Fall week 1 assignments ARE REQUIRED, even though Zita is not here!

Physical Systems 1998-99
with E.J. Zita

Since you're professor-free this week, please read each day's assignments aloud together in class, to make sure everyone is on the same page.  Thank you!  (I've worked hard to get these materials ready for you;  hopefully they are self-consistent.  I trust that you will work together on these assignments - except the math quiz.  I'll be back next week, and will meet you in class on Monday.5.Oct. While the cat's away, the mice get their own group dynamics going...)

PS - Plan on coming up to Seattle for a local physics meeting next Saturday 10.Oct.  It's free, and you can hear about research at other schools and get ideas for your own projects.  You will present your own work at a similar meeting in March... 

Reading for this week:  

• Sagan Ch.1-5
• Scientific Writing Ch 1-14
• Mechanics Ch.1
  
  

Prepare: If you have reviewed your calculus and physics this summer, you'll be better prepared for this quarter.

Start reading:

• Day's Scientific English (finish Ch.14 by Thursday)
• Sagan's Demon Haunted World (finish through Ch.5 by next Tuesday)
• Barger and Olsson's Classical Mechanics (Ch.1 by next Monday)

Do: 1:00-1:30: Learn how to get to the Physical Systems homepage online (courtesy of Brian and James). Browse the links.

1:30-2:00: Listen to Dave Metzler's brief introduction to Web Crossing. (Dave can also tell you about your email account.) Introduce yourself by posting a paragraph to Physical Systems' Introduction folder on Web Crossing.

2:00-2:30: Read others' introductions on Web Crossing, find shared interests with someone you didn't know before today, and then go talk (face to face) with them.

Find someone compatible and trade phone numbers. This is not a commitment to a long-term relationship, but a promise to fill each other in on what you missed, if you ever miss class, heaven forbid.

As a class, post a Web-Crossing note to me (Zita) telling what I missed today.

2:30-3:00: Dave Metlzer will show you how to use inQsit.  Take these online quizzes: (1) personal data, (2) math quiz, (3) web page quiz. Find all the quizzes and get a start, and finish them at your leisure anytime today. If you don't ace the math quiz, use it as a guideline to do some intensive calculus review this week.

Print out the Limericks algebra homework and take it home to work on. Work on these with classmates, and turn in your own solutions next Monday.

Print out the Web quiz.  Fill it out today or tomorrow while you browse the Web pages, discuss it with classmates, and bring it to class next Monday.

Due:
• your introduction in the Web Crossing folder, before 3:00 today
• 2 quizzes via inQsit, by the end of today

Prepare: Read the guidelines on Your Research Projects, carefully and completely, before the library workshop.

Do:

• Morning: Attend the Library Research workshop, ask questions, then stay to practice the tools you are introduced to. Find two new articles on an interesting topic - one that we have on campus, and one that you need to either get electronically (e.g. from LANL) or order from ILL= InterLibrary Loan.
• 1:00-3:00: Attend the CAL introduction and familiarize yourself with some of the tools available on the CAL computers.
• 3:00-5:00: Call security (x0) and ask them to please come unlock the homeroom upstairs (Lab II Rm 2242). Then everyone go look at the boxes of journals I've put up there for you. Browse through the journals and find a couple of interesting articles. Take them home to read more carefully, and
• make a copy of your articles to share. (If you ask Pam Udovich politely, she will let you borrow the Physical Systems copy card for a minute, on the nice copier right outside her office. Please give it back to her right away so other have access to it.)
Due: Send a brief email (SUBJECT: LIBRARY ARTICLES) to Zita telling me what two papers you found this morning at the library, what two articles you like from the journals in the homeroom, and why you chose them.

List the Author, Title, Journal, Date, Page, and one-sentence Summary for each article. That's four articles for you to read later this week (or three, if you're waiting for one from ILL.)

Prepare: Bring the list of interesting articles you found at the library yesterday, and perhaps some good web links that you might return to in your research.  (Remember that web links do NOT count as primary sources for your research - articles from refereed journals are the main thing.)

Do: Attend the Web Authoring Workshop, whether you already have a homepage or not. Put what you like on your homepage (within reason). Make a "research" section on your homepage or link to a new "research" page in your folder. Here you should keep an annotated record of the library articles you've found, and useful research links. You will add to this all year.

Due: Send a brief email (SUBJECT: MY HOMEPAGE) to Zita telling me your URL: the exact address to your homepage (e.g.http://192.211.16.13/individuals/zita/home.htm)
 

Prepare: Finish through Ch.14 of Day's Scientific English, and read the online Writing Rubrics. Also have read at least three of the articles you chose on Tuesday. Be prepared to propose a research topic to the class.

Do:

• Attend the Writing workshop with Tom Maddox, and do the writing exercises.
• Take a brief break...
• Get back together and tell the class your idea for a library research topic.
• Find a classmate you share an interest with, and agree on a candidate library research project. This is not a commitment, just a proposal. We'll talk more about your projects next week.
• Due:
• Send a brief email (SUBJECT: LIBRARY RESEARCH PROJECT) to Zita telling me your candidate topic and team members, and reminding me both of your email addresses. What articles do you like so far, and why? Summarize your favorite article, using good writing techniques.
 

Prepare: Read all about the equipment treasure hunt online. Think about a few options that might be interesting for you. Some descriptions are very sketchy! One of our goals in fall quarter is to flesh out this list of resources, so that we can share them for experiments winter quarter.

Do:

• Meet in the classroom. When everyone is there, count off by fours. Your number will tell you which section of the Mechanics text to concentrate on this weekend. Click here for study guide details (don't worry about this until after the equipment treasure hunt, but be sure to print it out before you leave for the weekend.)
• Everyone tell the class what equipment looks interesting to you (on paper), and why.
• Find a classmate who shares an interest of yours, and agree on a candidate equipment research project. (Consider finding a someone different than your library research partner.)
• Go try to find your equipment and any documentation available on it. Is there anyone around who can teach you how to use it safely?  What is their schedule for training new users?  (Don't assume they can make special appointments for you, especially since there was a lot of turnover in Science Instructional Technicians (SITs) and Lab Stores personnel this summer.)
Due:
• Send a brief email (SUBJECT: CANDIDATE EQUIPMENT RESEARCH PROJECT) to Zita telling me what equpiment you're interested in, with both team members' email addresses. (One message per team is good.) This is not a commitment to work with this equipment, just a proposal. We will talk more about it next week.
• Each team post to the Web Crossing your team members' names and read everyone else's:

* your candidate library research project
* your candidate equipment research project

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