Syllabus for ASTR 1304
Solar System Astronomy
Class # 39290 1:25 - 2:40 Tuesday and Thursday
Instructor: James (Jim) Heath
Office Hours: Rio
Grande Room 338 MW 9:30 – 10:30 AM
MW 4:00 – 4:30 PM
Northridge Portable T-Th 2:45 - 4:00 PM
Friday Afternoons by appointment
Office Phone: 223-3295
E-mail: jheath@austincc.edu
Class Website: http://www2.austincc.edu/jheath
(click on “The Starry Site”)
Text: Astronomy
Today , 6th
Edition by Chaisson and McMillan (Prentice Hall)
We will only be using Volume 1: The
Solar System
Course Overview:
After an introduction to some basic
terminology, we shall discuss the history of astronomy, from Plato to Isaac
Newton. In this sense, the history of
astronomy is essentially the history of science itself, and we shall view this
history in the context of the development of the Scientific Method, a technique
that is the cornerstone of modern science.
Basic laws of physics will be introduced and discussed which we will be
returning to time and again.
That done, we will indulge in a
guided tour of the planets of our Solar System, beginning with the Earth as a
planet. Then we will discuss the other
"Terrestrial Planets": Mercury, Venus, and Mars. We will focus on how the planets are similar,
how they are different, and why.
Moving to the outer part of the
System, we shall explore the "Jovian Planets": Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Again, comparison and contrast of these
bodies will be a key topic. Distant
Pluto will be our last, and then we will talk about the lesser inhabitants of
the solar system: asteroids, comets and
meteors. We will then sum up all that we
have explored and try to arrive at a sound theory about how the Solar System
came to be.
After an entire semester of trying
to portray the Earth as just another ball of rock, at the end of the class we
will remind ourselves of the real reason why Earth is unique. We will discuss the origins of life, as well
as the possibility of discovering/contacting extraterrestrial life, both in our
Solar System and Beyond.
Instructional Methodology and Course
Rationale:
This course is a lecture-based course which may include class discussions, demonstrations and student projects. It is an introduction to Solar System Astronomy, providing students with a science course suitable for transfer to a four-year college or university. Therefore, the course will be taught at the university level. The course prerequisites are MATD 0390 (Intermediate Algebra) or one year of high school algebra or the equivalent. One year of high school science is recommended, but not required.
Purpose of this Course:
I've heard it said that the purpose
of education is to give people the ability to tell when someone is "talking
rot" and when they are making sense.
This skill is becoming even more important in the modern day, surrounded
as we are by science and technology.
Con-artists and opportunists are learning to wrap themselves up in
technology to better deceive people: astrologers are starting to carry around
laptop computers, for example. I believe
that science courses should help give people the tools they need to become
"scientifically literate," and be able to evaluate "scientific
claims" in their lives as consumers and voters. It is my hope that this course can serve part
of that purpose.
Goals and Objectives:
The simplest and most obvious goal
for this course is to convey to you the basic concepts of solar system
astronomy. I realize that only a few of
you would even consider a career in astronomy, so this course is not
necessarily "pitched" to future scientists. I hope to be able to give you enough of a
background in the "facts" and theories of astronomy to be able to
understand claims made by astronomers in the popular media,
and maybe even enjoy astronomy as a hobby.
A deeper goal for this course is to
give you practice in "thinking scientifically." In-class material, as well
as most graded activities, are intended to help you improve your
abilities to organize, reason, make conclusions based on evidence, and
otherwise think logically. Other
activities will help you practice other aspects of a scientific mind, such as
creativity, ability to observe, and the practice of examining your own
attitudes and "biases." These
are skills that employers are looking for, and skills a scientifically aware
citizen should have. Everyone has these
skills inside them, and part of my job is to help you sharpen these
skills.
Of course, the most important goal
in this class is to have fun. Astronomy
is an exciting field that is changing every day, and a fun hobby to
pursue. I hope some of my enthusiasm
about science and astronomy will be infectious.
Remember that a lot of the responsibility for this rides on you: you can only have as much fun as you allow
yourself to have. Be involved in the
class! Be energetic!
Grading System:
I.
