Tacoma Community College
Astronomy 110 (Solar System) - Spring Quarter 2015
Instructor: Paul Hinds
Office: Phone: 566-5060 (messages)
E- mail: phinds@tacomacc.edu
Office: Bld. 29 Room 132
Office Hours: There will be no scheduled on-campus office hours for this course. I will return e-mail or
phone messages as quickly as possible and will be available to meet with students by phone or on
campus on an as-needed basis.
Course prerequisite: ENGL/ 095 with a minimum grade of C or equivalent and MATH 090 with a
minimum grade of C or equivalent
Optional Text: The Cosmic Perspective 7th Edition, Bennett, Donahue, Schneider, and Voit;
Pearson/Addison-Wesley. This textbook in editions 5—7 is acceptable so shop around for a
used book. It is wise to have a textbook but it does not have to be the latest edition.
Course Description: Introduces basic concepts in astronomy including the formation of the solar system;
characteristics of the planets, moons, asteroids, and comets. The course also notes the historical milestones
of astronomy from ancient astronomers to current space probes. Laboratory included.
Course Objectives
College-Wide Learning Outcomes: Tacoma Community College has identified five college-wide
learning outcomes that form the foundation of our educational emphasis: Communication (COM),
Critical Thinking and Problem Solving (CRT), Responsibility and Ethics (RES), Information &
Information Technology (IIT), and Living and Working Cooperatively/Valuing Differences (LWC). These
outcomes are incorporated into the astronomy course.
Entering the Class
To enter the class from your TCC portal, you select Canvas on the menu and follow the instructions.
In Canvas, you will find an introductory talk with the information you will need to get started. Under
“Modules,” you will see sections labeled from week 1 to week 10. These modules contain the
information you will need to complete your lessons each week.
Assignment Dates
Assignment dates are given in the calendar in this syllabus and you should not fully trust the calendar in
Canvas.
Homework
The homework is done on line at Canvas and automatically scored when you finish. The points are
added into the total points a student has accumulated from labs, field trips and quizzes. In this system,
homework does count in a student’s grade; therefore, to obtain a passing or high grade, most of a
student’s homework must be completed on time for credit. (The points given for each individual lesson
are given on the lesson.)
Quizzes
A quiz will be given for each Unit, and the questions are worth five points each. The quizzes will be
available on Canvas under lessons-quizzes and are 25 questions.
The quizzes are available online from Friday noon to Tuesday noon. NOTE: Be sure that you can
finish when you start the quiz because you can only log in once. Students have 25 minutes to
complete the quiz. The quizzes are timed so you need to study and learn the astronomy because you
will not have much time to look up answers. The questions are drawn at random from a large pool of
questions so no two students take the same quiz.
The lowest two quiz grades (excluding the final) are thrown out at the end of the term. Any missed quiz
will be counted as a “throw out.” “Throw out” means that the points for that quiz will not be added into
the total possible nor added to the student’s total.
The final exam will be an on-campus proctored comprehensive test with no make-up. The time
and date will be announced so you may make arrangements to come to the campus for your final. If
you are out of the Tacoma area, please contact me so we can make arrangements for your final.
Field Trip
A field trip is required for the course. The Tacoma Astronomical Society (TAS) conducts public viewing
on selected Saturday evenings at the Steilacoom campus of Pierce College. TAS usually gives its
program in the Science Dome (planetarium) and after the program sets up telescopes in the parking lot,
and the public is welcome to come and view. They place signs to direct people to the Science Dome
and the adjacent parking lot. It is highly recommended that students plan to attend early in the quarter
as the weather does not always cooperate. A visit late in the term may only produce a view of the
“Tacoma Nebula” (clouds).
Students are required to attend one of these viewing sessions and view at least four space objects. If
viewing is not possible due to the weather, to obtain the forty points credit, the student must as an
alternative attend the lecture given by TAS. Failure to attend will result in the deduction of 100 points. A
schedule of viewing nights and times is on the Tacoma Astronomical Society web site: www.tasonline.org and a form to have the TAS members sign are at the end of this syllabus. The completed
form may be scanned and emailed, snail mailed, or dropped into the college mail system. The forty
extra credit points are awarded each time you attend. If you live away from the Tacoma area, please
contact me to make alternate arrangements.
