Illustration of alien in spaceship above Earth. Text, "What Would an Alien Say?"
Illustration by Kirk Douponce
Write Like a Pro,

What Would You Say to an Alien?

Scientists are creating a message to send to space, with the hope that it will one day reach an alien civilization. What do you think it should say?

By Rebecca E.F. Barone
From the March 2024 Issue

Learning Objective: to understand how a writer uses coordinating conjunctions to connect ideas effectively, then compose sentences using coordinating conjunctions

Featured Skills: Grammar, Usage, and Mechanics,
Common Core Standards
  • Anchor Standards
    L.2
  • Grade 6
    L.6.2a
  • Grade 7
    L.7.2a
  • Grade 8
    L.8.2a
TEKS Standards
  • Grades 6, 7, 8
    2a, 2b, 2c

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Directions:

  1. Read the article.
  2. Click on the phrases in blue to learn about one of the writer’s pro moves: using coordinating conjunctions.
  3. Take the Write Like a Pro Challenge below.
Coordinating Conjunctions

(for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) show relationships between words or groups of words.

Imagine that somewhere among the stars exists a planet teeming with life. Now imagine what that life might be like. Maybe these life-forms are beyond anything we can comprehend. Maybe they’re blobs of hot-pink slime, or maybe they’re flying trees! Then again, maybe they’re not all that different from us. 

Whatever they are, it would be amazing to meet them. Unfortunately, they live really far from Earth, so it’s impossible to reach their planet in a spaceship. 

What can we do? Send a message!

Today a team of scientists is preparing to do just that. The message is called the Beacon in the Galaxy. The dream is that one day another civilization will find it—and reply.

Reaching for the Stars

Illustration by Kirk Douponce

The Beacon in the Galaxy won’t be the first message broadcast from Earth. In 1974, scientists used a giant radio telescope in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, to send a message to a distant cluster of stars. The message summarized humanity’s technological achievements.In 1977, the spacecraft Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 were launched, each carrying records containing sounds and images of human life.

How will the Beacon in the Galaxy be different? It will contain more information as well as instructions for how to reply. 

Jonathan Jiang is a lead researcher on the project. He works at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Jiang and his team plan to start by describing hydrogen, the most abundant element in the universe. The message will also describe humans, our solar system, and Earth and its location. 

Thousands of Years

The message will be sent to a region of the galaxy that could support life, but it will take thousands and thousands of years to get there. (It’s been 50 years since the Arecibo message was transmitted, yet that signal won’t reach its destination for another 25,000 years.) And then, if  aliens receive the message, if  they figure out what it means, and if  they decide to reply, it could take thousands of years for their reply to reach Earth.

Still, it’s exciting to think about. Some scientists speculate that any alien civilization that could decode and respond to our message would be technologically advanced. Such a society may have overcome struggles like those we face on Earth, such as war and hunger, says Sheri Wells-Jensen from the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute. “Wouldn’t it be nice if there were someone who could say ‘You can do this, because we’ve done it’?” she says. “We’re looking for a friend.”

Write Like a Pro Challenge

Now take what you’ve learned and apply it to your own writing! For each pair of things below, compose a sentence using a coordinating conjunction that shows the relationship between the things:

  • cake, pie
  • staying up late, getting up early   
  • TikTok, dance trends
  • sixth grade, seventh grade 

This article was originally published in the March 2024 issue.

Activities (1)
Skill-Building Activities
Answer Key (1)
Activities (1)
Skill-Building Activities
Answer Key (1)
Step-by-Step Lesson Plan

Close Reading, Critical Thinking, Skill Building

Download the Lesson Plan

Table of Contents

1. Prepare to Read

2. Read and Discuss

3. Write

1. PREPARE TO READ (5 MINUTES)

  • Draw students’ attention to the directions in the upper left-hand corner of page 30 or at the top of the digital story page. Read the directions aloud.

2. READ AND DISCUSS (25 MINUTES)

  • Have students read the article and the explanations in the green circles with a partner. 

  • Optionally, before students complete the Write Like a Pro Challenge, give them some extra practice using coordinating conjunctions. Project the following sentences, then have students combine them using coordinating conjunctions.
    • She enjoys painting. She enjoys drawing
    • The sun was shining brightly. The temperature was still cold.
    • I’d like to travel to Italy. Maybe I’ll go to Spain instead.
    • He didn’t spend much time studying for the test. He got an A+.
    • She finished her homework early. She decided to go for a walk.

  • Optionally, provide students with the Anchor Chart: Coordinating Conjunctions to use and keep as a handy reference in their notebooks. It contains definitions and usage examples for each conjunction. 

  • To teach students about using commas in the sentences they combined, refer to pages 2-3 of the magazine, which explain when a comma is needed before a coordinating conjunction.

3. WRITE (25 MINUTES)

  • Have students work in pairs or independently to take the Write Like a Pro Challenge on page 31 of the printed magazine or at the bottom of the digital story page:

Now take what you’ve learned and apply it to your own writing! For each pair of things below, compose a sentence using a coordinating conjunction that shows the relationship between the things:

  • cake, pie
  • staying up late, getting up early
  • TikTok, dance trends
  • sixth grade, seventh grade

Remind students that there are no “right” answers here. They get to come up with the relationships!

  • Project students’ sentences on your whiteboard and discuss the relationships they created between each pair of words or phrases. Alternatively, have students exchange and discuss their sentences with a partner.

Text-to-Speech