Study guide - Stellar Interiors Ch.1  (mostly stellar structure - week 5, right after Mechanics Ch.8-9, gravity and Virial)

    A "Jigsaw" approach to teaching and learning, based on Sherry Walton's techniques.

      Physical Systems 1998-99
      with E.J. Zita
    Do steps 1-4 over the weekend. Work through details individually and as a group, and prepare concrete questions to ask Zita on Tuesday.  Prepare material to share with the class on Thursday. 

    NOTICE THAT THESE GUIDELINES ARE DIFFERENT FROM PREVIOUS WEEKS!

    1. Each of you will be asked to read part of the first chapter of Hansen and Kawaler's Stellar Interiors thoroughly so that you can share important information and concepts from that section with a small group. Study guides are provided to help you prepare.

    2. Before reading your section of the text,  read the first set of instructions on your study guide.

    3. Then follow the steps on the your study guide to read, explore, and organize the information in the section for which you are responsible.

    4.  All read carefully: Preface, Preliminaries, and your section.  Also skim the rest of Ch.1

    Find related chapters in the introductory astronomy text, Kaufmann's Universe, and refer classmates to appropriate pages.

      Team 1: 1.1, 1.2  Hydrostatic Equilibrium and An Energy Principle

      Team 2: 1.3:  The Virial Theorem and its Applications (concentrate on applications 1 and 2)  

      Team 3: 1.4:  The Constant-Density Model

      Team 4: 1.5:  Energy generation and transport

    4. Before Monday, work through the study guide completely on your own.  Then meet with your team  to answer each others' questions about the material. Identify hard or unfamiliar parts where you want Zita's help.  Agree on a couple of concrete questions to ask her.  WRITE YOUR QUESTIONS DOWN.

    5.  On Tuesday afternoon, each team meet Zita to discuss your questions and focus.

    6.  After Tuesday's meeting, meet again with your team to plan your respective roles in sharing information with the class. All of you must take an active role in the small group presentation Thursday, so come prepared.

    If you like to talk a lot in front of class, please concentrate instead on encouraging shy teammates to participate more.  If you have not said much in past presentations, try to take  advantage of these opportunities to build your confidence and skill at public speaking.  This should be a safe and friendly group to work with.

    7.  Before Thursday,  get together with another team (1+2, 3+4). Each team should spend about 15 minutes summarizing key information about their section of the text, and answering questions. This is a trial run for Thursday's class.

    Visual aids can be very effective in conveying complicated concepts efficiently. Feel free to be creative about how to share your information.

    8. You will also listen to the other team present their summary. Ask good questions that came up for you when you skimmed their section of the text on the weekend. This will help them design a good presentation for tomorrow.

    9.  Thursday  in class, each team will have about 30+ minutes to present their section, complete with visual guides, and answer questions from the class. Zita will facilitate a synthesis of our understandings, try to answer outstanding questions, and lead us to the next step: introduction to Stellar Evolution.

    10.  Please choose one problem for us to start in class together, and one for HW. 
    Email these to Zita when your team agrees on them.
    In addition to your team's finished study guide, please turn in your individual work on the blank study guide, with different color pen showing what you learned from reading and discussion.

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