HON 120             Spring 2006                Paper 2: Fact or Fiction paper 

Due at the beginning of class on April 1

Sometimes items in the news seem more like science fiction than science fact. The following ideas have been seriously proposed as scientific theories. Select one and write a 5-7 page paper (typed, double-spaced) including:

1)      A brief introduction of the concept;

2)      Evidence for and against the idea;

3)      Based on your research, your opinion as to whether the idea has been shown to be likely true, or largely disproved.

All papers will include a bibliography and either footnotes or endnotes. Papers without citations will be automatically deducted ten points and then returned for a rewrite before further grading is done. The ten points will not be returned.

Select one of the following statements to either refute or support:

1)      Most of earth’s water was delivered here by comets.

2)      Life on earth was “seeded” from outer space (panspermia).

3)       A meteorite from Mars contains microscopic fossils.

4)      A large asteroid impact was responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs.
 

5)      There is a cycle of mass extinctions on earth driven by an unseen companion star to the sun (known as either “Nemesis” or the “Death Star”).
 

6) The recent reclassification of Pluto as a "dwarf planet" is more scientifically justified than continuing to classify it as a "planet".