Labs
A list of labs that you will be doing this term will be available. These labs are good simulations of the
actual work that astronomers do. There is a lecture with each lab that explains the lab. Some students
skip this lecture and start to do the lab and then complain they do not understand what they are doing.
The labs are available through Canvas and are done on your computer and visual instructions for each
lab are furnished, and the data sheets do the calculations for you. If you are unsure about doing the
work in this course, doing a lab is a good exercise to find out if you can do the work.
Grading
A point system is used for grading: quiz questions have a possible 5 points per problem; homework and
labs are labeled giving you the points for each part. Your grade is determined by dividing your points by
the total possible points. Typically, a quiz will be 125 points; and the final about 360 points.
The student’s total points are divided by the “standard” (the number of possible points) which
determines the student’s percentage. The letter grade is determined from the following chart:
94% - 100%A
90% - 93% A87% - 89% B+
83% - 86% B
80% - 82% B 77% - 79% C+
73% - 76% C
70% - 72% C67% - 69% D+
63% - 66% D
60% - 62% DBelow 60% E
Withdrawals: Withdrawal must be done officially through the Registrar’s office during the first 50 days
of the quarter. After this date, students must have at least a 70% average in order to withdraw from the
class. If you discontinue participating in class, a grade of "E" will be given.
Incomplete: This will only be assigned under extreme circumstances. In addition, the student must
have completed a sufficient amount of the course and have a passing grade. An agreement will be
written up which contains the specific requirements to be completed and the time allowed for
completion.
Academic Dishonesty Policy: As stated in the TCC catalog, “Students are expected to be honest and
forthright in their academic endeavors. Cheating, plagiarism, fabrication or other forms of academic
dishonesty corrupt the learning process and threaten the educational environment for all students.” The
complete Administrative Process for Academic Dishonesty is available on the TCC website at:
http://www.tacomacc.edu/abouttcc/policies/administrativeprocedureforacademicdishonesty/ . In this course, students
are to work individually on all exams and quizzes. Anyone caught cheating will receive a zero for that
exam. Anyone caught cheating twice will be given an "E" for the course. However, students are
encouraged to work with others on homework and labs.
Students with special needs: All students are responsible for all requirements of the class, but the
way they meet these requirements may vary. If you need specific academic accommodations due to a
disability, please contact me and Disability Student Services (566-5328). Appropriate documentations
must be obtained by the students from Disability Student Services in the Counseling Center in Building
18. The disability accommodation documentation must be given to me before it is needed rather
than afterward so that appropriate arrangements may be made.
Concerns and complaints: If you have questions or concerns about this class or me, please come to
talk with me about your concerns. If we are unable to resolve your concerns, you may talk next with
Rebecca Slinger, the Chair of the Science and Engineering Department in building 15. The Chair can
assist with information about additional steps, if needed.
This Syllabus and schedule are subject to change. It is your responsibility to check on
announcements.
Where to find it:
Due dates and starting dates are on the calendar in this syllabus.
Presentations are on Canvas under Modules
Labs are on Canvas under Modules — Week number and Labs.
