PROJECT ROUND

INFORMATION

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 General Instructions

There are 15 questions for the project round. Choose ONE only to complete. Do note that the
requirements for completion are slightly different for each question. The Project Round
Infosheet this year is very short. Hence, you are encouraged to read the paper very carefully.
On day 1 of AstroChallenge 2023, you are expected to explain and present in person what you
have done. It is mandatory that different teams from the same school must pick different
Questions to do.

The Exhibition
The time limit for each presentation is set to 5 minutes. All team members must participate in
the presentation as well as the making of the project presentation. Thereafter, Judges may ask
questions for up to 3 minutes.
The AC Central Committee will attempt to set up a form for participants to vote on their
favourite project exhibition. This voting will only form the basis for the title of the “Most
Popular Project Award”. The winner of this Most Popular Project Award will only be
announced during Day 2.

Pre-Submissions
Please submit an electronic copy of your poster and other required deliverables (as determined
by the question) by 1200 (Noon) UTC +8, 14th May 2023 to [email protected]. If
your poster is handwritten, please submit a photograph of it. If your poster is done in pieces,
you are required to submit all of the pieces. I.e. If your poster consists of 4 A4 sized papers,
you are required to submit the photos of all 4 pieces of A4 paper. Please make sure that the
words on the electronic copy is legible to us.
Late submissions, including submissions for missing parts in the earlier email, will be penalized
20% per day (or part thereof). If you are submitting via a cloud link, your posters and all
required deliverables must remain visible to the AC Central Committee up to and until the end
of the finals round of AstroChallenge 2023.
While the AC Central Committee will not be grading your poster submitted via email, ensure
that the poster submitted via email and the poster you use for the presentation is the same.
You are reminded that the failure to comply with the above instructions regarding pre-
submissions may result in heavy penalties up to and including zero-rating of your project round
segment.
For the avoidance of doubt, props and other supplementary materials for your presentation other
than those stated in the question need not be submitted.
All non-original research or work must be quoted and cited. You are required to submit a list
of your citations in a separate document by the same deadline as the poster. Failing which
may result in zero-rating your project round and/or other disciplinary actions.

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Other Instructions
You are reminded that the failure to follow any instructions given in this document, written in
subsequent emails sent to you and/or verbally on the day of the presentation, can warrant you a
discretionary 10% overall penalty per instance or any other penalty prescribed above.
You are reminded that the content of your poster, other materials and presentation must be
appropriate.
Please email [email protected] for further enquiries regarding any part of this round.
If you are unsure of how to proceed with a question, you may email us as well. Generally, the
AC Central Committee will help you along and no penalties will be given for emailing.

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 The Questions
For each of the questions below, you are to produce presentation materials or posters
(Maximum combined size A1) explaining one of the following questions to members of the
public, including students from secondary schools, polytechnics and junior colleges.
Presentations should thus be in an appropriate tone and mode of presentation
1. Introduce an existing or past space station. Explain what it has achieved, or it is planned
to achieve in its life time.1
2. Explain what are pulsars. What scientific significance do they have?
3. How do we know the size of the Universe?
4. How did the solar system come about?
5. What are the different types of galaxies out there? How are they different in the early
universe?
6. What are some of the most interesting exoplanets found? Why are they interesting?
7. Explain the sources of the different colors observed in photographs of nebulae.
8. In preparation for our (hopefully permanent) return to the Moon, your space agency has
tasked you to propose landing sites for future scientific missions far and beyond. What
are your key priorities in selecting a site? Hence, explain the key benefits of your
proposed site(s) to the public.2
9. Introduce and explain to the public an existing Hubble Space Telescope image. Explain
its scientific significance. Include a link to the photo you have chosen.3
10. What is planetary protection? Discuss its significance and some of the protocols
involved.
11. Explain what the Fermi Paradox is.
12. What are some of the surface features of the Moon? How are they formed? Can they be
captured using your phone camera?4
13. Introduce your school’s astronomy club or equivalent to students of other schools.5
14. How can we tell our geographical position by using just the Sun or the stars? If possible,
demonstrate using field data collected and determine the coordinates of a position of
your choice.6
15. Give a night sky tour. What are some of the constellations visible in Singapore? Can
they be taken by a typical camera?7

If your question has a superscripted number at the end, refer to the footnote on the next page.

