1. People have been fascinated with the possibility that life exists elsewhere in the Universe since they first looked into the night sky and recognized that there are other planets in our Solar System orbiting our Sun. In the last couple of years, new, highly sensitive methods have become available to conclusively identify the presence of other planets orbiting suns outside of our Solar System. This has led to a renewed push to identify conditions elsewhere in the Universe that could possibly support even the simplest life forms. Astrobiology is a fairly new field of study, in which scientists look for clues to the existence of life forms elsewhere in the Universe by exploring whether the essential components of life, and suitable conditions of temperature and pressure, can be identified on other cosmological bodies.
Astrobiologists believe that it is essential to have liquid water if there is any chance of finding life on another planet. Why was liquid water thought to be such a rarity in the Universe, and why are scientists beginning to think differently about that in recent years?
2.Create an analogy that describes the layers of the earth.
3. Find a geological event in the news within the last two months and relate it to plate tectonics and continental drift.
4. What causes plate tectonics? Describe how plate tectonics both creates and destroys Earth’s crust.
5. Explain in detail the various reasons that the Olympus Mons volcano on Mars could grow so large, but it would be very unlikely that such a large mountain could form on Earth.
