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Last Updated: January 25, 2010 4:16 PM

Astronomy

Fall 2009

Schedule

  • Week of Friday, August 28 -- Course Introduction
  • Week of Monday, August 31 -- UNIT 1: INTRO TO ASTRONOMY & THE MOTION OF THE STARS, SUN, & MOON
    • Essential Questions:
      • What do we study in astronomy?
      • Where is the Earth located in the larger universe?
      • What do we see when we look up at the sky?
    • Day 1
      • APOD
      • Introduction to Astronomy
      • HW:
        • Bring money to class to purchase your license for Mastering Astronomy...$20 cash or check (made out to SI Bookstore)
        • Complete the Student Survey I handed out in class
    • Day 2
    • Day 3
      • APOD
      • Astronomical Units
        • Time (t): second (s); minutes (min); hours (hr); days (dy); years (yr)
        • Mass (m): kilogram (kg); earth-mass (M_Earth); solar-mass (M_Sun)
        • Distance (d): meter (m); kilometer (km); mile (mi); earth-radius (R_Earth); solar-radius (R_Sun); astronomical unit (AU); light year (ly); parsec (pc); kiloparsec (kpc); megaparsec (Mpc)
        • Angular Distance (α): degree (°); arcminute ('); arcsecond ('')
      • Astronomical Scaling
      • HW:
        • None but watch videos from class if you didn't already
    • Day 4

     

  • Week of Monday, September 7 -- UNIT 1: MOTION OF THE STARS, SUN, & MOON
    • Essential Questions:
      • What do we see when we look up at the sky?
      • Why are there seasons? Why is there more daylight in the summer compared to the winter?
      • Why does the Moon go through phases? What happens during an eclipse?
    • Monday
      • Labor Day - No School
    • Day 1 - Activity Schedule
    • Day 2 - Activity Schedule
    • Day 3 - Activity Schedule
      • APOD
      • Review Star Wheel
      • Local Observing (pic 1 & pic 2)
        • latitude & longitude
        • zenith & meridian
        • altitude & azimuth
        • horizon
      • Quiz 1.1 - on stuff from last week
      • HW:
    • Thursday Night
      • Back to School Night
    • Friday
      • Mass of the Holy Spirit

     

  • Week of Monday, September 14 -- UNIT 1: MOTION OF THE STARS, SUN, & MOON
    • Essential Questions:
      • What do we see when we look up at the sky?
      • Why are there seasons? Why is there more daylight in the summer compared to the winter?
      • Why does the Moon go through phases? What happens during an eclipse?
    • Day 1 - Meeting Day
      • APOD
      • Begin Annual Motion: Heliocentric & Geocentric - Lecture Worksheet
      • Introduce assignments to be completed this week
      • HW:
        • Begin Appearance & Motion of the Sky - Review (due Day 1 next week)
          • SKIP #s 7, 8, 10, & 11 (we didn't get far enough in class to cover these so we'll do so next week)
        • Bring your Star Wheel to class this week
    • Days 2, 3, & 4
      • I'm Gone on Kairos - your job is to complete the in-class assignments and homework below by the due date listed. Note that many of these assignments are due Friday while the review packet is due Day 1 next week. You'll submit most of these electronically so I'll know if you're making progress each day.
      • APOD
      • In-Class Assignments:
        • Starry Night Student Exercises (due Friday by end of class)
          • Instructions:
            • Open Starry Night
            • Click the "Sky Guide" tab on the left side of the screen
            • Click "Student Exercises"
            • Click "A: Earth, Moon, and Sun"
            • Click "A1: Diurnal Motion"
            • Read everything closely and follow the instructions exactly. There are questions as you go but these cannot be answered within Starry Night, so click on the links below to open a form that allows you to input your answers to the questions. When you're done click "submit" and it will send me your results. Notice that you are not completing all of the exercises from section A, just A1, A5, A6, & A8.
            • A1: Diurnal Motion
            • A5: Celestial Sphere
            • A6: Celestial Coordinate System
            • A8: Year and Season
          • Some of you had trouble getting it to load). If you are unable to load the exercises, send me an email and tell me the problem and which computer you were using; then continue working on another assignment.
        • Star Wheel & Starry Night Worksheet (due Friday to inbox by end of class)
      • Homework:

       

  • Week of Monday, September 21 -- UNIT 1: MOTION OF THE STARS, SUN, & MOON
    • Essential Questions:
      • What do we see when we look up at the sky?
      • Why are there seasons? Why is there more daylight in the summer compared to the winter?

