Course Guide
For:
1 credit hour
Instructor: Ryan Wolfe
Office location: Science and Technical Bldg. Room S-209A
Phone: 312-4209
E-mail: ryanwolfe@sjrcc.edu
Spring 2005 Office Hours:
TBA
Course Title: Introduction to Astronomy Laboratory
Course Number: AST 1002L
Course Credit: 1 hour
Prerequisites: none
Corequisites: Introduction to Astronomy (AST 1002)
Course Description: Introductory astronomy lab course designed for all majors with limited experience in astronomy. The focus of this lab is designed to complement the introduction to astronomy course to introduce the great ideas of astronomy to those that have limited science knowledge. You will be introduced to many scientific ideas and theories along with their social and philosophical impacts. The class will meet once a week.
Pre-requisites and Co-requisites: This is an introductory science lab course and as such you need not have any previous science lab classes.
· None: all assignments will be
handouts
Grading System and Course Requirements.
Grading Scale – A grading scale of 90% and up will be an A, 80 % to 89% will result in a B, 70% to 79% will yield a C, 60% to 69% is a D, and 59% and below is a F. Your grade for the course will be composed of the following: lab participation, quizzes, laboratory activities.
Participation: 10%
Quizzes: 40%
Lab activities: 40%
Lab Final: 10%
Participation: You will receive points during each laboratory activity relative to active participation in that week’s lab. The points will be added and distributed at the end of the semester.
Quizzes: A weekly quiz will be given each week. The material for the quiz will only cover lab activities that we have completed.
Lab Activities: Upon completion of each lab I will review your work and assign points based upon the outcome of your lab.
Lab Final: A final exam will be given at the end of the semester, which will cover the information presented during the semester.
Course Policies
There will be no make up labs. If you must miss a lab, I will allow you to write a research paper, about 1 to 2 pages, covering a topic that I will give you. If the report is satisfactory, I will replace the points you missed with the points from the paper. If you miss any additional labs, you will automatically miss the points relative to the quizzes and lab activities.
|
Lab # |
Lab Title |
|
1 |
Conversion between Scientific and Decimal Notation |
|
2 |
Graphs, Slopes, and Rates of Change |
|
3 |
Latitude, Axial Tilt, and Length of Day |
|
4 |
Angular Size |
|
5 |
Orbital Motion of a Planet |
|
6 |
Kepler’s Laws and Orbits of Moons |
|
|
Star viewing |
|
7 |
Celestial Coordinates |
|
8 |
Circumpolar Stars |
|
9 |
Stellar Parallax |
|
12 |
Visual Binaries |
|
|
Spring Break |
|
13 |
Eclipsing Binaries |
|
|
Final |
(I reserve the right to alter this syllabus during the semester as time or needs allow.)