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Oceans in Space
Recommended
for
Upper Elementary Grades thru College
Two of the most profound questions humans can ask are "Where do we come from?" and "Are we alone?" It is only natural that we look across the gulfs of space to search for other inhabited worlds. "Oceans in Space" is a journey of exploration that seeks out places where conditions are favorable for life to exist. This program highlights the search for extrasolar planets and an understanding of the conditions necessary to form and sustain life. The show travels back in time more than five billion years, to trace the origin and evolution of the solar system from a cloud of gas and dust. It then describes the formation of our planet's oceans, and speculates about the places where life could have begun nearly four billion years ago. It presents the three requirements for the nourishment of life on Earth -- and most likely anywhere else in the universe: warmth, water, and organic material. Today life on Earth flourishes in environments ranging from benign to downright alien, and the show examines the variety of life forms that populate our planet: from the creatures of the land, to organisms that exist in the extreme conditions around volcanic vents on the ocean floors. The possibility that life might exist in similar extreme environments elsewhere in the solar system prompts an exploration of two other worlds where the requirements for life might be met: Mars and the icy Jovian moon Europa. The search for other life-bearing planets moves to star birth nurseries in the Orion Nebula. Other stars provide harbor for planets, and the program illustrates one technique today's scientists use to look for extrasolar planets. A science fiction-style ending portrays spaceship crews exploring the shores of an alien ocean far from Earth, in a scene taken from humanity's distant future.
SC-04-4.6.2 - The Sun’s light and heat are necessary to sustain life on Earth.
SC-05-2.3.5 – The Earth, Sun, planets, moons, and other smaller bodies make up our solar system.
SC-06-4.6.1 – Earth’s oceans have a major effect on climate.
SC-08-2.3.4 – Our solar system was formed approximately 4.6 billion years ago.
SC-08-4.7.2 – The Earth’s atmosphere was altered by early plant life.
SC-HS-2.3.5 - Our solar system was formed from a cold cloud of gas and dust.
SC-HS-4.7.3 – Earth is a changing system due to living things, atmosphere, crustal forces, and the oceans.
SC-HS-4.7.4 - The Earth’s atmosphere was altered by early plant life.