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• Course Description
• Course Objectives
• Textbook information
• Course Prerequisites
• Course Expectations: Lectures, Presentations, Attendance
• Homework: How to register for MasteringAstronomy; due dates
• Homework: My Instructions for MasteringAstronomy
• Homework: Practice Quizzes on MasteringAstronomy
• Exam Policy
• Grading Scale
• Course Calendar: includes links to pdf files of class presentations
  

This course is designed to familiarize you with the universe in which we live and with the principles of scientific inquiry that have enabled us to explore and understand that universe.

The textbook is built around 5 themes:

1. We are part of the universe and thus can learn about our origins by studying the universe.
2. The universe is comprehensible through scientific principles that anyone can understand.
3. Science is not a body of facts but rather a process through which we seek to understand the world around us.
4. A course in Astronomy is the beginning of a life-long learning experience.
5. Astronomy affects each of us personally with the new perspectives it offers.

The first part of the course will concentrate on the history and fundamentals of astronomy, including the night sky as seen from the Earth, the apparent motions of celestial objects, lunar and solar eclipses, phases of the moon, the historical development of astronomy, and the nature of light and matter and how they interact. The remainder of the course will discuss the origin and characteristics of our Solar System. We will learn how the planets and sun formed and about the properties of the individual planets and their moons.

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• the scientific method and how we apply it to investigate the universe

• the size and scale of the solar system, galaxies, and the universe

• how the motions of the Earth affect our view of the sky over days, months, and years; including lunar and solar eclipses

• the cause of the seasons

• the basic physical laws that govern the motion of objects, including the planets

• what light is, how it works, and how we use it to study distant objects

• how light and matter interact

• how the solar system was formed and evolved over time

• the properties of the two major classes of planet in our solar system and how and why they are different

• the physical characteristics of the individual planets, including their compositions, atmospheres, and the physical processes that dictate these properties

• when and how life arose on Earth, and the possibilities for finding life elsewhere

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There are no prerequisites for this course.

Lectures: The lectures will follow the chapters of the text as shown in the Course Calendar below; additional materials will also be presented in class. You are responsible for all the material covered in lecture, not just that presented in the text. You will find it of great benefit to have read the assigned chapters BEFORE they are discussed in class; this will enable you to ask questions in class if you do not understand something. You are encouraged to bring a hardcopy of the class presentations to lecture (see the Presentations section, below). You are expected to spend at least as much time studying as you do in class. For more information, click on How to Improve Your Grade on my homepage.

Presentations: Each week, I will post a .pdf file here containing that week's presentation (powerpoint slides) for you to download. These will not be identical to the slides shown in class; you should download the file and bring a hardcopy to class to write on during lecture. There will be fill-in-the-blank areas on the hardcopy, and spaces where you will be expected to fill in information. This is intended to help you learn the material, so you will do well on test days!

My office hours are by appointment. You can contact me via email, or by phone, or ask me after class for an appointment. You are encouraged to come visit me if you are having any problems with the course, or have questions on the material, or any questions about astronomy or physics in general!

Attendance: As you are responsible for any materials or announcements (including exam information, such as change in dates), attending class is to your benefit. Oral announcements made in class are binding and it is your responsibility to find out what has occurred in any class you might miss. Be on time. Arriving late or leaving early will not be tolerated.

ABCD Voting Card: You will be expected to participate in class by "voting" for the correct answer in the multiple choice questions presented during lecture. To do this, print out the ABCD card. This is a PDF file; please print it in color and bring to class each day.

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15% of your course grade will be based on homework assignments available on the online tutorial/homework MasteringAstronomy website at http://www.masteringastronomy.com. Each week's assignment is listed in the Course Calendar, below. You must read my Instructions for MasteringAstronomy for information on how to do the problems and submit them for credit. Information on improving your score is available there as well.

To use the website:

• Obtain an access code by one of the following:
  • Purchase a new text package at the bookstore
    OR
  • Purchase a student access kit only at the bookstore - you can then buy the ebook online
    OR
  • Purchase an access code online: go to www.masteringastronomy.com and click on “New Students" under the "Register" box on the left. Follow the instructions for purchasing an access code online. Click on the second book from the left (Cosmic Perspective 5e; the cover is black and red) and then hit "continue" at the bottom. The access costs $27; you will need a credit card.
    
