Overall, it had been a good day. Karyn was still smiling, and it was time for her first seventh year lesson, which she had been looking forward to. Her students could usually expect a lecture from her on the first class of the year, but today, she was going to let the students have some fun
well, as much fun as one could have while learning astronomy.
Karyn emerged from her office, a bit tired after correcting papers during her sixth period, which she had off. Mostly uninspired essays about what first years wanted to learn. There had only been one good essay, which Karyn was pleased to mark with a big golden O.
Karyn quietly stepped up the stairs to the classroom, and with a wave of her wand, the door unlocked and opened for her. It was a truly beautiful sight, watching the sun set beyond the tips of the peaks in the distance. Because it was growing dark, Karyn muttered an incantation, and a large jar of blinding white light hovered in the middle of the room. It was pure starlight, and it worked best. Karyn stepped to the front of the class, and with another light flick of her wand, two podiums of mahogany appeared. One had the word pro engraved, and the other had Con. Her students were going to have a debate.
Karyn tapped her wand upon the blackboard, and a paragraph of notes appeared in her curly, yet neat handwriting: Extraterrestrial (EHKS truh tuh REHS tree uhl) intelligence is intelligent life that developed somewhere other than the Earth. No life has been discovered on any planet other than the Earth. However, many scientists have concluded that intelligent life may exist on planets orbiting some of the hundreds of billions of stars in our galaxy, the Milky Way. These scientists base their conclusion on research in such fields as astronomy, biology, planetary science, and paleontology (the study of prehistoric life through fossils). The effort to find evidence that there is extraterrestrial intelligence is often called SETI, which stands for Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.
At the bottom, in much larger letters, appeared: Debate: Is there extraterrestrial life on other heavenly bodies?
It was almost time for her N.E.W.T. students to arrive. In a most uncharacteristic move, Karyn sat down on her desk, crossed her slender legs, and waited for the first of her students to arrive.
Karyn emerged from her office, a bit tired after correcting papers during her sixth period, which she had off. Mostly uninspired essays about what first years wanted to learn. There had only been one good essay, which Karyn was pleased to mark with a big golden O.
Karyn quietly stepped up the stairs to the classroom, and with a wave of her wand, the door unlocked and opened for her. It was a truly beautiful sight, watching the sun set beyond the tips of the peaks in the distance. Because it was growing dark, Karyn muttered an incantation, and a large jar of blinding white light hovered in the middle of the room. It was pure starlight, and it worked best. Karyn stepped to the front of the class, and with another light flick of her wand, two podiums of mahogany appeared. One had the word pro engraved, and the other had Con. Her students were going to have a debate.
Karyn tapped her wand upon the blackboard, and a paragraph of notes appeared in her curly, yet neat handwriting: Extraterrestrial (EHKS truh tuh REHS tree uhl) intelligence is intelligent life that developed somewhere other than the Earth. No life has been discovered on any planet other than the Earth. However, many scientists have concluded that intelligent life may exist on planets orbiting some of the hundreds of billions of stars in our galaxy, the Milky Way. These scientists base their conclusion on research in such fields as astronomy, biology, planetary science, and paleontology (the study of prehistoric life through fossils). The effort to find evidence that there is extraterrestrial intelligence is often called SETI, which stands for Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.
At the bottom, in much larger letters, appeared: Debate: Is there extraterrestrial life on other heavenly bodies?
It was almost time for her N.E.W.T. students to arrive. In a most uncharacteristic move, Karyn sat down on her desk, crossed her slender legs, and waited for the first of her students to arrive.
