DETACHING THE PROJECTS...

In this post i'm going to detach your projects in various items that I want you to include in your group exercise.
These items are just guidelines, you should include all of them, but, of course, if you think that it is right to include some other issue or give some information about anything that I have not mentioned and is related to your project, feel free to modify my basic guidelines.
I want to remark once more that if you have any doubts or questions you want to pose me you shouldn't hesitate to write me an email.

1.- THE UNIVERSE.
 - Concept and definition of the Universe.(Definition of the universe. Origin of the universe: phases, apparition of the different elements like galaxies, clusters, nebulae, stars and stellar systems...)
 - Organization of the Universe. (Brief description of de different hierarchical levels found in the Universe and it's different elements. Superclusters, local group, galaxies, nebulae, stars, planets, satelites, steroids, comets, black holes, wormholes... you should also include some references about what is and what means dark energy and dark matter).
 - How do chemical elements appear? (Definition of thermonuclear reactions and how that relates with the genesis of elements.
 - Thermonuclear reactions in the stars. (Short description of the most frequent reactions that take place into the stars, stages in a star's lifetime and its possible evolution, Importance of TN reactions and gravity in this process).
 - opcional  (Exoplanetas: life outside the Earth. Are we alone in the universe?.... .... ....

2.- THE STUDY OF TE UNIVERSE.
 - History of the universe's study. (From the early ages: egyptians, greeks, etc. to the modern times, mentioning and explaining briefly the most important landmarks).
 - Different ways of approaching the study of the universe. (Mainly indirect and direct approaches. Importance and some discoverys of each method).
 - Indirect study. (Radiation: different kinds of radiation (wavelenght)  frequently used and tecniques..., theoretical physics, quantum physics, maths...)
 - Direct study. (Telescopes: terrestrial and spatial ones) (Spatial missions: space probes, spacecrafts, tripulated missions, International Space Station. Most important missions in history. etc...
 - Important astronomers of all times. (and their discoveries, of course).

3.- THE SUN AND THE SOLAR SYSTEM.
 - Where is the Solar System in the Universe?
 - The origin of the Solar System. (Which characteristics of the Solar System should a theory about its origin explain?  Different theories.  Steps in Solar System's evolution). (It may be usefull to compare the Solar System with Jupiter and it's satellites).
 - El Sol: (Composition, layers, dynamic...)
 - THE DIFFERENT OBJECTS THAT ORBIT THE SUN.
          - Planets: different categories, main characteristics of each group, main characteristics of each planet (brief description). Organization of the planets (distance of each one to the Sun, mass progression in the first four planets) Satellites (definition, and name the most important ones).
          - Smaller objects in the Solar System: (definition, main characteristics of: Asteroids, comets and dwarf planets).

4.- COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE OF PLANET EARTH.
 - Diferences between geodynamic and geochemical layer clasification: (explain that there are two different ways to divide the planet in layers. Explain that both clasifications are valid and what do each one attend to. We will use the geochemical one, that focuses on composition and properties of each layer.)
 - Layers: properties and composition of each layer.  (crust: oceanic and continental, mantle: upper and lower and nucleus: inner and outer.) (Composition and properties of each layer)
 - Different ways to study the interior of the Earth. (Direct methods: probing;  Indirect methods: seismic, gravimetric, densiometric, magnetic, laboratory and meteorite study. Include also the main information that we obtain with each method)

5.- PLATE TECTONICS:
 - Historic approach: static theories (plutonism, neptunism, geosynclinal...) and horizontal dynamics theories (Wegener's Continental Drift Theory) (In this part don't explain each theory with many details, just a light description of each theory and the arguments they used to defend it).
 - Four theories in wich Plate tectonics are based.
       · Theory of litospheric plates and different kinds of plate border.
       · Theory of Seafloor Spreading and evidences.
       · Continental Drift (modern theory) and evidences.
       · Convection currents in the mantle (and evidences of them) (seismic tomography)
 - Explanation of different geological manifestations throught plate tectonics. (earthquakes, volcanoes, mountain building).

6.- THE ORIGIN OF LIFE:
 - Introduction: different theories and experiments that invalidated espontaneous generation theories.
 - Current theories about the origin of life: (main experiments about  prebiotic evolution (up to LUCA) (Stanley and Miller, Oparin and Haldane, Fox, Juan de Oró, etc. Use this experiments to explain all that we know about prebiotic evolution).
 - Cellular evolution: different types of nutrition and cells throught the history of life. Endosymbiotic theory).

7.- EVOLUTION:
 - Historical introduction. (Different theories about the diversity of species through history) (up to "The Origin Of Species")
 - Darwin's Theory.  (The Origin Of Species). (Limits and mistakes. Classic evidences).
 - Neodarwinian theory or synthetic theory. (books and discoveries in which it is based, modern evidences)
 - Alternatives and modifications proposed to Neodarinian theory. (Neutralism, punctuated equilibrium, "the selfish gene", creationism...)

8.- HUMAN EVOLUTION:
 - What does Human Being mean? (Main human characteristics that make us different from other animals).
 - Stages in Human Evolution. (Different extinct hominids and other primates related to us)
 - Historical migrations. (Explain the path that different hominid groups have taken to colonize the globe).

Now that all of you have your work's "index" you should start to read, gather information and shape your group research project. Once you have a clear (or at least more clear) idea of what you are going to do and how you are going to organize your research, you should make a more complete index of your work (some kind of scheme or summary). This way I can help you make a better work, pointing out which aspects are well covered and which others need more attention.

As I told you in my previous post: START WORKING ON IT RIGHT AWAY!!

Soon I will post the questions that may be asked in the exam of each project. So you can be more precise and clear in your presentations.