Tests
To evaluate student progress in the
course, four tests will be given, approximately one every six class days. Each test will be worth 16% of the final
grade, for 64 % total. The tests will
NOT be comprehensive (but there will be certain concepts that will recur
throughout the semester, so don't forget everything too quickly!), and there will
be no final or midterm exams. Exams will
consist of definitions and essay questions, some of which can be chosen from
lists. Since I realize that many
students have "math anxiety," no required essay question will be
mathematical in nature. This math
deficiency will be compensated for on the homework assignments.
The exams will be mostly essay
because I am interested in testing your understanding of the material, not just
your raw knowledge. The
emphasis will be on the ability to analyze (break things apart) and synthesize
(put things together), rather than your ability to memorize facts. Accordingly, I will focus more on whys and
wherefores in my lectures, instead of throwing a stream of trivia at you, which
would bore all of us. However, I do NOT
want my own words regurgitated back at me on the tests. You will be expected to explain things in
your own words, and in plain English. I
also prefer essay questions because I am a believer in partial credit.
Research
Paper – Since anyone can have a bad day, any student wishing to do so may
submit a short paper (approximately 1000 words/five pages) on a topic
appropriate to solar system astronomy.
You must have at least five references.
To insure that only the latest information is used, the references for
the paper are required to be magazine articles from the past five years; no
books allowed. Internet articles may
also be used, but they may not outnumber magazine articles! The grade received on this paper will take
the place of the WORST test grade received during the semester. In the interest of time and sanity (both mine
and yours), please try to decide on a topic and discuss it with me by November
24 at the latest and have it turned in by December 8.
II.
Homework Assignments
In addition, five homeworks will be
given over the course of the semester, each 3 questions in length. Each will be worth 3% of the final grade, for
15% total. As answers will be posted on
the Website the day homeworks are due, no late homework will be accepted. Students are allowed to cooperate on
homeworks, but deliberate copying will be severely punished! I am a great believer in rewarding effort, so
partial credit will be happily given to people who attempt the problems, but
for some reason or another, can't follow through to the end. Thus, I encourage you to show all your work
on the homeworks. Answers without
explanation will receive NO CREDIT!
My philosophy behind homeworks is as
follows. Many times we read a fact in a
textbook, like "the density of Saturn is so small it would float in
water" or "the mass of Jupiter is such-and-such", and blindly
accept it. Such blind acceptance, both
in science and in "real life", is dangerous. The purpose of the homeworks is to get you to
confirm these "facts" for yourselves.
Many of the great computations of astronomy can be done by non-science
majors using high school freshman algebra and a calculator!
High-school algebra is a
pre-requisite for this class, so I will not (and should not be expected to)
take up class time to re-teach it.
Please go over the section of the Website titled “Basic Math"; I
will be glad to discuss it with you during my office hours. I generally discuss homeworks only briefly in
class, but I will happily discuss problems in detail during my office hours,
either in person or on the phone.
Finally, I often hear students
(especially fine arts students) complain that they are not "mathematically
inclined", whatever that means. I
look upon such remarks with the same displeasure as I would look upon a
computer jock's whinings about not being "artistically" or
"linguistically inclined".
Art, mathematics, philosophy, etc., are all integral parts of the human
experience, and the total person should have some proficiency in all of them. Science is not the exclusive purview of fat,
balding, old males with German-sounding names; far too many people that do not
fit this description sell themselves short, just like society tells them
to. Such beliefs are not allowed in my
class. You can all do it!
III.
Opinion Paper
10% of the grade will be determined
by a short (3-5 page) opinion paper. The
purpose of this paper is to motivate you to think about your own attitudes and
feelings towards science, and a chance to be creative in your writing. The topic will be more fully discussed in
class, and details of the paper are on the Website. The Opinion Paper will be due November 24.
I.
Website Summary and Class Participation
For
7% of the grade, I ask students to find a location on the World Wide Web that
is related to astronomy, and tell me about it.
Write a one page summary in your
own words of what’s on the Website, and include a printout of the first
page of the site. The Website that you
review CANNOT be one that is already linked to the class Website! You must find something new! The review is due September 8. Also included in this 7% is your
participation in in-class discussion activities. These might be individual activities
discussed with the whole class or discussions in groups of two or three. You must be in class to get these points; make-ups
will only be allowed for excused absences.
