Assignment:
Discussion 1
Instructions: The movie Interstellar is based on the premise of trying to find another habitable planet after ours has become inhabitable. From the knowledge you have gained from this class, discuss the following:
· What aspects of this new planet would you look for to ensure the survivability of our species? Some of the specifics you may want to discuss are:
- Size and age of the planet
- Atmosphere of the planet
- The distance of the planet to its Sun
- The type of Sun the planet orbits
- Oceans of the planet
- Any life that may already be on this planet
- Moons of this planet
Write a short essay or paragraph of at least 300 words.
Discussion 2
Human-induced climate change remains a controversial topic with a lot of misinformation on both sides of the political spectrum. Discuss the following aspects of some of the more common claims about global warming. A very good website that discusses some of these topics is the Skeptical Science website.
· The sun is causing most of the warming of the Earth.
· Scientists don't really agree on global warming.
· It hasn't warmed since 1998 and therefore global warming really isn't happening
· Antarctica is actually gaining ice.
· We have had some very severe winters recently, evidence the Earth is not warming.
· Cities have grown in size and cities are generally warmer than the surroundings creating a false temperature reading.
· The temperature record is unreliable and therefore we really don't know what's going on.
Write a short essay or paragraph of at least 300 words.