ISPACE EXPLORATION AND SETI SENDING A...

ISPACEEXPLORATIONAND SETI

ISENDINGA MESSAGEINTO THE UNKNOWN

ACTIVITY 1-7GRADE LEVEL:4-9

Source: This activity is from the book Project Haystack: The Searchfor Life in the Galaxy (1997, TeachersIdea Press), part of the Life in the Universe Series of activity books from the SETI Institute forgrades 3-9. For more information on purchasing the books, contact Teachers' Idea Press, P.O. Box6633, Englewood, CO 80155; 800-237-6124. The activity is @1997 by the SETI Institute, 2035Landings Dr., Mountain View, CA 94043. Contact the Institute's Education Office for permissionto use or reproduce this activity beyond your own school.

What's This Activity About?Four spacecraft from Earth are leaving the Solar Sys-tem and carry messages from humanity. Construct-ing such a "message from Earth" can be aninstructive activity and lead students to think moreabout issues of interstellar communications and the

issue of "who speaks for Earth."

What Will StudentsDo?

Students construct a "message" in the form of a col-lage of pictures showing life on Earth. A differentgroup of students is then asked to interpret the mes-sage "sent" by the first group. Follow-up activitiesallow an extension across the curriculum, and lead

students to think about the issue of how humanitywill want to portray itself when we make contactwith another intelligent species.

What Will Students learn?

ConceptsCommunicating across

cosmic distances

Messages without wordsAmbiguities of communication

InquirySkillsObservingExplainingInferringReasoningDescribing

Tips and Suggestions

. For this activity to be a success, students shouldhave access to a wide-ranging variety of pictures.This means putting some effort into getting agood selection of old magazines in the months orweeks before this unit.

. If your students tend to "peek" at the answer forsuch problems, it might be useful to give eachposter (message) and accompanying explanatoryparagraph a number, and then separate thembefore the receiving group gets them. You canthen give the key to each receiving group onlyafter they have had a chance to think about themeaning of their message.

Big IdeasModels and

simulationsInteractionsCommunication

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SPACEEXPLORATIONAND SETI

SENDING A MESSAGEINTO THE UNKNOWN

by the Life in the Universe Team at the SET! Institute:

Jill Tarter, David Milne, and Cara Stoneburner (plus many other contributors)Adaptedfrom Mission2 of Project Haystack:The Searchfor Lifein the Galaxy.1997,TeacherIdeasPress

Overview

Students select 10 pictures from magazines to cre-ate collage messages depicting the human experienceand planet Earth. The students then exchange thesecollage messages with one another and try to under-stand them. In general, students consider the ques-tions: Who should speak for Earth and what do wewant to tell other civilizations about ourselves?

Introduction

In 1977, NASA launched two Voyagerspacecraft tofly by the outer planets in our Solar System. Sincescientists and engineers knew that Voyagers'pathswould carry them out of the Solar System and (even-tually) among the stars, they placed an audio-videorecord on board the craft with the "sights and soundsof Earth:' The disk contains 118 photographs, 90min-utes of music from around the world, and

greetings in almost 60 languages. Like a "message ina bottle" set adrift by a ship-wrecked sailor, therecord is a token of humanity's existence, sent intothe dark ocean of space.

As you might imagine, the committee chargedwith selecting the images and music for the Voyagerrecord had intense and fascinating discussions onwhat to include. (You can read the whole story in thebook Murmurs of Earth by Carl Sagan, et al. 1978,Random House. The book is long out of print, butyou can often find a copy at a larger library or a usedbookstore; it is well worth searching out.) In thisactivity, students undertake a more modest versionof that committee's work.

@1997 by the SETI Institute

IDAY1:

Materials (for a class of 30)

. Magazineswith a good selectionof pictures

. Selection of different kinds of computer clip art

. (optional) Black paper decorated with "stars" forbulletin board

For each team:

. Scissors

. Glue or tape

. Large Sheet of butcher paper

. Notebook paper

For eachstudent:

. "Sendinga Messageinto the Unknown"Worksheet(includedhere on page66)

. Pencil

Getting Started

1. Plan ahead so that you have enough magazinesfor all your classes. A week or so before you begin,have students bring in old magazines with lots ofpictures. Be sure to mention that these will not bereturned to them. Scan them for appropriate con-tent, looking for a multicultural representation.The pictures should show all aspects of life onEarth: landscapes, people, wildlife, technology,and aspects of civilization.

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2. Prepare a place in the classroom where messagesto "intelligent extraterrestrial life" can be posted.Optionally, create a bulletin board covered withblack paper decorated with stars to represent"deep space."

3. Copy the "Sending a Message into the Unknown"Worksheet for each student.

ClassroomAction

1. Introduce this activity by presenting this idea tostudents: People are sometimes discouragedbecause it takes time and hard work to understand

a message. It took years to decode the Egyptianhieroglyphics. Extraterrestrials who find our mes-sages on the Pioneer or Voyagerspacecraft mayhave to work hard to understand these messages.But they would be strongly motivated to do so(just as we would be if we received such an obviousmessage) and they would be greatly rewarded ifthey made the effort. This activity will give themsome inkling of what it is like to decode a message.

