The Task
For this project of junior year, my group, James, Kian, Emma, and I, was assigned the task of creating a model of a component of cosmic chemistry and presenting it in a unique and creative way. This project was the very first project of a year, so it was important that the group and I did well. We decided to study the life cycle of stars and present it by using an escape room in order to represent their lives. This was the process.
Initial Work
My group did some initial research. One thing we studied was Schrödinger's wave equation. Schrödinger's wave equation, in essence, explains orbitals. The equation helps deepen Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle, the idea that it is impossible to know an electron's velocity and position. The equation determines that electrons are likely to appear in certain regions; these regions are orbitals.
The Process
We started off the project with a simple slideshow presentation (before that, we had an announcement about Lucky Stiff, the musical that was happening at that time). Then, we started explaining the life cycle of the star. A star is formed from a nebula, then becomes either a sun-like star or a massive star; the difference is volume and mass. We explained how a star functioned and what happened at the end of its life. Then, we transitioned into a video that was supposed to explain stars. However, the video would "glitch" and transition into static.
Morse code sounds would begin to play and text would pop up explaining what was going on. It was an escape room and the doors were "locked". 6 clues were given to the audience and each one would give a piece of a puzzle that was needed to escape. The puzzle was "NEBULA" and each clue would give a letter. There was a timer set for 10 minutes and if the timer hit 0, then the audience would "lose". The clues consisted of everything from QR codes to math problems to Caesar ciphers.
Below is a document that shows our planning and the slideshow that was used in the actual presentation.
Morse code sounds would begin to play and text would pop up explaining what was going on. It was an escape room and the doors were "locked". 6 clues were given to the audience and each one would give a piece of a puzzle that was needed to escape. The puzzle was "NEBULA" and each clue would give a letter. There was a timer set for 10 minutes and if the timer hit 0, then the audience would "lose". The clues consisted of everything from QR codes to math problems to Caesar ciphers.
Below is a document that shows our planning and the slideshow that was used in the actual presentation.
The Research
The Presentation
Important Concepts
Atom - An atom is the smallest building block of matter. An atom generally consists of protons, particles with a positive charge, and neutrons, particles with a neutral charge, in the nucleus, an object that consists of most of the mass of an atom, and electrons, particles with a negative charge, orbiting around the nucleus in an orbital, a region where electrons can possibly be.
Nuclear Fusion - Nuclear fusion occurs when two atoms strike each other and join, creating a nucleus that contains more protons and neutrons than either of the previous nuclei involved in the reaction.
Nuclear Fission - Nuclear fission occurs when two atoms strike each other and explode, creating smaller, lighter atoms with less protons and neutrons inside of the nuclei than the nuclei involved in the reaction.
Star - A star is an astronomical object that consists of plasma held together by gravity. Stars are extremely hot and output a tremendous amount of heat, light, and energy due to nuclear fusion occurring within it. There are about 100 billion trillion stars in the observable universe.
Sun-Like Star - A sun-like star is a star that has a similar mass and volume to the sun of the solar system.
Massive Star - Massive stars are stars with a larger mass and/or volume than sun-like stars. These stars tend to be hotter and heavier than smaller ones.
Red Giant - A red giant is the stage of a star that occurs when the star runs out of hydrogen and begins fusing larger elements. Red giants are large, heavy, and have a deep red hue. "Red supergiant" is the term for the red giants that occur in massive star.
Nebula - A nebula is a cloud of dust, hydrogen, helium, and other components that float in space. Nebulae eventually collapse and come together in order to form stars. When stars explode, the elements that are emitted come together to form nebulae, which come together to form more stars. This is the life cycle.
Planetary Nebula - A planetary nebula is a nebula that occurs at the end of the life of a sun-like star. It is an expanding shell of gas that occurs when the star is aging. In essence, a planetary nebula is similar to a supernova, but is less violent.
White Dwarf - A white dwarf is the star that's left after a planetary nebula. It is a very dense core of heavy elements left behind by the exploding star.
Supernova - A supernova is one of the possible fates of a massive star at the end of its life. When the forces of pressure overcome the forces of gravity, the star explodes and violently shoots out its components and elements into the vacuum of space.
Black Hole - If the forces of gravity are too strong for pressure to beat, then the massive star collapses into a black hole. A black hole is a dense volume whose gravitational forces are so strong that not even light can escape it. Black holes consume matter around it and are powerful forces overall.
