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"Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the life-long attempt to acquire it." — Albert Einstein
Astronomy (4°) 4th Quarter 2005-06
Most recent update May 29, 2006 11:54 AM
Schedule
- Week of Tuesday, March 14th: Begin unit on the Solar System, Planets, and Extrasolar Planets (short week)
- Day 1
- I'm going to begin collecting homework again for the first month of this quarter
- Introduction to the solar system presentation
- Reading HW: Chapter 7-1 through 7-3 (make notes for reading quiz on Day 1 of next week)
- Internet HW: Check out the Nine Planets
- HW: Ch 7 #s 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 HW Packet A
- Day 2
- Watch BBC: The Planets: Different Worlds [1st half]
- Reading HW: Chapter 7-4; pay particular attention to Box 7-2, which is two pages long; (make notes for reading quiz on Day 1 of next week)
- HW: Ch 7 #s 8, 9, 42 (using Starry Night) HW Packet A
- Day 3
- Watch BBC: The Planets: Different Worlds [2nd half]
- Lecture: the role of ice (water, methane, and ammonia ices) in the formation of the solar system
- Reading HW: Chapter 7-5 through 7-8 over weekend (finish Ch 7) ; (make notes for reading quiz on Day 1 of next week)
- HW: Ch 7 #s 13, 14, 15, 34 and check out last year's Ch 7 quiz HW Packet A
- Day 1
- Week of Monday, March 20th: Comparative Planetology
- Day 1
- Happy Vernal Equinox
- (short) Ch 7 reading quiz (notes allowed)
- In-class work: Ch 7 #s 23 & 24 (asteroid collisions)
- Reading HW: Chapter 8-1 through 8-3 (take notes)
- HW: Ch 8 #s 1, 2, 3, 4 HW Packet A
- Day 2
- HW Packet A due
- Watch BBC: The Planets: Terra Firma [1st half]
- Reading HW: Chapter 8-4 and 8-5 (take notes)
- Internet HW: Check out Google Mars and make a rough sketch of the major altitude fluctuations (mountains, valleys, plains) of the planet. Then draw a more detailed sketch of Olympus Mons (Mount Olympus) which is the largest mountain/volcano in the Solar System. HW Packet B
- HW: Ch 8 #s 6, 7, 10 HW Packet B
- Day 3
- Watch BBC: The Planets: Terra Firma [2nd half]
- Reading HW: Chapter 8-6 (extrasolar planets!) (take notes)
- HW: Ch 8 #s 12, 15, 16, 32 HW Packet B
- Thursday morning: one group member from your Science Faire project needs to come by the Old Gym before school to set up your project
- Day 4
- Thursday morning: one group member from your Science Faire project needs to come by the Old Gym before school to set up your project
- !! !!!! ! Science Faire 4th and 5th periods! !!! !!!
- In-class work: Ch 8 #s 26 & 27 (protoplanetary clouds)
- Reading HW: Chapter 9 including the material at the start by Geoff Marcy
- HW: none (to give you time to read all of Chapter 9!)
- Day 1
- Week of Monday, March 27th: Earth
- Day 1
- [BJP out] (short) Ch 8 reading quiz (notes allowed)
- Reading HW: begin Ch 10 (finish by Day 1 of next week)
- HW: Ch 9 #s 6, 8, 9, 22 HW Packet C
- Day 2
- HW Packet B due
- Earth in a nutshell
- Tectonic planets, convection, continential drift
- Coriolis forces and storm systems
- Human influence on the biosphere
- time permitting, begin Carl Sagan video: Who Speaks for the Earth?
- Reading HW: Ch 10 (finish by Day 1 of next week)
- HW: Ch 9 #s 42, 44 HW Packet C
- Day 3
- [guest lecture: terrestrial planets]
- Reading HW: Ch 10 (finish by Day 1 of next week)
- HW: Ch 10 #s 6, 22, 38, 42 HW Packet C
- Day 4
- Watch Carl Sagan video: Who Speaks for the Earth?
- Reading HW: Ch 10 (finish by Day 1 of next week)
- HW: study for Earth & Moon quiz on Day 1 of next week
- Day 1
- Week of Monday, April 3rd: Mars & Venus
- Day 1
- Quiz on Earth material from last week and Chapter 10 (notes allowed!)
- I figured it out! The whale song is in the show The Persistence of Memory; we'll watch the appropriate part in class
- Reading HW: Ch 13-1 through 13-4 (take notes!)
- HW: Ch 13 #s 4, 10 & bring coloring materials this week for Mars sketching project!! HW Packet D
- Day 2
- HW Packet C due!
- Mars surface terrain sketches (using butcher paper and projector) -- 15 minutes per group / groups of 3 or less
- Reading HW: Ch 13-5 through 13-8 (take notes!)
- HW: Ch 13 #s 14, 16, 18, 28 HW Packet D
- Day 3
- Mars surface terrain sketches
- Work Ch 13 #s 62 & 63 in class using the computers in the lab room HW Packet D
- Reading HW: Ch 12-1 through 12-3 (take notes!)
- HW: Ch 12 #s 8, 10 HW Packet D
- Day 4
- Day 1
- Week of Monday, April 10th: Terrestrial Satellites (short week)
- Day 1
- BRING QUESTIONS for our guest: Dr. Peter Raven
- If we run out of questions, we'll take a quiz on Chapters 12 & 13, with notes allowed =)
- Reading HW: Ch 15-1 through 15-4 (take notes!)
- HW: decorate Mars poster
- Day 2
- Work on Mars poster
- Reading HW: Ch 15-5 through 15-10 (take notes!)
