Poster

Physics 110 Spring 2019

Physics Research Poster Project

Goals:

· Learn about a notable scientist and the physics ideas they contributed to the world.

· Practice research and presentation skills.

· Create an interesting, informative poster and present it at the Academic Showcase.

Expectations:

The text on your poster will have 3 sections:

1. A short biographical summary

2. A list of the scientist’s significant accomplishments, inventions, and contributions,,M

3. An explanation of one of the scientist’s contributions to physics

Your poster needs to include at least 3 pictures:

1. A picture of the scientist

2. A picture illustrating one or more projects the scientist worked on

3. A picture illustrating the physics contribution described in your 3rd section of text

Your poster also needs to include the following:

1. Title containing the name of the scientist

2. Reference list including at least 3 different sources of information you used

3. Picture captions that identify what the pictures show (indicating how they are relevant to the information in the poster) and give the sources of the pictures

Your poster will be presented in the GRC Academic Showcase near the end of the quarter.

Tasks:

Weeks 1-2: Research and Notes

· Choose a lesser known scientist who made important contributions to the field of physics. Some examples are listed on the last page of these instructions. Try to choose someone that you feel like you can relate to in some way.

· Read about your chosen scientist from at least 3 different reputable sources.

· The information you will include in your poster should come from sources that are not Wikipedia, but you may start from Wikipedia to read a summary of the person’s life and contributions, as well as links to other sources. You need at least 3 reliable sources that are not Wikipedia.

· Take notes from your reading. Write down anything that you find particularly interesting about the person’s life and the work they did. These will help you write the biographical section for your poster. Include notes to yourself to help you find where you got that information from again later.

· Learn about the person’s major contributions to science. Make a list of short descriptive summaries of these contributions. These will become bullet points on your poster.

Weeks 2-3: Rough Drafts

· Choose one major contribution to explain more thoroughly in your poster. Write 2-4 paragraphs explaining this contribution. This may require you to find additional sources of information; make sure you note where all of your information comes from as you go.

· Your explanation should include information that answers the following questions:

· What did the person discover or invent?

· Why is this important? How did this help advance the field of physics?

· How did the person discover or invent this?

· Write your biographical summary as either 1-2 paragraphs or a list of key events. This section should answer these questions:

· When did this person live?

· Where did they live? What country were they from?

· What interesting events influenced them?

· Turn in what you have written on Canvas as a Word document or other text file, and also print a copy, double-spaced, that you will take to the writing center or an English instructor, along with other work, in a later step. What you are turning in should be drafts of the 3 sections of text for the poster.

Weeks 4-5: Revisions

· Revise and refine your text. Your goal now is to make your writing brief, interesting, and informative. Eliminate unnecessary words and phrases, and see if you can make the same ideas clear with fewer words. When you are done, your physics explanation should be only 1-2 paragraphs. Your biographical summary should be brief, easy to read, and interesting. In your list of other accomplishments, each item should be short and clear. Print your revised work, double spaced.

· Take the revised version, along with your original text, to the writing center or an English instructor to help you edit the revised work. Anyone who helps you edit your work is your editor. The reason for taking your original paragraphs is so that your editor can check for any important information that you might have left out of the new version or that is unclear in the new version.

· Ask your editor(s) to help you make sure your revised work is clear, concise, and informative.

· Ask an editor with good grammar, spelling, and punctuation skills to check your work for errors and help you correct them.

· Ask your editor(s) to sign the pages they checked, to let your instructor know that they checked your work.

Week 6: Layout and Design

· Find at least one picture that you can use in your poster that illustrates the major contribution that you explained. Make sure you cite the source of the picture.

· Find one or more pictures that illustrate other work the scientist did.

· Find a picture of the scientist that you can use in your poster. Make sure you cite the source of the picture.

· Create a draft of the poster in a PowerPoint slide or in a different program that allows you to create a printable poster layout with both text and pictures.

· Include a section on your poster that lists references/citations. Follow appropriate citation guidelines.

· Submit your proposed layout on Canvas in electronic format (.ppt, GSLIDES, or .pdf are preferred formats).

Week 7: Final Check and Revision

· Print your draft on a regular piece of paper to bring to class for peer feedback.

· Use feedback from other people to revise and polish your poster. Have someone check your final version for errors before printing.

· Get your poster printed either using one of the plotters on campus (uses print points) or at a print shop (costs money). It should be large enough to make all text and pictures clear to someone standing several feet away; at least 2’x3’.

Notable scientists

Here are some lesser known scientists who have made important contributions to the field of physics and closely related fields, along with some topics to which they contributed. You are not required to choose from this list, but if you choose someone who is not on this list, please check with your instructor.

Émilie du Châtelet – Newtonian Mechanics, Energy

Anna Mani – Solar Radiation, Ozone and Wind Energy Instrumentation

Grace Hopper – Computer Science, Programming Languages, Debugging

Emmy Noether – Abstract Algebra, Conservation Laws and Symmetries

Hedwig Kohn – Radiometry

Rosalind Franklin – Crystallography

Lise Meitner – Nuclear Physics

Jocelyn Bell Burnell – Astrophysics

Robbie Hood – Atmospheric Science, Unmanned Aircraft Systems

Chien-Shiung Wu – Manhattan Project, Parity Violation, Beta Decay

Ayanna Howard – Planetary Rovers, Artificial Intelligence, Computer Vision, Robotics

Katherine Coleman Goble Johnson – Math and Orbital Mechanics

Shirley Ann Jackson – Telecommunications

Valerie Thomas – Electronics, Image Processing

Mary Somerville – Celestial Mechanics, Unity of the Sciences

Satyendra Nath Bose – Quantum Physics

Michael Faraday – Electricity and Magnetism

Moshkagundam Visvesvaraya – Engineering: Water Supply and Drainage

Venkatraman Radhakrishnan – Astrophysics

Herman Branson – Biophysics: Protein Molecular Structures, Sickle Cells

James Clerk Maxwell – Electromagnetism, Thermodynamics, Photography, Nuclear Energy

Narinder Singh Kapany – Fiberoptics

Hassan Ibn Al-Haitham – Math, Optics

Nasir Al-Din al-Tusi – Planetary Orbits

Democritus – Atomic Theory

Ismail al-Jazari – Mechanical Engineering,

John Bardeen – Electrical Transistor, Superconductivity

Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman – Acoustics of Musical Instruments, Light Scattering

Leo Szilard – Nuclear Physics

Acharya J.C. Bose – Radio and Microwave Optics, Botany: Crescograph

Links to lists of other contributors to physics:

https://scientificwomen.net/field/physics-7

https://scientificwomen.net/field/astronomy-1

https://www.famousscientists.org/top-physicists/

https://www.famousscientists.org/top-astronomers/