 

 

  • Week of Monday, October 5 -- UNIT 2: ASTROPHYSICS & THE MOTION OF THE PLANETS
    • Essential Questions
      • What do we see when we look up at the sky?
      • How do we explain and predict the motion of the planets?
      • What is gravity?
    • Day 1
      • APOD
      • Exam - Unit 1 - The Motion & Appearance of the Stars, Sun, & Moon
      • HW: None!
    • Day 2
      • APOD
      • Class Challenge
      • HW:
        • None
    • Wednesday Night: Come to our Star Party - meet on the piazza at 7:30 PM & bring your star wheel
    • Day 3 for 6th, Day 2 for 1st
      • APOD
      • Heliocentric & Geocentric Models of the Solar System
      • Starry Night Sky Guide Student Exercise
        • C3: Direct & Retrograde Motion of the Planets
      • Lecture: The Motion of the Planets
      • Begin Lab - Retrograde Motion of Mars (due day 1 when we return from break)
      • HW:
    • Day 4
      • APOD
      • Position of Planets in the Solar System
        • Superior & Inferior Planets
        • Opposition
        • Conjunction (superior & inferior)
        • Elongation (greatest east & greatest west)
      • Starry Night Exercises
      • HW: Continue working on Lab (due day 1 when we return from break)

 

  • Week of Monday, October 12 -- UNIT 2: ASTROPHYSICS & THE MOTION OF THE PLANETS
    • Essential Questions
      • What role did astronomy played in ancient cultures?
      • What astronomical observations & discoveries were made by ancient cultures?
    • Monday
      • No class, midterms: 0, 1, 2, 3
    • Tuesday
      • APOD
      • No midterm
      • In-Class Exercise - Astronomy in Ancient Cultures
        • You will be assigned an ancient culture at the beginning of class
        • Make a single powerpoint slide that includes the following:
          • An example of a role astronomy played in this ancient culture [3 points]
          • An example of an astronomical discovery/contribution from this ancient culture [3 points]
          • At least one meaningful image that connects to the points above [2 points]
          • Nice presentation [2 points]
        • Drop it in your server folder when you are done
      • Work on Lab - Retrograde Motion of Mars
      • HW:
        • Finish Lab (due day 1 when we return from break)
        • Work on Exam corrections
    • Wednesday
      • No class, PSAT & Freshman Retreat
    • Thursday
      • No class, Teacher Inservice
    • Friday
      • No class, Quarter Break

 

 

 

  • Week of Monday, October 26 --UNIT 2: ASTROPHYSICS & THE MOTION OF THE PLANETS
    • Essential Questions
      • What do we see when we look up at the sky?
      • How do we explain and predict the motion of the planets?
      • What is gravity?
    • Day 1
      • APOD
      • Begin Lab - Orbit of Mercury (due Day 4 next week but I'll be checking for progress on Day 4 this week)
      • Quiz 2.1 - Kepler's Laws
      • HW:
    • Day 2
      • APOD
      • Work on Lab - The Orbit of Mercury
      • HW:
        • Continue working on Lab - Orbit of Mercury (due Day 4 next week but I'll be checking progress on Day 4 this week)
    • Day 3
      • APOD
      • Newtonian Astrophysics - Notes & Worksheet
        • Newton's 3 Laws of Motion
        • Newton's Law of Gravity
          • Gravitational Acceleration
          • Escape Velocity
          • Orbital Velocity
      • HW:
        • Finish front of worksheet from class (skip parts d)
        • Continue Lab - The Orbit of Mercury (due Day 4 next week but I'll be checking progress on Day 4 this week)
    • Day 4
      • APOD
      • Tidal Forces
      • Newton's Form of Kepler's 3rd law
      • Check Progress on Lab
      • HW:
        • Finish Worksheet we've been doing in class
        • Continue Lab - The Orbit of Mercury

 

  • Week of Monday, November 2 -- UNIT 2: ASTROPHYSICS & THE MOTION OF THE PLANETS
    • Essential Questions
      • What do we see when we look up at the sky?
      • How do we explain and predict the motion of the planets?
      • What is gravity?

 

 

 

 

 

  • Week of Monday, December 7 --UNIT 3: THE SOLAR SYSTEM & PLANETOLOGY
    • Essential Questions
      • What is a planet? Why is Pluto no longer considered a planet?
      • Why is the Earth hospitable to life? Could life exist on other planets or their moons?
      • Why are some planets large while others are small?
      • Are there planets orbiting other stars? Are any of them similar to the Earth?
    • Day 1
    • Day 2
    • Day 3
      • APOD
      • Astronomy Survey
      • Work on Planetology Database
      • HW:
        • Study for Exam
    • Day 4
      • APOD
      • Exam 3 - The Solar System & Planetology
      • HW:
        • Read about the Titius-Bode Law. This will come up on the Excel Portion of the Final Exam
        • Begin Studying for Final Exam
        • Finish Planetology Databse
        • Finish any missing work (Monday is last day to turn it in for partial credit)

 

  • Week of Monday, December 14 -- Final Exams
    • Monday - Activity Schedule
      • APOD
      • Due Today
        • all overdue missing work
        • Planetology Database
      • FINAL EXAM - Part 1 - Lab Component
    • Friday 10:05 - 11:35 in beta lab
      • FINAL EXAM - Part 2

 

Second Semester



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