Picking Topic for short talk/paper

Schedule for short topic: picking, talk and paper

• The short topic is due at the end of the 2nd day of class.
• The sentence outline (SO) with take-home message (THM) is due Friday.
• The draft is due early next Friday and goes out for class referees late Friday
• The next Monday (start of 3rd week) the referee reports are due.
• The short talks start on Wednesday and continue for 7 days
• The final short paper is due next Monday (4th week).

Picking the Topic of Short Talk/Paper

What makes a topic work best?

1. Tells how something work -- not that it should.
2. Illustrate a take-home-message: for example, a concept of science

Technical elements of short topic.

• Short. Remember the paper is short (4-6 paragraphs); So is the talk (7 minutes). Thus the take-home message (adjusted for the differing audiences) must be short and memorable.
• Limited science. If you discover you have to explain three different ideas before you reach your message you won't make it. Unworkable example: Shaun White's Double McTwist 1260. For ordinary skateboard, you could "demonstrate" an ollie. Sample youtubes: elemental . There is a whole set: Basics: pop and jump, Go higher and Go further .
• Take-home message For the ollie, the essential physics must be clear. For the non-technical audience: this much include foot placement and action. For technical audience, connection of these can be combined with with initial motion, inertia, angular momentum and even a demo by your kid sister.

Getting Topic Accepted

1. You must write the topic down, preferably with the take-home message. For me, a hard copy works best. But you can email Tom Barrett and my secretary Trisch Longbrake. (My email should be in plain text or html). Tom and I give an initial response usually requiring revision. I don't read my email frequently.
2. For actual approval, you must get a printed topic accepted by Tom or me in person.
3. We will add your topic to the list of accepted topics ("Short paper history") so no one else will use the same one.

Ideas

The suggestions in FYI in new in spring break are only that.

You are the source of the specific topic. For example, you may have had a job or worked with a research group. Some element in that work may provide a short topic.