The midterm and final examinations of AST 100 are presentations. Students are divided into 8 groups, and each group has to prepare a single file with all the slides of the presentation, preferably using Google Slides or Canva. The presentation is divided into 5 or 6 parts, each part is presented by an individual student of the group, and the grading is also done individually. Each student should have at least 4 slides including the title slide, and should take 3-4 minutes for the presentation. Each group gets 20 minutes for the presentation in total.
The exams are taken during two regular classes, the even-numbered groups present during one of the classes, and the odd-numbered groups during the other class.
The 5 or 6 parts of the presentation are as follows.
# | Topic of the part | Resource |
---|---|---|
1 | Seven Ages of the Universe | Chapter 0 |
2 | Particle Age | Chapter 1 |
3 | Galactic Age | Chapter 2 |
4 | The telescopes of the assigned frequency range | Chapter 1: Light and color and online research |
5 | The smart telescope of Durbin | Chapter 1: Telescope and class demonstration |
6 | The galaxy assigned to your group | Durbin exhibition and online research |
For Part 4 and Part 6, the frequency range and the galaxy assigned to each group are given below.
Group | Freq range (part 4) | Galaxy (part 6) |
---|---|---|
1 | Low-frequency radio | Andromeda |
2 | High-frequency radio | Triangulum |
3 | Microwave | Bode's |
4 | Infrared | Cigar |
5 | Visible light | Cat's eye |
6 | Ultraviolet | Black eye |
7 | X-ray | Pinwheel |
8 | Gamma-ray | Fireworks |
The 5 or 6 parts of the presentation are as follows.
Part | Topic of the part | Resource | Tips |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Birth and life of stars | Chapter 3 | Describe the birth and evolution of stars of different masses. |
2 | Death of stars | Chapter 3 | Describe how stars of different masses become white dwarf, neutron star or black holes. |
3 | Our solar system | Chapter 4 | How was our solar system born? Describe its structure and planets, and focus on earth. |
4 | Exoplanets | Chapter 4 | How do we detect exoplanets and classify the planets discovered so far? |
5 | Imaging from the rooftop | Your images from the rooftop are here | Describe how the imaging was done from the rooftop, show the image that you took. |
6 | The nebula assigned to your group | Durbin exhibition and online research | Describe the nebula using reliable resources online. Compare the image taken by our telescope with an image by a research-grade large telescope. |
If there are 5 students, combine Part 3 and part 4.
The nebulas assigned to each group and the presentation timeslots for the whole group are given below.
Group | Nebula (part 6) | Presentation time (for all 5/6 parts) |
---|---|---|
1 | Helix nebula | 8:00 pm |
2 | Dumbbell nebula | 8:15 pm |
3 | Orion nebula | 8:30 pm |
4 | Horsehead nebula | 8:45 pm |
5 | Ring nebula | 9:00 pm |
6 | Lagoon nebula | 9:15 pm |
7 | Crab nebula | 9:30 pm |
8 | Eagle nebula | 9:45 pm |
The grading is based on Content (7 marks), Delivery (7 marks) and Interaction (7 marks). The tips for doing well in these three categories are given below.
The 7 marks here will be based on the informativeness, orderliness and organization of the slides.
The 7 marks here will be based on the preparedness, readiness, and conveying of the materials of the slides.
The 7 marks here will be based on your interaction with the screen and the audience and your body language.