1. Life Would you know it if you saw it?

2. A virus? A.Yes B.No C.I don’t know? Ebola virus

3. The potato that’s been in the cupboard for 3 weeks? A.Yes B.No C.I don’t know?

4. A human ovum (egg cell)? A.Yes B.No C.I don’t know?

5. Blood? A.Yes B.No C.I don’t know?

6. A embryo frozen at a fertility clinic? A.Yes B.No C.I don’t know?

7. An apple seed? A.Yes B.No C.I don’t know?

8. Your fingernails? A.Yes B.No C.I don’t know?

9. Team think and share… Determine which of these is alive and which is not. Then together in your group, choose one that is definitely alive and one that is not, and be prepared to defend/justify your choices. 1.A virus 2.A potato that’s been in your cupboard for 3 weeks 3.Human ovum (egg cell) 4.Blood 5. Frozen embryo 6.An apple seed 7.Your fingernail By “defend/justify”, I mean that you should back up your argument with evidence or prior knowledge about what it means to be alive!

10. Team Think and Share… Life: Would you know it if you saw it? Imagine that you were asked to design an unmanned probe to go to Mars (or some other planet) to search for the existence of life. What “signs” of life might you design the probe to look for?

12. Team discussion… What do these discoveries (extremophiles and nanobes) say about what we must now consider in the search for life on other worlds? Share your ideas with your teammates, reach consensus and be justify them to the class.

13. Researching Learning Issues… Do some research on the state of our knowledge with respect to those characteristics that a scientist might be looking in the search for extraterrestrial life. Be prepared to share your research with your team, and the class during the next class period.