Summary of Grading System:
Tests (4 @ 17% apiece) 68%
Homeworks
(5 @ 3% apiece) 15%
Opinion Paper 10%
Website Review and Class
Participation 7%
Total 100%
Course
Policies:
Attendance – A number of studies in science education have revealed that class
attendance is a very important factor in determining the final grades of
college science students. Attendance is
even more important than the teacher, the textbook, the student’s GPA or even the student’s
IQ! Yet these same studies reveal that
some college students enjoy exercising the “freedom to miss class” that college
affords, and their grades suffer as a result.
Class
time is when you can interact with your fellow students and with the
instructor. More pragmatically, class
time is when you find out what’s going to be on the test! In this class, there will be nothing required
on the test that is not discussed in class.
Conversely, with the exception of a few personal anecdotes and
historical vignettes to add flavor to the class, everything said in class will
be on the test in one form or another.
There is no substitute for coming to class.
Because
attendance is so important to your success in this class, we will have the
following attendance policy:
After FOUR (4) unexcused absences, I reserve the right to withdraw you
from the class without further notice.
Notice
that this doesn’t mean I will automatically withdraw you, merely that I reserve
the right to do so. It is possible
to get an absence excused, by one of two methods:
1.
Producing a documented valid excuse. Valid excuses
include, but are not limited to
a.
Personal illness or other medical
emergency
b.
Illness or death of family member
c.
Loss of transportation (one time
only)
d.
Work conflict (one time only)
e.
Jury duty
f.
National Guard duty
Valid excuses must come with written documentation (doctor’s note, mechanic’s receipt,
etc.) to be counted. It is your
responsibility to provide this documentation, and to notify me as quickly as
possible of your absence, so that I won’t withdraw you!
2.
An adequately detailed outline of
the text reading for the missed class day.
I will be the final arbiter of what constitutes an adequate amount of
detail, and only one rewrite will be allowed per outline.
Attendance will be taken, either verbally, or by
sign-in sheet, during class. Anyone
not in roll is class when roll is called will be counted absent, and must have
a valid excuse (see above) for not being there.
Withdrawals and Incompletes – In compliance with Physical Sciences Task Force Policy, I will not
grant incompletes, except in the most extreme circumstances. In all circumstances, extensive documentation
of reasons will be required. The
withdrawal date for this class is November 23.
You are responsible as an adult learner to withdraw yourself if you
wish.
Scholastic Dishonesty – Standard ACC Policy: Acts
prohibited by the college for which discipline may be administered, including
but not limited to cheating on an exam or quiz, plagiarizing, unauthorized
collaboration with another in preparing outside work. Academic work submitted by students shall be
the result of their thought, research, or self-expression. Academia is defined as, but not limited to
tests, quizzes, whether taken electronically or on paper; projects, either
individual or group; classroom presentations and homework.
A Note on Cheating:
I
expect and demand that everything you do in this class will be your own work. Studies have shown that increasing numbers of
college students think that cheating is acceptable, and it simply is not. Claiming someone else's work as your own is
plagiarism, and both the college and I have a very low tolerance for it. Please take pride in your work, and be
honest. Note that this does not forbid
students from working together. If you
are doubtful about where the line is between collaboration and plagiarism, talk
to me, and we'll work it out before you turn things in.
Academic Freedom – Students
are free to disagree with instructors on matters of opinion or personal
philosophy, and will incur no penalty from doing so. However, instructors will judge student work
based upon its relation to the current state of mainstream scientific fact and
theory.
Student Discipline – Matters of
student disciple will be adjudicated by the instructor on a case-by-case basis,
in conjunction with the Department Chair or Dean. Students will want to consult with the Office
of Student Services or the Assistant Dean at their campus on such matters.
Students with Disabilities – Standard ACC Policy: Each ACC campus offers support services for
students with documented physical or psychological disabilities. Students with disabilities must request
reasonable accommodations through the Office for Students with Disabilities on
the campus where they expect to take the majority of their classes. Students are encouraged to do this three weeks before the start of the semester.
Make-up
Policy – As stated
before, no late homeworks will be accepted.
Tests missed may be made up out of class at times to be arranged if the
student possesses an adequate excuse (illness, death in the family, etc. A sudden urge to go to South Padre is NOT a
valid excuse!). Extensions may be
granted to papers in extreme circumstances.
