Choosing a Topic

Due: February 7. It should be something you care about, know something about, and want to know more about. It should not be too big and not too little, and it should be science-related.

Right now, for instance, I'm interested in:

• Why cats purr
• How people get to be astronauts
• How the universe started.
• How the universe will end.
• How planets in other solar systems are discovered.
• Galileo's life.
• Exercise physiology (the science of exercise)

 

I know something about all of these things because I'm interested in them already. For instance, I know that scientists haven't done a lot of research on cat purring. I saw something in a book not too long ago that tried to explain it, but I didn't think the explanation sounded very good and I disagreed with some other things I read in that book, but every time I listen to one of my cats purr, I wonder. I wouldn't mind reading about it and trying to find out what people know, and it would be fun to make a web site about it with facts, pictures, animations, and diagrams.

But what if I can't find enough information about purring to do a whole website on it? That's okay. I can make my topic bigger. I can add, for instance, something about why cats rub their heads on you, and why cats knead their paws when they're happy. Or I could talk about other "cats" that purr.

What if there's so much information about purring cats that I can't deal with it all? That's okay too. I can make my topic smaller. I could report, for instance, on one scientist who studies purring and what he or she has found out.

What if I don't want to do cats purring after all? That's even more okay. After all, I'm writing this in August. I have until February to decide on my topic. But I'm going to start looking around now, just in case.

(February 5, 2003) I don't think I'm going to do cats purring after all. I think I'm going to research how some of the Columbia astronauts got their jobs.