2. Hand out the "Sending a Message to the Unknown"Worksheet to each student. Tell students that theywill be divided into groups and that each groupwill have 30 minutes to put together a selection ofonly 10 magazine pictures that best describe Earthand its inhabitants. Suggest that teams might firstwant to come to agreement on the message theywish to convey.

The Voyagerspacecraft had a limited amount ofroom for photographs, and the team that chosethe music and pictures to go on the Voyagerrecord was only given six weeks to complete itstask. Even more astounding is the fact that CD-ROM and optical disk technology had not yetbeen invented, so the technical problem ofputting pictures on a phonograph record also hadto be dealt with. Giving students a limited amountof time to do this activity simulates the pressureon the group that was asked to complete thisHerculean task.

Tell students that their collections of pictures willbecome collage messages to be put aboard animaginary space probe. This probe will fly bysome nearby planets and moons, and then driftoff into deep space in the same manner that thetwo Voyager (and Pioneer) spacecraft have done.Their picture collections must show the mostimportant facts about being human and living onEarth because if the space probe ever is interceptedby intelligent life somewhere in the cosmos, thesepictures will be all that the extraterrestrials willhave for learning about us.

Teams should sequence their 10pictures in any waythey wish (e.g. in a chronological order to providean historical perspective) on butcher paper. Theonly rule is that they may not write anything onthe butcher paper. Extraterrestrials cannot readEnglish. Allow students to create and define sym-bols to use, such as numbers and scaling units.

3. Now divide the class into teams of three to four

students each. Give each team a pair of scissors, asheet of butcher paper, and glue or tape. Giveeach team a selection of different kinds of maga-zines (e.g. natural history, teen, sports, auto, news,ethnic). This task can become quite difficult forstudents who cannot agree on which pictures tochoose. Stress that individuals in teams should

work cooperatively, with some give and take.Then "start the clock" and have teams make their

collage messages.

Have team members write a brief paragraph ontheir "Sending a Message to the Unknown" Work-sheet summarizing the message that they are try-ing to convey with their pictures, and how theythink an extraterrestrial would interpret theirmessage. One team member should copy this para-graph to notebook paper. This notebook papercopy will be hidden behind the collage messageafter it is completed; it should not be written ontothe collage message itself. Have team memberswrite their names under the paragraph explainingtheir message.

@1997 by the SET! Institute

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At the end of the 30 minutes (be strict about thetime limits - and give a 5-minute warning), haveteams fold up their notebook paper paragraphs,seal them shut with tape or glue, and attach themto their collage messages. The collage messagesthemselves should be rolled up carefully, andtaped securely. Collect the collage messages, or ,

have students pin them to the bulletin board cov-ered with black, star-filled paper.

4. Have students complete the "Sending a Messageto the Unknown" Worksheet in class or as homework.

!DAY2:

Materials

For eachteam:

. Collage messages from Day 1

. (optional) Tape recorders and blank cassette tapes

For eachstudent:

. "Did You Get Our Message?"Worksheet(included here on page 67)

. Pencil

Getting Ready

1. If you will be doing the optional taping activity(#3 under "ClassroomAction"),have studentsbring in tape recorders and blank cassettetapes.

2. Copy the "Did You Get Our Message?" Worksheetfor each student.

@ copyright 1997 by the SET! Institute

SPACE EXPLORATIONAND SETI I

ClassroomAction

1. Reassemble the class into their teams from Day 1.Tell students that they will now play the roles ofextraterrestrials who have intercepted a spacecraftcarrying some sort of message - that is, each teamwill now receive a collage message from anotherteam. If you have more than one class, perhapsexchange collage messages between classes. Handout the collage messages or have student teams"intercept" a collage message from the "deepspace" bulletin board (where you tacked up themessages on Day 1). Each team's challenge is tosee what kind of sense (if any) they can make oftheir message.

2. If you will be using tape recorders, go to step 3,below. Hand out "Did You Get Our Message?"Worksheet to each student. Teams should now

break the first seal and unroll their collage mes-sage, but they must not open the sealed notebookpaper paragraph yet.

Teams must put themselves in the place of theintelligent life that has found the collage messageand attempt to figure it out based only upon thepictures. Remind students that they know noth-ing about the Earth. They must decide what thecollage message is trying to convey. Have studentsanswer the question on their "Did You Get OurMessage?" Worksheet as they determine this.(Note that this worksheet does not have a teacher'skey because student responses will vary; accept allreasonable attempts.) Next, teams should breakthe seal on the notebook paper paragraphs andread the written description to see how theirinterpretation compares.

3. (Optional Activity with TapeRecorders)For re-cording first impressions, place a tape recorder neareach team. Have teams turn on the tape recorderswhen they open the first seals and begin talkingabout what they think the collage message means.The tape recorders will record their spontaneous


I SPACE EXPLORATION AND SET!

discoveries, first ideas, and first impressions. Atthe end of 10 minutes (or less), the tape recordersshould be turned off. Now have students answer

the questions on their "Did You Get Our Message?"Worksheets. Teams should then break the seal on

the notebook paper paragraphs and read theaccompanying written descriptions to see howtheir interpretation compares.

