6 Lab 6: The Game of Habitability
Roll for Initiative!
Seven Rasmussen
Overview
There are a truly astounding number of factors which play into the odds of life arising on a planet, from its location to the galaxy to the plate tectonics on its surface. This lab will demonstrate just how many ways life can go.
Science Question
How many ways could life on a given planet arise and evolve? How many ways could it end?
Materials
- astrobiogenesis! [rule book + play sheets + planet sheets]
- play sheets [extra tables]
- planet sheet [extra planet sheets]
- One 20-sided die per player (or free dice app on phone)
Instructions
Play a game of astrobiogenesis!, or two if you have time. The answer the questions below.
QUESTIONS
- Which type of star is easiest to get life going around? An M star, or another type? Which types of stars don’t even have time to get life going?
- Is it easier to maintain life in the disk or the bulge?
- Why is it bad to have a Jupiter mass planet right next to the sun?
- Which of the dangers of life did you encounter the most? What were the results of those encounters?
- Why can life exist exterior to the habitable zone but probably not interior to it?
- What role does tidal locking play in habitability?
- What role do plate tectonics play in habitability?
- Did your group win the game (successful first contact?) What helped you or held you back?
- Which types of planets are the hardest to get life going on, and why?
