A 21st Century Final Exam, Part I

This morning, my Virtual Reality students are taking their final exam.  The final exam involves the students creating a model of our solar system using Maxon Cinema 4-D.  Each class has a specialized rubric to follow that is listed at the bottom of this blog entry.  I am excited to see how students will respond to this challenge.  In this assignment, they have to apply their knowledge of the solar system and use Cinema 4-D to create a replica of the solar system.

I have fielded many questions about the solar system such as:

• Does Mercury orbit around the Sun quicker than Jupiter?
• What's the difference between orbiting and revolving? 
• Why is Pluto no longer a planet?

I originally released this assignment yesterday to students so that they would have the opportunity to prepare for their final.  Many students eagerly jumped into starting the assignment by creating their planets ahead of time.  Since part of this assignment encourages students to collaborate, many are actively sharing their creations and generating many creative ideas with other classmates.  Currently there is a lot of active engagement with students in the class about other space phenomenons such as asteroid belts.  I will be eager to see how the final assignments turn out in the end.

What I love about this exam format is that it is truly 21st Century.  There is no standardized, best selection questions (multiple choice) or required essay questions.  Students must show me what they have learned and illustrate a scientific concept.  They have been encouraged to collaborate the entire semester with each other and they are actively doing it this morning.

I also like that students have a clear rubric to follow and know what is required in order to get a certain grade.  I have found that my students do better by setting a standard set of expectations as a high B and then giving them the opportunity to earn extra points to get an "A," hence the grading rubric reflecting a 90 for the basic requirements.  While some students will be happy to get the 90 and not push themselves, other students will really push themselves to go further and beyond.  As a result, creativity will flow and students will create something extraordinary.

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Final Exam For Virtual Reality

In this final exam, you will use Maxon to construct a replica of the solar system.  Pay attention to the rubric below.


In order to get a 90 on the final exam, your submission must include the following:

• A sun in the center of the universe
• 8 Planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune) in the correct order
• The 8 planets should orbit around the sun (they should be moving in orbit in your final animation)

Give each planet a color using the following guide:

• Mercury - Purple
• Venus - Brown
• Earth - Blue
• Mars - Red
• Jupiter - Tan
• Saturn - Green
• Uranus - White
• Neptune - Yellow

The planets should be draw relative to each in size (for example, Jupiter is the largest so it should be larger than the other planets but NOT larger than the sun.  You may need to research the relative sizes of planets in advance)

Your animation should show at least 3 stars randomly placed in your animation (remember that the stars are stationary and do not move)

Submission of Maxon Cinema 4D file and Movie Animation (I need both files)

Saving your final format in the correct form (yourlastname_final_VR  such whitson_final_VR)
Correct knowledge of solar system (are they planets in the correct order, correct relative size to each other, location of sun, etc.)


Extra and Above (if you want a grade higher than a 90):

If you want to have a higher grade, you can earn extra points by incorporating the following into your design:

• Place a texture on the Earth that shows the continents (2 points)
• Add rings to Saturn (2 points)
• Show a moon orbiting the Earth (2 points)
• Addition of Pluto (2 points)
• A moving comet (2 points)