Astronomy “Shoot for the Stars” Project

As I’ve mentioned in class, this written astronomy project will take the place of a final exam (200 pts.). In structure it is related to the National Geographic Project in that there are a series of written “articles” and a visually stunning cover. My hopes are that in reviewing reference material pertaining to your selected topics and writing the reports that you can become more familiar with astronomy and more in awe of the jaw-dropping wonders of the universe.

There are five parts to this project, four written reports and the cover. Please realize that rather than having a single due date for the entire project that this project will be drawn out to five individual due dates, one for each part.

Obviously, each report will be based on an astronomy topic of your choice. For a list of possible topics and the specific due dates go to my website’s astronomy syllabus. Three of the written reports will include, a person, a place, and a thing. For example you might choose to write a biography about Edwin Hubble, a renowned astronomer. This clearly would be “a person”. You might write a report on Halley’s comet, a place. You may have an interest in telescopes and write a report on the Newtonian telescope, a thing. The fourth report, more open-ended, will be how you would design and equip a space station, much like the one we have in orbit now. Your report would discuss the range of considerations and solutions of living in an enclosed container with limited gravity, water, and oxygen.

Each of these four reports should be 1.5-2.0 pages in length, between 450-500 words, standard margins, double spaced lines, 12 pt. commonplace font (nothing goofy). You need a minimum of two references to be listed at the end of each report. Avoid plagiarism!

The cover requires a picture (jpeg or other graphic) relevant to one of your reports, the word ASTRONOMY, your name, and the titles to each of your four reports. How you arrange these elements is entirely up to you. I will print one color copy of this for you, and one only.