3-D Product: Exploring Earth-like Exoplanets

MYP 5

Bavarian International School

January 2017

Word count: 3493

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Investigating 2

Planning 4

Taking Action 6

Reflecting 8

Bibliography 11

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CRITERION A: INVESTIGATING
The Goal
The purpose of my personal project was to build a 3-D product in order to
inform about earth-like exoplanets. My goal was to make people experientially
aware of our place in space and time since from the comfort of our homes and
screens, we are not truly aware of the majesty and infinity of space. My primary
goal was to raise awareness of aspects of the universe, which the normal person is
unaware of. I thought that the best way to do this would be to create a haptic
product since most students are not only visual learners but also kinesthetic. I
thought if students can experience our planet in direct comparison with others, it
would be easier for them to grasp and remember. Moreover, the product was designed
to suggest, perhaps even recreate the atmosphere of space. By looking at my
physical product, students were supposed to be able to notice that the smallest
things make a difference and determine whether a planet may be inhabitable or not
by assessing a variety of factors which are necessary for life. My product’s main
idea goes beyond the merely aesthetical aspects and treats the composition of the
planets.
I wanted to make my product successful by transferring the audience into a
new kind of space, and my objective was for them to be so fascinated by the ideas
presented that they would want to research even more about the topic. An issue
facing many students is that they often believe that space is such a broad topic
that this does not have to be studied since they would not even know where to
begin amidst this mind-boggling vastness. Whereas, if more people knew about
space, then this would increase the workforce and financing which would result in
more development and discoveries. This misconception regarding the relevance
prevents people from engaging the necessary curiosity to explore our place in
space and time. A vital part of my topic is not only to encourage students to
research space, but to raise more interest among adults and teachers since this
product could be used to inform about the two most earth-like exoplanets.
Therefore, if the product is used in the correct way, it will benefit our
community by contributing to and enlarging our understanding of space.
The baseline of my project is to inform about the dimensions of time and

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space and help others to grasp what “where and when” mean and our role in the
universe. This is why I think “orientation in time and space” with its many
facets such as explorations, migrations (space travel), relationships between
humans and resources, interconnectedness of individuals and civilizations in terms
of personal, local and global perspectives, is the global context best suited to
the message I want to convey concerning “Planet B” or potentially inhabitable,
minable, even aerable exoplanets. (Appendix I)

Research Skills
While conducting my research, it became apparent how important it is to use
reliable and accurate sources since this information is crucial and “alternative
facts” merely misrepresent and jeopardize us. Therefore, I used most of my facts
from the official NASA website (Brennan, Patt), which is dedicated to discovering
and disseminating accurate and reliable data. ("Kepler-452b: Earth's Bigger, Older
Cousin -- Briefing Materials." ) This information was very accurate and provided
appropriate descriptions in order to help the non-specialist understand. The real
problem was not finding evidence-based information, but knowing how to sift
through, make sense of and limit so much information (Appendix H). I had to
determine what the most relevant aspects are by taking my audience into
consideration: and what can people relate to the most? Planets most like Earth. My
research led to the slight but decisive differences among the planets.) Initially
I looked at various different exoplanets (“The Habitable Exoplanets Catalog”)
then identified which ones were the closest to earth and did a direct comparison
in a visual manner in order to convey this information to a wider range of people.
But one question which I always asked myself what is beyond what we know?
(Appendix F) When surveying the BIS high school community, I found out that most
people did not even know what an exoplanet is. This means that people only know
what is in our solar system and not beyond. (Appendix G)
I watched a video on how NASA finds exoplanets by using a device called
Kepler Space Telescope (“Alien ExoPlanets Like Earth – 2014 Documentary HD &
Subtitles”). This telescope is in outer space and observes planets for a longer
period of time in order to determine their orbital/transit periods, composition,

