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What does life here need to survive?
Air is the gas of Earth's atmosphere which is held in place by our planet's gravity. The atmosphere stretches up to space getting thinner as it goes. Although there's no real boundary between our atmosphere and space, we guess it's around 100km. We call this the Kármán line. But we can only breathe up to about 8000m.
The atmosphere is very important to life on Earth. Space is an airless vacuum so we couldn't breathe there. Thanks to our atmosphere we can breathe on Earth. And not just oxygen! As you know, plants “breathe” carbon dioxide and scientists found a new creature at the bottom of the ocean in 2010 that doesn't need oxygen to survive either. There strange little creatures are called Loricifera and they live in parts of the sea with almost no oxygen. (Scientists are still doing research to find out how they survive.)
The atmosphere is important for another reason, regulating the temperature on the Earth's surface.
Our atmosphere acts like a blanket. During the day it protects us from the extreme heat of the Sun. While at night it keeps out the chilling cold of Space ( 234.45 celcius). Space is just a few degrees above absolute zero which is the lowest temperature possible!
All living things on Earth need water. Everything from people, plants, animals, and even mushrooms and things too small to see need water to survive. Even things like cacti in a desert need some water to live.
However the amount of water is directly determined by a world's distance from the Sun, because it affects the temperature there.
Every planetary system has a band we call “The Habitable Zone”. This is the area that is just the right distance for liquid water to exist – not too hot, not too cold.This blue band shows the habitable zone in our Solar System, you can see the Earth sits comfortably inside. Mars is also in the habitable zone.
Food is provided in a variety of forms, but plants normally sit at the bottom of the food chain. However plants need sunshine, water and soil to thrive.
What are other factors that affect life?
Gravity holds us to the Earth and stops us floating off into Space. Gravity isn't as strong on the moon because the moon has less mass, so people can jump higher and fall slower.
Weaker or stronger gravity would affect life on other worlds.
Stronger: Creatures might evolve lower to the ground, like snakes or insects.
Weaker: There might be more flying animals, like birds! Or they could grow taller and heavier, like elephants.
The atmosphere also provides protection from harmful cosmic rays. Like Ultraviolet radiation, X-rays and Gamma rays. The Sun sends lots of UV rays at the Earth (these cause Sunburn!) that we know can be dangerous to humans, they damage our eyes and can cause skin cancer. X-rays and Gamma rays come from the really energetic events in the universe, Supermassive black holes and supernova (the explosive deaths of massive stars) These rays are very damaging to living cells, even deadly!Luckily our atmosphere absorbs most of these rays and stops them reaching the surface!
Part 1: Research
In researching your planet/moon, you will complete the data chart showing the facts of your “world.”
The location of your world in the solar system
What conditions might be like on the surface (temperature, seasons and weather, atmosphere, land, no land, length of day, etc.)
Special features or other interesting facts, such as what you might weigh on the surface of the planet, moon, or other object.
Other species coming to visit your world may need to take special precautions. What do visitors need to do to enjoy their time in your world?
Resources:
The Nine Planets: An overview of the history, mythology and current scientific knowledge of the planets, moons and other objects in our solar system.
NASA Solar System Exploration: Shows a simulated view of the solar system using real data with imagery and information about each object in our solar system.
Exploring the Planets: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museums information and images of our Solar System.
Solar System Scope: Contains an amazing Solar Lab interactive that allows you to travel to the different planets, their moons and so much more to learn more about the celestial objects found in our solar system.
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