AST 1002

Discovering the Universe

Spring 2008

Section 0423, FLG 280 MWF 3

Instructor: Dr. Haywood Smith, Jr.
Office location: BRT 324
Office hours: MWF 4 or by appointment
Telephone: (352) 392-2052 ext. 236
E-mail: hsmith@astro.ufl.edu

Text: Bennett, Donahue, Schneider, and Voit, The Essential Cosmic Perspective, Fourth Edition

General Education. Discovering the Universe is a GenEd physical science (P) course. As the list of topics below demonstrates, the course covers not only the Universe and the bodies in it -- planets, moons, stars, galaxies, etc. -- but also some of how we know about those things and the underlying physics of orbits and radiation.

List of topics for this section of AST 1002

This course is a largely nonmathematical introduction to the science of astronomy for non-science students. As may be seen from the topics list above it covers not just astronomy -- planets and satellites, stars, the Milky Way and other galaxies, and cosmology -- but also some of the physics that is used to find out about those things, including the nature of electromagnetic radiation and the information it contains as well as gravitation and orbits. It does not entail any stargazing or learning about constellations; for a hands-on experience with astronomical observing the student can enroll in AST 1022L, Astronomy Laboratory, which is completely independent of this course. I also recommend the Public Night (open house) at the Teaching Observatory on campus on Friday evenings (weather permitting); see the paragraph at the end.

The plan is to generally follow the order of topics in the text. However, some material in the text will not be covered for reasons of time. There will be a few topics taken up out of sequence, and it's also possible that some material will be covered that isn't in the text. Readings in the text will be assigned slightly in advance; they'll be announced in class and posted on the Web. The tests and the final examination will be based on the lecture, so it isn't essential to have the text, but it is highly recommended. You can read the text ahead of lecture and thereby become familiar with some of the terms used even if you don't completely understand the reading the first time through. You might also find it helpful to make audio recordings of the lecture, which is permitted.

Hour tests are scheduled for the regular class time, on Feb. 11, Mar. 21, and Apr. 23 in the regular classroom (unless otherwise anounced). These tests are non-cumulative, with approximately 35 multiple-choice questions each. I will post a study guide on the Web (link below) roughly a week before each hour test and will answer questions on the class day immediately preceding each test.

The final examination is held in the regular classroom (unless otherwise announced in advance) on the date and at the period published in the Schedule of Courses, viz. on Friday, May 2 at 7:30 am. It will consist of approximately 65 multiple-choice questions on the material covered on the hour tests; i.e., it is cumulative. Following are some important points about the final:

  1. For those who've taken all three hour tests the final is optional; if you're one of those and are satisfied with your grade in the course it's not necessary for you to take the final or even show up after the last hour test. If the exam is optional for you and you can't decide whether to take it, you're welcome to come and look it over or even work on it and then decide when you turn it in if you want it to be for credit or not. However, if you choose at that time for it to be for credit, it will count even if it reduces your course grade.
  2. In spite of the fact that the final may be optional for you I strongly recommend that you not make reservations or book a flight for a date and time before the final. You do so entirely at your own risk. Even if you're supremely confident that you won't need to take it you never really know -- you might be sick, have a car breakdown, or run into some other problem that will make you miss an hour test. I do not give individual final exams at other than the scheduled time (unless you missed the scheduled final with an excused absence; see item [8] below).
  3. There will be no study guide or review period for the final; I will post all three study guides, but I recommend studying from the hour tests more than the study guides. The hour tests will be posted online; the links are below. The correct answer to each question will be the first one listed unless otherwise marked.
  4. In all cases the final will have twice the weight of an hour test grade. That means that if you've taken all three hour tests it will count 40%. If you've missed one of the hour tests with a valid excuse (see item [7] below) the final will count half the grade and the hour tests you took the other half. On the other hand, if you've missed an hour test without a valid excuse that test grade is averaged in as a zero (0). No hour test grade is dropped.

There's no provision in the course for extra credit, as for example with a paper; the course grade depends entirely upon the tests (and the final if taken).

The letter grade scale applied to the course grade is as follows:

A = 90-100
B+= 85-89
B = 80-84
C+= 75-79
C = 70-74
D+= 65-69
D = 60-64
E = 0-59

Grades are rounded to the nearest whole percent; e.g., 84.5 becomes 85. If necessary grades on the hour tests and final exam will be curved upwards (but not the course grade). Because of Federal privacy laws and UF's interpretation of same I can no longer post grades by the last four digits of the Social Security number or by any portion of the UF ID number. Therefore, a two-letter identifier will be assigned according to the five-digit exam number from the student's question sheet on the first hour test. NOTE: This same identifier will thereafter be used for the rest of the course in posting the student's grades on the hour tests, the final, and the course regardless of the five-digit numbers on the remaining hour tests and the final.



