Listen&Learn: The Goldilocks zone

Learn where life might exist in other star systems.

Pre-listening vocabulary

• zone: an area with a specific feature
• habitable: able to support life
• astronomer: someone who studies space
• exoplanet: a planet outside of the solar system
• sustain: to keep something going for a long time
• atmosphere: the layers of gases around a planet
• greenhouse gases: gases that trap heat on a planet

Listening activity

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:22 — 1.3MB)

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Gapfill exercise

The Goldilocks zone, or habitable zone, is the place in a star system where a can reach the right temperature to have water on its surface. Because on Earth requires liquid water, astronomers look for exoplanets in Goldilocks zones in case they are also capable of life. However, not every planet in a habitable zone is actually habitable. Besides Earth, the Sun’s habitable zone also contains both Venus and Mars, which are either too hot or too cold to sustain much liquid water. This is because Venus has an atmosphere full of greenhouse gases, while Mars has barely any atmosphere at all. It is also possible that life made of different chemicals than life on Earth could develop outside of a star’s Goldilocks zone. These life forms would use a liquid other than water to .

Comprehension questions

See answers below

1. Astronomers look in Goldilocks zones to find
   a. planets that humans could travel to
   b. planets with rare chemical compositions
   c. planets that might be able to produce life
   
2. Venus is not habitable because
   a. it is outside of the Sun’s Goldilocks zone
   b. its atmosphere is too thin to support liquid water
   c. greenhouse gases make it too hot for liquid water
   
3. Life may be possible outside of stars’ Goldilocks zones because
   a. some stars are hotter than others
   b. alien life forms may use a liquid other than water to survive
   c. some systems contain multiple stars

Discussion/essay questions

1. Do you believe there is life on other planets? Why do you think we haven’t found any?

Transcript

The Goldilocks zone, or habitable zone, is the place in a star system where a planet can reach the right temperature to have liquid water on its surface. Because life on Earth requires liquid water, astronomers look for exoplanets in Goldilocks zones in case they are also capable of producing life. However, not every planet in a habitable zone is actually habitable. Besides Earth, the Sun’s habitable zone also contains both Venus and Mars, which are either too hot or too cold to sustain much liquid water. This is because Venus has an atmosphere full of greenhouse gases, while Mars has barely any atmosphere at all. It is also possible that life made of different chemicals than life on Earth could develop outside of a star’s Goldilocks zone. These life forms would use a liquid other than water to survive.

Answers to comprehension questions

1c 2c 3b