Listed below are the standards the "Are We Alone?" project addressed directly and indirectly. The "Are We Alone?" project supported the "Planetary System Project" and our unit on astronomy. These standards are from the"Maine State Learning Results".

Science

The Universe

• Compare past and present knowledge about characteristics of stars (e.g., composition, location, life-cycles) and explain how people have learned about them.
• Describe the concept of galaxies, including size and number of stars.
• Compare and contrast distances and the time required to travel those distances on earth, the solar system, in the galaxy, and between galaxies.
• Describe the scientists' exploration of space and the objects they have found (e.g., comets, asteroids, pulsars).
• Describe the motions of moons, planets, stars, solar systems, and galaxies.

Inquiry And Problem Solving

• Collect and analyze data, and draw conclusions fairly.

Scientific Reasoning

• Examine the ways people form generalizations.
• Analyze means of slanting information.
• Identify basic informal fallacies in arguments.
• Support reasoning by using a variety of evidence.
• Construct logical arguments.

Communication

• Discuss scientific and technological ideas and make conjectures and convincing arguments.
• Make and use scale drawings, maps, and three-dimensional models to represent real objects, find locations, and describe relationships.
• Access information at remote sites using telecommunications.

Mathematics

• Apply concepts of ratios, proportions, percents, and number theory in practical and other mathematical situations.
• Represent numerical relationships in graphs, tables, and charts.
• Construct inferences and convincing arguments based on data.