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Sometimes I think were alone in the universe, and sometimes I think were not. In either case the

idea is quite staggering. ....................................................................................... Arthur C. Clarke Our sun is one of 100 billion stars in our galaxy. Our galaxy is one of billions of galaxies populating the

universe. It would be the height of presumption to think that we are the only living things in that enormous immensity. .................................................................................... Wernher von Braun

"The search for extraterrestrial life must begin with the question of what we mean by life." & Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. ...................................................... Carl Sagan

If it's true that our species is alone in the universe, then I'd have to say the universe aimed rather low and settled for very little. .......................................................................................... George Carlin

Course description CATALOG DESCRIPTION: Explore the nature of life; examine the history of life on Earth; look for life among the rocky planets and icy moons of our solar system; hunt for extrasolar planets; and join in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. Are we alone in the universe?

EXTENDED DESCRIPTION: Are we alone in the universe? this is one of the most fundamental human questions. For millennia, the only answers to this question were philosophical or theological; now scientists have begun to address this topic. Astrobiology, the study of life in the universe, draws upon the fields of biology, ecology, evolution, geology, astronomy, and cosmology in its search. In this course we will ask what life is, from a scientific perspective; examine the history and distribution of life on Earth; look for life among the inner rocky planets and outer icy moons of our solar system; hunt for planets beyond our solar system; and join in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). Along the way we will encounter alien autopsies and Martian invaders; robotic missions to the planets; scientists as they go about their work; and citizens trying to make sense of it all. What will be the impacts on our society if and when we do discover life beyond the Earth?

Course goals/objectives There are two SUNY Learning Outcomes that apply to this course:

Students will demonstrate understanding of the methods scientists use to explore natural phenomena, including observation, hypothesis development, measurement and data collection, experimentation, evaluation of evidence, and employment of mathematical analysis. The important point here is for you to understand science as one of the basic ways of knowing, one of the ways that we make sense of the world around us. Science is not just a collection of facts; rather its an ongoing process of inquiry that we use to build knowledge and understanding about the universe we live in.

Students will demonstrate application of scientific data, concepts, and models in one of the natural sciences. The best way to understand how science works is to examine a specific field from a scientific perspective, rather than discussing generalities of scientific method in a vacuum. Astrobiology is itself an interdisciplinary field. In this course you will apply concepts and content from biology, planetary sciences and astronomy to current questions in the search for life in the universe.

BNS 1120: The Search for Life in the Universe

Summer 2012 Keith Landa

Purchase College

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In addition to the science literacy goals listed above, students will demonstrate competencies in the following areas: Critical thinking: Students will demonstrate the ability to construct logically consistent and clearly

articulated arguments; carefully collect and analyze evidence relevant to their arguments; and justify their conclusions on the basis of a rigorous interpretation of the gathered evidence.

Information literacy and research methodology: Students will demonstrate the ability to define research questions and the information needed, effectively locate and evaluate information resources, use information resources to address research questions, and understand the ethical dimensions of information usage. These objectives are modified from the Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education, developed by the Association of College & Research Libraries: http://goo.gl/5DE1

Finally, my overall goal for this course on astrobiology is for you to be able to carry out thoughtful and informed discussions on topics dealing with the question of life in the universe, including: a scientific understanding of living systems, their metabolism and evolution; the history of life on earth; factors determining habitable zones in our solar system; the search for life on Mars and among the icy moons in our outer solar system; finding and characterizing exoplanets; and programs involved in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.

Student scholarship in Astrobiology the Search for Life in the Universe This online course will run through the Purchase College Moodle learning management system (http://moodle.purchase.edu). Our Moodle course will provide access to resources (presentations, articles, video materials and web links) and host the learning activities involved in our course discussion forums, assignments, quizzes, database collections, blogs, wikis, etc. Well use the Moodle chat activity for office hours, and Moodles calendar and communication tools to manage course activities. We will periodically hold optional synchronous sessions, in Acrobat Connect.

Student scholarship in this seminar will be assessed by: (30%) Content mastery. Most reading assignments, presentations, videos or other resources will

have a corresponding review, as either a Q&A discussion forum, online text assignment, quiz or other assignment in our Moodle course. These will be targeted at allowing you to demonstrate your understanding of the specific content presented in the resource.

(20%) Research project. There will be a sequence of assignments that will require you to formulate a research question dealing with astrobiology, and to locate, evaluate and synthesize information sources relevant to your question. Youll share your annotated resources to a class database, and develop a short presentation on your topic.

(20%) Course discussions. We will use Moodle Q&A and single topic forums to hold whole-class discussions pertaining to the readings, presentations and other course topics. These discussions are not as focused on content comprehension as the content mastery exercises above, but instead will involve applying concepts from the resources to broader questions, evaluating the validity and significance of the material presented in the resources, discussing further research needed, or other more in-depth conversations

(15%) Module essays. Each modules work will culminate in an extended essay that synthesizes the themes of that module by addressing broad, open-ended questions on the weeks topics. Module essays will need to make specific reference to the learning resources and activities, class discussions, and scholarly works from that module as appropriate.

(15%) Course portfolio. Throughout the course you will develop a portfolio of work that shows how you have met the SUNY and course learning objectives described above. To do this, you will collect samples of your work, select among those samples, and reflect on how they demonstrate your learning. We will use the Purchase College ePortfolio system for this (http://portfolios.purchase.edu).

