Week

Days

Topics

1

Aug 25, 25,29

Prelude, Introduction, Fundamentals, Fermi Paradox (where is everybody?), Drake Equation

2

Sept 3,5

Astrobiology and the Rare Earth Hypothesis (REH), factors, Dead zones, Why life may be widespread (Ch. 1)

3

Sept 8,10,12

Habitable zones of the universe (Ch. 2), The life cycle of stars

4

Sept 15,17,19

Building a habitable Earth (Ch. 3)

5

Sept 22,24,26

Life’s first appearance on Earth (Ch. 4)

6

Sept 29, Oct 1,3

How to build animals (Ch. 5)

7

Oct 6,8,10

Snowball Earth (Ch. 6)

8

Oct 13,15,17

Archaea on other planets and moons.
Wednesday -  Mid Term Exam

9

Oct 22,24

Monday - Fall Break
Wed-Fri: The enigma of the Cambrian explosion (Ch. 7)

10

Oct 27,29,31

Mass extinctions and the REH (Ch. 8)

11

Nov 3,5,7

Plate tectonics (Ch. 9)

12

Nov 10,12,14

The Moon, Jupiter, and life on Earth (Ch. 10), Testing the REH (Ch. 11)

13

Nov 17,19,21

The search for extrasolar planets. Assessing the odds (Ch. 12)  SETI

14

Nov 24

Mon: Messengers from the stars (Ch. 13)
Wed-Fri: Thanksgiving Holidays

15

Dec 1,3,5

Physics and travel to the stars. Book Reports Due.

16

Dec 8

 Monday - Final Exam