IH 1 – The solar system and the universe
Your email is due to Dr. Leopold:
A and C blocks
E and H blocks
before the start of Conceptual Physics class on FRIDAY, 9/14/12
before the start of Conceptual Physics class on MONDAY, 9/17/12
This assignment is to do something related to astronomy that does NOT feel like homework. Go see or do
something “astronomical.” Enjoy yourself. Below you will find a list of some events. If you know of another
event you would prefer attending, please get it approved by me first – send me an email with a website
and/or description. I will probably approve it and add it to the list below.
If you cannot get out to an event, you may choose to watch videos. See the list below for suggestions. Again,
feel free to suggest additions. You may also read astronomy books and/or explore astronomy web sites.
Finally, you may suggest an astronomy project you would like to do. You must get my approval though.
You must spend at least 2 hours doing astronomy activities.
You must send me an email when you have finished. Due date for your email is at the top of this page. In
the email you must tell me:
1. what things you went to and/or watched and/or did, and how long you spent on each,
2. who you did them with
3. which activities were fun/interesting enough that you would recommend them to other
freshmen, and why,
4. and one new thing you learned about astronomy.
Your answers must be in complete sentences. The questions must be numbered as shown above. The length
of your email should be in the range 120 - 160 words. Please make it interesting for me to read!
For this you will earn 20 points.
EVENTS
DATE
Any date
TIME
Saturdays and
Sundays
WHAT
See a Planetarium show or two at the McDonnell Planetarium at the St. Louis Science Center.
Choose from these: Mr Hubble’s Universe, Seeking New Earth’s, or Metal Moons (this one ends
September 3). With any of these you also get to see a 25 minute Planetarium show.
http://www.slsc.org/WhatToDo/Planetarium/ThePlanetariumShows.aspx
August 25
Saturday, 8:30
pm
View the night sky at the Richard D. Schwartz Observatory on the University of Missouri – Saint
Louis campus during the Public Open House - weather permitting
http://www.umsl.edu/~physics/astro/
VIDEOS
The Elegant Universe
PBS online
http://www.pbs.org/search/?q=the+elegant+universe&mediatype=Video
Asteroid
PBS online
http://video.pbs.org/video/1506748851
Stephen Hawking’s Universe
Maybe the county library?
360 minutes long for 6 episodes
(any 1 hour episode counts as 1 video)
Any other PBS video listed at this web site http://video.pbs.org/subject/957383708/topic/957390630/viewmode/grid
NOVA – Einstein’s Big Idea
The Visible Universe: A Visual Journey
Through Space and Back in Time. NASA Hubble Space Telescope
library?
library?
EXPLORE ASTRONOMY WEB SITES
A website that shows the relative sizes of
all things, starting from the smallest and
going to the largest
This site has lectures on many topics
Khan Academy
Website of the mission that is looking for
planets around other stars that could
support life.
http://www.primaxstudio.com/stuff/scale_of_universe/scale-of-universev1.swf
http://www.learner.org/resources/series42.html?pop=yes&pid=560
Watch various short lecture videos on astronomy topics of interest to you
http://kepler.nasa.gov/
READ ASTRONOMY BOOKS
SOLAR SYSTEM: A Visual Exploration of the Planets,
Moons, and Other Heavenly Bodies that Orbit Our Sun by
Marcus Chown
St. Louis County Library
DO AN ASTRONOMY PROJECT
Make a 3D, scale model of the planets
Make a time line of history of the
universe
Poster about some aspect of astronomy
Other
We will hang these from the ceiling in the classroom. Figure out how to do that – have a
string or something coming out of the top of each planet
Be sure to include first homo sapiens in 50,000 BC, and big bang 13.7 billion years ago.
Must be small enough to fit on ONE cabinet door in N3