ASTR 161.021: the Sky and Solar System (Summer 2021)

schedule

Tuesday-Thursday, 6:00-9:00 PM, online

office hours

Whenever we can Zoom. Get in touch and we’ll chat.

description

ASTR 161 is an introduction to astronomy with a focus on the sky, our Solar System, and how it compares to other planetary systems. With a little curiosity, imagination, and some mathematical tools, you will understand how we come to know what we know about the universe, not just what we know.

Because this class is qualitative in nature, we’ll understand astronomy primarily in plain English, with the occasional equation to help us understand physical relationships 1.

text and polling

grading

Your final grade will use the TU +/- grading system and will be based on the following:

Component % Total Notes
Celebrations of Knowledge (3) 30% because exam doesn’t sound fun; multiple choice; 10% each
Weekly Quizzes, Online 20% lowest score dropped, the rest are averaged
Classroom Participation 20% your total clicker response score as a fraction of the total points possible
Lab 25% lowest score dropped, the rest are averaged; mandatory for credit
Final Celebration 5% cumulative
Total 100%

celebrations of knowledge

We’ll have three exams celebrations of knowledge, each worth 10% of your final score, plus a final CoK that’s worth 5%. One (1) excused exam absence can be made up. Unexcused exams will receive a zero (0) score. Except in unusual circumstances, two missed examinations will result in failure of the course. Cheating on examinations or any other aspect of the course will result in failure of the course and the reporting of the incident to the Vice President for Student Life.

weekly quizzes

Each week, I’ll assign one or more quizzes on Blackboard. The purpose of these quizzes is to get you to review each week, and not the night before the exam. They may be attempted multiple times, and the highest scoring attempt submitted by the deadline is the one that gets recorded.

At the end of the semester your lowest quiz score is dropped, and 20% of the average of the remaining scores are added to your final score.

classroom participation

We will be using Poll Everywhere to record your responses to clicker questions (see registration instructions on BlackBoard). Each class (and some labs) will feature interactive questions. You’ll have some time to chat with your neighbor to determine the correct response. Points are awarded as follows:

  • Correct: 3
  • Incorrect: 2
  • No response: 0

Responses are imported into Blackboard, and your final score is simply your total number of points as a percentage of the total points possible throughout the semester.

grade scale

The standard breakdown of your final grade will be

A 92.50–100.00 C+ 76.50–79.49
A– 89.50–92.49 C 69.50–76.49
B+ 86.50–89.49 D+ 66.50–69.49
B 82.50–86.49 D 59.50–66.49
B- 79.50–82.49 F 0.00–59.49 (but seriously, you really gotta want that F)

Students are expected to read the relevant chapters in the textbook ahead of class, and respond to the online quiz on the subject via Blackboard. This must be completed before 6:00 PM on the day of the next class.

lab

Although mainly designed to compliment what was covered in class, some labs may be used to introduce new topics. Lab experiments will be posted to Blackboard ahead of each session. All lab work is to be completed and turned in at the end of each lab session. Proper grammar is strongly encouraged 2.

Your final lab grade will be the average of all but your lowest-scoring lab and will account for 25% of your final grade. Note that failing the lab will result in an automatic failure of the class.

online course

This course depends upon synchronous online meetings, so you are expected to be “virtually” present for these just as if you were meeting in a regular classroom. You must have a working computer, microphone, webcam, and internet connection.

in the event the student has technical difficulty

Email/text me immediately. Do your best to resolve the issue before class.

in the event the instructor has technical difficulty

If I suddenly disappear, please wait an additional ten minutes before logging off. I’ll be trying to reestablish the connection and/or may be trying to reach an alternate internet connection. If I don’t return after a while, see Blackboard for instructions which will be posted as soon as possible. You are not expected to wait longer than twenty minutes.

webcam policy

I recommend turning it on whenever possible. Not only will this ensure that you actually get out of bed for class, but it will help to recreate some of the classroom environment and feel less like you’re isolated and cut off from the rest of the world.

During labs and certainly while talking to me, please have your webcam on. It would really help me to see who I’m talking to, ‘mkay?

And for crying out loud, dress and appear on camera just as you would if you were coming into the classroom (at least for the bits of you that will appear on camera; feel free to wear your pajama bottoms at your discretion).

If you cannot run your webcam for any reason, that’s okay, but just kindly let me know so I’m not feeling ghosted.

tentative schedule

Every class is different so there’s no way I can guarantee we’ll hit every one of these topics on every one of these dates. But to give you some idea of what to look for and when, here’s a possible schedule we might follow:

Week Topics (with relevant section numbers)
5/24 0. Introduction
1.4 Numbers in Astronomy
1.5 Consequences of Light Travel Time
1.6 A Tour of the Universe
2.1 The Sky Above
2.2. Ancient Astronomy
2.4 The Birth of Modern Astronomy
5/31 4.1 Earth and Sky
4.2 The Seasons
4.3 Keeping Time
4.4 The Calendar
4.5 Phases and Motions of the Moon
4.7 Eclipses of the Sun and Moon
3.1 The Laws of Planetary Motion
6/7 Celebration of Knowledge 1
3.2 Newton’s Great Synthesis
3.5 Motions of Satellites and Spacecraft
4.6 Ocean Tides and the Moon
5.1 The Behavior of Light
5.2 The Electromagnetic Spectrum
5.3 Spectroscopy in Astronomy
5.4 The Structure of the Atom
6/14 5.5 Formation of Spectral Lines
15 The Sun: A Garden-Variety Star
7 Other Worlds: An Introduction to the Solar System
8 Earth as a Planet
9 Cratered Worlds
10. Earthlike Planets: Venus and Mars
6/21 Celebration of Knowledge 2
11. The Giant Planets
12. Rings, Moons, and Pluto
6/28 13. Comets and Asteroids: Debris of the Solar System
14. Cosmic Samples and the Origin of the Solar System
7/5 21.3 Evidence that Planets Form Around Other Stars
21.4 Planets beyond the Solar System: Search and Discovery
21.5 Exoplanets Everywhere: What We are Learning
21.6 New Perspectives on Planet Formation
Celebration of Knowledge 3
7/12 30. Life in the Universe (if the schedule permits)
Final Celebration

conduct

Please come to class prepared to learn. As a courtesy to me and your fellow students, do not read extraneous materials, use the computers for non-class purposes, or fiddle with electronic gadgets while you are in class 3. We can take selfies during breaks.

So turn off your phone—or at the very least, set it to vibrate—when you come into the classroom. Thanks.

diversity

The Department of Physics, Astronomy and Geosciences (PAGS), in accordance with the Fisher College of Science and Mathematics (FCSM) and with the Towson University Strategic Plan, support initiatives that promote diversity among FCSM faculty, staff and students. We are committed to increasing the quality and diversity of our students, faculty and staff while increasing retention and curriculum initiatives. To obtain further information related to diversity initiatives, please visit:


footnotes

  1. Relax, it’s nothing you haven’t done before, and you’ll have plenty of opportunities to break the rust off if you haven’t done any math in a while. We’re talking basic algebra and below so don’t stress.
  2. Oddly enough, the easier it is for me to actually read your lab, the easier it is for me to grade it. I know, weird, right?
  3. Except when using clickers, in which case fiddle away.