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gravity and if they are suitable for life as we know it. Furthermore, it also
measures the difference between the host star and its sun depending on the
brightness which is emitted (“Alien ExoPlanets Like Earth – 2014 Documentary HD
& Subtitles”). I identified that in order for a planet to be inhabitable it has
to have hydrogen, oxygen, carbon and nitrogen in its atmosphere in addition to
liquid water on its surface (“Alien ExoPlanets Like Earth – 2014 Documentary HD
& Subtitles”). Thus, my research process strongly informed and enabled me to
pass this knowledge on to others.
Conducting this research helped me as an MYP learner to develop my ATL
skills. One skill I had had difficulties with but developed quite well during the
course of my personal project is information and media literacy. By looking at
multiple sources with similar information, I made connections between what was
balanced and what was biased through the way information was presented, in either
a factual or hyperbolic way. (Appendix B)

CRITERION B: PLANNING
The Criteria
Before starting to create my product, I established criteria in order to
evaluate its success. My first criterion included obtaining and conveying accurate
and precise information of Kepler 22b, Kepler 152b and Earth. This would directly
compare all three of these planets to see if life is possible on these two
exoplanets when comparing them to our life condition on Earth.
My next success criterion was to submit all my work on time. This meant
that I would not ask for a deadline extension for any of the tasks and would not
hand them in late. This was very important for me as this tested my organization
skills, my ability of time-, commitment-, self-, resource management, which is
very important when planning a project like this. This was rather a personal goal
to ensure that I would stay on task during my personal project throughout the
entire process.
In order to safeguard that my product was a success and the message was
clearly conveyed, one of my criteria was to ask five people to examine my product
to see if they understood my intention to show the differences. This did not

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change within the process, but I decided to look at different kinds of people to
have a broad spectrum of opinion. When saying this, I mean that I would ask one
parent, one teacher, one student in 12th grade, one student in 10th grade and my
older brother.
My next criterion relates to the previous ones, as I wanted to ask five
people if they learned something new after having seen my 3-D product and
encouraged them to research more about this topic. This was highly important to me
as this would measure if I met my primary goal and fulfilled the goal I had set
myself.
My last success criterion involved asking five people if they find that the
aesthetics of my product pleasing. This was crucial as the visual factors were
important in order to attract my audience and evoke interest within them.

Planning
The first milestone was the completion of my research, which is when I had
become familiar with all the information about my chosen exoplanets, and I could
start working on a plan on how to visualize that. My second milestone was to
create my action plan as this kept me very focused and helped me to self-organize
and stay organized (Appendix A). My third milestone was completing my planetarium
and modifying it after having received feedback from my peers on how I was
displaying my information. This was a very important milestone as I would
incorporate the feedback I got and had the opportunity to improve the things which
were not very strong when visualizing the information found. The last milestone of
my product was when I finished the improved product and then asked people what
they think now, after I had changed it and compare the product to my success
criteria.

Self-Management
When starting my personal project, I was aware that many challenges would
confront me over the next 6-8 months, and I was sure that self-management was
going to be one of them. But since we had to make an action plan, this doubt
quickly evaporated. The personal project helped me to organize myself in a manner

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I did not know was possible before. As this was a project based on a topic of our
choice, it gave a lot of freedom concerning when to finish things in order to hand
them in, in time. Within the first two weeks, I was on track, and I was aware of
the work I had to do, in combination with the action plan which helped me to
determine when I will complete these tasks. In addition to this, the self-
management skills which I have developed throughout this project also help me in
other classes now since this taught me the importance of getting things done as
early as possible, and to stop procrastinating. As soon as I had everything under
control, it was easy for me to help my friends to follow their action plans and to
stay on task (Appendix A). This worked out very well since we had a similar amount
of work to be done every week and this helped us to stay on track. I learned how
to focus on individual aspects, and then gave myself a larger time range to
complete large bits that had to be done in one session. I worked on prioritizing
work and the importance of finishing things early.

