Special Astrobiology Guide Available To High School Educators

March 9, 2001

University Park, Pa. --- "Is there anybody out there?" High school teachers interested in the search for life in the universe may now order a free 16-page guide to the science of astrobiology available from Penn State.

The guide, "Astrobiology: The Search for Life in the Universe," is based on last year’s Frontiers of Science lecture series organized by Penn State’s Eberly College of Science and sponsored by the pharmaceutical company Pfizer, Inc.

The articles in the guide cover the six lectures that took place from Jan. 22 to Feb. 26, 2000, on the Penn State University Park campus. Researchers from several universities explained the mystery of the snowball Earth, the chemistry of the Earth’s primordial soup, how phylogenetic trees and DNA clocks work, and the possibility of life on Mars.

Originally, the guide appeared as a special report in the January 2001 issue of Research/Penn State magazine. It was written by David Pacchioli, associate editor of Research/Penn State, with help from undergraduate science writing interns. Pfizer, Inc. and the NASA Astrobiology Institute both contributed money to reprint an additional 20,000 copies of the report.

"It’s a perfect example of how partnerships can produce wonderful products," says Lisa Brown, acting director of the Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium (PSGC) and education and public outreach coordinator for the Penn State Astrobiology Research Center (PSARC). PSGC organized the reprint of the guide and is now working to distribute it to educators. "These articles are a great way to introduce high school students and teachers to the broad, interdisciplinary field of astrobiology," Brown says.

Print copies are available to high school teachers who are interested in bringing the world of astrobiology into their classroom. Please contact Lisa Brown, lisabrown@psu.edu or 814-863-7687, for more information. The guide is also available on the Research/Penn State website: www.research.psu.edu/rps. Space.com will feature the articles that appeared in the guide.

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Contact:

Dana Bauer (814) 865-33477 danabauer@psu.edu