ASTR 30 - Introduction to Astronomy Lab
Instructor: Eric Harpell
Email Instructor
Course Description
Introduction to laboratory principles and techniques in astronomy. Telescope operation and measuring stellar magnitudes, spectral lines, motions of the sun, moon and planets. Prerequisite/Corequisite: Astronomy 1, 10 or 20.
To take this class, you must have daily access to a computer with an Internet connection, an email account, and experience using a web browser. You will also need to update your email address in CLASS-Web when you register.
Students must access the Astronomy 30 home page and follow instructions for "logging in" by the end of the second week of class or they will be dropped from the class.
This class begins Aug 20 and ends Dec 23.
On-Campus Meetings
All class meetings will be online, except on the following dates when students will meet on campus from 7:30-9:20 p.m. in Room 1831: Aug. 26, Sept. 16, Oct. 7, Oct. 28, Nov. 18, Dec. 9 and Dec. 16. You can attend an OPTIONAL, on-campus orientation to Online Learning on either Aug. 13 from 7-8:30 p.m. in Room 2420, Aug. 14 from 1-2:30 p.m. in Room 2420, and Aug. 21 from 7-8:30 p.m. in Room 2420. Learn more about these orientations, which are NOT course-specific.
How This Class Operates
This is not a self-paced class; there are due dates throughout the semester that you are expected to meet, just like in a traditional, face-to-face class. Active participation is required.
Approximately six lab activities will be conduced on campus (or at a dark sky site). For all other weeks, you will perform a virtual laboratory from the Virtual Astronomy Labs web site, or an observational activate, or you will explore the sky using planetarium software.
Labs involving field observations, as well as field trips, might require traveling off-campus to a dark-sky location (i.e., the Del Valle Observing Site) for telescopic viewing of various objects. Your attendance at these meetings is mandatory and will require either your own transportation or car pooling. You must call the "Astro Line" at 925-424-5879 a hour or so ahead of the lab to find out the location!
A scientific calculator, pencil and paper are required. Warm clothes (for observing nights), comfortable shoes, patience, and an interest in learning more about the methods of astronomy will be a big help.
You will be using on-campus computers to work on the Astronomy 30 labs and to access the Internet. To use these computers and print on campus, you will need to pay a small computer use fee (at the bookstore) and a print fee at printer stations.
The exercises for the course will be available online. Due to the flexible schedule for the course, the labs might only be available in the week prior to class. Some of the exercises are in pdf format, which requires you to have Adobe Acrobat Reader, a free application.
Virtual Astronomy Labs: This is a web site created and maintained by BrooksCole publishing. It contains many astronomy activities that are required for this class. You must purchase your own registration code. The current cost is approximately $26. This site is accessed by going to http://val.brookscole.com. You will need to pay with a credit card.
Voyager Star Gazer Planetarium Software: This program is used for at least two labs during the semester and will be useful for others. It comes free of charge with Bennett's The Cosmic Perspective 3rd edition, as well as the Astronomy 10 version (The Solar System), and the Astronomy 20 version (Stars, Galaxies, and Cosmology). If you did not get the CD with this text, or you used another text with your class, you can download a trial version of Voyager III from the Carina software website, or obtain a licensed copy from the instructor.
In addition, for several of the exercises, you will need to have access to a standard first-year astronomy text. Any text will do. Additional handouts, lab equipment, telescopes, and computers will be provided as needed.
Class Activities
When doing a lab other than the Virtual Astronomy labs and the Field Observation labs, you must submit lab reports that contain several elements. The main thing to keep in mind is that I need to see evidence that you understood what you were doing and weren't simply taking a "cookbook" approach (following the instructions, writing down numbers, but having no understanding of what any of it meant).
The front page should include your name, the name of your lab partners and the title of your lab. This can be in form of a cover page, or it can simply come first in your lab report. After the names and title should come the following:
A brief statement of:
- What you did in the lab
- Why you did it
- How you did it (what equipment you used)
- What results you got (just a sentence or two describing how the lab went). You will go into more detail about the results of your lab later!
After covering points 1-4 above, the next section is your group results.
