C. KwokScience 9 AstronomyNewspaper Project

ASTRONOMY NEWSPAPER PROJECT

You will spend the rest of the semester completing a project that will cover the rest of the material in the Astronomy Unit. It will require individual and group effort to make newspaper on space science.

  1. MAJOR TOPICS (each member must choose one topic to research on) 15 marks:
  1. Describe the pros and cons of SPACE RESEARCH and SPACE TRAVEL.
  • Refer to the exposure of humans to risk
  • Include space shuttle Challenger and Columbia disasters
  • Time and money needed to build equipment, to send probes to far-out planets
  • Colonizing other planets
  • Search for extraterrestrials
  • Militarization of space
  • Essential human needs that must be met in space
  • Medical risks
  • STUDENT ASSIGNED TO THIS TOPIC:
  1. Describe what REMOTE SENSING TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT are used for in terms of space travel and research
  • Artificial satellites
  • Space probes
  • Hubble Space telescope
  • Rovers
  • Rockets
  • International space station and the Canadarm
  • Space shuttles
  • STUDENT ASSIGNED TO THIS TOPIC:
  1. Describe the requirements to become an ASTRONAUT or an ASTRONOMER
  2. Education and training required
  3. Possible career specializations in the astronomy area
  4. Ideal characteristics needed to be successful in this career
  5. Lifestyle associated with this career – time commitment? A lot of traveling away from home? Good salary?
  6. Pros and cons of working as an astronomer
  7. Can be done as a interview with a professional person in this career
  8. STUDENT ASSIGNED TO THIS TOPIC:
  1. Describe how DISTANCES IN SPACE are measured and the techniques / methods used
  2. Astronomical units
  3. Distance comparison using a scale of AU to cm; Light years compared to km
  4. The speed of light
  5. Triangulation
  6. Parallax
  7. STUDENT ASSIGNED TO THIS TOPIC:
  1. MINOR TOPICS (each member must choose one topic to research on) 10 marks:
  1. The moon and its movements; its relation to tides, lunar eclipses, the lunar calendar, and phases of the moon.
  • STUDENT ASSIGNED TO THIS TOPIC:
  1. Astrological horoscope, predictions, patterns, and historical importance
  • STUDENT ASSIGNED TO THIS TOPIC:
  1. Ancient beliefs and mythological beliefs that useastronomy as a basis (Giza pyramids, Stonehenge, Chichen Itza in Mexico)
  • STUDENT ASSIGNED TO THIS TOPIC:
  1. Unsolved mysteries: extraterrestrials, black holes, origin of life
  • STUDENT ASSIGNED TO THIS TOPIC:
  1. CURRENT EVENT NEWS (each member must have a different current event to research on) 15 marks:

Research a current event topic that has occurred over the last 10 years that is related to your

galaxy or planet.

  • Find important discoveries or events that occurred in your galaxy or on your planet.
  • Find several versions and opinions on the same event.
  • Be sure not to plagiarize ideas and opinions! (Reportusing your own perspective)
  • Each student must report to me on the topic that they choose before or in the early stages of research to ensure that the topic is suitable and there is no overlap between students.
  • YOUR TOPIC:
  1. ONE OPTIONAL TOPIC OF YOUR CHOICE (each member must choose one topic to research on) 10 marks:
  • Each student must report to me on the topic that they choose before or in the early stages of research to ensure that the topic is suitable and there is no overlap between students.
  • YOUR TOPIC:

PICK A PLANET, STAR, OR GALAXY TO FOCUS YOUR NEWSPAPER PROJECT ON!

FOCUS:

Focus confirmed with from Ms. Kwok □

MINIMUM RESOURCE REQUIREMENTS (include in bibliography)

Each group must have:

  • 3 books
  • 1 encyclopedia (must be book encyclopedia, not online such as Encarta or Wikipedia)
  • 5 internet sites (use website below for links to astronomy sites)
  • 1 other resource (magazine, newspaper, podcast; must be different from 5 internet sites)

CHECK OUT MS. COMFORTS’S AMAZING WEBPAGE FOR VALUABLE LINKS TO WEBSITES RELATED TO THIS PROJECT!

PROJECT IS DUE

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

INIVIDUAL PROGRESS REPORT Name:

Your work habits will be tracked on each “work day” to assess your progress and the development of the project.

