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Could 'Goldilocks ' Planet Be Just Right For Life - Article Of The Week Middle School Worksheet

Article of the Week

Vale Middle School –– Could ‘Goldilocks’ Planet Be Just Right For Life?

Instructions:

READING CLASSES: ANSWER 4 QUESTIONS

LITERATURE CLASSES: ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS

Read the following article carefully and make notes in the margin as you read.

Your notes should include:

o Comments that show that you understand the article. (A summary or statement of the main

idea of important sections may serve this purpose.)

o Questions you have that show what you are wondering about as you read.

o Notes that differentiate between fact and opinion.

o Observations about how the writer’s strategies (organization, word choice, perspective,

support) and choices affect the article.

Your margin notes are part of your score for this assessment.

Student ________________________________Class Period ______________________

Notes on my thoughts,

Could ‘Goldilocks’ Planet Be Just Right For Life?

reactions and questions as I

read:

WASHINGTON – Astronomers say they have, for the first time, spotted a planet

beyond our own in what is sometimes called the Goldilocks zone for life: Not

too hot, not too cold. Juuuust right.

Not too far from its star, not too close. So it could contain liquid water. The

planet itself is neither too big nor too small for the proper surface, gravity and

atmosphere. It's just right. Just like Earth. "This really is the first Goldilocks

planet," said co-discoverer R. Paul Butler of the Carnegie Institution of

Washington.

The new planet sits smack in the middle of what astronomers refer to as the

habitable zone, unlike any of the nearly 500 other planets astronomers have

found outside our solar system. And it is in our galactic neighborhood,

suggesting that plenty of Earth-like planets circle other stars.

Finding a planet that could potentially support life is a major step toward

answering the timeless question: Are we alone? Scientists have jumped the gun

before on proclaiming that planets outside our solar system were habitable only

to have them turn out to be not quite so conducive to life. But this one is so

clearly in the right zone that five outside astronomers told The Associated Press

it seems to be the real thing. "This is the first one I'm truly excited about," said

Penn State University's Jim Kasting. He said this planet is a "pretty prime

candidate" for harboring life.

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Could 'Goldilocks ' Planet Be Just Right For Life - Article Of The Week Middle School Worksheet