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Syllabus

SCIE 1920U Introduction to Astronomy
4:40 - 7:30 pm Mondays and Wednesdays, Regent Theatre (DTR 100)

Dr. Lisa Glass lisa.glass@uoit.ca

Course Description and Goals

This is a one-semester elective introductory course on astronomy, specifically designed for students with an interest but no
background in astronomy. In this non-quantitative course (no mathematical background is assumed), students will gain a
conceptual understanding of astronomy. This course's objectives are to learn the basics of astronomy of the solar system, our place
in the universe, and to gain insight into modern astronomy endeavours. Topics include: our place in the universe; the tools and
techniques of astronomy; the historical development of astronomy; exploration of the planets and other members of the solar
system; the nature of the sun; the origin of our solar system; and extra-solar planets. This course is intended as an elective for all
students with no science or engineering background. Students will get a flavour of its exciting scientific content, challenges and
fast pace of ongoing astronomical research, in addition to its role in the history of civilization, and its influence on progress in
technology and culture.


Blackboard

Blackboard is learning management software that you access online. To access it, go to
https://uoit.blackboard.com/. You should see this course come up when you sign in. On Blackboard, you can access
our course outline, get all the PowerPoints for the lectures, and check out your grades. We will do all our in-class tests
on Blackboard, as well as your Astronomy News Assignments (see below).


Breakdown

Astronomy News Assignments (2) 10% (i.e. worth 5% each)
MasteringAstronomy Assignments (5) 25% (i.e. worth 5% each)
In-Class Tests (best 4 out of 5) 30% (i.e. worth 7.5% each)
Final Exam 35%

You will do two Astronomy News Assignments in this class in which youll find news articles having to do with
astronomy and explain them. There are detailed assignment instructions on Blackboard, where you will also submit
your assignment electronically. Dont forget to check out the rubrics!

There will be five tests, about one per week. They will not be cumulative and will only cover the material since the
last test. Questions will be reflect both the assignment questions and any lecture-tutorials we did in class. I will only
test you on material we covered in class. At the end of the semester, Ill throw out your worst test mark and only
count your best four tests. The tests will take place in class, but you will do them on your computer, through
Blackboard. (You will need to come to class to find out the password for the test.) Each test will have 20 multiple
choice questions which you will have 25 minutes to answer.

The Mastering Astronomy Assignments will be due by 4:30 pm on test days. Doing them will help you prepare
for the tests. Your textbook comes bundled with an access code for MasteringAstronomy. Follow the instructions
that come with your textbook to register. Once youve registered, you will need to enter the Course ID for this
class, which is glass83553. That will allow you to do the assignments I create for you. Make sure you tell the
system that were using The Cosmic Perspective 7
th
Edition.

Note:I am forced to subdivide the MasteringAstronomy assignments by chapter. All MasteringAstronomy
assignments due on the same day are considered part of the same assignment. For example, the first assignment
consists of questions from Chapter 1, Chapter 2 and Chapter 3. They are worth 19 points, 34 points, and 4 points
respectively, so altogether Assignment 1 will therefore be out of a total of 57 points.

#
Lectures

A three hour lecture is a really long time to be sitting still and listening to someone talk, so were going to break it up.
Lectures will be sectioned into three 50 minute lessons, with a 10 minute break between each lesson. Ill also try to
incorporate classroom activities, class response questions, and demos.

Make sure you always bring the following to lecture:
Your laptop or tablet (especially on test days)
You lecture-tutorial book
A pen or pencil


Class Response Questions

To help you learn, and to keep you awake, Ill insert some class response questions into our lectures. Theyll be
similar to clicker questions you may have done before, except you dont need a clicker, just your computer. Ill put
up a multiple choice question on a PowerPoint slide and ask each of you to vote on which answer you think is
correct, by going to this website:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/17r6DmSZ04JDReGGKrCIxdcISzHCXZpRkiUKeD2DIosM/viewform
You should bookmark this link so that you can bring it up quickly when a question comes up. Questions are not for
marks and are only to help you learn, so make sure you participate!


Office Hours

Office hours will be by appointment. Your best bet is probably to come see me during the breaks or after lecture.


Textbooks

Main textbook:
The Cosmic Perspective: The Solar System, 7th edition by Bennett, Donahue, Schneider, and Voit
o You may want to buy the full version of the textbook (just called The Cosmic Perspective) if youre
planning to take SCIE3920.

The course is very much based on the textbook. It will be helpful if you read the chapters before the lectures,
although I will not test you on anything we dont cover in class and may sometimes decide not to teach some
sections of a given chapter.

When you buy either textbook new, it comes with access to MasteringAstronomy. You need to be able to
access this website in order to do the MasteringAstronomy assignments. If you find an old edition that is
used, thats fine, but youll still need to buy access to MasteringAstronomy for $60.50 USD. Alternatively, you
can buy the eText plus MasteringAstronomy for $91.30 USD.
http://www.pearsonmylabandmastering.com/northamerica/masteringastronomy/students/get-
registered/

Lecture-Tutorials for Introductory Astronomy, 3rd Edition by Prather, Slater, Adams, and Brissenden
o This is a great workbook full of lecture-tutorial activities we will do in lecture.
o I will never grade the lecture tutorials, but we will spend lots of class time working on them, and
many tests questions will be based on the lecture-tutorials we do in class. You definitely have to get
this book too. (Luckily, this ones way cheaper!)







