science

What's Going On up There?

What's Going On up There? is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand What's Going On up There? rather than just read about it. In short: What's going on up there? is a one-hour documentary film by Maryanne Galvin that explores the topic of why space and space exploration is important from a number of perspectives, by considering the question "What's going on up there?" Featuring a voice introduction by Leonard Nimoy and interviews with scientists and scholars at MIT, Yale, Sydney University, and UC San Francisco, attorneys, authors, entrepreneurs, ec…

Key takeaways

What's Going On up There? belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect What's Going On up There? to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of What's Going On up There? from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

What's going on up there? is a one-hour documentary film by Maryanne Galvin that explores the topic of why space and space exploration is important from a number of perspectives, by considering the question "What's going on up there?" Featuring a voice introduction by Leonard Nimoy and interviews with scientists and scholars at MIT, Yale, Sydney University, and UC San Francisco, attorneys, authors, entrepreneurs, economist, environmentalists, filmmakers, youngsters and average citizens—even a college student in Kuwait who wants to be the first Muslim woman in space—the documentary offers conversations on all sides of the space debate.

Awards and festival screenings In competition at:

the Beverly Hills HD Film Festival on December 31, 2006, LA, California; San Diego International Children's Film Festival, April 22, 2007 Balboa Park The Delray Beach Film Festival, March 17, 2007 DC Independent Film Festival, Washington DC, March 5, 2007 Yuri's Night April 13, 2007 at NASA-Ames, Mountain View, California IndieCan Film Festival, Toronto Canada May 10–12, 2007

External links

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with What's Going On up There?

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what What's Going On up There? claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to What's Going On up There? before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about What's Going On up There? ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of What's Going On up There?

In research: What's Going On up There? appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses What's Going On up There? in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: What's Going On up There? is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2006 American films, 2006 English-language films, 2006 Japanese films, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for What's Going On up There? outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “What's Going On up There?” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study What's Going On up There? in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what What's Going On up There? means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain What's Going On up There? out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is What's Going On up There? in simple terms?

Why does What's Going On up There? matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study What's Going On up There??

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on What's Going On up There?.