Welcome to the A&C 2009 homepage. (updated 8 June 2009)

Please read the Catalog Program Description. For daily details, please see our Moodle site. (Moodle is a secure site, available to registered students who have completed the week 1 workshop.) End-of-quarter Program Description

Class Standing: Sophomores or above; transfer students welcome.

Prerequisites: Proficiency with algebra; strong reading and writing skills. Willingness to work in teams and to use computers for online assignments.

SCHEDULE
Please check Syllabus and Moodle at least weekly for details and updates
DUE
Weekend
Read, observe, work with teammates (pre-seminar, HW, projects)
Saturday: Online Quiz on Universe Chapter
Sunday: PIQs
Monday
ONLINE SEMINAR 3:00-5:00
 
Tuesday Read, observe, work with teams Essays or Responses
Wednesday
CLASS MEETING in Computer Applications Lab (CAL), 3:00-7:00 (observing afterward if clear)
 
Thursday Read, observe, work in teams Essays or Responses ... PIQs
Friday
ONLINE SEMINAR 3:00-5:00 (in class the first week only)
  

Week 1 only: NO CLASS ON MONDAY 30 March (due to family surgery)

The first day of class is Wednesday, 1 April. Meet at 3:00 in 2211 Lab 2 (upstairs from the CAL, where we will move to at 5:00)

Friday 3 April, meet in 2211 Lab 2 at 3:00.

TEXTBOOKS & Equipment

Some of these may be available in the college bookstore, but don't count on it. Consider ordering them online to be sure you have them in time. You will need your own copy of each text.

1.Universe:  Stars and Galaxies (3rd Edition), by Roger Freedman and (late) William J. Kaufmann, includes all the material we will cover, including modern cosmology (plus a bit on planets).  If you prefer a more complete text, get Universe (8th Edition).  This includes everything, more than we will cover, a big heavy text. Avoid different editions, or you'll find some material out of synch with our class readings and assignments.

Publisher  2008 W.H. Freeman, ISBN# 9780716795612

2. Lecture Tutorials for Introductory Astronomy (2nd Edition) (Addison-Wesley Series in Educational Innovation), by Edward E. Prather, Tim P. Slater, Jeff Adams, Gina Brissenden, CAPER

  Paperback: 144 pages
  Publisher: Benjamin Cummings; 2 edition (August 11, 2007)
  ISBN-10: 0132392267, ISBN-13: 978-0132392266
3. Observing the Night Sky with Binoculars: A Simple Guide to the Heavens, by Stephen James O'Meara

  Paperback: 168 pages
  Publisher: Cambridge University Press (October 27, 2008)
  ISBN-10: 0521721709, ISBN-13: 978-0521721707
4a. Choose either:  A Walk through the Heavens: A Guide to Stars and Constellations and their Legends, by Milton D. Heifetz and Wil Tirion (Teaches traditional divisions of constellations and asterisms)

  Paperback: 96 pages
  Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 3 edition (February 23, 2004)
  ISBN-10: 0521544157, ISBN-13: 978-0521544153
4b. Or choose: The Stars: A new way to see them, by H.A. Rey (Encourages readers to see their own constellations)

  Paperback: 160 pages
  Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children (October 27, 2008)
  ISBN-10: 0547132808, ISBN-13: 978-0547132808
5. The State of the Universe: A Primer in Modern Cosmology, by Pedro Ferreira

  Paperback: 320 pages
  Publisher: Phoenix (October 1, 2007)
  ISBN-10: 0753822563, ISBN-13: 978-0753822562
6. Mythology, by Edith Hamilton (not Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes, which is abbreviated)

  Paperback: 512 pages
  Publisher: Back Bay Books; 11 edition (September 14, 1998)
  ISBN-10: 0316341517, ISBN-13: 978-0316341516
7. (optional) Favorite Folktales from Around the World, by Jane Yolen

  Paperback: 512 pages
  Pantheon (August 12, 1988)
  ISBN-10: 0394751884, ISBN-13: 978-0394751887
8. Subscribe online to Sky & Telescope (or pick up a copy each month at a local bookseller, or learn how to access it electronically through the Evergreen Library. (You can try subscribing to a hardcopy, but delivery is sometimes long delayed for first-time subscribers )

9. (optional) National Audubon Society Field Guide to the Night Sky, (Turtleback)

* Paperback (7.5 x 3.8 x 1.3 inches)
* Publisher: Knopf (October 15, 1991)
* ISBN-10: 0679408525, ISBN-13: 978-0679408529

EQUIPMENT: Get a (1) Planisphere and a (2) BLANK (unlined) Lab notebook from the Bookstore

You absolutely need a good pair of (3) BINOCULARS (10 x 50 is good - bigger is too heavy), and will be able to see more with a (4) TRIPOD and mount. Buy or borrow these.

Flashlight with RED nailpolish or tape on the end (somebody will have red stuff to share - you need not go out and buy it) and a STRING to hang it around your neck. REQUIRED for observing safety on the roof

Good old fashioned protractor - any color (to make a handy sextant)

Get your free moon calendar by clicking on the 2009 link at this Celestial Products page
         

Syllabus (under construction)
This syllabus may evolve in response to student and faculty needs and inspiration, and to special opportunities that may arise. Additional information, including assignment details, will be posted on Moodle, our secure, interactive site. (Moodle will be available to registered students who complete our week 1 workshop on Wednesday. Don't miss it!)