    
• If you are accessing the site for the first time: click on “New Students" under the "Register" box on the upper left and follow the instructions. You will need to either enter the access code that came with your text or purchase an access code online. If you purchased the text or the access code kit, your code is a six-"word" printed code supplied beneath the pull-tab inside your MasteringAstronomy Student Access Kit. It is valid for registering one student, and is good for 18 months.
  
  • If the tab in this kit has been pulled back, the code may no longer be valid. If you buy a secondhand textbook, any code supplied with it is probably not valid. In either case, you can purchase a Student Access Code online using a credit card.
    
    
• You will need to create a Pearson Education account if you have not used one of their products before. You may use any login name you like and can remember, but where it says to enter your personal information, enter your first name and last name as they appear in Panthersoft. This allows us to correlate your work in masteringastronomy with your work in Blackboard. You may choose anything you like as your login id.

• When you register, make sure you enter your email address correctly. If you forget your password, this is the email address that your password information will be sent to.

• Your Student ID is your Panther ID.

• Once you are registered, your code is valid for 18 months. You won't need to buy another student access code. If you already have a valid registration for MasteringAstronomy (if, for example, you've taken a course using it before), then you do not need to re-register. You do, however, have to add this semester's course using the Course ID, below.

• Accessing this semester's course: You must add this course to have full access to our assignments. To do this:

  • The Course ID for this course is F08AST2003U01. You cannot edit this field after you record it, so please pay very careful attention to the code as shown here.

  • If you register but don't enter the course ID, you will not have access to the entire MasteringAstronomy website, including our specific assignments

Online help for the MasteringAstronomy website: Online help is available under the Help tab on the website, and FAQs are available at www.masteringhelp.com . It includes the information about how to register. You must also read my MasteringAstronomy instructions page.

Due dates: All work for each week must be completed no later than 11:55 pm on Sunday. Assignments and due dates are in the Course Calendar, below.

Late work: You will lose 5% each day an assignment is late. On MasteringAstronomy, this means that after 8 days, you will lose 40% so your homework grade will be below passing; and after 20 days, you will get zero credit.

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5% of your grade will be based on the the Practice Quizzes at MasteringAstronomy. After you have completed the homework for the week, you need to complete the practice quiz assignment. There are three parts: Reading, Conceptual, and Visual. They are multiple choice, and conducted in a tutorial fashion: you are prompted to try another answer if you get one wrong. There is a small deduction for each wrong answer. Hints are available; there is a bonus for each unopened hint however.

To improve your score on the Practice Quizzes: Read my MasteringAstronomy instructions page.

Late Quizzes: As with homework assignments, you will lose 5% each day after the due date; so after 20 days, you will get zero credit for the quiz.

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There will be four non-cumulative, multiple-choice exams given in class. Each exam will be multiple choice questions and will cover the material from the text and the lectures. Each chapter in the text has both a "Big Picture" list of bullet points and a "Summary of Key Concepts" -- these can help guide your review for the exams. The practice quiz assignments from the MasteringAstronomy website that you will do as part of your homework should be of great help in preparing for exams as well.

In addition to the four in-class exams, there will also be an optional, cumulative final exam which may be used to replace one of the four in-class exams. If you take all four in-class exams and the final, I will drop the lowest of your five exam grades. This means that if you miss one of the four in-class exams, you MUST take the final. Each of the four exams that are used is worth 20% of your grade. There will be no make-up exams for any reason.

IF YOU ARRIVE MORE THAN 30 MINUTES LATE FOR AN EXAM, OR AFTER ANYONE HAS FINISHED THE EXAM AND LEFT, YOU MAY NOT TAKE IT.

Anyone caught cheating on an exam or talking after the exams have been handed out will fail the course and be referred to the authorities.

The exams are closed book; no notes.

If you have a conflict and cannot take an exam on the scheduled day, let me know ahead of time and we can arrange an alternative test date.

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Your grade for the course is based on the average of your homework grades, practice quiz grades, and your exam grades as shown here:

Grades are available on the MasteringAstronomy website.

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I understand that there is a Disability Resource Center available to me should I need it. It is my responsibility to contact them to process my request to have my needs met. I need to follow their procedures as to proper notification to the instructor.

