Star Wars, Planetary Science, Aliens, and Astrobiology
Which Star Wars planets and aliens are realistic? Which are a little too crazy for scientists to believe?
What you will learn
List the three basic building blocks of life.
Understand the mechanisms behind the prevalence of biological diversity, both on Earth and in Star Wars.
Identify examples of convergent evolution.
Explain what impact an organism's habitat might have on their appearance, and how habitats influence species adaptation.
Discuss what similarities and differences alien life might have compared to life on Earth.
Point out some animal adaptations found in the Star Wars universe.
Explain how scientists think that solar systems are formed.
Talk about how other solar systems might differ from our own.
Understand what the "habitable zone" is and why it's important to astrobiologists.
Recount the reasons why the size of the planet is also an important factor.
Deduce the feasibility of ocean planets, multi-sun planets, and habitable gas giants.
Why take this course?
In this class, we explore exoplanets, astronomy, solar system formation, astrobiology, convergence, diversity, and adaptation.
First, we explore the basic building blocks of life and the principles of biological diversity and adaption. Then, using our newfound knowledge, we speculate on what alien life might be like, using examples of aliens from the Star Wars galaxy. Next, students will choose a Star Wars alien to research and share with the class, focusing on which characteristics of that alien are similar to adaptations we find on Earth (and therefore we might realistically find in real-life aliens).
The next topic will be planetary science. We'll explore a variety of aspects of planetary science through a Star Wars lens, including solar system formation, the habitable zone, and how size affects a planet's habitability. We'll also discuss the feasibility of some of the weirder planets from Star Wars, such as the ocean planet Kamino, multi-sun planets like Tattoine, and habitable gas giants. Finally, each learner can select a planet from Star Wars to research and share with the class, focusing on which characteristics of that planet we might realistically find in an exoplanet, and which seem too far fetched to be feasible in the real universe.
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