ASTR 1104

Spring 2016

Instructor: Mr. Mark Polson

E-mail:

Phone:581-2893

Office hours:225H 5:00 to 6:30 PM MondayandWednesday
or by appointment.

Web Page:
Text:Explorations: An Introduction to Astronomy, Arny and Schneider, 7th

ISBN:9781259676154
Class hours:6:30 – 8:20 PM,Mon.and Wed. in room HH 101 (or DUNCAN 121).

ATTENDANCE POLICY

Refer to “attendance” in the university catalog. Regular class attendance

is highly recommended although not required. Attendance for scheduled exams is

required. There will be NO MAKE-UP EXAMS and no exams will be given early.

GRADING

Points toward the course grade will be apportioned as follows:

4exams600

Final Exam100

Astronomy Connect assignments 200

Assessment exercises100

------

Total Points 1000

Grade Distribution:

87 – 100% A

77 – 86.9% B

60 – 76.9% C

50 – 59.9% D

< 50% F

As the instructor I reserve the right to award letter grades higher than the percentage

earned would guarantee.

The last date to drop the course and receive an automatic “W” is April 6.

After that date the grade will be either “W” or “F” depending on whether you are

passing or failing. You must initiate the withdrawal procedure. I cannot.

Ceasing to attend class without official withdrawal guarantees an “F” as the course

grade. The session ends with a comprehensive final on May 2from 7:15 to 9:15 PM.

EXAMS

Regular exams will consist of multiple choice questions and will be one

hour long. Numerical constants and some formulas will be provided. The final exam

will be comprehensive and will be two hours long. A ScanTron answer sheet is

required for each exam.

HOMEWORK AND QUIZZES

Approximately 10 homework assignments will be given. These assignments

will be due by the end of the class session specified. No homework will be accepted

after this time. The highest 9 homework assignments will be used to compute the

homework grade which allows the student to miss one homework assignment without penalty.

Students are encouraged to work together and discuss homework problems outside of class. However, the homework that is turned in should be your own work and not copied off another’s paper.

Use the following link to register for Astronomy Connect:

ASSESSMENT EXERCISES

Several assessment exercises will be given. Students will analyze a problem and give the answer in essay form. Several astronomy night sessions will be given. Students will be able to view objects through a telescope.

University Policy:

Cameron University discourages lecture and/or laboratory attendance by any person not enrolled in the course. Included are student’s friends, student’s spouses, and student’s children. Tobacco product use is not allowed in any building on Cameron University campus.

Accommodations of Disabilities:

It is the policy of Cameron University to accommodate students with disabilities, pursuant to federal and state law. Students with disabilities who need classroom accommodations must make their requests by contacting the Office of Student Development at (580) 581-2209, North Shepler, Room 314.

Academic Honesty:

Each student is expected to engage in all academic pursuits in a manner that is above reproach. Students are expected to maintain complete honesty and integrity in the academic experiences both in and out of the classroom. Any student found guilty of academic dishonesty will be subject to disciplinary action.

TENTATIVE EXAM SCHEDULE

EXAM NUMBER CHAPTERS DATE

1 1, 2, 4, 5, Essay 1Feb 3

2 6 – 10, Essay 2Mar 2
3 11 – 13Mar 30
4 14 – 16Apr 18

Final Comprehensive (1 – 17)May 2

Our study of astronomy will focus on a few basic things: We live in a big universe that is described by a small set of rules; those rules are knowable; and that through the process of science the rules can be determined. Or can they? Are the rules the same everywhere?

Obviously, along with content (factual information), astronomy, as a course, embodies the following as science education goals:

  • the nature of scientific understanding which includes ways of knowing (e.g., What are the characteristics of Jupiter’s interior?); collection, organization, and classification of data or information (e.g., Describe the characteristics of the solar nebular hypothesis.); discovering laws, models, theories (e.g., What evidence supports the Ptolemaic theory of the universe? Is the Big Bang a theory?); the limits of scientific knowledge (e.g., Can one successfully predict the age of the universe?); and the vocabulary and terminology of science (e.g., What is a supernova?). The nature of science provides opportunities to students to experience scientific inquiry.
  • integrative concepts which includes change and evolution (e.g., Describe the

Sun’s life and death cycle.); scale and proportion (e.g., How old is the

universe? How far away is Rigel?); causality and consequences (e.g., How does

the elliptical shape of the earth’s orbit affect the seasons?); and dynamic

equilibrium (e.g., Describe stellar structure. What prevents a mature star

from neither collapsing or expanding?).

o the context of science which includes historical, cultural, and intellectual

contexts of science using the discipline of astronomy; along with the political,

social, ethical, and economic dimensions of science illustrated using astronomy

(Why does the number of inhabited worlds we might hear from depend on how

long civilizations survive at a technological level? economy? social issues?

politics? etc.?). Astronomy crosses disciplinary boundaries and involves several

decision-making disciplines.

An astronomy journey to the cosmic frontier allows individuals to “step out into space” and begin to conceive the sheer vastness of the universe. The most comprehensive models of Universe processes are the Earth as a planet and the Sun as a star. From the dawn of time, skywatchers have projected images of their own imaginations and inventions onto the stars. Reviewing the history of the universe also illustrates how the scientific process works and how scientists (and you!) propose hypotheses, gather information, discard ideas, and modify ideas, experiments, and hypotheses to support existing knowledge. Also, students are introduced to some of the newer technologies which include the Hubble Space Telescope and gamma-ray observatories.