| Date | Topic | Team : Student (ext) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov. 13 (T) |
What is the role of volcanoes and plate techtonics in shaping the atmospheres of Earth, Mars, and Venus? Team (A) will discuss this question looking at the Earth's atmosphere, and team (B) will look at the atmosphere of Mars. Both teams must discuss how the atmosphere of their planet evolved from the primordial atmospheres that the inner planets were formed with to the atmospheres they have today. What factors help maintain an atmosphere, and changes in what factors will cause an atmosphere to change. Both teams will discuss what they think could be done to change the atmosphere of Mars to make it more Earth-like and hence more suitable for future colonization. Both teams will comment on why Venus' atmosphere is so different from their planet's atmosphere even though Venus is similar in size to Earth and its distance from the Sun is similar to Earth's. |
Team B: Daniellan (4790) Team B: Bob (7722) Team B: Ben T. (4693) Team B: David (3085) Team A: Annie (4105) Team A: Daniel (3411) Team A: Sonny (3618) Team A: Ben B. (3576) | |
| Nov. 15 (Th) |
Is there life of any kind (primitive on up) anywhere other than Earth? Team (A) will look at the issues of what conditions are necessary for any planet (in any star system) to be habitable by carbon-based life forms such as the species that we find on Earth. Team (B) will look at the issues of what kinds of environments do life inhabit on this planet and do similar environments exist elsewhere in the solar system? Both teams need to answer the question of whether they feel there is a possibility for extraterrestrial life and why. |
Team B: Daniela (4126) Team B: Katri (4876) Team B: Gabe (3002) Team A: Micah (4961) Team A: Yana (3908) Team A: Katie (3839) Team A: Andy H. (3228) | |
| Nov. 20 (T) |
Are asteroid and comet collisions with Earth a significant factor threatening life on this planet? Team (A) will take the point of view that such collisions are a problem, and Team (B) will defend the point of view that asteroid impacts are not a significant threat. Both teams must look at events in the geologic past to decide if and how great a threat asteroids might be. Both teams will need to look at craters on Earth and on other solar system bodies to decide this question. Both teams will need to think about how the number of asteroids and cometary bodies have changed since the solar system formed. |
Team A: Andy L. (3622) Team A: Ben S. (3653) Team A: Aaron (3649) Team A: Neal (4803) Team A: Andrew D. (4976) Team B: Kara (4754) Team B: Chris (3222) Team B: Michael P. (4137) | |
| Nov. 27 (T) |
Was the US moon landing a hoax? Teams must review the "evidence" that the Apollo landings were a hoax (see the Fox special from last year - all over the internet) and discuss whether the evidence often cited is plausible or if the people who purport a hoax have not understood some aspect of science when presenting their argument. Teams can bring in other arguments of their own, either pro (Team B) or con (Team A), to support their opinion on this question. Both teams must present what they think is true and why they believe so. The class, based on the evidence presented, will decide and deliver a class opinion on the question. Pro (Team B) means that you think it was a hoax, and Con (Team A) means that you do not think the landing was ahoax. |
Team B: Brian (3073) Team B: Alex (3149) Team B: Rich (4777) Team A: Khosa (4093) Team A: Alison (4052) Team A: Joe (4579) Team A: Skyler (4290) | |
| Nov. 29 (Th) |
Why are the Jovian planets so different from the Terrestrial planets? Team (A) will review the major characteristics of the these planets and what physical conditions might produce those characteristics. Why are such features only seen in the inner solar system? Team (B) will discuss the Jovian planets: characteristics and how these characteristics were formed. Why are the Jovian characteristics only seen much father away from the Sun? Both teams need to discuss the role of asteroid and comet nuclei collisions in the evolution of the planetary and planetary moon features that are seen now. Both teams will end by stating what they think the most significant factors were in creating these two distinct planetary populations. |
Team A: Skyler (4290) Team A: Joe (4579) Team A: Sonny (3618) Team A: Ben S. (3653) Team B: Daniellan (4790) Team B: Kara (4754) Team B: Ben B. (3576) Team B: Katri (4876) | |
| Dec. 4 (T) |
What will happen to the planets of solar system when the Sun becomes a red-giant star? Will life as we know it be able to survive anywhere in the solar system when this starts to happen? Team (A) will take the point of view that some planets or moons in the solar system will still habitable. This team must discuss where we might move and when the move will be necessary. Team (B) will take the point of view that when this happens the solar system as we know it will not provide any planet or moon that is suitable for life. Both teams need to argue their side based on what we know now, not what may be true in the StarTrek future. Both teams need to talk about the long-term survivability of species in this solar system when the Sun eventually runs out of all fuel. Will it possible then to find any home here and how long do we have to think about what to do before the Sun dies. |
Team A: Michael P. (4137) Team A: Alison (4052) Team A: Ben T. (4693) Team A: Bob Y. (7722) Team B: Katie (3839) Team B: Alex (3149) Team B: Andy H. (3228) Team B: David K. (3085) | |
| Dec. 6 (Th) |
Are Saturn's rings ephemeral (geologically speaking) or eternal? Team (A) will take the point of view that the rings formed with the planet, have been there all that time and will continue to be there forever. Team (B) will take the point of view that the ring system comes and goes, that it does not last forever. Both teams need to discuss the characteristics of the Saturnian ring system and how those characteristics, and those of Saturn and the other Jovian planets, helped them reach their opinion. |
Team B: Rich (4777) Team B: Aaron (3649) Team B: Andy L. (3622) Team B: Brian (3073) Team A: Neal (4803) Team A: Annie (4105) Team A: Daniel P. (3411) | |
| Dec. 11 (T) |
What is Pluto: planet, asteroid, other? Team (A) will debate that Pluto is not a planet, and Team (B) will take the position that Pluto is a planet. Both teams need to discuss the scientific as well as the sociological and historical reasons for their position. |
Team A: Daniela M. (4126) Team A: Yana (3908) Team A: Gabe (3002) Team A: Khosa (4093) Team B: Chris C. (3222) Team B: Micah (4961) Team B: Andrew D. (4976) |
Send suggestions and comments to LFBrown.