1. Excerpt from presentation cracking science!

2. Will SETI be shut down? What will convince the government that the project is worth continuing? Estimating the number of stars and planets in the galaxy. Exploring how astronomers collect data. Explaining what has been found out and how. 7E Learning Cycle

3. You’re Professor Frank Drake, right? Well, we didn’t find any evidence of life but I’m convinced we will eventually. We’ve just to keep on trying, nobody thought this project was going to be easy! Engage Elicit Explore Explain Elaborate Extend Evaluate

4. The government thinks that this whole SETI project is a complete waste of time and money, you’re never going to find anything. As of Monday consider the project shut down. You’d better start clearing your desks... Engage Elicit Explore Explain Elaborate Extend Evaluate

5. Later …

6. Help me team. Choose which ideas to investigate. Which of these might convince the Government? We can't be the only ones. There are too many UFO sightings to all be fake. There are many planets orbiting other stars. There are so many stars in our galaxy. Engage Elicit Explore Explain Elaborate Extend Evaluate

7. Later …

8. This is our beautiful galaxy – the Milky Way. Any ideas how we can count the number of stars? Idea 1: there are so many stars like the sun in our galaxy. Engage Explore Explain Elaborate Extend Evaluate Elicit

9. Light patch Dark patch First let’s remove a few very bright stars. Now we can see the glow of the whole galaxy. Can you think of a way to make the count? Each tiny glowing patch of the sky, represents a lot of stars. Engage Explore Explain Elaborate Extend Evaluate Elicit

10. Light patch Dark patch I think the answer is to divide up the milky way into little squares. Count the stars in each patch of light and dark, and add up all the numbers. Engage Explore Explain Elaborate Extend Evaluate Elicit

11. cracking science!