ASTR202 :: Fall 2007
Exploration of the Solar System
Web Project
Pick Topic/Article by Monday November 12, 2007
Paper DUE, in class, Monday December 3rd, 2007
The "web project" is worth 10 points towards your final point total and grade.

You have the choice of doing the Observing Project or the Web Project.

YOU MAY DO BOTH FOR ADDITIONAL CREDIT.
Please note, however, that the maximum combined credit will be of 15 points. Moreover, it will not be purely additive, i.e. two so-so projects that would individually be worth 7-8 points will not give you 15 points when combined. In order to get 15 points you will need two good projects.

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR THOSE WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN DOING BOTH PROJECTS.
 In the past we ran into a problem toward the end of the semester because several people initially signed up for both projects, and then decided to drop the observing project. There was a clear impression that they signed up for both projects to keep their options open.
Unfortunately, good nights and time are scarce commodities (in Houston at least).
The fact that at the beginning many people --who eventually dropped the project-- were showing up at the observing sessions, in the end had the undesirable effect that a a handful of students (whose only project was the observing one) could not finish their observations.
Based on this past experience, I have decided to make a correction to the "sign-up and commit" process:

  • Students interested in the observing project have to sign-up for it, by sending me an email. This is because, for better planning, I need to know at any given time who is "in" and may show up for the observing sessions.
  • It will be possible to decide to drop the observing project only until the November 2nd deadline.
  • People who will be signed up for the observing project after this deadline, will be bound to submit an observing-project report (and fulfill its other requirements) for grading. Failure to do so will be graded accordingly.
This should ensure that in the last couple of weeks of the semester we are not going to incur the risk of wasting valuable telescope time, and that students who want to finish their project will have the best chance to do so.
Still, keep in mind that all activities depend on the weather... do not wait until the end of the semester to get your observations done.

The project basically consists of an approximately 1000-word essay (3-5 pages) on a "hot" topic or news item concerning solar system astronomy that has appeared in newspapers, magazines, or on the world wide web this year.

A selection of URLs for astronomy news and press releases is given in the useful web-sites webpage.
Check them out regularly, and go back looking for interesting recent news.

You are to prepare a report discussing an item of your choosing.

  • Pick some recent article on astronomy news from the science part of a newspaper, a magazine, or web publication.

  • The topic of choice should be related to Solar System Astronomy (not general astrophysics or stellar or galactic astronomy!).
    You can include spaceflight missions if you prefer, but the topic chosen should be related directly to the material covered in class since the analysis part of the discussion is important and should be related to material that you learned in class.

  • BEFORE you start any work on an article, verify with me whether the article is suitable (with web link to the article).
    The topic/article has to be decided BEFORE November 12th. Again, you do not need to wait until the deadline to select an article.

  • Study the article and do further research on the web or in the library (typically, you will find links in the article), to expand and complete your understanding of the topic.

  • Summarize your findings in a "paper". The "paper" should consist of text including relevant graphics and additional references (directly or linked).

  • Provide a list of references, including a web link to the "seed" article, or attach the article.
    ALL DIRECT AND INDIRECT QUOTATIONS FROM YOUR SOURCES SHOULD BE PROPERLY ACKNOWLEDGED.
    Your work is expected to be clearly distinguishable from the references.
    This is a very critical aspect of the paper.
    Read carefully the Rice Honor Council Blue Book, for a very extensive discussion concerning plagiarism. In doubt about the proper format for citations, contact me.
    Plagiarism will not be tolerated.
    I regret to have to say that in the past we've had serious problems of plagiarism for this assignment. I did not like it, and the students did not like either.
    It is not hard to do a decent job without resorting to shortcuts. I am not expecting from you a scholarship paper. I am more concerned about your own elaboration of the concepts and ideas, and impressions, pertaining to the topic of your choice.

  • The allowed formats for your "paper" are:
    • a web page. This format would give you the distinctive advantage of being able to exploit the power of the hypertext.
    • a PDF file. It can easily be produced by any word processor, or presentation software.
    • Hardcopy will be ok as well.

  • Send your file (paper or electronic) or webpage URL to me by the deadline.

The grade will be determined by in (obvious) order of importance:

  1. the quality of the discussion and in particular of your analysis,

  2. the number of outside references/links (and their use and pertinence to your discussion), and

  3. the format of the presentation.

The suggested outline for the paper is the following:

  1. Description of the news item that includes a specific reference and link to the original source or sources.

  2. Analysis of the news item in the context of material that you have studied in the course. Specifically, I want to know that you can evaluate the importance of the news item as related to astronomy in general given what you learned in the course.

  3. Links to photographs on the www and/or other references to (closely) related news items during the past 1-3 years.
SO YOU HAVE NEVER DONE A WEB PAGE BEFORE?

Well, neither had several of the students who took this and similar classes in the past.
Usually people are surprised by how easy, and even fun, doing an "electronic term paper" could be.
If you need help, check with the Student Consulting Office at Mudd for guidelines and written/personal help.
Aside from the fun of cruising the web, it's really "straightforward" to link pretty pictures and even dynamic movie video and music to your web page using basic software such as MS Word or Netscape (or Mozilla) Composer, or even more user-friendly webpage builders that the Mudd people can show you.

Alternatively, you can access web sites like geocities.com and others which have very user-friendly software for webpage building (albeit with annoying to me cookies attached) software, OR, find a computer-jock friend who can give you a "jump-start".

Also, an excellent "trick" is to take inspiration from a webpage whose format you like. It is always possible to save the source file on your computer and use it a starting point on which to build up your paper.

ASTR202 :: Fall 2007 HOME