Mystery Planet - November 13, 2024

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This 90-minute workshop for classroom teachers and informal educators explores the search for life on another planet, and how to recognize it when we see it. 

Wednesday, November 13, 4:30-6pm Pacific / 7:30-9pm Eastern

One of the age old questions is whether we are alone as the only planet with life. Our robotic explorers have investigated other objects in the Solar System, including returning small quantities of materials to Earth for examination. If there were life on another planet, how would we recognize it? What evidence would we find to allow us to say yes, there is life there? Workshop participants will engage in activities to model how we examine the materials from other worlds to determine the presence of living processes.

This workshop is a single 90-minute session. Participants will receive a toolkit of physical materials for use during the workshop.

Participants will gain the following through participation in this workshop:

  • Experience in observing and interpreting the surface material from a mystery planet
  • Experience in modeling the detection of living processes, including defining what it means to say something is living
  • An education toolkit with the materials needed for this workshop (additional shipping charges may apply outside of the continental US*)
  • A digital toolkit with the resources needed for conducting workshop investigations 
  • Strategies for engaging learners of all ages
  • Access to astronomy experts who will facilitate the workshop
  • A free one-year subscription to Mercury, the ASP's online magazine about the intersections of astronomy and society
  • A certificate of completion for participating in 2 clock hours of professional development

Registration: $75 all inclusive of materials and shipping to locations within the continental U.S.

* Participants from Alaska, Hawaii, Canada, Mexico, and US Territories may be required to cover additional shipping charges.

Attendance/Refund Policy

Live attendance is strongly encouraged and expected in order to get the most out of the interactive session. Full refund is available for cancellations up to 14 days prior to the start of the workshop. If you need to cancel please email learn@astrosociety.org.

Brian Kruse

Director, Teacher Learning Center and Formal Education Programs

Astronomical Society of the Pacific

Brian Kruse manages the ASP's Project ASTRO National Network and Bay Area Project ASTRO, programs which have partnered astronomers with classroom teachers. A veteran classroom teacher, Brian has taught middle school earth science and physical science, and high school physics, earth science, physical science, and integrated science. He has also served as a NASA Explorer Schools Coordinator, where he worked with teams of teachers to foster NASA-inspired whole-school impacts. When not working, Brian is frequently found hiking and birding with camera in hand.

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11/13/2024 at 4:30 PM (PST)  |  Recorded On: 11/13/2024  |  90 minutes  |   Closed captions available
11/13/2024 at 4:30 PM (PST)  |  Recorded On: 11/13/2024  |  90 minutes  |   Closed captions available This program takes place Wednesday, November 13, 4:30-6pm Pacific / 7:30-9 pm Eastern. The button to join the live program will appear to the right of this text 15 minutes prior to the event start time. If the button doesn't work, refresh the page in your browser and try again. Clicking the join button will bring you to the live program in Zoom. For the best experience we recommend using the free, downloaded version of Zoom for PC or Mac instead of the browser version. Mobile devices and tablets also work, but you may not have access to all interactive features used in the workshop, so we recommend using a computer.
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Verification Code
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Enter code to continue. Enter the code given at the end of the workshop. The next component will allow you to download a certificate of completion for 3 hours of professional development.
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Download a Certificate of Completion
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Open to download resource. Click the gray button on the right to download the certificate. The PDF file has an editable box for you to enter your own name.
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Post-Workshop Feedback Survey
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