These microbial mats can be used to understand the origin and early life on Earth, how the Earth and life co-evolve and the search for life beyond Earth. NASA. https://spacescience.arc.nasa.gov/microbes/
6-8 or 9-12 Astrobiobound! This lesson (3-4 days) engages students by giving them the opportunity to identify a significant target of interest in astrobiology and allowing them to plan their own NASA mission within our Solar System. This simulation follows the same considerations and challenges facing NASA scientists and engineers as they search for life in our Solar System and as they try to answer this compelling question, Are we Alone? NGSS inspired, follows 5E format, No tech required. NASA/Arizona State University. https://marsed.asu.edu/lesson-plans/astrobiobound
6-9 Planet Hunters Education Guide. The 5E designed lessons (9) take the learners through engaging activities that feature habitability, identifying and characterizing exoplanets, and citizen science. The unit’s lessons use a variety of online tools, has a NGSS alignment, glossary, and a performance assessment. NASA. https://s3.amazonaws.com/zooniverse-resources/zoo-teach/production/uploads/resource/attachment/122/Planet_Hunters_Educator_Guide.pdf
6-12 Astrobiology Math. These lessons (75) connect astrobiology and astronomy topics to math. Topics include Ice to Water…and the Power of a Little Warmth and Goldilocks Planets: Not too Hot or Cold! where students explore concepts in science through calculations. NASA. https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/637832main_Astrobiology_Math.pdf
6-12 Astrobiology: An Integrated Science Approach. This year-long curriculum stimulates learning and participation of middle and high school students with intriguing questions, labs, and activities. Astrobiology, by its very nature, kindles interest and curiosity in students. The curriculum is an inquiry-based, interdisciplinary program of study that includes lessons that support many of the core learning questions. Available for purchase through It’s About Time. https://www.iat.com/courses/high-school-science/astrobiology/?type=introduction
6-12 Big Picture Science. SETI scientist Seth Shostak hosts this radio show on various topics in science, cosmology, physics, astronomy and astrobiology. Shostak interviews experts and explains important discoveries and concepts including in his weekly 50 minute shows. http://www.bigpicturescience.org/Astrobiology_Index
6-12 The Search for the Origin of Life. Through these videos and teaching resources, students can take a personal look at scientists around the United States working with the NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI) to understand the origin of life. Attempting the seemingly impossible, these researchers want to answer one of humanity’s oldest questions, How did life begin? NAI. https://www.montanapbs.org/programs/SearchfortheOriginofLife/
9-10 Voyages through Time: Origin of Life. Through the Origin of Life module students will address questions such as: What is life? What is the evidence for early evolution of life on Earth? How did life begin? Sample lesson on the website and the curriculum is available for purchase. SETI. http://www.voyagesthroughtime.org/origin/index.html
9-12 Exploring Deep-Subsurface Life: Earth Analogous for Possible Life on Mars. These lessons (four 50-100 minutes) explore how astrobiologists strive to understand life in extreme environments on our own planet so that they might know where and how to look for life on other planets. If we know that life can thrive in hot, dry, cold, or salty places on Earth, then scientists infer that similar environments in our solar system and beyond may also harbor living organisms. Studying the influence of living organisms on their environments also gives us clues as to what “fingerprints” to look for as evidence of life. The lessons address the domains and tree of life, cellular membranes and metabolism, and extreme Earth life as analogous to potential life on Mars. It concludes with a performance assessment or project which requires students to write a grant proposal to investigate beyond Earth for life. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. https://web.archive.org/web/20160507133412/http://www.origins.rpi.edu/deepsubsurfacelifelessonsandactivities.pdf
9-12 Microbial Life Educational Resources. This website contains a variety of educational and supporting materials for students and teachers of microbiology. There is information about microorganisms, extremophiles and extreme habitats, as well as links to online information about the ecology, diversity, and evolution of microorganisms. Carlton College. https://serc.carleton.edu/microbelife/index.html
9-12 What Determines a Planet’s Climate? This curriculum is subdivided into four topics and multiple lessons. NASA missions and related Earth and Space Science topics provide the real world problem context for student investigations in this curriculum. The aim is for students to develop a scientific view that our environment is a system of human and natural processes that result in changes over various space and time scales. The authentic science experiences presented in this module are meant to develop lifelong skills for thinking critically about a science problem and applying the tools of science inquiry in new learning situations. Many highly motivating topics include a future Mars Base through physical, computer and mathematical modeling, life in extreme environments, environmental variations, Greenhouse effect and albedo, terraforming, and electromagnetic wave interaction with components of an atmosphere. NASA. https://icp.giss.nasa.gov/education/modules/eccm/eccm_teacher_0.pdf
9-12 Mission: Find Life. These videos (8) are from The Mission: Find Life! exhibit at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle, WA. They show how astrobiologists search for life elsewhere in the Universe, studying extreme environments to understand the potential habitability of extraterrestrial environments, and examining how life might arise on planets orbiting stars different from our Sun. The exhibit features research at the Virtual Planetary Laboratory and ran March 18-September 4, 2017\. VPL. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaKWGoQCqpVDiJl9NBwJ4E7Nwf3tn-yzB
10-12 The Rules of Life. The goal of this podcast about the big idea of the rules of life is to address how we predict the phenotype, the structure, function and behavior of an organism, based on what we know about its genes and environment. If we can identify some of the basic rules of life across scales of time, space and complexity, we may be able to predict how cells, brains, bodies and biomes will respond to changing environments. NSF. https://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=242752&WT.mc_id=USNSF_1
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