Why projects?

1
Why projects?

• Reading, homework, lectures content
• What we know about our Solar System and others,
  and the scientific tools used to discover this
  knowledge
• Class Projects enterprise of science
• The way we really do science starting with
  hunches, making guesses, making many mistakes,
  going off on blind roads before hitting on one
  that seems to be going in the right direction
• You will choose a general topic. Then you will
  formulate your own specific questions about the
  topic, and figure out a strategy for answering
  them
• We will provide structure via milestones along
  the way, so you wont get lost

2
Projects Getting started

• Today
• Brainstorming about potential topics
• Topic selection
• Group formation
• First meeting of your group
• Weekly e-mails to Claire and Jenn from each of
  you how are things going? (be sure to put
  Astro18 in subject line)
• Final project outcomes last two days of class
• Presentation in class
• Written report

3
Topics chosen in the past (just a taste of whats
possible)

• Life elsewhere in the universe
• Hazards from Outer Space Killer asteroids and
  comets
• New theories of Solar System formation
• Global warming on Earth Whats the evidence? Are
  people causing warming? How are predictions
  made?
• Were Mars and Venus more hospitable in the past?
• Mars exploration by humans (or by robots)
• Moons of Jupiter and Saturn

4
First task today

• Brainstorm about potential project topics
• How to brainstorm
• One person serves as scribe
• Everyone suggests ideas
• Scribe writes each one down
• No criticisms allowed! Just put all the ideas
  down
• Later youll decide which questions are most
  important, most interesting, etc. DONT do that
  now.
• Split into groups of 2 or 3 (your nearest
  neighbors?)
• Spend 10 minutes brainstorming about project
  topics
• Toss around as many questions as you can, write
  them down
• What are you curious about?

5
Brainstorming, continued

• Main point of brainstorming is to build on each
  others ideas
• Keeping the discussion positive (no criticisms
  allowed) encourages creativity.
• Nobody should feel turned off or discouraged
• Brainstorming a generally useful method
• Used in businesses, arts, as well as science

6
When 10 minutes have passed, well try to
categorize the topics

• Make groupings of related topics
• Write them on board or on sign-up sheets
• Ask each of you to sign up for your first choice
• Include your name and email address
• Form groups for each topic, get together in class

7
Next task today in your groups

• Once youve chosen a topic
• What questions can you ask (and later answer)
  about your topic?

8
Example of brainstorming list for Pluto - an
imaginary project

• Why is Pluto so small?
• What is Pluto made of? How do we know?
• How come Plutos orbit is so elliptical?
• Did Pluto used to be an asteroid? How do we
  know?
• Are there other Plutos?
• Does Pluto have an atmosphere?
• What could we learn from sending a spacecraft to
  Pluto and Charon?
• How long would it take to get there? Could it go
  into orbit around Pluto?
• Does Pluto have seasons? What are they like?

9
Next task each group work on narrowing down your
questions

• Think about which of your questions are most
  interesting or important
• Think about how you would address each one
• Using these criteria, narrow down your list of
  questions to 3 5
• Take 10 minutes now
• Hand in your list at end of class today (be sure
  to keep copies for yourselves!)

10
By Thursday November 4th (1 wk)

• Each group look into their 3-5 questions enough
  to get an idea
• Does each question still make sense?
• Flesh it out use reference books (in Science and
  Engineering Library), websites (links on class
  web page)
• Why is each question important?
• How are they related to each other?
• What resources are available to address each
  question
• Textbooks or reference books? Articles in
  magazines such as Science or Scientific American
  or Sky and Telescope? Websites? Journal
  articles?
• Which group members is most interested in which
  questions?
• Each group member sign up to address 1 or 2
  questions
• Put Astro 18 in subject line, send to
  max_at_ucolick.org and to jaburt_at_ucsc.edu

11
By Tuesday November 9th

• (Group) Together write a 1 - 2 page summary of
  what your project is
• what are your 3 5 questions
• why are they each important (one by one)
• how are they related to each other
• what methods might you use to address them
• Books? Articles in magazines such as Science or
  Scientific American? Websites? Journal articles?
• What help can Jenn and I give you
• Put Astro 18 in subject line, send to
  max_at_ucolick.org and to jaburt_at_ucsc.edu

12
By Tuesday November 9th, contd

• From each individual (each of you) email to us
• A short email giving me feedback on how your
  group is going did everyone participate in your
  brainstorming session, did you feel included or
  left out, did you enjoy it?
• Is someone dominating the group too much?
• Are you finding the work interesting? Heres a
  place to ask advice about sources, etc.
• Ill ask you to do this each week, for a while at
  least
• Put Astro 18 in subject line, send to
  max_at_ucolick.org and to jaburt_at_ucsc.edu

13
Future project tasks (more details to come)
Exploration

• First find at least 2 meaty websites, 3
  informative books or book chapters, and 2 good
  articles in magazines or journals about your
  chosen questions
• Skim them to see if they are going to be useful
  (some wont be) take notes on what is
  interesting
• Use them to put together list of other
  potentially useful books and web sites (its like
  following a trail ....), see if these are useful
• Compare notes with your groups, tell each other
  what youve found
• Discuss what new questions have arisen, and ask
  whether any seem interesting enough to pursue