- HW: decorate Mars poster
- Day 3
- Hang Mars poster!!!
- Exam on Terrestrial Planets and Satellites covering material from reading, homework, etc. No notes for this one.
- Reading HW: over break, read Chapters 14 & 16 (take notes) with Reading Quiz upon return
- Day 1
.....EASTER BREAK!.....
- Week of Monday, April 24th: Jovian Planets and Ice Giants
- Day 1
- Ch 14 & Ch 16 Reading Quiz, notes allowed
- Time permitting ... begin BBC: The Planets: Giants (take notes)
- Reading HW: none
- HW: Ch 14 #s 1, 11, 53 & check that you have access to Starry Night for the rest of this week's homework
- Day 2
- Finish BBC: The Planets: Giants (take notes)
- Reading HW: none
- HW: Ch 14 #s 68 & 69 (you'll need to use Starry Night for this)
- Day 3
- In-class group work: Ch 14 #s 37 & 51; Ch 16 #s 19, 32, 42 & 43 due at end of period tomorrow
- and/or begin project below
- Reading HW: begin Ch 17
- HW: Ch 16 #s 51, 52 & 53 (you'll need to use Starry Night for this)
- Day 4
- Solar System Simulator: form small groups (3 or less) and begin collaborative construction of a power-point presentation that uses this website to give students a 'grand tour' of the solar system. The simulator can be used creatively: you can find Io as seen from Europa, etc. By playing around with dates and times you can even create eclipses & such that will be quite powerful. We'll work on this presentation more next week, so you do not have to finish today. Shoot for completion of the terrestrial planets by the end of today.
- In-class group work due
- Reading HW: finish Ch 17 over weekend
- HW: reading only this weekend
- Day 1
- Week of Monday, May 1st: Vagabonds and Extraterrestrial Life (Chapters 17 & 30)
- Day 1
- Video: BBC Planets "Life Beyond the Sun"
- Reading HW: begin reading Ch 30 (finish by Day 4)
- Day 2
- Finish "Life Beyond the Sun"
- Reading HW: continue reading Ch 30 (finish by Day 4)
- Day 3
- Work on Solar System Simulator project, due Day 1 of next week
- Reading HW: continue reading Ch 30 (finish by Day 4)
- Day 4
- Quiz postponed until next week
- Work on Solar System Simulator project, due Day 1 of next week
- Day 1
- Week of Monday, May 8th: Astrophysical Journal Club
- Day 1
- PPT project due today by e-mail. Please include your name in the file name.
- Wish Tom well on his AP Physics C exam today!
- Reading Quiz for Ch 17 & Ch 30 (notes allowed)
- Day 2
- Distribute astrophysical journal papers (two per student) & commence paper-swap
- Read through paper 1 in class
- HW: fill out a paper analysis sheet for paper 1, to turn in on Day 3
- Day 3
- Turn in paper analysis sheet
- Paper analysis; prepare lecture for your small group on Day 4
- Remember to consult search engines online, consult your textbook, and ask me questions!!
- Day 4
- Here's the pre-print archive: http://xxx.lanl.gov
- Short person-to-person lectures in small groups regarding one of your papers
- Day 1
- Week of Monday, May 15th: Astrophysical Journal Club (short week)
- Day 1
- Final exam questions PART 1 (updated Monday 5/15)
- Read through paper 2 in class
- Nominate two students for the St. Ignatius Astronomical Society prize (the first in astrophysics, the second in astronomy education)
- HW: fill out a paper analysis sheet for paper 2, to turn in on Day 3
- Day 2
- Final exam questions PART 2 (updated Monday 5/16)
- Paper analysis; prepare lecture for your small group on Day 3
- Remember to consult search engines online, consult your textbook, and ask me questions!!
- HW: continue final exam preparation
- Day 3
- Announce winners of the SIAS prize(s)
- Turn in paper analysis sheets (both papers)
- Short person-to-person lectures in small groups regarding second paper
- HW: continue final exam preparation
- Day 1
- Week of Monday, May 23rd: Astrophysical Journal Club (short week)
- Day 1
- Emily will have a free period. The rest of you need to use the Keck observatory to discover at least 3 extrasolar planets by Tuesday. =)
- HW: continue final exam preparation
- Day 2
- Solar System Power Point tours in Macromedia Shockwave format (.swf) Discussion of Final Exam material; continue final exam preparation
- HW: continue final exam preparation
- Day 3
- Keynote addresses: Paul Zmuda and Tom Shanahan (approx 10 min each)
- Farewell! Sniff!
- HW: continue final exam preparation
- Day 1
FINAL EXAM! Note that seniors with an A in the course (not an A-, sorry) are exempt from the final exam.
Exempt from the final exam are: Jeff C., Tom S., and Paul Z..
Exam will include material from entire semester (50%) and from the astrophysical journal club papers from your group only (50%) and the two keynote addresses.
The first 50% will consist of multiple-choice questions covering Chapters 26 (Galaxies), 27 (Quasars), 28 (Cosmology), 29 (Inflation), 7 & 8 (Comparative Planetology), 9 - 17 (various Solar System chapters), and Chapter 30 (Search for Extraterrestrial Life). The best way to review initially is to go through the questions that begin each chapter and make sure you understand them. I'm available if you have any questions. The next thing you should do is go through all the quizzes we took this semester and make sure you can do them. The multiple choice questions will be based on (1) the problems at the start of each chapter and (2) the problems on the quizzes we already took. You could also look at last year's final exam.
The second 50% will be free response. You've seen the questions already. Be sure to pay attention during Paul and Tom's keynote addresses -- you will also be asked a question or two based on what they are presenting.