The independent Project/Report gives you an opportunity to: (1) go beyond course material and explore, in more detail, a topic or subject that has been or will be covered in class, (2) explore a topic or subject that will not be covered in class, (3) design and construct a classroom demonstration of a phenomenon in atmospheric electricity, (4) design and construct a sensor for an atmospheric electricity measurement of some kind or (5) some combination of the above.

You are free to focus on any scientific or technical aspect of atmospheric electricity that you are interested in; experimental studies are particularly encouraged.    You may also be asked (but not required) to give a short 10-15 minute presentation to the class.

Your Project/Report can represent a significant fraction (15%) of your overall grade.  You should submit a title and one-page preliminary plan for your report to the course instructor by Wed., Feb. 4.  Your plan should include a statement of why you think the topic is important or interesting and a few references or other sources that you plan to use in your work.  The final report should represent your best effort in technical writing, and you will be graded on the organization and the clarity of the English as well as the content.  Your final report should be turned in no later than Wed., Apr. 15 (three weeks before the last class meeting).

Be creative, and feel free to build on your own interests, but please do not report on a present or past sponsored research project.  The Project/Report should represent new and original work from this semester and should not duplicate any work that you may have done in the past.