Search for Second Earth (ATOM Study Guide)

Search for Second Earth tells the story of an extraordinary odyssey, a scientific and human story that began 500 years ago with Copernicus and Galileo. And it takes us beyond the stars to the far reaches of the universe in search of life somewhere other than Earth.

To date, astronomers have detected over 3000 planets located outside the solar system. When one thinks that twenty years ago, the only planets we could observe were those in our own solar system, this is both a revolution and a revelation.

With the construction of giant telescopes, thousands or even millions of other worlds will soon be discovered. These so-called exoplanets are all very different. But could any of them support life? The most recent research shows that life is much more tenacious and resilient than we once thought.

Are we alone in the universe? This question, which for so long was chiefly a religious and philosophical one, has now become rational and scientific. If other inhabited planets exist, how can we detect them? How can we discover what flora, fauna or even what kind of strange civilisations they may host? And above all, how do we get there?

This documentary offers secondary science teachers stimulus materials to help students to imagine the future possibility of humans making an as-yet impossible voyage into the cosmos in search of the life forms that might be found there. Search for Second Earth explores a voyage into the infinite, which will also teach us a great deal about our own planet and the origins of life here.

Curriculum Links

Search for Second Earth is highly recommended for Year 9 integrated projects and Year 10 Science, Technologies or Media Arts folio work.

Segments of the programs are also useful for National Curriculum Senior Science Earth and Environmental Science Unit 1: 'Introduction to Earth systems'.

General Capability Focus: Critical and creative thinking

Major Learning Areas: STEM or STE(A)M