Extraterrestrial Life Lesson Plans

Students focus on the tremendous public interest in the potential of extraterrestrial life. They read and discuss an article about the search for alien life. They divide into small groups and discuss the issues and implications of this search.

Learners use this WebQuest to be able to comprehend the natural history and biological diversity of the Mono Basin, an environment directly affected by the needs of humans. They explain what makes Mono Lake unique, including the extreme forms of life inhabiting the area, the role of Mono Lake in the search for extraterrestrial life, and the impact humans have made on the area.

Students research alien life. For this alien life lesson, students discuss extraterrestrial life and complete Internet research for the topic. Students take an online quiz, watch a video, and take notes for the video.

Students research the necessary components of a planet that supports life after reading the article "All of a Sudden, The Neighborhood Looks a Lot Friendlier" from The New York Times. After finding their information, students create short science fiction stories in which they incorporate their research.

Students explore life on Earth. In this collage lesson, students  are given a topic and work in groups use magazines to find picture of what life is like on Earth. Each group will look at the others' collage and try to figure out what subject they had.

Students identify and sequence the major events that caused Earth to develop into a habitable planet. They view videos, conduct research, participate in discussions and work in groups to determine the likelihood of other habitable worlds.

Students build a scale model of the Solar System and determine the time other planets take to travel around the Sun in comparison to the time of the Earth's revolution. The velocity of the planets are also determined in this lesson.

Students read an article on anthrax and complete a series of cloze activities related to the article.

Students read about, discuss, and research chemotrophic organisms. In this chemosynthesis lesson, students discuss the differences between photosynthesis and chemosynthesis. They learn that chemosynthesis includes a variety of chemical reactions and they research some of the organisms that conduct chemosynthesis.

Students practice nonfiction reading comprehension skills. In this guided reading lesson, students read a variety of magazine articles that feature "down under" as a common theme. Students examine table of contents, identify captions, generate topic lists, and respond to a variety of questions before, during, and after reading.