Unit 2 Project: Science Podcast

Create an audio essay that explores the significance of either 1) a current controversy in a natural science discipline or 2) a scientific concern currently of interest to society.

Using the topic you have chosen, create a podcast episode. The episode should be about five minutes in length and  include audio samples that bring research or other relevant materials into the audio piece. Here are some big picture aspects of the project. It should be

Research driven: The podcast should provide an alternative means of sharing the research you have developed related to your topic. As such, it should include significant research. This research should give you a solid knowledge foundation for the focus of the audio piece. You will conduct research to get started and submit a bibilography early in the process. 

Conversational, yet focused: You will need to develop a script that consists of narration, audio clips from sources, and plans for and ambient or sound effect samples. The script will serve as a text for recording the narration and for organizing the piece.

As you begin planning, you should also think about how you will make use of sound.

You will need to spend some time getting to know the your audio editor. (I will provide instruction for the Audacity editor--which is free. You can use an alternate audio editor if you prefer.) Take time to read any overviews, help pages, or tutorials that can get you started with the program.

You will also need to spend some time working on your audio composing skills. As you discuss an audio sample, you will need to compose narration that situates, extends, or clarifies rather than repeats what has been said. Be flexible and deliberate as you compose your narration, using your words to help listeners zoom in on specifics in your materials and zoom out to connect with your topic as a whole.

Also, be sure to come up with ways of weaving additional audio materials into the piece beyond your own voice. You will guide people through the materials as the "narrator" of the essay, but a piece that consists of a single voice talking will lack variety and not deliver the movement between materials that adds interests and texture to the essay.

Make similar decisions about the ambient or background noises that you weave into the essay. You can use audio to create a mood, to deliver a message, to punctuate a statement, etc. And you can use music for intros, outros, transitions, etc.

As a preliminary step in this project, you will submit a bibliography and media source list.

You will also submit a script.

Although your project and your audio editor will influence your composing process, you can follow some general steps.

• Become adept at recording your own voice to narrate the audio essay. Find a quiet environment where you can work. Experiment with your available microphones. (Built in laptop microphones often work fine; affordable USB microphones work well also) Try some practice recordings, working with your equipment and software until you get audio that is loud enough to be easily heard and that does not contain undue levels of background sound. 


• Get comfortable with your voice. Experiment with cadences, tempo, and pitch as you begin working. Don’t be shy about trying out new tones or giving your voice presence in your recordings. Use the audio essay as an opportunity to think about how you can use your voice as you communicate and about how you can develop a “voice” in both spoken and written contexts.


• Learn the moves needed to import audio files into your editor. You may also need to learn something about ripping and converting audio files. Experiment with cutting, copying, and moving segments of the audio that you import. Learn to fade clips in and out and to adjust the volume levels of clips.


• Ensure that you have an outline or plan for developing the essay. Import a clip and begin editing it and adding your narration. Check that you are writing into and out of the clips in ways that clarify and extend your topic.


• Continue importing materials and adding narration. Add background sounds for ambiance as needed. Adjust and polish the composition.


• Export a draft of the file. Explore your audio editor to learn about file formats for exporting—most likely mp3 format. Post the file to the class Web site.

You will need to gather resources from the net. As you do so, you may need to capture audio from YouTube or otherwise find ways of collecting the sounds you need. Our daily tasks will provide instruction on any of these tasks that you need help with.

This should be a project that raises some new challenges for you. Some will be technical; be sure to save your files often and give yourself time to learn how to compose with audio. Most of the challenges should be conceptual; you'll need to learn to imagine how you can organize a project based in sound, create transitions, convey information succinctly, create a mood through audio, etc. There will also be content challenges. You will be working to deliver an essay, so research, concise writing, editing, and all the typical communication moves will be needed. Hopefuly the level of challenges will still allow the project to be creative and fun.

Submit your draft using our Unit 2 Project: Science Podcast option by 9:45AM on Tuesday July 14th.