In many of the labs, you will be writing your results directly into tables included in the online lab manuals. In those cases, it is OK to simply hand those in with the other sheets as part of your final report, but clean them up first. If I have to wade through a bunch of semi-legible writing, you'll lose points. This is the quantitative part of your lab; unlike the first section, this is where you include the data that you obtained during the lab session.
In those labs where there is no place to write down your results, you will need to write them down yourself, and hand in your sheets. Don't just hand in lists of numbers. Before each section of your results, briefly say what it is that you're measuring.
Finally, after the results section, end your lab report with a section of Discussion and Conclusions. Here is where you say what you learned in the lab. This section is important! Here is where I see evidence that you actually understood what the lab was all about. It is also a good section to note why you might not have followed the procedures as outlined in the lab manual (we need to do this occasionally) and any general comments and observations that you had about the lab (including places where you had difficulty, and the exercises that might need improving).
How Students are Graded
There will be weekly labs and a lab final for Astronomy 30. The final is the only exam. Grades will be based on your participation in the laboratory experiments, as well as on your lab reports. Your final grade will be calculated from your class attendance and the effort you put forth in the lab and on the lab reports.
Labs are due on Sunday nights at midnight on the week they are listed, unless otherwise indicated. Virtual Astronomy Labs are submitted online at the completion of the activity. Other labs can be attached to an email, uploaded into Blackboard, or brought to campus as a hard copy.
Scores: Most labs reports will be graded on a scale of 0 to 10. Labs will be worth 10 points each, unless otherwise indicated. Field observations will be scored on the same scale. Two-week labs are worth 20 points, as is the home observation lab. The lab final will be worth 25 points.
Late labs: If you miss submitting a lab by the Sunday due date, you can submit it late for reduced credit. In general, you will lose one point per week for late labs. Obviously, a lab that is several weeks late is not worth turning in. Instead consider the following option:
Missed Labs: If you miss one lab, then you can make it up with a self-scheduled field trip. This can only be done once; you will receive a zero on any additional labs that you miss. Extra effort on following assignments should make up for missing lab sessions.
There are NO extra credit opportunities in Astronomy 30!
Pre-lab Exercises: Most of the backup labs include Pre-lab Exercises that are intended to help you prepare for the lab. You will be given a few minutes at the start of a lab to work on the pre-labs, but it is helpful if you begin these at home, particulary if you have warning that the observing lab will be canceled. Observing labs have their own pre-labs that must be completed at home. The Observing pre-lab exercises are due at the BEGINNING of class on the first meeting date for each lab.
Final Grades: We will be doing approximately 14 labs in class during the semester, plus the final exam. Each lab is worth between 10-20 points. The final is worth 25 points. The semester points required for each letter grade are:
85% = A
75% = B
65% = C
55% = D
The average grade on a lab report will generally be more than 85% if you are making an honest effort, so your grade will largely be determined by your attendance and effort. It is expected that all students who attend the labs and turn in all of their lab reports on time will receive a C or better in the class.
Although you will often work in groups doing the experiments and taking data, each person should always work ALONE in writing up final version of lab reports! Copying a lab partner's written work is the same as cheating. You will receive one warning; after that, you will receive a zero for a copied lab.
Succeeding in an Online Course
Students who succeed in online courses tend to be independent, self-motivated learners with good computer skills. If you are a procrastinator who relies heavily on the instructor for motivation, can't use a computer too well, have taken less than 21 units of college credit in your lifetime, and/or have a grade-point-average under 2.0, you should probably consider enrolling in a face-to-face course instead.
Also, don't enroll in this class if you believe the myth that learning online requires less effort than learning face-to-face. This course covers the same content and has similar activities as the face-to-face version of the course; only the method of delivery changes.
LPC offers a tutorial called "Succeeding in an online course" that will not only tell you if you are a good fit for online learning, but it also offers many strategies -- among other pertinent information -- that will help you succeed online. Please complete the tutorial.
Blackboard
This course will use the Blackboard course management system as its virtual classroom. To learn how to log in to Blackboard, go to the Blackboard Login Procedures page. Once you enroll, you will not be able to log in until the first day of class.