GCSE Astronomy coursework

Hello! I took gcse astronomy a couple of years ago, so can let you know what I remember but since my teachers submitted the actual work for us, I can’t comment on the exact process of submitting and marking etc.
It is compulsory to complete at least two of the observation projects on the website you provided (note it’s helpful to cross reference the titles with those on the actual specification as I think one or two have changed over the years). One must be aided (with a telescope/online telescope) and one must be unaided (naked eye). You don’t have to provide physical evidence of you doing these, but submit a document with the sections outlined in the documents on the website (your plan, photos/observations, analysis and conclusion). Make sure to put lots of detail into these as I think the examiners can be strict sometimes. Also note the coursework doesn’t contribute to your final grade (bit weird ik) but you must pass it to take the exams/pass if I remember correctly.
I will also add I think it’s a good idea to do the shadow stick experiment at some point, as it’s commonly mentioned in exams, so it is good to get practice with the maths involved+graphs! Also my teachers recommended doing one or two extra for practice+ in case one of the ones you submit is rejected for whatever reason.
Good luck and I hope this gives you a slighter clear idea, let me know if you have any more specific qs and I’ll try my best to answer if I can!

Thank you!
Unfortunately I don't have a telescope but I do have a camera that I've taken deep sky images with e.g. M45 but I'm not sure if that counts but that provides the images as proof that I did the practical.
How should I structure the document with the coursework and what do I need to put in it?
I'm thinking about doing the shadow stick practical for the unaided one and either Celestial Events or Messier Objects for the other one.

Hi, a camera is just fine if you can get the detail you want with it! Another option I used was the national schools observatory (Liverpool Telescope) which I believe is free to sign up for/use for students, though you may have to enter your school/college details to register. Try and check it out if you’re able to as it can get some really nice images and has an image processing software that can be interesting to experiment with.
In terms of the document layout, I can give a brief description for what I included for messier objects and shadow stick as these seem closest to your choices:
-four main sections for both- titled design, observations, analysis and evaluation).
-bullet points of what main points to include in each section are on the documents on the website.
-for design, make sure to briefly describe the physics behind the shadow stick experiment, putting in and explaining terms where possible (e.g. mention how time of sun’s culmination changes with longitude, explaining what culmination means). For messier state the aim and the objects you chose to observe and why (e.g I wanted to get observations of different galaxy structures so chose one spiral, one elliptical etc).
-for both explain why you chose your location, days, equipment etc (just put in as much as you can).
-observation section is for photos, labelling, descriptions of conditions (time, how clear, longitude/latitude) or graphs and tables of results in the case of the shadow stick.
-analysis is mainly just the maths for the shadow stick and percentage area where possible. For messier objects I just described how I edited/produced the image and what was visible (like a bright galactic core or dust clouds).
-evaluation- just talk about what worked and how you could improve things or reduce errors. Also include an alternative or extension to the project. For messier objects I also compared all my images to others peoples images (I used the website astrobin to find photos) and said where mine were better/worse.
Basically put in as much detail as you can and give reasons for things even if it seems a bit silly (like I observed in my garden as it’s easy to get to etc).
I hope that helps and isn’t too long, once again ask if there’s anything else as I remember finding it quite confusing even when I had my teachers to help!

Thank you so much! This is actually really useful. If I end up doing Messier objects, for the analysis could I stack the images I take to produce a final image? I'll still add separate shots/sketches in the observation section but I was wondering if I could add a final result.
Also did you need to print the document and give it to your teacher or was it done all online?
I hope I'm not asking too many questions lol

Yeah I think that would work for analysis, just make sure there’s enough worded stuff as well (e.g you could describe how you made the final image). I believe the final work was all submitted online, though we did print it out for our teachers to check though.
I also remembered about a document on the edexcel website with some examples of coursework documents (they certainly aren’t model ones, but they have feedback below and show the general layout):
https://qualifications.pearson.com/content/dam/pdf/GCSE/Astronomy/2017/Teaching-and-learning-materials/observational-skills-guide.pdf
Hopefully that will be useful
Feel free to ask anything else, I remember there being hardly any info online so I’m happy to help.