Module 7: Design Project subject Module 5:
Nuclear Energy Research paper
Start Assignment
- Due
- Points 100
- Submitting a text entry box, a website url, or a file upload
Assignment Instructions:
- Select a topic within “energy” that interests you.
- Create a design project in a format of your choice, related to at least one of the course learning objectives:
a) Use the real scientific method to solve puzzles through order-of-magnitude estimates.
b) Use concepts from everyday life and science to qualitatively describe, and quantitatively estimate, essential
features of the physical world.
c) Define characteristics that are essential to the transport and conversion of energy.
d) Critically compare and contrast modes of energy generation and usage. - Upload your assignment as an attachment if the format is supported by Canvas or submit a URL to an external site for formats (e.g. website, movies, etc.) not supported by Canvas.
Project Ideas
To help assist with ideas for this project here are a list of projects students have submitted in the past:
- Visual arts
- Paintings, illustrations, videos, ceramics, kinetic sculptures, dioramas, embroideries
- Crafts (blankets, bejeweled quilts), ceramics
- Astrophotography
- Writing pieces
- Short stories, graphic novels (aka comic books), diaries, book reports, research papers
- Performing arts
- Songs, poems, instrumentals, selfie videos, audio reports, comedy sketches, mini-movies with actors, interpretive dances, performance art (live!), person-on-the-street polls
- Food
- Radio tacos, moon cheese, cookie reactors
- Web design
- Web sites, computer codes in a variety of languages (time of sunrise and sunset)
- Design and architecture
- Fashion design (boots, shirts, dresses, socks, hats)
- Furnishing design (chairs, tables, beds)
- Interior-design themes (sun room, moon room, pluto room, science sanctum sanctorum room, alien room)
- Scale models, architectural thematics, industrial-design logos
- Engineering
- Robotics, Software, Hardware, Prototypes
There are many others that i’m not remembering right now but you get the idea. People find inspiration from this course in a myriad of ways. All are perfectly fine design projects – you do not need my explicit approval. Think of it like a research project that you have full creative ability over. This is your opportunity to express what you have learned in this course in your own creative way that is related to at least one of the course learning objectives.
Course Topics
Activities used for instruction and assessment of learning include video modules, video transcript readings, hallway discussions, and assignments. Click the “Course Schedule” link in the menu on the left to see the assignment point values and due dates.
Module 1:
Mechanical Energy
Module 2:
Chemical Energy
Module 3:
Chemical Energy
Thermodynamics
Module 4:
Thermodynamics
Nuclear Energy
Module 5:
Nuclear Energy
Module 6:
Electrical Energy
Module 7:
Alternative Energy Sources
Order Of Magnitude Estimates
Most technical education courses emphasize exact answers. For example, if you are a chemist, you might solve for the energy levels of the hydrogen atom to six decimal places. If you are an economist, you might measure inflation rates to two or three decimal places. In this course, you learn complementary skills. You learn that an approximate answer is not merely good enough; it is often more useful than an exact answer. When approaching an unfamiliar problem you first want to grasp the main ideas, because these ideas structure your understanding of the problem. Refining this understanding is easier than creating a highly refined analysis as the first step.
The term “order of magnitude estimate”, reflects this course’s emphasis on approximation. An order of magnitude is a factor of 10. To be “within an order of magnitude” is to estimate a quantity to within a factor of 10. This course introduces how to make such approximations.
For more than a decade, Fortune 500 companies have asked such open-ended questions as part of their interview process. For example, “How many gallons of water are in the ocean?”. There is, of course, no exact answer. The point of asking such interview questions is to see how you begin to solve such questions in a live environment. They want to see your initial steps, how you decompose such open-ended questions into manageable chunks, and finally end up with a reasonable order-of-magnitude estimate. This is the skill set that this course introduces. We are not interested in providing you with N numbers that you then stick into a given formula to grind out an answer to six significant figures. Instead, we are interested in developing the critical thinking processes so that you can estimate those N numbers, relevant formulas, and approximate answers yourself. Thus, this course offers the opportunity to develop practical, critical thinking, job skills.
Course Objectives
Learners in the online multidisciplinary survey course SES 141, Energy in Everyday Life, focus on he energy used in the mechanical, chemical, thermodynamic, and electrical systems that impact our daily lives. SES 141 offers learners the opportunity to master practical job skills – the ability to observe, gather data, and think critically to make accurate order-of-magnitude estimates.
Expected Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course students will be able to:
- Use experiences from everyday life and concepts in science to qualitatively describe, and quantitatively estimate, essential features of the physical world.
- Define characteristics that are essential to the transport and conversion of energy.
- Critically compare and contrast modes of energy generation and usage.
Scientific Thinking in Natural Sciences
This course fulfills the ASU Scientific Thinking in Natural Sciences General Studies requirement. Students completing a Scientific Thinking in Natural Sciences course will be able to:
1. Obtain and interpret qualitative or quantitative data and communicate the findings.
2. Employ evidence to construct and test scientific hypotheses.
3. Assess the validity of scientific claims using evidence from biological or physical science.
4. Create models to explain observable phenomena and understand biological or physical processes in the natural world.
5. Communicate coherent arguments using evidence drawn from qualitative or quantitative sources.
Textbooks
SES 141: Energy in Everyday Life
Course and Faculty Information
Description: Energy permeates our everyday life and is at the heart of understanding how the physical world around us works. What is energy? How is energy used in the biological, chemical, electrical, and mechanical systems that impact our daily lives? What would our world be like if there was a nearly infinite supply of inexpensive energy? Energy in Everyday Life is an online multi-disciplinary survey course that offers learners the opportunity to master practical job skills – the ability to observe, gather data, and think critically to make accurate order-of-magnitude estimates.
Credits: 4
