With thousands of confirmed planets existing outside our solar system -- a number that continues to grow as astronomers keep searching -- it seems almost certain that life, in some form, exists somewhere else in the universe. But if one day we find this life, what is it likely to be like? Should we expect to only find single-celled organisms, like bacteria? Or advanced civilizations?

In this one-session class, students will engage in an analytical reasoning exercise, using a combination of...