Week 1 - Week 2 - Week 3 - Week 4 - Week 5 - Week 6 - Week 7 - Week 8 - Week 9 - Week 10 - Week 11

week
Monday
Wednesday
Friday

week 1:
1-3 April

Read Universe Ch. 1: Introducing Astronomy

no class
First class: Intro at 3:00 in 2211 Lab 2. (Don't miss this or you may be dropped from the program.)

Moodle workshop at 5:00 in CAL (downstairs).

3:00 Seminar in CAL on Ferreira Ch.1,2

week 2:
6-10 April

Universe Ch.2: Knowing the Heavens

3:00 Seminar remotely (in your "chat" OR in the CAL) on Hamilton: Foreward and Intro to classical mythology for all (through p.18) -

and on the additional chapters assigned to each Seminar Team. Learn from each other.

Workshop: Solar motion and Library research.
Recommended at home afterwards: CAPER p.1-20

Read for observing on the roof afterwards if clear: A Walk Through the Heavens (Heifetz & Tirion), 1-10, 14-29, 34-37

3:00 Seminar remotely on legends of the spring "stars" (best visible from here) from both Heifetz & Tirion.

* circumpolar constellations
* Virgo, Leo, and Cancer
* Coma Berenices, Canes Venatici, Corvus
* Bootes, Corona Borealis, Ursa Minor

full moon Thus.9.Apr.

week 3:
13-17 April

Universe Ch.3: Eclipses and the Motion of the Moon

 Seminar on moon myths from Hamilton (and Yolen)

Observing: Read O'Meara on Spring Stars (Ch.1, 2, 3) and bring your binoculars + tripod

Each team research a couple of eclipse myths or "scientific" claims, one from a journal in the Library and one found by mere Googling. Cite your sources in your PIQs, and let's discuss the myths' plausibility. What do you think? Back it up.

week 4:
20-24 April

Universe Ch.4: Gravitation and the Waltz of the Planets

Seminar on planet stories from Hamilton, Yolen, and/or Library/Web research (as last Friday)

(Facilitators of each Chat will start seminar at 3:00; Zita will join ASAP after doctor's appt.)

Read Sky & Telescope, and play with Universe Online and Starry Night. What planets can you see tonight?

Workshops: Caper 21 (K2) and 29 (NG)

Observing: Bring your binocs. Can you see your target tonight? Messier objects?

Online seminar will be a research workshop. Your team should have some idea of what you want to research. This seminar will help develop your topic into a research question with hypotheses to investigate.
Be sure to do the pre-seminar homework on Moodle.
*PeerEvals due tomorrow (email zita)
New moon Sat. 25 April - good observing nights, before and after this!
week 5:
27 April - 1 May 		Midquarter conferences instead of classes - make appointments on SignupSheets, and meet Zita on Thursday or Friday afternoon, in teams.
Spend most of this week working on your ResearchProject and reading ahead - next week's physics reading is twice as much as usual, and it's all connected.

week 6: 4-8 May

Universe Ch. 5: The Nature of Light, and Ch.6: Optics and Telescopes

 Ferreira Ch.3-5
(Synergy sustainability conference, 6-8 May)		 Workshops- PhET, Caper pp. 45 (EM), 53 (LTR), then combine teams for 57 (BBR)

Observing: What is your team investigating? We'll bring out the telescopes.

Online seminar: reports on research in progress by each team.

(Mother's Day tomorrow)

full moon Sat.9.May
week 7:
11-15 May

Universe Ch. 16: Our Star, the Sun

 Online seminar on Hamilton: Apollo (29), Phaethon (180), and Icarus (192) and other Sun myths Meet 2-4 in CAL Caper wkshp 105
(AC Fair 4-6)
(6:20 SWWAS field trip)		 1:00: Poster-making workshop in CAL
2-4: Seminar in 2211 Lab II on Ferreira Ch.6-9

week 8:
18-22 May

Universe Ch.17: The Nature of Stars

 Online seminar on Ferreira Ch.10-14 (as usual)

Guest speaker on stellar evolution and more (in CAL at 3 as usual)

Workshops: Caper 109, 111

Seminar on Ferreira 15-18
week 9:
25-29 May
Holiday - no class
New moon Sun.24.May
Good weekend for last-minute project observations!

Universe Ch.26: Cosmology: The Origin and Evolution of the Universe

Caper 131, 133

Science Fair! Present your research project, either as an activity or as a poster.
week 10:
1-5 June 		Please email final *PeerEvals and do your *OnlineSurvey by Saturday NOON 30 May Evaluation week in person, on campus, from 2-4 June

Schedule any travel plans so that you leave Olympia no earlier than 5 June.

Full moon Sunday 7 June
week 11:
8-12 June
Optional field trip to clear skies, if students would like to organize it.
Workload and approximate credit equivalencies: (total = 16 credits)
* 1 class/workshop per week - 2 cr
* 2 seminars per week (participation) - 2 cr
* 2 pre-seminar Points-Insights-Questions (PIQ) sets per week (with team) - 2 cr
* 2 short essays - 2 cr
* 4 responses to peers' essays - 2 cr
* observing sessions - 2 cr
* astronomy homework / quizzes -2 cr
* your research project - 2 cr
Faculty Contact:
Dr. E.J. Zita
zita(at)evergreen.edu
 2272 Lab II