Senior research physics idea help

[Stephenk53]

I am beginning my senior research project and I am unsure of what to have for a topic. It is an English class but I plan on doing it on either STEM or history.

Any ideas

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Any ideas

This is like asking us what to eat for lunch. You need to give us some idea on your interests

 

[Stephenk53]

Alright, I was thinking about some of the following in no particular order:

The psychology behind why someone becomes a terrorist
Recent engineering inventions (I don't know what inventions)
Why NASA should or should not get more funding
How the US policy on terrorism has affected it
Importance of Universal healthcare
Should Illegal immigrants become citizens
Can terrorism be justified
The denial of the holocaust
GM organics? Good or bad?
Alternatives to lithium ion batteries
Uses for exosuits

I would like to hear some topics about upcoming and recent space travel but I am unsure of what topic within that

 

[ZapperZ]

I am beginning my senior research project and I am unsure of what to have for a topic. It is an English class but I plan on doing it on either STEM or history.

Any ideas

1. What "senior" level is this? High school, or college?

2. If this is for an English class, then shouldn't you pay a lot more attention on "composition" rather than trying to find an "exciting" topic?

3. Shouldn't you choose a topic that you are familiar with so that you won't have to start from ground zero in researching it? If I suggest something that you have zero knowledge of, shouldn't this take a lot of time and effort JUST for you to understand what it is before you can write a coherent and well-thought out essay?

4. What kind of resources are available to you to do this "research"? Do you have full access to most of the major journals that a typical university subscribes to?

This is what is meant when we ask for more information.

Zz.

 

[Stephenk53]

1. It is high school

2. I want to make sure it is something I might enjoy so I can write about it more easily, and people in the past who have chosen interesting or sophisticated topics tend to get better grades even if they do the presentation as well as someone with a less interesting topic

3. I know, but depending on what is suggested I may be able to do it easily anyway or have another presentation I have already made on it that I forgot about that I can use as a basis. Also if it is something I have no knowledge in what so ever I will just not do it. I have about two weeks to choose, and next week is a vacation so I will have plenty of time to make sure my choice is something I can do

4. Since it is a high school they do not have any subscribed journals, we do have a library in school and several in my area. The only limitations on the sources is it has to be reliable (they are far too lenient about reliability) and I need at least one hard copy source and one digital and be a total of at least 8.

 

[Bigjoemonger]

Alright, I was thinking about some of the following in no particular order:

1.The psychology behind why someone becomes a terrorist
2.Recent engineering inventions (I don't know what inventions)
3.Why NASA should or should not get more funding
4.How the US policy on terrorism has affected it
5.Importance of Universal healthcare
6.Should Illegal immigrants become citizens
7.Can terrorism be justified
8.The denial of the holocaust
9.GM organics? Good or bad?
10.Alternatives to lithium ion batteries
11.Uses for exosuits

I would like to hear some topics about upcoming and recent space travel but I am unsure of what topic within that

1. Probably way too advanced for a high school paper. You'd be delving into things you probably don't yet understand.
2. If you don't know what inventions, probably not the best topic.
3. You'd need to pick one. Doing both sides in one paper usually doesn't turn out well written
4. Another one that might be a little too advanced but would certainly make for an interesting read, if you can fin d supporting resources.
5. Controversial topics are a bad idea unless you're sure your teacher is open to it. Don't want to get a bad grade because your teacher graded you on their opinion of the topic rather than the quality of the work you did.
6, 7, and 8 are same as 5.
9. If I were writing this I would focus on how all our modern food is genetically modified. Splicing a gene to get a seedless grape is the same result as selective breeding to get a seedless grape and therefore shouldn't be lumped into the same category as genetically modifying corn to produce it's own pesticides. The bananas we buy at the store are all clones and look nothing like the wild bananas they used to be, yet they're not listed as GMO.
10 and 11 are pretty good.

Just make sure you're not going too broad. You're writing a paper not a book.

 

[Stephenk53]

1. Good point, I do already know some but probably not enough
2. Again good point
3. I meant I would pick a side, that would simply be a title
4. If I get good sources I think I can do it
5, 6, 7, 8, He is very unbiased, past students have used controversial topics before without issue, but point taken
9. Okay
10, 11. Okay

Edit: Anything that I might not know enough to research properly I will do research before we begin and see if I have enough knowledge to do it properly
Edit2: I have done some papers and research on terrorism before so I am not starting from scratch and still have the projects and sources I used