Science Communication Project
NATS1740M – Astronomy W22
Due Date: February 14, 2022 by 11:59pm
**Please read ALL of the information below carefully before beginning your assignment.**
LEARNING OUTCOMES: • To improve scientific literacy by applying techniques for digesting scientific research • To improve critical thinking by formulating an informed opinion about the value of astronomical research
Introduction
You are an astronomer and have recently made a discovery that was published in various popular science journals. You would like to conduct more research pertaining to your discovery and must therefore communicate the significance of your discovery, and the value of continuing your research, to a government-sponsored funding organization for scientific research (such as NSERC, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada). Since your audience is not likely to be a specialist in your specific area of research, your writing must be in layperson’s terms. For this assignment you will choose a news article on a recent discovery in astronomy. You will put yourself in the role of a member of the research team, write a summary of your research, and a proposal for additional research funding to a layperson audience.
INSTRUCTIONS scientific PRELIMINARY RESEARCH AND WORK
Choose your article: Choose a news article on a recent discovery in astronomy. The article must meet the following criteria: a. the article must have been published between April 1, 2021 and the due date of the project
b. the article must be reporting scientific results about a new discovery (ie, ‘JWST has been launched’ is not a scientific discovery)
c. the scientific results being reported must either have been done USING one of Canada’s professional telescopes OR the research was performed by a person who is working at a Canadian University.
d. the topic of the research must be beyond Earth (ie, satellite images of Earth are not acceptable)
Some Professional Canadian Telescopes:
• Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope: https://www.cfht.hawaii.edu/en/news/
• Gemini Observatory: https://www.gemini.edu/news/all? type=pr&date_filtervalueyear=
• ALMA Observatory: https://www.almaobservatory.org/en/category/press-releases/
• Dragonfly Observatory: https://www.dunlap.utoronto.ca/instrumentation/dragonfly/
Some International Telescopes that Canadians use:
• Keck Observatory: https://www.keckobservatory.org/news/science-news/
• Hubble Space Telescope: https://hubblesite.org/news/news-releases
• Very Large Telescope: https://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/
Other places to search:
• Astronomy Magazine (Astronomy News): www.astronomy.com/news
• Space.com News: www.space.com/news
• Universe Today: www.universetoday.com (be sure to read the full article, not just the introduction shown on the title page)
• Scientific American (space section): www.scientificamerican.com/space
• BBC (Science and Environment): www.bbc.co.uk/news/science_and_environment (type ‘Astronomy’ in the Search box to find Astronomy-related articles
• New York Times (Science – Space and Astronomy): www.nytimes.com/pages/science/ space
• Nature: www.nature.com/subjects/astronomy-and-planetary-science (Note: Nature is written for an audience with at least a 1st-year undergraduate level of scientific fluency, but if you have a strong interest in science, I encourage you to challenge yourself!)
NOTE: • Some articles are only a few paragraphs – be sure that your chosen article has enough content to sufficiently complete the requirements in the steps below. Or be prepared to do research outside your chosen article to determine the required information
• The article must be a text article (not a video clip or podcast, though you can use those for background research)
3. Read your article and do background research. While reading your article, take this time to ensure you understand the article and the concepts therein. To achieve a deeper understanding:
a. identify all scientific terms and concepts that you are either unfamiliar with or that need clarifying for a layperson audience. Look up their definitions and explanations and create a glossary for yourself, make note of any sources you use
b. background research on the object (eg, moon, planet, dwarf planet, galaxy, star, etc), that the article is talking about
c. make note of the telescope and instruments used to collect the information
d. ensure you understand the science that was performed, and the implications of the results, do background research on the science (using textbooks or legitimate internet sites)
WRITING YOUR SCIENCE COMMUNICATION PROJECT
5. Use the template provided. Download TEMPLATE – NATS1740 – SciComm Project.docx onto your computer and replace ‘TEMPLATE’ with your name in the filename. You must submit your project using this template. Fill out the template with your original work by doing the following for each section: ( I WILL ADD)
A. Academic Honesty Statement: Ensure you have completed the SPARK Academic Integrity Tutorial and the York University Academic Integrity Quiz, read the Academic Honesty Statement in the template, and sign the statement by typing your name in the space provided. Your assignment will not be marked unless this statement is signed. ( I’LL DO THIS)
B. Scientific Glossary (max 100 words each): Choose 5 items from the glossary you created in step 3 and include a full definition and explanation of these terms or concepts in the Scientific Glossary section of your TEMPLATE. Imagine you are explaining the term/concept to a friend/family member who knows nothing about it. The terms you choose must have relevance to the research presented in the article you chose in section Step 2. NOTE, these terms don’t have to come from your chosen article, they can come from any of the background research and preparation you did.