Grades for Sect. 0423

Reading assignment

Study Group information

Web links

Study guide for Hour Test 1

Study guide for Hour Test 2

Study guide for Hour Test 3

Some previous versions of the hour tests



NOTE WELL THE FOLLOWING POINTS:

  1. Attendance at lecture is optional but highly recommended. The tests and final are based on the lectures, not the text. Material may be added that is not in the text, and some of the text material will not be covered.
  2. Attendance at the tests and at the final examination is entirely the student's responsibility. If there's any change in scheduling of an hour test or the final, it will be made known as soon as possible; the student is then responsible for knowing about that change.
  3. Any student arriving for a test after the first paper has been turned in will not be allowed to take that test and will be considered absent. Any student arriving for the final examination after the first student has left the examination room (which could be as little as 15 minutes after the beginning because the exam is optional for many students) is considered absent and will not be allowed to take the final. For treatment of absences see items following.
  4. No make-up tests are given. Any student who has an excused absence from a test must take the final, in which case the final is not optional for that student.
  5. Any student absent from a test, or from the final if it is not optional for that student, without a valid excuse will receive a grade of zero (0) on that test or final. As indicated above, the zero grade will be averaged in.
  6. An excused absence is recorded as a "grade" of exc on the grade page and that test is not included in the average. Otherwise I do not drop any grades.
  7. The term "valid excuse" refers to a situation outside the student's control, such as illness, death in the immediate family, last-minute car or bus breakdown, etc., that causes the student to be absent from a test or the final. The student should consult the instructor in advance about conflicting commitments such as doctor's appointments, out-of-town intercollegiate competitions (debate team, varsity athletics, etc.), and the like. The student's excuse must be submitted either in written form or as e-mail, not verbally. Acceptance of an excuse as valid is at the instructor's sole discretion. Please be advised that oversleeping is not considered a valid excuse.
  8. If a student misses the final examination with a valid excuse, the make-up final may at my discretion be either an essay/short answer exam or an oral exam. It is quite possible in such a situation that the examination might not be given until after the end of the term and the grade turned in after final course grades have been submitted.
  9. A student cheating on a test or on the final will be assigned a grade of E in the course unless that student has a prior honor violation, in which case the matter will be referred to the Honor Court. The University of Florida's academic honesty policy applies.
  10. Students requesting classroom accommodation must first register with the Dean of Students Office. That office will provide documentation to the student who must then provide this documentation to me when requesting accommodation. In particular, if special arrangements must be made for tests, please remind me a week in advance so I can make those arrangements and avoid confusion with the DSO. If I am not contacted in advance I will assume that the student intends to take the test with the rest of the class.

For those of you who might be interested I'm providing a link to the Web page about the Teaching Observatory Public Night that occurs on Friday nights through the semester, weather permitting. On that page you can find a link to a set of maps showing you where the observatory is, but I've made it available here as well.

Santa Fe Community College has opened their new planetarium, and they have programs on Friday and Saturday nights at 8:30. Here's the link to their Web site if you'd like to find out more.

Finally, here are a few Websites that may or may not be relevant to the course but which you might find of interest:

  1. The Astronomy Picture of the Day is a NASA Website; to look at past APOD's click here.
  2. Spaceweather.com is a news Website about space. Another good one is Space.com.
  3. Skytonight.com is the Website of Sky and Telescope magazine. S+T is a very good monthly about astronomy from stargazing to pro level.
  4. Astronomy.com is the Website of Astronomy magazine, another popular astronomy monthly.
  5. Astronomy Now is a British astronomy magazine.
  6. Here's a link to the gateway page of Hubble Heritage images, including some that you can pan and zoom if you have the right version of Macromedia Flash (TM) installed.
  7. There's a Website devoted to debunking a lot of the drivel that's "out there" about astronomy; it's called Bad Astronomy Blog. At the site there's a collection of the top ten astronomy images of 2007. Check it out -- there are some real knockouts!
  8. On the Weather Underground site there's a page that shows the night sky. UF's ZIP code is 32611.
  9. This picture from the Space Station is old, so some of you may have seen it, but I think it's neat anyway. (It's in the book, but on a much smaller scale.)