This is NOT a laboratory report. It is a scientific paper about a real-world observation you have made and your explanation of the underlying physics. You will have to perform a selfdeveloped proof-of-concept experiment, to check that your understanding of the underlying physics is correct, but the write-up for this will only be a part of your paper. You should focus your observations in one of the following areas.

Module 1 â€“ Circular Motion
Module 2 â€“ Energy and Momentum Including Centre of Mass
Module 3 â€“ Pressure, Buoyancy, Bernoulliâ€™s Equation

Real-world Physics is not about solving idealised problems from a textbook it is about applying what you have learned to real world situations with all the complicating factors like friction, air resistance, humidity, inelastic collisions, open systems...

For this assignment we want you to take the first steps to becoming a real-world scientist or engineer. To do this you have to think like an expert not a novice. The following table may give you some insight into how each thinks.

Novice
*Content forms isolated pieces of information that need memorising.
*Mental models are used but they are treated as though they are reality and there is no understanding of their limitations.
*Knowledge in the discipline is fixed and handed down from some expert higher authority â€“ lecturer, tutor, textbook.
*Problem solving is approached by recognising patterns and memorising recipes for finding solutions.

Expert
*There is a coherent structure to the content where relationships are clearly seen and pulled together under overarching concepts.
*Mental models are used to help with understand and the realisation that a model is being used is retained. The limitations of those models are clearly understood.
*The knowledge in the discipline describes nature, is discovered by observation and established by experiment.
*There is a systematic approach to problem solving which includes self-checking, sense making and reflection upon the topic.

Where Do You Start?
You start by understanding what you want to get out of this exercise then you go on to do it.

You need to show that you can
â€¢ investigate and explain the underlying physics of an observed real-world situation
â€¢ write a scientific paper
â€¢ evaluate the quality of your work

Investigate and Explain the Underlying Physics of an Observed Real-world Situation

You may like to jot down some notes in a notebook while you are doing the following to help you with your write-up later.

1. Observation
Spend a day or two analysing the physical world around you (not the online world) in terms of Circular Motion / Energy / Momentum / Pressure / Buoyancy / Bernoulliâ€™s Equation. Choose one aspect you would like to investigate further e.g. why some potatoes float and others do not.

2. Link observations to prior understanding
Make a note of what you have found interesting in your observations and what you think the underlying physics may be. Then check your explanation using a valid source of information and modify your explanation accordingly if necessary.

3. Do some tests / collect some detailed information
Try and capture some data / information about the situation that demonstrates the underlying physics i.e. a small-scale self-developed proof-of-concept experiment. You can use the results of this to validate your claims in your paper.

4. Analyse the information
See if the detailed information / data you have captured supports or refutes your original explanation of the underlying science. Or perhaps your explanation needs to be modified slightly to explain all the data you observed. Make notes on this stage to help you with writing up your paper.

5. Reflect on the process
Ask yourself questions about the process and jot down some notes which may be of use when writing up your paper. The types of questions you might ask could include â€œWas the proofof-concept test the best way to illustrate the physics of the situation? Are there other ways it could have been done and what are the merits of each? Are there other interesting aspects of the situation that could also be investigated?

Write a Scientific Paper

The paper should be coherent, cohesive, comprehensive and concise. We are expecting around 3 pages (900 words) of text plus any pictures, diagrams, tables of data, audio or video material relevant to your study.

Headings for the paper
â€¢ Introduction (put this at the beginning but write it last)
â€¢ Initial Observation
â€¢ Initial Explanation
â€¢ Detailed Observations and Documentation
â€¢ Discussion and Analysis (modified explanation goes in this bit)
â€¢ Reflection on the Process
â€¢ Conclusion (restates the interesting observation and the polished explanation of the underlying physics)

A good paper tells one story and is logically set out i.e. it flows. The paper should look professional and it should have been proof read for spelling and grammatical errors.

Learn how to use the reference checking software.

Evaluate the quality of your work.

This is NOT a laboratory report. It is a scientific paper about a r...