ASTR 1104
Spring 2016
Instructor:
E-mail:
Phone:
Office hours:
Web Page:
Mr. Mark Polson
mpolson@cameron.edu
581-2893
225H 5:00 to 6:30 PM Monday and Wednesday
or by appointment.
www.cameron.edu/~mpolson
Text:
ISBN:
Class hours:
Explorations: An Introduction to Astronomy, Arny and Schneider, 7th
9781259676154
6:30 – 8:20 PM, Mon. and Wed. in room HH 101 (or DUNCAN 121).
ATTENDANCE POLICY
Refer to “attendance” in the university catalog. Regular class attendance
is highly recommended although not required. Attendance for scheduled exams is
required. There will be NO MAKE-UP EXAMS and no exams will be given early.
GRADING
Points toward the course grade will be apportioned as follows:
4 exams
Final Exam
Astronomy Connect assignments
Assessment exercises
Total Points
600
100
200
100
------1000
Grade Distribution:
87 – 100%
77 – 86.9%
60 – 76.9%
50 – 59.9%
< 50%
A
B
C
D
F
As the instructor I reserve the right to award letter grades higher than the percentage
earned would guarantee.
The last date to drop the course and receive an automatic “W” is April 6.
After that date the grade will be either “W” or “F” depending on whether you are
passing or failing. You must initiate the withdrawal procedure. I cannot.
Ceasing to attend class without official withdrawal guarantees an “F” as the course
grade. The session ends with a comprehensive final on May 2 from 7:15 to 9:15 PM.
EXAMS
Regular exams will consist of multiple choice questions and will be one
hour long. Numerical constants and some formulas will be provided. The final exam
will be comprehensive and will be two hours long. A ScanTron answer sheet is
required for each exam.
HOMEWORK AND QUIZZES
Approximately 10 homework assignments will be given. These assignments
will be due by the end of the class session specified. No homework will be accepted
after this time. The highest 9 homework assignments will be used to compute the
homework grade which allows the student to miss one homework assignment without
penalty.
Students are encouraged to work together and discuss homework problems
outside of class. However, the homework that is turned in should be your own work and
not copied off another’s paper.
Use the following link to register for Astronomy Connect:
http://connect.mheducation.com/class/m_polson_spring_2016_mw_630_-_820_pm
ASSESSMENT EXERCISES
Several assessment exercises will be given. Students will analyze a problem
and give the answer in essay form. Several astronomy night sessions will be given.
Students will be able to view objects through a telescope.
University Policy:
Cameron University discourages lecture and/or laboratory attendance by any person
not enrolled in the course. Included are student’s friends, student’s spouses, and
student’s children. Tobacco product use is not allowed in any building on Cameron
University campus.
Accommodations of Disabilities:
It is the policy of Cameron University to accommodate students with disabilities,
pursuant to federal and state law. Students with disabilities who need classroom
accommodations must make their requests by contacting the Office of Student
Development at (580) 581-2209, North Shepler, Room 314.
Academic Honesty:
Each student is expected to engage in all academic pursuits in a manner that is above
reproach. Students are expected to maintain complete honesty and integrity in the
academic experiences both in and out of the classroom. Any student found guilty of
academic dishonesty will be subject to disciplinary action.
TENTATIVE EXAM SCHEDULE
EXAM NUMBER
1
2
3
4
Final
CHAPTERS
1, 2, 4, 5, Essay 1
6 – 10, Essay 2
11 – 13
14 – 16
Comprehensive (1 – 17)
DATE
Feb 3
Mar 2
Mar 30
Apr 18
May 2
Our study of astronomy will focus on a few basic things: We live in a big universe that is described by a
small set of rules; those rules are knowable; and that through the process of science the rules can be
determined. Or can they? Are the rules the same everywhere?
Obviously, along with content (factual information), astronomy, as a course, embodies the following as
science education goals:

the nature of scientific understanding which includes ways of knowing (e.g., What are the
characteristics of Jupiter’s interior?); collection, organization, and classification of data or
information (e.g., Describe the characteristics of the solar nebular hypothesis.); discovering laws,
models, theories (e.g., What evidence supports the Ptolemaic theory of the universe? Is the Big
Bang a theory?); the limits of scientific knowledge (e.g., Can one successfully predict the age of
the universe?); and the vocabulary and terminology of science (e.g., What is a supernova?). The
nature of science provides opportunities to students to experience scientific inquiry.

integrative concepts which includes change and evolution (e.g., Describe the
Sun’s life and death cycle.); scale and proportion (e.g., How old is the
universe? How far away is Rigel?); causality and consequences (e.g., How does
the elliptical shape of the earth’s orbit affect the seasons?); and dynamic
equilibrium (e.g., Describe stellar structure. What prevents a mature star
from neither collapsing or expanding?).
o
the context of science which includes historical, cultural, and intellectual
contexts of science using the discipline of astronomy; along with the political,
social, ethical, and economic dimensions of science illustrated using astronomy
(Why does the number of inhabited worlds we might hear from depend on how
long civilizations survive at a technological level? economy? social issues?
politics? etc.?). Astronomy crosses disciplinary boundaries and involves several
decision-making disciplines.
An astronomy journey to the cosmic frontier allows individuals to “step out into space” and begin to
conceive the sheer vastness of the universe. The most comprehensive models of Universe processes are
the Earth as a planet and the Sun as a star. From the dawn of time, skywatchers have projected images
of their own imaginations and inventions onto the stars. Reviewing the history of the universe also
illustrates how the scientific process works and how scientists (and you!) propose hypotheses, gather
information, discard ideas, and modify ideas, experiments, and hypotheses to support existing knowledge.
Also, students are introduced to some of the newer technologies which include the Hubble Space
Telescope and gamma-ray observatories.