This must be done in your own words (NO QUOTES)
Citations are required for any facts or ideas that are not your own. Note this means an in-text citation AND a full citation in the Works Cited section is required. Your in-text citation can only be a number in brackets that corresponds to a full citation in the Works Cited section. See TEMPLATE for an example of a proper citation.
C. Summary of Research (500-550 words):
Describe, in layperson terms the research and results that were reported on in the article you chose. Be sure to include:
Who: The name of the research team and/or institution, which conducted the research
When: A general description of the period of time during which the research was conducted, which culminated with the article you’re summarizing.
Where: A general description of the telescope/observatory/dataset used to conduct the research What: A description of the object or type(s) of objets being studied, the discoveries that were made about the object(s), and the significance of the discoveries. Be sure to include all important scientific results.
How: A general explanation of the method used to make the discovery. Your chosen Glossary Terms: the terms you explained above in Section B should be used *in context* in Section C.
This must be done in your own words (NO QUOTES)
Citations are required for any facts or ideas that are not your own. Note this means an in-text citation AND a full citation in the Works Cited section is required. Your in-text citation can only be a number in brackets that corresponds to a full citation in the Works Cited section. See TEMPLATE for an example of a proper citation.
D. Funding Justification (200-250 words): Provide, in layperson terms, a convincing, thoughtful, and detailed argument for why this research deserves more government funding. Here are some guiding thoughts to keep in mind when formulating your argument:
i. Remember that the scientific research in Canada is mostly funding by taxpayers. Your justification must therefore explain why you feel that this research is relevant to society (not just the astronomical community). Image you’re going door-to-door and asking taxpayers to fund the research, they may ask “How can I, my family, or my descendants benefit from this research?” or “Why do we need to fund space research at all?”
ii. Be sure to address the specific research in your article, as opposed to a branch of astronomy in general.
iii. Avoid vague, repetitive and irrelevant statements. Statements such as “This research contributes to the important pursuit of astronomical knowledge” will not be awarded any marks.
This must be done in your own words (NO QUOTES)
Citations are required for any facts or ideas that are not your own. Note this means an in-text citation AND a full citation in the Works Cited section is required. Your in-text citation can only be a number in brackets that corresponds to a full citation in the Works Cited section. See TEMPLATE for an example of a proper citation.
E. Next Generation Telescopes (150-200 words).
There are many proposed telescopes that are planned to be built, or are already built but are not yet operational. These telescopes promise to make our ability to study the universe better. In this section, provide a commentary on how a proposed telescope may impact the field of astronomy you summarized in section C, with specific mention of your topic. Be sure to state the telescope you are referencing, and how it will contribute to research related to your section C. Examples of telescopes currently in construction or commissioning: Thirty Metre Telescope, Giant Magellan Telescope, Extremely Large Telescope, JWST, CASTOR, Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, Vera Robin Observatory.
To properly complete this section, you will have to look up the type of research these proposed observatories are going to do, and CONNECT it back to your section C.
This must be done in your own words (NO QUOTES).
A FEW TIPS: • When constructing your glossary, you can typically find explanations of astronomical objects and scientific terms on the NASA web site (www.nasa.gov). If you need further assistance with understanding scientific terms, feel free to bring them to office hours.
• Wikipedia is NOT an acceptable source for your background research • If you have chosen an article in which the research is not presented in detail, you may find it difficult to meet the minimum word count. In this case, you’ll need to look up more information from external sources. Details about space missions can usually be found on the NASA web site (www.nasa.gov) or the web pages published by the institution involved in the research