Team Project

25% of course grade · 250 points

Physics is something people do: they build apparatus, take data, argue about what it means, and explain it to others. In this project, your team of four goes out and does some of that first-hand, then teaches the class what you found in a 15-minute presentation.

You can’t do this project from your desk. You will either visit a research group and interview the people in it, or take your own measurements around campus. The point is the experience, so the evidence of that experience (your photos, your data, your conversations) is the core of what you present.

Unless a deliverable says otherwise, submit your work to Canvas as a PDF by 11:59 PM ET on the due date. All teams submit slides by November 6, including teams presenting on November 13.

1 Deliverables

Deliverable Due Points
Team Project Contract Oct. 9 50 Open assignment
Team Project Slides Nov. 6 100 Open assignment
Team Project Presentation In class, Nov. 6 or Nov. 13 100 –
Total 250

2 Choose a Track

Your team picks one track and names it in the Team Project Contract.

Track A: Inside a Physics Lab

Find a research group and a professor willing to host your team, visit, and interview the people who do the work.

  • Learn what question the group is trying to answer and how they go about it.
  • Meet the PI and, if possible, a grad student, postdoc, or undergraduate researcher.
  • Find out how a first-year student could get involved.

Track B: Measure Tech

Use the campus as your laboratory. Measure one physical quantity two independent ways, then compare the results.

  • Take your own data with phones and simple equipment.
  • Estimate your uncertainties.
  • Decide whether your two methods agree, and explain why or why not.

3 Track A: Inside a Physics Lab

Finding a group is your team’s job. Start right away; professors are busy and may take a week to reply.

  • Where to look. Groups in the School of Physics are preferred. Browse the School of Physics research pages, faculty profiles, and the seminar talks on the events calendar. Groups outside the School of Physics (another Georgia Tech school, or outside Georgia Tech) are accepted if the work relates to physics. Explain the connection in your contract; the instructor approves it.
  • Reaching out. Read the group’s website and at least one accessible article, news story, or talk about their work. Then send a short, professional email: who you are, why this group, what you are asking for (a visit and a 30-minute interview), and two or three times your team is free. List a first-choice group and one or two backups in your contract.
  • The visit. For an experimental group, tour the lab and see the apparatus; if you can, watch or help with a measurement. For a theoretical or computational group, attending a research group meeting takes the place of the lab visit.
  • The interview. Interview the PI and, if possible, a grad student, postdoc, or undergraduate researcher. Prepare questions in advance: about the science, about what goes wrong, and about how each person got there.
  • Afterward. Send a thank-you email within a day or two.

Your presentation should cover the research question and why it matters, how the group answers it, the people and their paths, and how a first-year student can get involved (for example, through UROP).

4 Track B: Measure Tech

Choose one experiment from the menu below, or propose your own in your contract for approval. The free phyphox app turns your phone into a lab instrument (barometer, accelerometer, acoustic stopwatch, and more). Other apps include Sensors Toolbox, or Physics Toolbox Sensor Suite.

Experiment Method 1 Method 2
Height of Tech Tower (or Howey) Phone barometer at the bottom and top Shadows and trigonometry, or a pendulum hung from the top
Local gravitational acceleration g Long pendulum in a stairwell Timing a dropped object with an acoustic stopwatch
Radius of the Earth “Two sunsets”: watch the sunset from the ground, go up a tall building, and time the second sunset Angle of the horizon below level from a rooftop
Speed of sound Echo off a large building wall Two phones timing a sound over a measured distance
  • Take real data. Repeat each measurement enough times to estimate its uncertainty. Record raw numbers, times, and conditions as you go.
  • Build what you need. You may make simple apparatus at the Montgomery Machining Mall or the Invention Studio.
  • Be safe. Use public spaces you are allowed to be in, follow building rules for roofs and stairwells, and never drop anything where people walk below.

Your presentation should cover the question, both methods, your results with uncertainties, whether they agree, and what you would do differently.

5 Roles

Every team member has a primary role and every member presents. Roles divide the work, but do not mean you shouldn’t help one another.

Track A: Inside a Physics Lab Track B: Measure Tech
Liaison — outreach emails, scheduling, the thank-you note Project Manager — schedule, internal deadlines, keeps the team on track
Interview Lead — prepares and leads the interview questions Lead Experimentalist — designs and runs the measurements
Science Lead — background reading; explains the physics to the class Data Analyst — uncertainties, plots, comparison of methods
Media and Deck Lead — photos, slide design, final deck Communications Lead — photos and video, slide design, final deck

6 Evidence of Your Work

Because this project is about first-hand experience, your presentation must show it.

  1. Your own photos or video, dated, of your team doing the work: in the lab or group meeting (Track A) or taking data (Track B). Ask before photographing anyone or anything in a lab.
  2. A signed Verification Form. The professor or lab host signs it after your visit (Track A). The Team Leader signs it after watching one of your data-collection sessions (Track B), so schedule that session with the Team Leader in advance. Include a photo or scan of the signed form as the last slide of your deck.
  3. A check-in with the Team Leader by October 23. Show your photos, interview notes or raw data, and progress against the contract.
ImportantGenerative AI

The use of generative AI is strongly discouraged in this course, and it can’t do this project for you. Your talk is built on your own visit, conversations, and data. Anything you present as your experience must actually be your experience.

7 Timeline

Date Milestone
Oct. 2 Project kickoff; teams formed. Track A teams start contacting groups.
Oct. 9 Team Project Contract due
Oct. 12–30 Visits and interviews (Track A) or data collection (Track B)
Oct. 23 Check-in with the Team Leader completed
Nov. 6 All slides due; Teams 1–2 present
Nov. 13 Teams 3–4 present

8 Expectations

  • Start now. Five weeks goes quickly, especially when you depend on someone else’s calendar.
  • Meet in person. Hold at least one in-person planning meeting and at least one full rehearsal before you present.
  • Share the work. Each member does a fair share and presents a fair share. If a teammate stops communicating, talk with them first, then contact the Team Leader or instructor before the deadline, not after.
  • Be professional. You represent this course and the School of Physics when you contact a professor or work in a shared space. Be on time, prepared, and thankful.
  • Teach your classmates. Your audience is first-year physics students. Define terms, and use your own photos and plots to explain what you saw.
  • Cite your sources. Background reading and any figures that are not your own are cited on a final references slide.

9 Helpful Resources