Assignments from the text and other resources are listed below for each class session. Students are expected to be pace their learning according to the posted course assignments.

Statement of Understanding between Professor and Student

Every student must respect the right of all to have an equitable opportunity to learn and honestly demonstrate the quality of their learning. Therefore, all students must adhere to a standard of academic conduct, demonstrating respect for themselves, their fellow students, and the educational mission of the University. As a student taking this class:

• I will not represent someone else’s work as my own
• I will not cheat, nor will I aid in another’s cheating
• I will be honest in my academic endeavors
• I understand that if I am found responsible for academic misconduct, I will be subject to the academic misconduct procedures and sanctions as outlined in the Student Handbook

Failure to adhere to the guidelines stated above may result in one of the following:

Expulsion: Permanent separation of the student from the University, preventing readmission to the institution. This sanction shall be recorded on the student's transcript.
Suspension: Temporary separation of the student from the University for a specific period of time.
Failing the course with an F0 grade: An F0 grade is permanent and may not be removed from a student’s transcript.

By taking this course I promise to adhere to FIU’s Student Code of Academic Integrity.

For details on the policy and procedure go to ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT.

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Weeks 1-2
8/25 - 9/06

Our place in the Universe, astronomical terms, scale of space and time, motions of objects in the universe, expansion of the universe

Week 3
9/07 – 9/13

The sky viewed from Earth, seasons, precession, phases of the moon, eclipses, planetary motion viewed from Earth

Chapter 2; part of Chapter S1

Class presentation in pdf format

• Due 9/14

• Read Chapter 2 in the text

• Read section 1 of Chapter S1 (Chapter S1.1)

• On the MasteringAstronomy website:
  • Click on the Study Area tag (lower left); then on Movies. View the first 4 segments of the "Celestial Sphere" movie
  • Do the Chapter 2 Homework
  • Do the Chapter 2 Practice Quiz

Weeks 4-5
9/14 –9/28

Development of scientific thought, Copernican Revolution, Tycho, Kepler's laws of planetary motion, Galileo, the scientific method, astrology

Chapter 3

Class presentation in pdf format

• Due 9/28 - CHANGED

• Read Chapter 3

• On the MasteringAstronomy website:
  • Do the Chapter 3 Homework
  • Do the Chapter 3 Practice Quiz

Weeks 5-6
9/21 – 10/05

Newton's Laws of motion, energy, gravity, orbits, tides, free fall

Chapter 4

Class presentation in pdf format

Weeks 6-7
9/28 –10/11

Week 8
10/12 –10/18

Solar System basics: planets, formation, exploration

History of the Solar System: nebular theory; formation of planets: terrestrial, jovian; asteroids, comets, our Moon; age of solar system

• Due 10/19

• Read Chapter 7

• Read Chapter 8

• On the MasteringAstronomy website:
  • Click on the Study Area tag (lower left); then on Movies. View all 4 segments of the
    "Formation of the Solar System" movie.
  • Do the Chapter 7&8 Homework
  • Do the Chapter 7&8 Practice Quiz

Weeks 9-10
10/19 –11/01

Terrestrial planetary geology: interiors, activity, magnetic fields; surfaces: shaping processes, ages; geology of: Moon, Mercury, Mars, Venus, Earth

Chapter 9

Class presentation part 1 in pdf format

Class presentation part 2 in pdf format

Week 11
11/02 –11/08

Week 12
11/09 –11/15

Week 13
11/16 –11/22

Remnants: asteroids, meteorites, comets, Kuiper Belt objects (includes Pluto); impacts

• Due 11/23

• Read Chapter 12

• On the MasteringAstronomy website:
  • Do the Chapter 12 Homework
  • Do the Chapter 12 Practice Quiz

Weeks 14-15
11/23 – 12/06

Life on Earth and Beyond: Life in the Solar System, Life around other stars, Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence

Chapter 24

Class presentation in pdf format

• Due 12/06

• Read Chapter 24

• On the MasteringAstronomy website:
  • Click on the Study Area tag (lower left); then on Movies. View all segments of the
    "The Search for Extraterrestrial Life" movie.
  • Do the Chapter 24 Homework
  • Do the Chapter 24 Practice Quiz

Final Week
12/08 – 12/12

Optional Cumulative Final
Monday December 8
in CP 151 begins at
9:45 am