A Note about
There
is no substitute for reading the book.
Research has shown that one of the keys to learning science is to have
"hooks," called prior knowledge, that give you someplace to
"hang" new knowledge. Your own
life experiences will provide some of these hooks, and I hope you will share
them in class discussions.
Some truths about taking this class:
·
It
is not unreasonable for me to expect you to come to class on time every day
that you are physically able.
·
It
is not unreasonable for me to expect you to take notes in class.
·
It
is not unreasonable for me to expect you to do all the assignments.
·
It
is not unreasonable for me to expect you to read the book.
All
of the above are essential to your learning in this class, or any science
class. You are all adult learners, and I
will treat you like adults, responsible for your own learning. I provide the opportunities; you must provide
the energy. If you think that any of the
above are unreasonable, then you will have a difficult
time in this class!
And
remember, the only really stupid
question is "Who cares?"
Section
1: The Foundations of the Scientific
Method
August 25 Introduction
to course Ch
1 pp 1-8
August 27 Ancient Astronomy Ch 6 pp 146-154
Ch
1 pp 9-19, 29
September 1 Greek Astronomy Ch 2 pp 36-41
September 3 The Renaissance Ch 2 pp 41-45
September 8 Kepler’s
Laws Ch
2 pp 46-51
September 10 Isaac Newton Ch 2 pp 51-59
September 15 More on
September 17 Exploring Space Ch 6 pp 155-161
Ch
8 pp 208-209
September 22 TEST #1
Section 2: The Terrestrial Planets
September 24 The Earth's Atmosphere Ch 7 pp 170-176
September 29 The Earth's Interior Ch 7 pp 177-181, 190-192
October 1 The Earth's Surface Ch 7 pp 181-190
October 6 The Earth-Moon System Ch 1 pp 19-26
Ch
7 pp 192-195
October 8 Exploring the Moon Ch 8 pp 198-222
October 13 The Planet Mercury Ch 8 pp 198-222
October 15 Venus's Atmosphere Ch 9 pp 228-235, 242-247
October 20 Venus's Surface Ch 9 pp 235-242
Mars, the Red Planet Ch 10 pp 250-255,
270-273
October
22 More
on Mars Ch
10 pp 255-269
Section 3: The Jovian Planets
October 27 Jupiter, King o' the
Planets Ch 11 pp
278-289
October 29 Jupiter's Interior
and Magnetic Field Ch 11 pp
289-293
November 3 Jupiter's Attendants Ch 11 pp
293-303
November 5 Saturn Ch 12 pp 306-333
November 10 YOO-ruh-nus
and Neptune Ch 13 pp 336-355
November 12 TEST #3
November 17 Poor Pluto Ch
14 pp 375-380
November 19 The Asteroids Ch 14 pp 358-366
November 24 Comets and Meteors Ch 14 pp 367-375,
380-385
November 26 THANKSGIVING!
December 1 The Origin of the
Solar System Ch 6 pp 161-165
Ch
15 pp 388-408
December 3 More origins: the Earth,
Ch
8 pp 222-225
and Moon and Life
Itself Ch
28 pp 760-767
December 8 Life, the Universe,
and... Ch 28 pp 768-775
December 10 TEST #4
Some Websites you may find useful:
The ACC student handbook can be found at:
http://www.austincc.edu/handbook/.
The web address for student services is:
http://www.austincc.edu/rss/index.htm.
The web address is for Instructional Services is:
http://www3.austincc.edu/evpcss/newsemester/pdfs/ssover.pdf
The Learning Labs have free tutoring. The website is
http://www.austincc.edu/tutor/
|
DUE DATES |
|
|
September
8 |
Website
Review |
|
September
17 |
Homework
#1 |
|
September
22 |
TEST
#1 |
|
October
8 |
Homework
#2 |
|
October
22 |
Homework
#3 |
|
October
22 |
Take-Home
Test handed out to students |
|
November
3 |
Take-Home
Test due |
|
November
10 |
Homework
#4 |
|
November
12 |
TEST
#3 |
|
November
24 |
Opinion
Paper |
|
December
8 |
All
Extra Credit |
|
December
8 |
Homework
#5 |
|
December
8 |
Research
Papers |
|
December
10 |
TEST
#4 |