CRITERION C: TAKING ACTION

Achieving the Goal
Overall, creating my product was fun. Throughout the process, I had to
overcome some challenges (Appendix H). An examples of this is when I decided to
change the material of the background for my planetarium from canvas to wood since
I was aware that wood carries a higher quality, which would become evident in the
presentation of my product.
In my opinion, my product successfully achieved my goal since I was
able to communicate a deeper meaning of space using a very simple medium. My goal
was to raise awareness, generate interest and commitment to go into research and
get financing for further projects which lead to development I wanted to set a
chain reaction into motion by stimulating a desire to explore deep space. Through
the aesthetically pleasing factor of my product, it will attract people‘s
attention and raise interest among them which encourages inquiry. While going
through the process of creating my product, it was very satisfying to see how
persistence paid off. Below are pictures of the final product:

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Thinking Skills
When starting my project, I occasionally had issues with my critical thinking
skills when analyzing a source. I developed this strongly by continuously
examining a variety of sources and then determine what information I would use.
This was especially useful regarding source five as I evaluated its reliability,
accuracy and precision (Appendix B, C, J, G). Additionally, I have learned the
importance of information literacy, which I strongly developed since before
starting this project this was one of my weaknesses. I established these skills on
my own and learned what information is more creditable and how to discern between
science and sensationalism. In order to create the most visually appealing product
I creatively expressed my thoughts by using brainstorms, sketches to generate new
ideas and inquiries. I eliminated ideas that were unlikely and created new
possible solutions that would allow me to convey this information in the best,
most suitable manner. (Appendix D)
I noticed how these skills were not only transferable in my personal
project, but
applicable to other subjects (Appendix J). I asked my peers how they manage,

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interpret and apply their research.

Communication & Social Skills

Throughout the course of my personal project, I never lost track of the
importance of the fact that this is collaborative and not a task which I did only
for my personal benefit. My anticipation of contiguously communicating the concept
of the magnificence of deep space to my peers grew after observing their utter
indifference (Ouellette, Jennifer). My social awareness made me aware of the
problem which our community faced and evoked a passion within me which, like
Shakespeare’s Hamlet, wanted to communicate the importance of understanding that
there is more hidden in the universe than we know and encourage people to research
different aspects of space and life. Through the interaction I had with my peers
throughout my project, they helped me to communicate my goal as clearly as
possible to people who did not know much about the topic and to stay on track. I
decided to share my fascination and knowledge with others visually once I noticed
that theoretical concepts verbally transmitted did not stimulate them.

CRITERION D: REFLECTING
Evaluating
Overall, the personal project has greatly extended my knowledge and understanding
of space, and orientation in space and time. But it had an even greater effect on
the development of my ATLs and IB learner profile values (Appendix J),
specifically, in terms of resource, information and self-management, but also how
to communicate all the data that I have evaluated and interpreted. One important
life lesson I learned was that it is impossible to know everything, and that was
hard for a curious person like I am. But despite the open-ended nature of this
topic, this personal project was a great opportunity for me to spread awareness on
a topic our community is not very informed about. Towards the end of my project,
the feedback was very positive. One comment which profoundly touched me was when a
grade twelve student said, “That is so cool. I didn’t know there were planets so
similar to earth.” An extension to my product could be to research different life

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forms to see how they have evolved in different scenarios and maybe this could
benefit our Earth and accelerate our evolution. My first criteria were met
successfully. Not only did I have accurate and precise information on all three of
the planets, but I compared them in a manner which was clear and easily
understandable.
Regarding my second criteria, I can say that no matter what obstacles I had to
overcome, I consistently submitted all my work on time without ever needing a
deadline extension. I completed all my research, my pre-product submission, draft
of the report and the submission on the personal project all in time. This tested
my organization skills and helped me to stay on task, because I knew that this was
an essential part of my criterion and important for me to succeed as an IB
learner.
My first criteria were met successfully. Not only did I have accurate and
precise information on all three of the planets, but I compared them in a manner
which was clear and easily understandable. Regarding my second criteria, I can
say that no matter what obstacles I had to overcome, I consistently submitted all
my work on time without ever needing a deadline extension. I completed all my
research, my pre-product submission, draft of the report and the submission on the
personal project all in time. This tested my organization skills and helped me to
stay on task, because I knew that this was an essential part of my criterion and
important for me to succeed as an IB learner. When asking my chosen five people if
they understood the intention of comparing these two exoplanets to Earth, I got
very productive feedback. One of the students told me that there was a title
which was missing to the final product which would attract people. This was true
and after incorporating productive ideas and little details like these, I asked
five different people if they understood the comparison of the planets, and all of
them did. This was gave me an incredible sense of achievement since I informed
people about my topic without them having any prior knowledge or actual interest.
This also incorporated my fourth success criterion, which was to ask five people
if they have learned something new after looking at my product. Therefore, I can
proudly say that both of these were done successfully, and I am honored to say
that I contributed to the community by raising awareness of space and the

