Is anything out there?
In this activity, students consider evidence for life on other planets outside our Solar System. They examine data to decide on the likelihood of life on certain extrasolar planets.
Life on other planets
Will we ever see life on planets outside our Solar System? The late Professor Denis Sullivan (1942-2019), from Victoria University of Wellington, suggests that we may never know for sure.
By the end of this activity, students should be able to:
discuss what ‘life’ is
use data to draw conclusions
understand how hard it is to know if there is life on other planets
communicate ideas to others
know some information about planets in our Solar System.
Hunting for planets
Professor Denis Sullivan, from Victoria University of Wellington, explains why we can only detect extrasolar planets indirectly. He outlines the ‘wobble’ method of detecting planets around distant stars.
Download the Word file for:
introduction/background notes
what you need
what to do
student handouts.
Related content
Discover how scientists are using electromagnetic spectrum to find planets around other stars.
Find out more about exoplanets using the citizen science projects Planet Hunters and Agent Exoplanet
Intermediate teacher Matt Boucher used the Planet Hunters projest within a year 7/8 unit on light. Read the case study and accompanying unit plan with activities.
In the activity Hunt the planet, students plot graphs of light measurements from stars, searching for dimming that indicates the presence of a planet, and calculate its size.