$
Schedule

Lecture
#
Date
Lesson
#
Topic/Activity
Relevant Readings
(from Cosmic Perspective 7th edition)
1 05-May-14 1 Introduction
2
The Scale and History of the
Universe
1 Our Place in the Universe, Sec. 1.1 to 1.2
3 Spaceship Earth 1 Our Place in the Universe, Sec. 1.3 to 1.4
2 07-May-14 4 The night sky and the seasons 2 Discovering the Universe, Sec. 2.1 to 2.2
5 Moon and planets from Earth 2 Discovering the Universe, Sec. 2.3 to 2.4
6 Ancient to modern astronomy 3 The Science of Astronomy, Sec. 3.1 to 3.2
3 12-May-14 7
Mastering Astronomy #1 due
and Test #1
Covers Lessons 1 to 6 (Cha. 1.1 to 3.2)
8 Ancient to modern astronomy 3 The Science of Astronomy, Sec. 3.3 to 3.5
9
Laws of motion and
conservation
4 Making Sense of the Univ..., Sec. 4.1 to 4.3
4 14-May-14 10 Gravity 4 Making Sense of the Univ..., Sec. 4.4 to 4.5
11 What is light? 5 Light and Matter, Sec. 5.1 to 5.2
12 Matter 5 Light and Matter, Sec. 5.3
5 21-May-14 ASTRONOMY NEWS ASSIGNMENT #1 DUE!
13 Learning from light 5 Light and Matter, Sec. 5.4
14 Telescopes Part 1 6 Telescopes, Sec. 6.1 to 6.2
15 Telescopes Part 2 6 Telescopes, Sec. 6.3 to 6.4
6 26-May-14 16
Mastering Astronomy #2 due
and Test #2
Covers Lessons 8 to 15 (Cha. 3.3 to 6.4)
17 Solar System Overview 7 Our Planetary System, 7.1 to 7.3
18 Forming the solar system
8 Formation of the Solar System, Sec. 8.1 to
8.2
7 28-May-14 19 Age of solar system 8 Formation of the Solar System, Sec. 8.3
20 Geology basics 9 Planetary Geology, Sec. 9.1 to 9.2
21 Geology of specific bodies 9 Planetary Geology, Sec. 9.3 to 9.6
8 02-Jun-14 22
Mastering Astronomy #3 due
and Test #3
Covers Lessons 17 to 21 (Cha. 7.1 to 9.6)
23 Planetary atmosphere basics 10 Planetary Atmospheres, Sec. 10.1 to 10.2
24 Atmospheres of specific bodies 10 Planetary Atmospheres, Sec. 10.3 to 10.6
9 04-Jun-14 25 Jovian planets 11 Jovian Planet Systems, Sec. 11.1
26 Jovian satellites and rings 11 Jovian Planet Systems, Sec. 11.2 to 11.3
27 Asteroids and Comets 12 Asteroids, Comets, Sec. 12.1 to 12.2
10 09-Jun-14 28
Mastering Astronomy #4 due
and Test #4
Covers Lesson 23 to 27 (Cha. 10.1 to 12.2)
29 Pluto and collisions 12 Asteroids, Comets, Sec. 12.3 to 12.4
30 Detecting extrasolar planets 13 Other Planetary Systems, Sec. 13.1
11 11-Jun-14 31
Discoveries of extrasolar
planets
13 Other Planetary Systems, Sec. 13.2 to
13.4
32 The Sun 14 Our Star, Sec. 14.1 to 14.2
33 The Sun-Earth Connection 14 Our Star, Sec. 14.3
12 16-Jun-14 34
Mastering Astronomy #5 due
and Test #5
Covers Lessons 29 to 33 (Cha. 12.3 to 14.3)
35 Life in the solar system 24 Life in the Universe, 24.1 to 24.2
36 Life on other worlds 24 Life in the Universe, 24.3 to 24.5
13 18-Jun-14 ASTRONOMY NEWS ASSIGNMENT #2 DUE!
Review
Final
Exam
19-Jun-14 to
22-Jun-14
Final exam period


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Important Notes

If you miss a test, or assignment you will be given a mark of zero unless you me with an acceptable written
explanation, with medical or other documentation as appropriate. In the last case you will be given a chance to do the
assignment or you will be given a mark that is an average mark of the previous and/or following assignments.

I would also like to discuss the matters of individual work, getting help, and plagiarism. Except for exams and tests, it
is assumed that you can discuss problems and assignments among yourselves and with tutors and the professor, so
long as what you turn in is your own work. In other words, the discussions are part of the learning process; once you
learn how to approach a problem, you are expected to solve it yourself, and that is what you turn in. It is dishonest to
turn in as your own any work which has been copied from the work of someone else&