Choose one (or more) of the recordings at randomand play it for the class. Have the team that createdthe collage message respond - did they get acrosswhat they wanted? If not, what message did theywish to communicate?

4. Be sure to leave time for discussion once the activityis done. Did the extraterrestrials understand the

messages or not? Students will find that there areproblems in communication. Pose a few ques-tions: Why do you think a breakdown of communi-cation happened? What would you do differentlyto improve communication? How many of themessages got across? Take a quick class survey.Which messages were more successfully under-stood? Why were they understood? Which messageswere too difficult? Why? How could the messagesbe improved? If you were able to repeat this exer-cise, could you send a clearer message?

Would it be harder for true extraterrestrials to

understand a message from Earth than for Earthstudents to understand a message sent by otherEarth students? What effect does sharing a com-mon culture have? What would it be like if stu-

dents in the United States made and exchangedcollage messages with students in other countries?

What might we have in common with intelligentextraterrestrials? (Try to steer the classtowardunambiguous, universal concepts, such as mathe-

matical operations, prime numbers, the structure

of hydrogen and carbon atoms, or the properties of

the electromagnetic spectrum. We have the physical

universe in common, which may provide a basis for

communication. In the case of the messages

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attached to Voyager, the extraterrestrials could also

learn about engineering principles and materials

used by humans by examining the Voyager space-craft itself Natural phenomena such as rocks,

clouds, and oceans are likely to have extraterrestrial

counterparts.)

I GOINGFURTHER

Activity: Who Am 17

As a homework project, have students assemblepicture collages of their lives that could tell astranger about who they are and what is importantto them. Their collages might include pictures oftheir hobbies, their family, and much else. Limit col-lages to 10 pictures. Have students share their col-lages before the class.

Multidisciplinary Studies: Social Science

Ask students who should "speak" for Earth wheninformation is put onto a spacecraft that will be leav-ing our Solar System (and that may someday be inter-cepted by an intelligent civilization). Should themessage be only about the country sending the space-craft?(The Voyagerteam decidedearlyin the gamethat the sights and sounds of the whole planet mustbe included, not just the U.S.) Such questions couldalso be addressed in social science classes, and itmight provide an opportunity to team up with anoth-er teacher. There are many historical-social issues herefor students to ponder. Should we tell extraterrestrialsabout war, hunger, and disease, or pretend we live inharmony with one another? (Just as we are careful toput our best face forward on a "first date", should beportray our best features in our first messages?)


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The Voyagerrecord,an audio and video disk, that was sent aboardthe two Voyagerspacecraft.Eachcraft hasnow left the realm ofthe planetsand ismoving into the spacebetweenthe stars.


SPACEEXPLORATIONAND SETI I

Activity:MultilingualGreetingsHave students create an audiovisual or written

greeting from their school that could be included ina message sent out of the Solar System. For example,greetings could be given in all the languages that arerepresented at your school. This is a marvelous mul-ticultural activity. Have students write and/or act outa greeting that they would like to convey to an aliencivilization among the stars.

Activity: Writing a Letter

As a homework assignment, have students write aletter to someone (grandparent, community leader,artist, etc.) asking what they think a message fromEarth should contain. Or, have students conduct a

phone interview and write up their findings. Havestudents share their letters of reply or their write-upswith the class. If your school has the ability to log onto the Internet, link up your students with a class inanother state or country working on a similarassignment.

Activity: A MessageThoughTime

People carve their "I was here" message in hun-dreds of ways during the brief time they inhabitEarth People have put messages on walls of caves, inmonuments, onto pages of books, in photographsand elsewhere. Have students research the greatmonuments that are meant to send a message to ourdescendants. Humanity has always sent such mes-sages to the future in the form of tombs, inscrip-tions, works of literature, and so forth. Have

students decide upon a suitable monument that willsend a message about their school into the future. Orhave students make a time-capsule message to beopened after five years - perhaps even bury the timecapsule for future excavation.

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Name:

Date:

SENDING A MESSAGE INTO THE UNKNOWN - WORKSHEET

1.In what ways do you think our ancestors have tried to leave their "I was here" messageforfuture generations to know what their lives were like?

2. Howare we,who live today, leaving our "I was here" messagefor future generations?

3. In the space provided below,write a paragraph that explainswhat the messagethat you madewith your group tries to convey, and howyou think an intelligent extraterrestrial would interpretit. Important Oneperson from your group needs to write this paragraph down on a separatesheet of notebook paper for use on the next classday.

@1997by the SET! Institute

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I 1-7, Sending a Message into the Unknown

Name:

Date:

Did you get Our Message? - Worksheet

1.Opena picture message that was created by another group and study it for a few minutes. Do

not open the sealed written message taped to its back yet. In the space below, write down whatyou think the team was trying to say.

2. Now break open the sealed messageand read the other team's description of what they weretrying to say with their set of pictures. How doeswhat you wrote compare with what they weretrying to convey with their pictures?

3. How could a clearer messagebe sent?What could be done to improve the chances of commu-nicating with an extraterrestrial intelligence?



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