Name: ___________________________

Period 1 2 4 5 6

Date: __________________

Astronomy Mini-Project
Objective: You will choose a topic of your choice that is of high interest to
research and learn about further. You will then create a product to
demonstrate understanding of the topic.
Why? Astronomy is a high interest area and I want you to learn about what
you are interested in. We might not have time to discuss the topic that is of
the utmost importance to you, so this is your opportunity to do some
digging.
Topics: You have the freedom to choose any topic pertaining to astronomy. A
list of suggested topics will be provided for you to look at, but I am open to
other suggestions.
Product: Your product can be anything that you want it to be...Ex. movie
you create, newscast, poster, website, commercial, Prezi, rap song, models,
diorama, or anything. Any form that demonstrates you have learned and
have an understanding of your topic.
Length of the product is not as important as the information you provide.
Quality over quantity is going to be the priority. Rather than 20 slides that
were copied/pasted from a website, I would rather see 5 slides where the
information has been presented in your own words and explained well.
Important Notes: This is your time to have complete control over what you
are learning and doing. I may ask you, when I return, to present your project
to me and ask questions about your topic--so, keep that in mind while
creating your presentations and researching your topics. You might be
presenting these in small groups, so make them count.
With that in mind, it is important to consider how in-depth you want to go,
what to focus on, what order to put the material in, etc. I would suggest
deciding on your sub-topics first, complete research, and then make a final,
cohesive project. I want you to take this seriously...if you had to teach your
classmates about
your topic, could you do
it?

Possible Topics

Earth, geology, meteorology, ice ages, evolution

Moons
The Sun, sunspots, solar wind, space weather
Inner vs. Outer Planets
History of Astronomy
How the moon, planets, etc. formed
Big Bang Theory
Solar system formation
Stars
Constellations & mythology
Astronomy vs. Astrology
Galaxies
Origins of the universe
Predicting the future of the universe
Extraterrestrials/UFOs
Conspiracy theories
Origins of space names (Roman/Greek mythology, etc.)
Finding planets similar to the Earth
Astronomers: Ptolemy, Copernicus, Brahe, Kepler, Galilei, Newton,
Stephen Hawking, Ancient calendar systems
Eclipses
Asteroids vs. Comets
NASA: technology, space expeditions, telescopes, etc.
Other/future space missions
Planetary nebula
White dwarfs
Wormholes, black holes, supermassive black holes
Quasars
Cosmology
Artificial satellites
Astrobiology, origins of life on earth
The list could go to infinity & beyond

***By Friday, I am going to try to provide a sample presentation/project for

you to serve as a guide for your own research and projects--it will be on the
Weebly site once finished! Good luck & happy searching!