EA30920 - EARTH, PLANTERARY AND SPACE SCIENCES PROJECT

Module Identifier	EA30920
Module Title	EARTH, PLANTERARY AND SPACE SCIENCES PROJECT
Academic Year	2002/2003
Co-ordinator	Professor Alex Maltman
Semester	Semester 2 (Taught over 2 semesters)
Other staff	Professor Geraint Vaughan, Dr Robert J Whittington
Pre-Requisite	Year 2 EPSS modules
Assessment	Semester Assessment	Dissertation: Semester 1, week 2: Otline of proposed experimental work to Physics Supervisor. About 1 page which is intended to allow supervisor and student to plan work properly. Semester 2, week 2 (optional): Draft of the application part of the dissertation to the IGES supervisor. Last Friday of Lent term (4:00pm): submission of dissertation.	75%
	Semester Assessment	Presentation: Oral Presentation After Easter: Oral presentation (15 minutes): exact date to be determind	10%
	Semester Assessment	Course Work: Laboratory Diary	15%

Learning outcomes

On completion of this module students will be able to:-

undertake independent research in Earth or Planetary Sciences involving both literature searches and experimental work

design and implement an experiment to investigate a scientific hypothesis

present the results of research both orally and in writing

demonstrate in depth knowledge of their chosen subject area

demonstrate critical thought

demonstrate the ability to conduct independent research

demonstrate the ability to synthesise conflicting/ complimentary arguements

present, where appropriate, data in numerate form

Brief description

This module consists of a study of a topic in Earth or Planetary Sciences and normally contains two lements:
- Laboratory work in Physics. The student will be expected to review a body of theory and extract a hypothesis to test, normally in the form of a mathematical relationship. He/she will then design, build and operate a laboratory experiment to test the hypothesis.
- Dissertation. This should contain a report on:
(i) the theory and experimental work in Physics.
(ii) the application of these ideas to the terrestrial or planetary environment.
Equal weighting will be given to the two elements of the dissertation. The dissertation should not contain more than 5000 words (including references) and should contain appropriate graphs and diagrams for the laboratory part.

The main form of assessment will be via the dissertation, but marks will also be given for the Laboratory Diary and an Oral Presentation of the results (see below).

Transferable skills

Learning activities will vary from project to project