e-Lesson
Planet Hunters: masterMind 1 and masterMind 2
Warmer
Discuss these questions.
1 Look at these words with a partner. Write down a definition in your own words.
alien      space      planet      star      hunt
2 Would you want to meet an alien? Why/why not?
Planet Hunters
Captain James T. Kirk was born in the year
2233. Though he had a troubled childhood, he
would eventually have a long and successful
career as captain of the USS Enterprise, tasked
with “going where no one has gone before.”
This credo drove Captain Kirk and his fearless
crew to be pioneers of the universe, exploring
outer space while saving the lives of humans
and extraterrestrials alike.
Although Captain Kirk’s voyages, told of
in numerous Star Trek movies, TV shows and
books, fall under the umbrella of science-fiction,
recent news brings hope that his adventures
may not be so fictitious anymore.
In a record-breaking month, two new planets
have been discovered that could possibly have a
similar atmosphere to Earth’s and, thus, be able
to support life. Scientists call these exoplanets,
which are worlds that orbit around stars, just as
Earth revolves around the sun. However, these
two new planets whip around their suns at
incredible speeds- a mere 10 days for one, and
50 days for the other, compared to our leisurely
365 day route.
Another amazing fact about these exoplanets
is that they were not found by NASA scientists,
but by ordinary people like you and me. By
visiting planethunters.org, anybody can be
Captain Kirk, but instead of looking at stars
from the prestige of the captain’s chair aboard
the Enterprise, they are exploring space from
the comfort of the sofa at home. planethunters.
org is a NASA website, inviting anybody and
Student | Planet Hunters
Written by Jessica Beck    Design: benstudios.co.uk   
everybody to hunt for new exoplanets, and just
maybe the aliens who live there.
The data used by planethunters.org is from
NASA’s Kepler mission, started in 2009.
Since its inception, the mission has led to the
discovery of over 1,200 new possible exoplanets.
Of those, 684 have been verified. Finding
Earth-like planets was unimaginable even
twenty years ago, as, at that time, no one was
even certain if planets existed outside our solar
system, let alone planets that could possibly
support life. Last year, in fact, an exoplanet
was found with an atmosphere of mostly
carbon. Scientists said that diamonds may be as
ordinary as rocks on this world.
Of course, there is still a need for scientists
and researchers if we hope to launch humans
farther into space, perhaps to investigate one
of the new exoplanets. CERN, the European
Organization for Nuclear Research, announced
recently that they had measured particles,
called neutrinos, travelling 0.0025 percent faster
than the speed of light. This means that not only
do we now have destinations to explore light
years away in outer space, but we may someday
be able to get there.
It seems tales of space travel and alien races
are no longer such a stretch of the imagination.
We are really going where no one has gone
before. Are you ready?
e-Lesson
Photocopiable: © Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 2011   
 e-Lesson

Planet Hunters: masterMind 1 and masterMind 2

Comprehension Questions 3 planethunters.org is organized by…

Circle the correct letter a, b or c. a) NASA.
1 Captain Kirk… b) the Kepler mission.
a) had a difficult time as a child. c) CERN.
b) had an easy time as a child. 4 In 2010, scientists found…
c) Explored space as a child. a) a planet that might be covered in
diamonds.
2 An exoplanet is…
b) 1,200 new planets.
a) a planet that revolves around the sun.
c) 684 new planets.
b) a planet that orbits a star.
c) a planet that has alien life. 5 CERN researchers discovered …
a) neutrinos.
b) particles faster than light.
c) destinations to explore.

Vocabulary
A Read the text again. Focus on the words in bold. Think about what the words mean.
B Match the words with similar meaning.
1 extraterrestrials a) send into space
2 pioneer b) go around something
3 exoplanets c) find that something is true or real
4 orbit d) an extremely small thing
5 whip e) move really fast
6 aboard f) beings from another planet
7 launch g) journey; long trip
8 verify h) one of the first people to do something
9 particle i) on a ship or plane
10 voyage j) worlds like the Earth

C Use six of the new words to write a paragraph about visiting another planet. Work with a partner.

Suggested discussion questions

Discuss these questions with your partner.
1 What five things would you bring with you to space? Why?
2 When do you think humans will live on another planet? How will life be different there?

Student | Planet Hunters e-Lesson

Written by Jessica Beck    Design: benstudios.co.uk    Photocopiable: © Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 2011   
 e-Lesson

Planet Hunters: masterMind 1 and masterMind 2

Comprehension Questions Vocabulary

1 a 1 f
2 b 2 h
3 a 3 j
4 a 4 b
5 b 5 e
6 i
7 a
8 c
9 d
10 g

masterSkills
masterMind 2 Unit 1
Society and culture: building communities
1 Tell students that they are going to organize the first space colony. Brainstorm as a class what
they’ll need to think about. You can put two columns on the board- People and Materials.
2 On the side of the board, write Name of community, Description of colony, People wanted, Special
space activities available, Why colony is better than Earth
3 Allow students time to discuss these points in groups and write down their ideas.
4 Have students prepare a poster advertising their new space colony.
5 Put the posters up on the walls of the classroom. Have students walk around and read the
posters, and then report back about which colony they would like to join and why.

Teacher | Planet Hunters e-Lesson

Written by Jessica Beck    Design: benstudios.co.uk    Photocopiable: © Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 2011