Friday, January 8 /
  • Ready and on time to class; resources and materials made readily available
  • Sufficient work recorded and produced; draft notes are complete
  • Used the entire given time effectively to research and collect information
  • Took advantage of peers, teachers, resources available
  • Worked well with group members
  • On task and was not disruptive to others
/ / 3
Monday, January 11 /
  • Ready and on time to class; resources and materials made readily available
  • Sufficient work recorded and produced; draft notes are complete
  • Used the entire given time effectively to research and collect information
  • Took advantage of peers, teachers, resources available
  • Worked well with group members
  • On task and was not disruptive to others
/ / 3
Tuesday, January 12 /
  • Ready and on time to class; resources and materials made readily available
  • Sufficient work recorded and produced; draft notes are complete
  • Used the entire given time effectively to research and collect information
  • Took advantage of peers, teachers, resources available
  • Worked well with group members
  • On task and was not disruptive to others
/ / 3
Wednesday, January 13 /
  • Ready and on time to class; resources and materials made readily available
  • Sufficient work recorded and produced; draft notes are complete
  • Used the entire given time effectively to research and collect information
  • Took advantage of peers, teachers, resources available
  • Worked well with group members
  • On task and was not disruptive to others
/ / 3
Thursday, January 14 /
  • Ready and on time to class; resources and materials made readily available
  • Sufficient work recorded and produced; draft notes are complete
  • Used the entire given time effectively to research and collect information
  • Took advantage of peers, teachers, resources available
  • Worked well with group members
  • On task and was not disruptive to others
/ / 3
Friday, January 15 /
  • Ready and on time to class; resources and materials made readily available
  • Sufficient work recorded and produced; draft notes are complete
  • Used the entire given time effectively to research and collect information
  • Took advantage of peers, teachers, resources available
  • Worked well with group members
  • On task and was not disruptive to others
/ / 3
TOTAL PROGRESS REPORT MARK / / 18
INDIVIDUAL MARKS / TOTAL POSSIBLE MARKS / Incomplete
or absent / Poor / Satisfactory / Good / Outstanding
CONTENT / 50 / 0 – 9
Information is not given or is missing key ideas. There isvery little or no attempt to complete the requirements. / 10 – 19
A weak attempt is made to present information. It is incomplete or is done with little effort. / 20 – 29
A fair attempt is made to present information and the bare basics are present.
There are no extra details or information. / 30 – 39
The information is well-researched and presented. All the essential ideas are given, including extra details. / 41 – 50
The basic information is exceptionally presented with plenty of alternative ideas and takes the reader beyond the usual facts.
ROUGH DRAFTS / 20 / 0 – 4
No draft is handed in or very little is prepared from the resources. / 5 – 8
Drafts are not consistently completed or are not significant enough to support the project. / 9 – 12
A fair amount of notes are taken from resources that would be only just sufficient to support the project. / 13 – 16
A good amount of information is collected from a variety of resources to support a well-presented project / 17 – 20
A large amount of information is taken from a vast range of resources that represent different perspectives and ideas
PROGRESS REPORTS / 18 / 0 - 3 / 4 - 7 / 8 – 11 / 12 – 15 / 16 – 18
TOTAL INDIVIDUAL / 88 / YOUR TOTAL INDIVIDUAL MARK:

MARKING SHEET FOR PROJECT (INDIVIDUAL)

GROUP MARKS / TOTAL POSSIBLE MARKS / Incomplete or absent / Poor / Satisfactory / Good / Outstanding
FORMAT & PRESENTATION / 34 / 0 – 6
There is no order or organization in the format and layout of the project. Grammar and spelling mistakes are abundant. No colour or eye-catching fonts are used. / 7 – 12
Little attempt is made to make the project look presentable. There is minimum use of colour, illustrations, or variety of fonts. / 13 – 19
Work is neat enough to read and understand. Grammar and spelling mistakes are minimal. Simple illustrations, colour scheme, and borders are used. / 20 - 26
It is easy to read, spacing is appropriate, and grammar and spelling is correct. Interesting titles and illustrations draw the interest of the reader. / 27 – 34
The work is eye-catching and has pizzazz. There are related colourful illustrations, a background and borders. Presentation is extremely organized and neat.
BIBLIOGRAPHY / 10 / 0 – 2
No bibliography. / 3 – 4
Incomplete or has major mistakes / 5 – 6
List is complete with few major mistakes / 7 – 8
Some minor mistakes are present. / 9 – 10
All resources are listed correctly and accordingly
GROUP WORK HABITS / 18 / 0 – 3
Memberswork individually and do not cooperate as a group / 4 – 7
Some members work together and while others do not contribute / 8 - 11
Members require effort to work to finish the project / 12 – 15
Members work well together and accommodate each other. / 16 – 18
The group is cohesive and each member has a clear role in the group
TOTAL GROUP / 62 / YOUR TOTAL GROUP MARK:
TOTAL POSSIBLE / YOUR MARK
TOTAL INDIVIDUAL MARK / 88
TOTAL GROUP MAKRK / 62
TOTAL PROJECT MARK / 150

MARKING SHEET FOR PROJECT (GROUP)

1