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Course resources Required texts

Mark Kaufmann. 2011. First Contact: Scientific Breakthroughs in the Hunt for Life Beyond Earth. Simon and Schuster. This is available as an eBook from Amazon.com for the Kindle, through the Apple iBooks bookstore for iPad or iPhone/iPod, from Barnes and Noble for the Nook reader, or directly from the publisher to be viewed on a variety of devices. Also available in hardcover: 9781439109007

Lewis Dartnell. 2007. Life in the Universe: A Beginner's Guide (Beginner's Guide Series - Astrobiology). Oneworld press. 225 pp. Ive not found an electronic version of this text; youll need to order a hardcopy: ISBN-10: 1851685957. ISBN-13: 978-1851685059.

Additional articles (general and scholarly), presentations, videos, podcasts and other resources will be made available through or linked from our Moodle course.

In a couple of cases, we will be using commercial programming available for viewing on demand or purchase from Amazon.com, iTunes and/or Netflix, which will involve rental/purchase costs. Details will be given in Moodle in the assignments involved.

Schedule Module 1: Life as we know it

Topics: introduction to astrobiology; defining life; basic understanding of metabolism and heredity; theories on the origin of life; basic patterns in the history of life; modern day diversity of life on Earth

Module 2: The search for life in our solar system Topics: the nature of habitable zones; extremophiles and search for life elsewhere; geologic history of

Mars; the search for life on Mars; panspermia; habitability of the moons of Jupiter and Saturn

Module 3: The search for life beyond our solar system Topics: principles of stellar and planetary formation; detecting and classifying extra-solar planets;

looking for biomarkers on extra-solar planets; the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI); stories of aliens among us.

Check the Calendar in Moodle for a detailed schedule of activities and assignments.

Instructor information As indicated on the top of the first page of this syllabus, my name is Keith Landa. I am Director of the Teaching, Learning, and Technology Center at Purchase College. My educational background includes a BS from Iowa State (Zoology), MS from UC San Diego (Neurosciences) and PhD from University of Michigan (Ecology and Evolutionary Biology). My research background was in developmental neurobiology, plant-herbivore interactions, insect life-history evolution and clonal plant population ecology. I've taught a wide range of biology, environmental studies, honors, first-year and other courses in my past faculty positions.

And I am a bit of a Mars aficionado. My personal library is filled with Mars textbooks, Mars non-fiction texts, Mars science fiction literature and Mars films. Mars exploration, environmental studies, evolutionary biology and the search for life in the universe may strike you as a strange combination or maybe not. In my mind, worlds are what interest me: how they are put together, how they function, how they have come to be the way they are, whether they are or can be suitable habitats for life. The two worlds I am most interested in are planet Earth, and planet Mars. Other worlds in our solar system e.g., Europa, Titan, Venus, Enceladus are becoming increasingly interesting as we explore them in greater depth, and we have also begun to identify worlds beyond our solar system. Its an exciting time to be interested in other worlds, and the potential for life on them.

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My office is on the lower level of the Purchase College Library, in the Teaching, Learning and Technology Center. My email is keith.landa@purchase.edu; my office phone is 914-251-6450; my Skype name is landa84. You can find me online at http://openscholar.purchase.edu/keith_landa/home, http://purchase.academia.edu/KeithLanda, http://twitter.com/#!/landa84, http://www.slideshare.net/keith.landa, and http://www.linkedin.com/in/keithlanda.

If you have general questions or observations about the class, please post them to the General Course Discussions forum in our Moodle class, so that we can all benefit from the discussion of the questions or observation. There is also a Student Lounge forum, where you are free to discuss non-class topics with each other. I will also set up online office hours using a chat activity in our Moodle class; hours are still to be determined.

If you need more personal/private feedback on any aspect dealing with the course, please send me a message through the Moodle messaging system (click on the Participants link in the People block in our course, click on my name in the list to access my Moodle profile and use the Send message option).

Online Expectations and Operation of the Course Criteria for participating in online discussions and activities, netiquette expectations, operation and navigation in the course, and instructor expectations are spelled out in our course moodle.

Purchase College Academic Integrity Policy The Purchase College Academic Integrity Policy explicitly forbids cheating, plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty. Plagiarism is the appropriation or imitation of the language, ideas, and/or thoughts of another person and the representation of them as one's own original work. Students are responsible for familiarizing themselves with the definition of plagiarism and the acceptable methods of attribution.

Violation of any of the above may lead to formal disciplinary action and the following sanctions: Minimum Sanction: Failing grade on the assignment or examination. Maximum Sanction: Expulsion Recommended Sanction (First Offense): Failing grade for the course Recommended Sanction (Second Offense): Expulsion

Students who have any questions or doubts about whether any activity is academically permissible, should check with me first.

Documented Disabilities Students with documented physical, learning, psychological and other disabilities are entitled to receive reasonable accommodations. If a student needs accommodations, he or she must first register with the Office of Special Student Services; please call 914-251-6390.

Faculty responsibilities for accommodating students with disabilities are described in the faculty handbook: http://www.purchase.edu/facultyhandbook/disabilities.aspx

You can find a description of special student services provided by the Counseling Center at: http://www.purchase.edu/Departments/SpecialStudentServices/

Moodle is ADA compliant; you can find the accessibility specification for Moodle at: http://docs.moodle.org/19/en/Moodle_Accessibility_Specification