Astro 150 Project Guidelines
Projects are optional assignments that you may choose to do to help
your grade in Astro 150. Projects will be able to provide up to 20
additional points to be added to your lowest test score.
To get a project approved
To get a project approved, you need to talk to Prof. Kawaler or Prof. Kerton for a few minutes about your project idea. Once approved, we will put your name
on the list of projects that may be handed in. You are not required to do a
project after getting approval, but you may not receive credit for a project
that has not been approved in this official manner.
Approval can usually be accomplished in just a minute or two before or after
lecture, or at other times in Dr. Kawaler's or Dr. Kerton's office.
The project grade can only be used to augment a
low test score. It cannot replace a
missing test score unless very unusual circumstances cause you to
miss both an exam and its makeup.
Project Subjects and Formats
Anything that concerns the materials we cover in Astro 150. Thus no projects
on our solar system (the moon, the earth, the planets, etc) and no projects
on constellations, mythology, sundials, that sort of thing. Approval should
be pretty easy as long as the project has something to do with stars (stellar
physics, that is), galaxies, cosmology, or the basic physics that we talk
about and use in Astro 150.
People should choose to do something that combines Astro 150 with their own
interests or academics. It is perfectly acceptable to submit a project for
Astro 150 that is also a project for another class...
In all cases, we expect complete documentation of references (i.e. a complete
bibliography for printed sources, and complete WWW URLs for online
information).
If appropriate, projects can be done in small groups (2 or at most 3
students)
Here are some examples of successful projects from the past:
- Elementary (K-12) lesson plans on stellar evolution, cosmology and the
like are popular choices eled/seced majors.
- Others might do a painting/drawing/scale model of some object (star
systems, nebulae, galaxies). Artistic impression is encouraged, but some
level of technical accuracy is needed.
- Some have designed board games, video games, trivia games, etc. that
include astro concepts (black holes, etc).
- Two students designed a message for extraterrestrials (not easy if
you think about it).
- Others have observed the Sun with a simple setup and plotted the rotation
of the sun (and gotten good answers when the weather and sun cooperate!).
- Some might want to do creative writing: a short story, original essay,
poetry, etc. with a theme based on Astro 150 material. Again, some measure
of technical accuracy needs to be demonstrated.
- One student investigated a UFO report, and came up with plausible
astronomical interpretations!
- Some have critiqued popular (newspaper) articles about astronomy,
identifying flaws and mistakes as well as finding well-writted and novel
articles and explaining why they are good.
- Skits written and performed (live and on tape) with subjects such as
parodies of our lectures, of Stephen Hawking's books, as well as
speculations on the first contact with extraterrestrials, hypothetical
interviews with HST astronomers, etc. One even interviewed Alexander Abian
(the blow-up-the-moon guy) on a broadcast interview show! Again, though,
some accurate representation of Astro 150 material is important for a decent
grade.
- Term-paper-like projects are strongly discouraged; they can be as dull to
read as they are to write. However, some subjects can't be done any other
way. One example was a paper on the compatibility of Big Bang cosmology with
Western religious views (an excellent paper from a few years ago).
- And so on. Be creative!