Not long ago, I attended a workshop on Astrobiology for teachers. I’m not sure which of my two jobs it was more useful for—teaching or writing.

My day job, though ever changing, often involves teaching science across years 3-8. One of the strands of the New Zealand science curriculum is Planet Earth and Beyond, so I regularly teach about our solar system and various features within our galaxy. Last year, I did a fun unit with the year 7 and 8 students in which students had to design spacecraft, habitat modules, and promotional campaigns for a colonising trip to Mars. 

I’ve rarely touched much on astrobiology, and the questions about life elsewhere in the universe, but the workshop made me think about all the ways that questions about life on other planets reflects on life on Earth. How these questions reflect on our actions as human beings—our treatment of other humans, our treatment of the planet and other living things on it. The presenters made a great case for using astrobiology as a way to dive into big philosophical questions about what it means to be alive on Earth today. 

What are our responsibilities to planet Earth and the life on it? What if we are alone in the universe? What if we’re not? Does it change our perspective on our own actions as humans? 

Sanjoy Son, from Blue Marble Science, spoke eloquently about how the teaching of astrobiology can give students valuable perspective on life, and how they can approach questions of personal differences, values, and civic responsibility. The take home message I got from his talk was that we are either the caretakers of the only life in the universe, or we are part of a vast, interstellar network of life. Either way, we are all ambassadors of planet Earth. What a great message for kids. What a great way for them to think about their roles as human beings.

As an author of fantasy and science fiction, of course I soaked up the cool facts about the gazillions of planets there are just in our galaxy, the weird ways life might have to adapt to wildly different conditions on other planets, the surprises that even our own solar system has produced in terms of planets and moons on which life could potentially survive, the physics of travel and communication through space. So many story ideas!

You’ll definitely be seeing more astrobiology creeping into my writing and teaching in the future!