Neutron Star - If a black hole does not occur, the rest of the massive star becomes a neutron star. Like a white dwarf, a neutron star is a very dense core left behind after a supernova. However, a neutron star occurs when the star's mass is large, but not large enough in order to collapse into a black hole.
Nuclear Fusion - Nuclear fusion occurs when two atoms strike each other and join, creating a nucleus that contains more protons and neutrons than either of the previous nuclei involved in the reaction.
Nuclear Fission - Nuclear fission occurs when two atoms strike each other and explode, creating smaller, lighter atoms with less protons and neutrons inside of the nuclei than the nuclei involved in the reaction.
Star - A star is an astronomical object that consists of plasma held together by gravity. Stars are extremely hot and output a tremendous amount of heat, light, and energy due to nuclear fusion occurring within it. There are about 100 billion trillion stars in the observable universe.
Sun-Like Star - A sun-like star is a star that has a similar mass and volume to the sun of the solar system.
Massive Star - Massive stars are stars with a larger mass and/or volume than sun-like stars. These stars tend to be hotter and heavier than smaller ones.
Red Giant - A red giant is the stage of a star that occurs when the star runs out of hydrogen and begins fusing larger elements. Red giants are large, heavy, and have a deep red hue. "Red supergiant" is the term for the red giants that occur in massive star.
Nebula - A nebula is a cloud of dust, hydrogen, helium, and other components that float in space. Nebulae eventually collapse and come together in order to form stars. When stars explode, the elements that are emitted come together to form nebulae, which come together to form more stars. This is the life cycle.
Planetary Nebula - A planetary nebula is a nebula that occurs at the end of the life of a sun-like star. It is an expanding shell of gas that occurs when the star is aging. In essence, a planetary nebula is similar to a supernova, but is less violent.
White Dwarf - A white dwarf is the star that's left after a planetary nebula. It is a very dense core of heavy elements left behind by the exploding star.
Supernova - A supernova is one of the possible fates of a massive star at the end of its life. When the forces of pressure overcome the forces of gravity, the star explodes and violently shoots out its components and elements into the vacuum of space.
Black Hole - If the forces of gravity are too strong for pressure to beat, then the massive star collapses into a black hole. A black hole is a dense volume whose gravitational forces are so strong that not even light can escape it. Black holes consume matter around it and are powerful forces overall.
Neutron Star - If a black hole does not occur, the rest of the massive star becomes a neutron star. Like a white dwarf, a neutron star is a very dense core left behind after a supernova. However, a neutron star occurs when the star's mass is large, but not large enough in order to collapse into a black hole.
Reflection
Overall, for the first project of junior year, I believe that I did an excellent job on it. I had multiple strengths present over the duration of this project. One strength was my work ethic. For this project, I spent a lot of time working on the video used in our presentation and the clues for the escape room. Both of these parts were essential for the overall project to function, and I think that both turned out very well. I am proud of the work I did for these two components of the project. Another strength I had was answering questions during a questions phase. One person asked how our presentation was a "model" of star behavior. The way I answered was that each clue gave a portion of the puzzle, just like how nebulae consist of many different components and need many things in order to become a star. This answer was important because the project being a model was essential for it to be a "good" project under the grading scale.
Despite these strengths, I had some weaknesses. One notable weakness was my misunderstanding of what the project was early on. My group spent a little too much time on the planning because not everyone understood what the project was, and this hurt our overall efficiency. If the whole group didn't understand the project, then working on it would have been messy and give us less time to actually do the project. Another weakness was my contribution to research. Due to scheduling problems, I wasn't able to contribute as much as I wanted to to the initial research of the star cycle. My group was able to research just fine, but I still wanted to be part of the process.
There was a balance of strengths and weaknesses in my performance in this first project. Overall, I think I performed very well for the first project and I feel proud of the group that worked on it. I'm excited for the next chemistry project and the future.
Despite these strengths, I had some weaknesses. One notable weakness was my misunderstanding of what the project was early on. My group spent a little too much time on the planning because not everyone understood what the project was, and this hurt our overall efficiency. If the whole group didn't understand the project, then working on it would have been messy and give us less time to actually do the project. Another weakness was my contribution to research. Due to scheduling problems, I wasn't able to contribute as much as I wanted to to the initial research of the star cycle. My group was able to research just fine, but I still wanted to be part of the process.
There was a balance of strengths and weaknesses in my performance in this first project. Overall, I think I performed very well for the first project and I feel proud of the group that worked on it. I'm excited for the next chemistry project and the future.