*"Intergalactic" is a song released by the Beastie Boys in 1998

During this project, we designed five different models of our solar system — a dry model (to see what we already knew about the solar system), then we copied a model that was posted to Google classroom, visited the NASA website and integrated as much data as we could. For our third model, my partner and I each made a model of a single planet and included a lot of information as well, while, for the fourth, we modeled three planets and looked at patterns to predict a phenomenon on an unknown planet — escape velocity. We had two fifth models; 5-A and -B. Model 5-A contained four variables we could predict on unknown planets X and Y based on two other variables, and, in Model 5-B, my partner and I used given information to solve for orbital period, as well as the weight of a 130-pound (58.967-kg) individual on three different planets; X, Y and Earth. My original group of four was split into two groups of two for the third-through-fifth models.

*Definitions are from Wikipedia

Escape Velocity: escape velocity is the speed at which the sum of an object's kinetic energy and its gravitational potential energy is equal to zero; an object which has achieved escape velocity is neither on the surface, nor in a closed orbit. Earth's escape velocity is 11.2 km/s. In the equation for escape velocity, G is the gravitational constant, M is the mass of the planet and R is the radius of the planet:

Gravity: gravity, or gravitation, is a natural phenomenon by which all things with mass or energy — including planets, stars, galaxies, and even light — are brought toward one another. On Earth, gravity gives weight to physical objects, and the Moon's gravity causes the ocean tides. In the equation for the force of gravity, G is the gravitational constant, M1 is the mass of the planet, M2 is the mass of what it is being compared to — likely the sun — and R is the distance between the two objects — likely the distance from the sun or the radius of the planet:

Gravitational constant: a number involved in the calculation of the gravitational effect between two objects. It is roughly 6.674×10⁻¹¹ m³⋅kg⁻¹⋅s⁻².

Surface Temperature: surface temperature is the temperature at or near a surface. This is an equation for calculating surface temperature:

Orbital Period: the time a given astronomical object takes to complete one orbit around another object, and applies in astronomy usually to planets or asteroids orbiting the Sun, moons orbiting planets, exoplanets orbiting other stars, or binary stars. In the equation, T is orbital period, V is orbital velocity and R is the distance from the sun. To convert the time to [Earth] days, the denominator of the equation would be multiplied by 86,400.

Orbital Velocity: the orbital speed of an astronomical body or object (e.g. planet, moon, artificial satellite, spacecraft, or star) is the speed at which it orbits around either the barycenter (the center of mass of two or more bodies that orbit one another and is the point about which the bodies orbit) or, if one object is much more massive than the other bodies in the system, its speed relative to the center of mass of the most massive body. The equation for orbital velocity is the same as that of orbital period, save the two are switched.

Weight: the weight of an object is related to the force acting on the object, either due to gravity or to a reaction force that holds it in place. The equation for weight is F = ma, where F is the force exerted by the object [weight] in Newtons, M is the object's mass and A is acceleration due to gravity (or simply the force acting upon the object to give it weight).

Atoms: an atom is the smallest constituent unit of ordinary matter that constitutes a chemical element. Every solid, liquid, gas, and plasma is composed of neutral or ionized atoms. Atoms are extremely small and are made up of protons — particles with positive electric charge, neutrons — particles with no net electric charge, and a mass similar to that of a proton — and electrons — particles with negative electric charge, and a mass much smaller than that of a proton.

Molecules: a molecule is an electrically neutral group of two or more atoms held together by chemical bonds.

The "Quantum Leap/Jump" Phenomenon: atomic electron transition is a change of an electron from one energy level to another within an atom or artificial atom. It appears discontinuous as the electron "jumps" from one energy level to another, typically in a few nanoseconds or less. Electron transitions cause the emission or absorption of electromagnetic radiation in the form of quantized units called photons.

During this project, I Collaborated and practiced Critical-thinking in a competent manner. I collaborated well by communicating with my partner(s), and evenly dividing up the work. My group divided and conquered — so to speak — to be able to produce quality work in a timely fashion. On some models I finished my part of the work before my partner(s) and helped them complete their part(s), rather than goof-off; it was a group effort and we all tried to contribute and help each other as much as necessary and then some. A specific instance when I did a good job thinking critically was when my group had to analyze the NASA data we were given and identify a phenomenon we could predict on an unknown planet with other variables — my group predicted escape velocity using the mass and radius of the planet X. On future projects, I can be a more Conscientious Learner; during this project, I feel as though I didn't get all I could have out of what we were modeling. I was too focused on the models themselves to really absorb the information that we didn't go over in class, or that I simply didn't already know. I find our solar system — and space in general — very fascinating and feel like this was a missed opportunity for me. Hopefully, I can avoid making this same mistake in the future. I can also work on doing a better job implementing my Creativity; while I feel like this project was mostly data analysis and recording and didn't have too much room for creativity, I am sure that I could have drawn better, and more original, models and could have also made each poster truly my own — with respect to my partner(s).