University of Florida
AST 1022L Section 0464 & 0470 Fall 2007

Astronomy Laboratory

When

   Sec. 0464 M 6-7 period (12:50pm ~ 2:55pm)
   Sec. 0470 W 6-7 period (12:50pm ~ 2:55pm)

Where

   Bryant Space Science Center (BSSC) Room 7

Contact Information

Required Materials :

1. Hands on Astronomy: Lab Manual. Please bring lab manual to all classes. They are available at these
    Target Copy Centers for $10.
    1412 W University Ave (376-3826)
    3422 SW Archer Rd (372-1171)
2. metric ruler
3. simple scientific calculator
4. flashlight and bug spray (for night lab)

Course Objectives and/or Goals :

  "AST 1022L Astronomy Laboratory" counts for one (1) credit of Physical Science (P) towards the General Education requirement. It introduces students to the scientific method as applied to the field of Astronomy. The students are introduced to the process of making astronomical observations, quantitatively analyzing those observations, extracting information about astronomical bodies such as the Sun, Moon, planets, stars, nebulae, and galaxies, and understanding the basic physical processes that take place in these bodies. The students will also be introduced to the process of writing a report on an experiment, communicating the details, results, and conclusions to a reader not necessarily familiar with the experiment.

Attendance :

   Attendance to all lab experiments, as well as night labs, is mandatory. Students may not be excused for any missed classes, except in case of emergency and with appropriate documentation. Students wishing to be excused for religious holidays must provide written requests at least 2 weeks in advance. Valid reasons for not attending a lab are jury duties, military obligation, university sponsored activities. You must contact the instructor in advance and provide documentation. In case of sudden illness or emergencies you must contact me immediately so that a make up lab can be schedules on the same week of the missed lab. Students are expected to arrive on time to all lab experiments and night labs. Attendance will be recorded at the beginning of class, within the first 15 minutes. Students arriving late at the lab sessions may be denied access to the lab and will get zero points for that experiment.

Preparation :

   Read the lab manual for each week's experiment before attending class and write a brief summary of the purpose of the lab. Include a few sentences about the theory behind the experiment, as well as a few sentences regarding the experiment procedure.

Lab Reports and Grading :

   Students must submit his/her own individual lab report. Reports for lab experiments that were not attended will not be accepted. Cheating in any form will not be allowed ! Late reports should be submitted to Room 211 of the BRT, by 4:30 pm. 10 points will be deducted for each day your report is late. At the end of the semester, your lowest grade (including unexcused absence, resulting in a zero grade) will be dropped.

  Lab reports are graded out of 100 points. Your final grade will be based on 15 weekly lab reports (12 daytime and 3 night time labs) throughout the semester.

All reports must include the following:

     1 Title
     2 Introduction - Describe the objective(s) of the experiment and a short background of the theory involved. (10)
     3 Experimental Methods - Describe how the experiment was carried out. (10)
     4 Data - Show data in form of table and/or graphs. Clearly mark all axes and units! (20)
     5 Data Analysis - Calculations and Error Analysis Show all calculations used in deriving your results. Also show any relevant calculations related to error analysis of your results. (20)
     6 Discussion - Including comparison of results with accepted values; discussion of errors(25)
     7 Conclusion - Present and discuss conclusions reached, both qualitatively and quantitatively. - Remember to comment on the significance of your results in conjunction with your error analysis. (15)

A few important things to remember when writing your report:
- Be professional. Reports are preferable in a form of print out. In case of hand writing, reports must be neat and legible.
- Show your work! Any conclusions should be clearly explained and justified. Calculations must be shown for numerical answers.
- Always show units for your numbers. They are just as important as the numbers themselves!
- Graphs and tables should always be clearly labeled. Make sure to label all axes, units used, and the scale of each axis.
- Include your name, lab section, instructor's name, and lab title on the front page of the report. In addition, print your name on each page of your report to avoid confusion.

Below is the grading scale that will be used:

   A 90% and above
   B+ 85-90%
   B 80-84%
   C+ 75-79%
   C 70-74%
   D 65-69%
   D+ 60-64%
   E Failing Grade (Below 60%)

Important Note on Cheating and Copying : Students caught cheating or copying will get zero points for that report and will risk getting a failing grade for the class and be referred to the University's Honor Court

Policy on assigning incomplete (I) grades :

   Note that The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences has a strict policy on incomplete grades. Therefore no incomplete grades can be assigned in this course. If you think you are at risk of failing, contact an advisor about dropping the course.

Students with disabilities :

   "Students requesting classroom accommodation must first register with the Dean of Students Office. The dean of Students Office will provide documentation to the students who must then provide this documentation to the Instructor when requesting accommodation"

Night Labs :

   Night labs will be on Wednesday evening at the Campus Teaching Observatory. Three night labs will be scheduled during the semester. Specific dates and times will be announced in class. This night time labs are in addition to the regularly scheduled daytime labs. The weather in Florida is very unpredictable. If I need to cancel a night lab due to weather, I will send an e-mail in the evening, not later than 7 PM. If you don't receive an e-mail, you must come to the teaching observatory unless there is a thunderstorm, tornado alert, or other type of bad weather

AST 1022L : Schedule for Fall Term 2007