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 Footnotes for Questions
1: You are encouraged to explore beyond the International Space Station. However, you are
not precluded from introducing the International Space Station.
2: Do not reuse prior or planned landing sites on the moon for past, existing or upcoming
missions.
3: Your photo can be from anywhere on the internet as long as it is taken by the HST. If you
are lost, you may want to try: https://esahubble.org/images/ .
4: You are required to take a few Moon photos to reference your answer to. You are required
to submit these photos as well.
5: You are required to produce campaign materials in addition to a poster and submit them as
well.
6: Submit a google maps pin to the location chosen along with any field data collected.
7: Include with your submission, photos of the night sky that you have tried to take in
Singapore along with the date, time and location of the shot as well as the specifications of
your camera.

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 Guiding Rubrics:
Note that the AC Central Committee reserves the right to change any of the weightages or
otherwise with or without prior notice should the AC Central Committee deem it prudent to do
so at any time.

Criterion Weightage Approaching Meeting Exceeding

Expectations Expectations Expectations
0-3 4-7 8 - 10

Accuracy and 40% Content of the Content of the

Content of the
Depth of presentation is presentation is
presentation is
content inaccurate with somewhat largely accurate
grave conceptual accurate with few
with negligible
(Includes
error; content fails factual errors;
factual error;
Q&A)
to go beyond the Analysis of topic
Analysis of
superficial or is is limited or
content boasts
plagiarized from paraphrased from
originality with an
source materials. source materials,
excellent
Narrow scope with a fair variety
presentation
with limited of concepts and
portraying a large
variety of ideas. variety of
concepts and concepts and
Unable to answer
ideas. quite a number of ideas.
Unable to answer questions All requirements
most, if not all, satisfactorily. of the question
questions are, in addition,
satisfactorily. met.
Able to answer
most questions
satisfactorily.

Communication 15% Viewers of the Participants speak Participants speak

presentation are clearly and clearly and
unfortunately intelligibly most fluently
unable to of the time; throughout at a
comprehend or the engages viewers suitable pace;
presentation was to a certain deeply engages
degree. viewers.
substantially a re-
reading of the
poster

Poster Clarity 15% Viewers of the The poster is The poster is

poster are unable generally clear to extremely clear to
to understand viewers of the viewers of the
what the intent or poster. However, poster.
the topic is about. parts of the poster
are confusing.

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 Creativity and 20% Method of Method of Method of
Originality presentation is presentation is presentation is
overused or cliché refreshing but novel and
or the presentation uninspiring or the innovative and all
did not make presentation did relevant materials
reference to any not make along with the
poster and/or other reference to all poster were
materials or the relevant materials included in the
presentation was and/or the poster. presentation.
substantially a re-
reading of the
poster.

Teamwork 10% The judges Only some All members are

wonder where all members are actively and fairly
the other members actively involved involved in the
of the team had in the making of project and the
gone... the project or there presentation.
is disproportion in
work allocation
amongst
members.

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 Guidelines for good posters and presentations
The following are merely guidelines and hence optional for you to follow. However, here are a
few tips which the AC Central Committee has summarized from our experience with posters.
How to start
1. Begin with the end in mind. Design your presentation with the aim of telling your
audience something.
2. Choose a few questions you find interesting and research widely to get an idea of the
content needed for each of the questions. Ask yourself if you both understand and feel
confident explaining these content.
3. Try to define hard words at the start or when they are introduced. This will make it much
easier to follow. This would include astronomy terms which may be common to you.
4. Ensure fair use of copyrighted resources. To put simply, avoid lifting substantial chunks
wholesale from whatever materials you find online even if it’s Copylefted or has a
Creative Commons License.
5. You may want to do a presentation among your friends to gauge their understanding
and/or interest. This will also help you eliminate blind spots in your presentation.
6. Note well that you are expected to provide credits for all resources used, including for
your own team members. As stated above in the requirements, this will need to be part
of a separate document.
7. If you are completely lost, you can read the rubrics to get an idea of what we are looking
for.

Project Poster
1. Write the question number and question itself on the poster itself.
2. Ensure that the words are readable at a distance of 1,5m away. Additionally, ensure that
the colors you pick for the words and/or the background should aid in the readability of
your poster.
3. Use easy to understand vocabulary.
4. A picture speaks a thousand words. Pictures or graphics are always preferrable to long
walls of text.
5. Do not squeeze everything into your poster. The poster is not the only avenue to explain
concepts. You may present using props or verbally as well.
6. Do not rush out your poster. Hastily submitted posters generally are of very low quality.
7. Ensure that your poster can hold the attention of your audience. You may want to be
concise and reduce the use of statistics.

The Presentation
1. Dress appropriately for the presentation.
2. Rehearse a few times to ensure smooth delivery.
3. You should make good use of your props, data and the poster during your presentation.
4. You are encouraged to look deeper and do much more research than what appears in
your presentation. This will prepare you for the questions you may be asked.
5. You should be familiar with your material before presentation.

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