Powerpoint Presentation - Any Good Info Sites?

Mad Grad Student · 2004-03-10 22:12:41

Hi, I'm back! Good God, it's now been officially 24 days since my last day off (School, lifegaurd training, science bowl, ahhh!) and there's no end in sight. Well, there's spring break, but that's not for another ten days. So, I hope that explains my abscence here for the last week or so.

Anyway, on to the topic. Yesterday my science teacher allowed me to make a 30-min-ish powerpoint presentation about Mars. Right now we're studying the universe, in immense generalization, and he wanted to get some more specific info on a few topics, especially Mars. So, since I was the only one going into the class knowing that blue stars are hotter than red ones (Or the proper way to catalog new celestial bodies, thank you) I offered to make a simple presentation on Mars. I think that I'll do okay getting fun facts on my own, but wanted to see if there are any links or sites you reccomend. Any thoughts on grabbing/holding high school freshmmens' attention?

Shaun Barrett · 2004-03-11 05:20:22

Good luck with the presentation, Mad Grad!

Nice work, Robert! It's great to hear you managed to produce what sounds like an enthusiastic and positive reaction from your audience. Nobody can accuse you of not doing your bit to promote the Mars Society and also interest in the Red Planet in general.
Hats off to you!

RobertDyck · 2004-03-11 22:37:23

I editted my previous message to move the long slide comments into the PowerPoint file itself, now that message is gone. What happened?

Palomar · 2004-03-12 09:52:43

I editted my previous message to move the long slide comments into the PowerPoint file itself, now that message is gone. What happened?

*Yipes! What a pity...that was a really excellent post, Robert.

I've had that happen to me at least twice. I believe it occurred when I thought I had hit "edit," but accidentally hit "delete" instead, during a double edit (i.e. edited an original post once...whoops, made a spelling error or whatever, go back to correct the edited material via another edit...hit "delete" instead accidentally...go back to read the finished posted product, which is no longer there).

Maybe this is what happened to you?

I just scrolled downward to view the posts (via "+Add Reply" mode) already made in this thread (most recent first and first last)...I don't see your original post that way, either.

--Cindy

RobertDyck · 2004-03-12 16:44:42

Nope, at the time I tried to use the Back button to check what happened. I definately hit "Edit", removed the slide descriptions and added a comment that they were moved to the PowerPoint file, then hit "commit". I should have copied the post the first time I hit Back, so I could re-submit it.

Anyway, the short version is that a Mars Society presentation with script and high-resolution slides is available on the Ares 2 CD, which was mailed to paid members in 2000. My presentation is [http://chapters.marssociety.org/winnipe … rsRASC.ppt]here.

Mad Grad Student · 2004-03-16 22:05:40

Well, I gave the presentation today. I accidently left the disk it was saved on in my teacher's laptop. Oh, well, I'll grab it tomorrow and post it here, just so you can see what it ended up like.

Unfortunately, I had a very limited amount of time to create the presentation in. I didn't have time to put pics on it (Except two from the Vikings). Originally it was supposed to be general info on Mars, but ended up becoming a history of what we've thought about the planet over the past 2,000 years. Not very good, I think I bored the class, but considering it was built during three lunches it turned out okay. At least they asked a few valid questions at the end.

RobertDyck · 2004-03-18 08:29:14

For some reason I can't find my Ares 2 CD. I used the low resolution images on the Ares 3 CD to put together a PowerPoint presentation of the 'spiel'. The script from the CD emphasized that the presenter should use it as a guide and update it for his/her own presentation style. This is my version. I removed slides 2 and 3 because I thought the "America is the greatest" rhetoric was a bit thick, especially when presenting to a Canadian audience. I also made a couple new slides emphasizing the Russian Energia launch vehicle and that if America doesn't convert its Shuttle to a heavy lift vehicle soon it will be lost as well. Since there is debate on this board about whether a manned mission to Mars is feasible quickly and economically, I thought I should post it. If anyone here has doubts that we can get to Mars in less than 10 years and for a price on-par with NASA's current budget, you should view the presentation. We can debate the technical details on various threads of this board.

It's a 9.18MB file, and formatted for PowerPoint 2002. The script is in the notes for each slide; you can either open PowerPoint in Normal View and read the notes in the pane at the bottom of each slide, or print the Notes Pages. Notes Pages are formatted with a copy of the slide on top and the text below it, one page per slide.

[http://chapters.marssociety.org/winnipe … ociety.ppt]click here

If anyone is interested in the original form I can make another .ppt file with the original script and slide order. Should I format it for PowerPoint 97, or even 95?

I attended this month's meeting of the chapter of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada that I presented to. A couple of them used some of the points from my presentation in their's. This month's issue of their newsletter included a book review of "The Case for Mars". He expressed a desire for more details about the Mars Society and after re-reading the book has joined the Mars Society. That same issue of their newsletter has an article written by another member calling for manned exploration of space and support of the Canadian Space Agency's budget. There is interest; we just have to let people know it's possible and affordable. Once the word get's out, it spreads.

Rxke · 2004-03-18 12:47:10

Great presentation, RobertDyck!

You know, the picture of the meeting with the crowd,... That for me was the 'yessss!' moment, not only fancy pictures, but flesh and blood real people interested in these things.

Watching the 'decaying infrastructure' felt awful, OTOH, but was well put.

Tomorrow there's an "open day" at the academy where i study, and i will be tempted to hijack some exhibition computers to spread the word:D But they'll probably find out real fast who's the culprit, so i'd better don't...

RobertDyck · 2004-03-19 18:39:17

In case anyone is interested in the original form, I created a PowerPoint file from the slides and original script without modification. I tried to save it as PowerPoint 95 but it slightly reduced the resolution of images (you could visibly see dithering) and expanded the file size from 9.77MB to 17.89MB. I converted it back to PowerPoint 2002 and replaced the slides with fresh copies from the Ares 3 CD. It's available [http://chapters.marssociety.org/winnipe … wWorld.ppt]here.

If you want to see the slides and don't have PowerPoint, you could order an Ares CD online [http://home.marssociety.org/ares/]here. The Puget Sound chapter produced Ares issue #1 and #2. The web site hasn't been updated since July 2001, but they might be able to sell a copy of one of the issues they produced. Ares CD volume 3: Summer 2001, was the last issue produced. Copies of the CD can be purchased for $10 each (or $6 each in quantities of 10 or more) by sending your name, address, and a check to:
The Mars Society, Box 273, Indian Hills, CO 80454.

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#1 2004-03-10 22:12:41

Re: Powerpoint Presentation - Any Good Info Sites?

#2 2004-03-11 05:20:22

Re: Powerpoint Presentation - Any Good Info Sites?

#3 2004-03-11 22:37:23

Re: Powerpoint Presentation - Any Good Info Sites?

#4 2004-03-12 09:52:43

Re: Powerpoint Presentation - Any Good Info Sites?

#5 2004-03-12 16:44:42

Re: Powerpoint Presentation - Any Good Info Sites?

#6 2004-03-16 22:05:40

Re: Powerpoint Presentation - Any Good Info Sites?

#7 2004-03-18 08:29:14

Re: Powerpoint Presentation - Any Good Info Sites?

#8 2004-03-18 12:47:10

Re: Powerpoint Presentation - Any Good Info Sites?

#9 2004-03-19 18:39:17

Re: Powerpoint Presentation - Any Good Info Sites?

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