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different options there are to explore it. My last success criterion was to ask
five people if they thought that my final product was aesthetically pleasing. This
was important, since if something is aesthetically pleasing, it will attract
people, and by attracting people they will want to know more about it. This means
that after seeing how incredible space looks and all the different colors and
phenomena, they will be curious to see what else awaits them. Four out of the five
people asked said that they found my product to be very aesthetically pleasing but
one said that they would have preferred a different material for the planets. This
was something I would change next time in order to make it even more aesthetically
pleasing. However, three other people mentioned how innovative they found my idea
of adding proper lights to the background of my planetarium. Overall, I can say
that I succeeded within all my criteria and am very proud to say so.

Extending Knowledge
By sharing my project with others, I have extended the knowledge and
understanding of earth-like exoplanets. The knowledge we have of space is very
limited in our society nowadays; after seeing this problem in our community, I
made it my personal goal to change this. My global context helped me to stay
focused on the intention of my product throughout the process of my personal
project. By exploring our place in space and time, we are not only given a feeling
of where in the universe we are, but how vast the distance between everything is.

IB Learner
For the first time in my school career, we had to combine all of the ATLs
and the IB learner profile in order to develop as a learner. When reflecting on
the entire process of my personal project, I can proudly say that I have advanced
as a communicator, through presenting my work to the audience, as an inquirer
since I had to question all of the information I found and use other sources to
ensure that it is correct. I became a more knowledgeable and open-minded student
as I did not know anything about this topic before I started researching the topic
exoplanets. At the beginning, I had a lot of trouble relying on this information
because I had the tendency to critically evaluate and question the sources

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throughout my research, especially since it was important to me to ensure that all
the information found was accurate. Lastly, I also have the impression that I have
become a risk- taker after having chosen and while working on this topic because I
knew that I was going to be confronted with a multiplicity of information, and I
would have to decide what was essential to my topic. In my opinion, this was the
first time I had to combine all of the ATLs and the IB learner profile for better
ideas to emerge and the quality of my product to improve. Whenever I was
confronted with new ideas and challenges, I reflected on why this happened and how
I could overcome this difficulty. An example of this was when I decided to paint
my first planet, and I then saw that the color did not look very professional on
the material I had used and that it repelled it. This caused me buy and employ
another material. I learned that certain things do not always work out when you
try them for the first time, but that does not mean that there is not a better
solution. What I definitely improved on are my self-management skills, and these
are essential when entering the IB program. I learned how to organize myself and
how to plan my time. The personal project helped me to develop not only as a
learner but also to reflect on actions I took. By working very closely with the IB
learner profile and the ATLs, it will be easier for me to do research in the
future and think critically before undertaking certain actions.
But on a final note, completing this project does not only benefit me, it is bound
to raise greater interest within a community faced with inevitable consequences of
human behavior.

This was very helpful since after I had asked one person (while I was still
developing my product), their feedback helped me to make my intention even clearer
(Appendix J).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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<http://www.iflscience.com/space/five-most-earth-exoplanets-so-far-0/>.
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<http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/271951-you-do-not-really-understand-
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12. "The News and Super Earth Kepler-22b." Astrobites. N.p., 06 Dec. 2011.
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