Astronomy 1010Fall_2015

Day-2Planetary Astronomy

Course Announcements• Smartworks Practice: Due Fri. (Aug. 28)• Smartworks Chapter 1: Due Wed. (Sep.

2)

• Read Chapter 1 (if you haven’t already)• Read Chapter 2.1, 2.2• Physics Dept. picnic – Friday – come by

the office for details.• Still time to register for ASTR-2010 –

Problems in Planetary Astronomy• 1600-1700 Wednesdays, E-118

• Introduction to Observational Astronomy• 1830-2130 Wednesdays, B-310

Home Work - 1• Between now and class time on

FRIDAY. Turn in Friday at class time:• Go outside, at night, and look at the

sky. Try to avoid street lights. Sketch what you see.

• Bright stars, the moon (show phase), and some “local” landmarks.

• 1-3 hours later, repeat.• What changed?

i-Clickers• We WILL use i-Clickers this semester.• I know they are back ordered, but

should be in soon.

• I will start registering them next Monday.

GradingExams 35%Final 5%

A…90 – 100%F…<50%B…80 – 89%C…67 – 79%D…50 – 66%

Labs 25%Observations 10%In-class Participation 15%Homework 10%

Exams

Regular ExamFinal Exam

Exam 4: a regular exam (~30 MC + 1 SA)Covering the chapters after Exam 3

PLUSFinal Exam: five essays worth 10 pointseach over the rest of the semester~30 Multiple Choice worth 3 points each1 Essay or problem worth ~10 points

Sample questions will be posted.

ObservationsYou Must Attend a 1st Quarter

Nightand

Then write an Observations ReportGrading:If you do not attend a 1st Quarter night, your Observations Reports will only be worth half the maximum!

First Quarter Attendance 3%Dark Sky Night Attendance 3%Observations Report 4%

A Dark Sky Night

In-class ActivitiesMany class meetings will have some type of in-class activity. Among the different types of activities will be short quizzes, worksheets out of Lecture Tutorials for Introductory Astronomy, five-minute essays, multiple choice Colored Card questions, ranking tasks and comment cards. Days which have activities will be chosen at random. The Lecture-tutorial workbook will be collected at each exam and graded for completeness. The workbook will count for 2/3 the in-class grade (that’s 10% of your total grade!).IF YOU HAVE A USED WORKBOOK, TAKE IT BACK AND GET A NEW ONE! YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE ANY CREDIT FOR WORK DONE IN A USED WORKBOOK!**If your “used” workbook has no writing at all in it, bring it to me and I will approve it for use. If it is not approved by me before you turn it in you will not receive any credit for it.

HomeworkHomework will be assigned by chapter and will be due on the day of the first class meeting following the completion of a chapter. Most of the homework will be done online using the SmartWork system run by the textbook publisher. There may also be exercises handed out in class which will be due at the beginning of the next class meeting.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: The SmartWork enrollment key for this class is

ASTRO4E8567See handout for how to set-up your SmartWork account

All caps, no blank spaces

LabsYOU MUST ENROLL IN THE LAB TO GET

CREDIT FOR THE COURSE!A separate syllabus for the lab will be handed out by your lab instructor at your first lab meeting.

For this class, Drs. Buckner, Little, and Mendez will be the lab instructors.

You will get the same grade in lab that you get in

lecture!

Make sure you heed the late penalty!

Other “Stuff”Disability PolicyAny student that has a condition that may affect his/her academic performance is encouraged to make an appointment with me and with Disability Services to discuss the matter. The discussions should take place well before the first exam.

Academic & Classroom MisconductStudents must read the “Code of Student Conduct” in the new Student Handbook for an understanding of what will be expected of them within the academic setting.

The use of cell phones in class is not allowed. If you are caught using a cell phone in class you will be excused from the class aned receive zero credit for the day.

PUT YOUR CELL PHONE ON VIBRATE AND STORE IT AWAY FOR THE DURATION OF CLASS!!!

A Bit About Moi

IntroductionTo understand the origins of our

planet, we need to understand how our solar system & galaxy formed.

To understand how life formed, we need to understand the chemical evolution of the galaxy and the universe.

This course in a Nutshell, We Have to Explain

How to go from a gaseous nebula …

Through a series of steps …Form a Universe,Form galaxies and stars,Form Planets,Evolve Life,And end up with …

… This

We Live in a Strange Universe

So, Let’s Get Started

What Is A Planet?1) It orbits the central star of the

system.

2) It has to have sufficient mass to self-gravitate to a sphere.

3) It has to have cleared its orbit of “debris”

Classes of Planets1) Terrestrial – Mercury, Venus,

Earth, Mars2) Gas Giants – Jupiter, Saturn3) Ice Giants – Uranus, Neptune4) Ice Dwarfs (Plutoids) – Pluto, Eris,

Sedna, Makemake, …

Powers of 10

Zoomable

Why we will be doing stuff other than lecture in class

From How People Learn:“Students enter your lecture hall with preconceptions about how the world works. If their initial understanding is not engaged, they may fail to grasp the new concepts and information that are taught, or they may learn them for the purposes of a test but revert to their preconceptions outside the classroom”How People Learn, National Research Council, National Academy Press, 2000

Active Learning

Active learning is when students take active responsibility for participating in and monitoring of their own learning by engaging in critical reasoning about the ideas presented in the class. In other words: you must do it, you won’t learn it if I just tell it to you