Sonoma State University Dept. of Physics & Astronomy
Spring 2010 C. Wesley Farriss II
Astronomy 100: Descriptive Astronomy (Section 002)
(This document contains course information for which you are responsible.)
Instructor: C. Wesley Farriss II Email:
Class Meets: T - Th 5:25 – 6:40 PM (do not use campus Email)
Room: Darwin 103 Office Hrs: 2:30 – 3:30 PM T - Th
Darwin 300B(or by appt.)
Course Description:
This is a three-hour lecture survey course covering (but not limited to) Historic Astronomy, Newton’s Laws, gravitation, atomic structure, light, and telescopes. Further, it will cover the solar system, stellar evolution, interstellar matter, star clusters, galaxies, and the evolution of the universe. There are no prerequisites for the course, but students are expected to have an understanding of basic algebra. Students must be able to carry out reading and writing assignments.
Textbook:
The Essential Cosmic Perspective, 5th Ed. – Bennett, Donahue, Schneider, and Voit (Addison-Wesley, 2007). You should buy a new edition of the book. If you buy a used one, then you will have to buy access to the website. This may end up costing more than a new book. If you have inadvertently purchased an earlier edition of the textbook, use it, and sign up for the online access.
Course Structure:
Lecture
The class meets two days a week for lecture. General Astronomy covers a wide range of material. Material covered in lectures will supplement and embellish the reading assignments. Both lectures and reading are necessary to successfully complete the course.
Projects
Students are required to complete assigned projects throughout the semester. Some of these projects can be done working alone, but others will require attending seminars. An essay, a detailed report and a personal observing project will be assigned. All project assignments are required, and will figure in the calculation of your final grade. Late assignments will drop one letter grade for each of the first three class days they are late. Assignments over one week late will not be accepted.
Each Monday afternoon at 4:00 PM the Physics and Astronomy Department host a public talk on some current research topic. The speakers are brought in from other universities nation-wide. This series, called What Physicists Do, has been going for 30 years. Several talks will cover astronomical topics and are a good supplement to the course. Students are required to attend at least one of these talks and write a 1-1/2 page synopsis of it. The write up is due by the end of the next week. The schedule is listed at the Series website. Feel free to attend as many of the talks as you wish. You will receive credit for only one. The talks are currently held in Room 103 of Darwin. If you have a verifiable conflict, see me during office hours.
Reading and Homework Assignments
There will be reading assignments each week that follow the schedule of the lectures. It is imperative that students keep up with the reading assignments. Online homework will be assigned to accompany the course. Access to the homework website is free with a new book. These online exercises will be graded. There are set deadlines for the online assignments and failure to do an assignment prior to this deadline results in a zero.
Exams
There will be 3 exams and a comprehensive final. All these exams are multiple-choice tests, so you must bring a blue scantron form. With the exception of the final, the lowest exam grade will be dropped from the final grade.
If a scheduled exam is going to be missed, make arrangements with me to take it early. Make-up exams after the fact will only be allowed for some unforeseen emergency at my discretion. I will insist on documentation to justify an after-the-fact makeup exam. A first missed exam will count as the dropped exam, but a second would be part of the final grade.
Some Ground Rules
1 Astronomy is a science, namely a self-correcting body of knowledge based upon experimentation, observation, and verification. Since Astronomy is a science, there is no dogma. Learning by rote or “plug and chug” is unacceptable as well. Discussion and questioning are encouraged. If it pertains to the material under study, there is no such thing as a “stupid question” in my class.
2 Be clear in expressing your reasoning while writing. Partial credit is given, but only if the reasoning can be determined.
3 I expect a safe, courteous learning environment. One person talks at a time. Turn off and put away all cell phones, PDA’s, and the like. Computers are permitted during lecture for note taking purposes only. Make certain during exams that cell phones, pagers, Blackberries, and other communication devices are turned off and put away. Failure to do this will, at minimum, result in your exam being confiscated and awarded an “F.”
Grading Policy:
Grades for each assignment and exam follow an absolute scale, not a curve. The grades range from 5 being the highest possible (A-level work) to zero for incomplete work. Examine the grading scale directly below:
Exams Non-exams letter grade
(percent) (points)
87-100 9-10 A
75-86 7-8 B
60-74 5-6 C
50-59 3-4 D
<50 1-2 F
incomplete lower than “F”
Note that plusses and minuses will be given. Note further that incompletes are lower than an “F.” Students put themselves at a huge disadvantage by not turning in assignments. This is important!
The final course grades will be a weighted average from all class activities. The weighting scheme is as follows:
Online Homework 25%
Projects 20%
Exams 30%
Final Exam 25%
This grading scheme illustrates in general the way your grade will be calculated. Keep track of your graded work so that you can use it to check your current grade at any time. Setting up a spreadsheet is an excellent way to do this. I reserve the right to raise a student’s grade slightly above the calculated number based upon classroom participation or notable extra effort by the student. Read the previous sentence again…participation matters. I know we are a huge class at the end of the day, we will still strive for excellence!
Tentative Schedule for the Course:
Bear in mind this is subject to change. Any changes in the schedule (such as: Exam dates) will be announced in class. It is your responsibility to keep abreast of any changes.