Astrobiology: Asking Big Questions to Learn Science

"Teacher, why do I need to learn this?" "Whats it good for?" Students ask these questions when faced with content that seems unrelated to their lives. Motivating students is fundamental to promoting achievement in any classroom, even in science, which encompasses the entire natural world, the whole universe. Good questions and quality experiences support science learning for all students, not just those who are already science-friendly.

The relatively new discipline of astrobiology asks great questions:

How does life begin and evolve?

Is there life elsewhere in the Universe?

What is the future of life on Earth and beyond?

Compare these with a commonly asked classroom science question: Does the length of the string change the performance of a pendulum? Do objects fall at different speeds according to their weights? and so forth. No, Im not picking on physics here, but these sorts of investigations -- which can be fun -- need to be in a larger context to motivate many students.

When students are asked to learn science with particular lessons and laboratory investigations placed in the context of big questions, it helps them to answer, "Why do I need to learn this?" and "What is it good for?" Teaching buoyancy and pressure in the context of investigating life at undersea volcanoes called black smokers makes the lessons less abstract. What is life and how did it begin on Earth? The black smokers host organisms that live in an environment that does not need sunlight, and would bake and poison we surface creatures immediately, yet they are very much alive. And, they share DNA with us. Can we surface creatures trace our origins to the ocean floor?

Understanding how objects fall under the influence of gravity is made more interesting if connected to space station astronauts who are continuously "falling" as they orbit the Earth. Learning geology and microbiology can be connected to our exploration of Mars where NASA is "following the water" to seek evidence of life. What are the conditions in space that effect the human body? This is a question that leads to careful investigation of human physiology as well as space physics. Can we travel to Mars safely and live and work on the surface of Mars? These questions are core to the future of human life beyond Earth.

Creative, integrated science teaching and learning can address the "standards" and "benchmarks" as well as state, local and district requirements. The basics of earth and space science, biology, chemistry and physics are key to answering the big questions, and are united in astrobiology studies. This was our motive for developing "Voyages Through Time" an integrated science curriculum that provides a foundational course for high school students.

I find it unfortunate that the current educational climate is driving teachers to "teach to the test". States and districts are reverting to prescribed curricula and course sequences that offer little flexibility. In California, schools are reverting to Biology, Chemistry, then Physics (with an ever declining number of students) because sophomores will be tested in Biology. So districts that choose integrated science or physics first are now having to completely re-do and re-sequence their curriculumall driven by federally mandated, state interpreted tests. In asking key questions and threading them through science studies over a sustained period of time, I assert that students are better prepared to learn about science, and be motivated to apply science in their lives. As a society, we still seek a scientifically literate citizenship, and nationally mandated testing (which is now driving curriculum sequences) is unlikely to assure such literacy. It may, in fact, obtain the opposite effect as the basics of science are emphasized to prepare for the test, and students miss the big picture -- why am I learning this? -- that is offered in integrated courses that ask the big questions.