Quizzes are on Canvas under Modules — Week number and Quizzes
~March-- April 2015 ~
◄ Mar 2015
Sun
29
Mon
30
Week 1
5
12
19
26
8
9
14
15
16
10
17
11
TAS Public Night
7:30 pm
18
Quiz 3 available at
noon
21
22
23
Start work on Unit 4
Lab 4
End availability
Quiz 3 at midnight
Start work on Unit 5
Lab 5
End availability
Quiz 4 at midnight
Sat
4
Quiz 2 available at
noon
Start work on Unit 3
Lab 3
End availability
Quiz 2 at midnight
27
Week 5
Fri
3
Quiz 1 available at
noon
7
20
Week 4
Thu
2
Start work on Unit 2
Lab 2
End availability
Quiz 1 at midnight
13
Week 3
Wed
1
First Day
Start work on Unit 1 &
Lab 1
6
Week 2
Tue
31
May 2015 ►
24
Quiz 4 available at
noon
28
29
30
Notes:
25
TAS Public Night
7:30 pm
~ May 2015 ~
◄ Apr 2015
Sun
Mon
Tue
Jun 2015 ►
Wed
Thu
Fri
1
Sat
2
Quiz 5 available at
noon
3
4
Week 6
10
11
Week 7
17
24
7
Start work on Unit 10 &
Lab 8
End availability
Quiz 9 at midnight
Notes:
8
9
Quizzes 6 & 7 available
at noon
12
13
14
15
TAS Public Night
7:30 pm
16
Quiz 8 available at
noon
19
20
21
Start work on Unit 9
End availability
Quiz 8 at midnight
25
Week 9
6
Start work on Unit 8
Lab 7
End availability
Quizzes 6 & 7 at
midnight
18
Week 8
31
5
Start work on Units 6 &
7 Lab 6
End availability
Quiz 5 at midnight
22
23
Quiz 9 available at
noon
26
27
28
29
Quiz 10
available at noon
30
TAS Public Night
7:30 pm
~ June 2015 ~
◄ May 2015
Sun
Mon
1
2
8
Finals Week
Jul 2015 ►
Wed
3
Thu
4
Fri
5
Start work on Unit
11
End availability
Quiz 10 at midnight
Week 10
7
Tue
6
Quiz 11
available at noon
9
End availability
Quiz 11 at midnight
All Labs Due
10
11
Sat
TAS Public Night
7:30 pm
12
13
On Campus
On Campus
Evening Final
Afternoon Final
Time and Location Time and Location
to be announced to be announced
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
Notes:
Web Sites of Interest
For Astronomy
http://www.spaceweather.com This NASA site gives information about the Sun and the
effect it has on Earth. It predicts aurora, gives data on near-Earth Asteroids and gives
Sun Spot counts and links to many other sites.
http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/ A must site to obtain the screen saver that gives the
most recent pictures of the Sun. Choose “Free Stuff” and then SOHO screen saver. You
should have a continuous connection to the Internet for this screen saver.
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html This is the NASA’s Astronomy Picture of
the Day site. Every day there is a new picture, and all the previous pictures are listed.
Many use this site as their default site.
http://www.nasa.gov/news/highlights/index.html The official NASA site for news and
information.
http://www.astrobio.net This is NASA’s site that emphasizes astrobiology and in
particular Mars at this time.
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html This is the NASA site for the Mars rovers.
You can learn what the rovers are discovering and the plans for them.
http://home-1.worldonline.nl/~veenen/terragen/mars/mars.html This contains some of the
best Mars pictures. Kees Veenenbos is a Dutch graphic artist who has taken NASA data
and added perspective to make great pictures of Mars. He has added water to some of
the pictures to show how Mars would look with water.
http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/impacteffects/ The Earth Impact Effects Program. This is a fun
site that gives you the results when Earth is impacted with different-sized objects
traveling at various speeds. You choose the size, speed and your location and then
check to see if you lived.
http://www.stsci.edu/hst/ This is the Hubble telescope site. You can look at Hubble
pictures and find out the status of the telescope.
http://freefall.purrsia.com/ A fun space cartoon. To understand the story, you need to go
back to the start and work your way to the current strips.
http://www.badastronomy.com/ A great site that corrects misinformation about
astronomy and has movie reviews that point out bad astronomy in the movies.
These are only a few astronomy sites, and each will give you links to many other sites.
Astronomy is alive and well on the we
Astronomy Field Trip Sign-off Sheet
Each student is required to go to at least one Saturday evening “public night” at Pierce
College sponsored by the Tacoma Astronomical Society (TAS). The dates and times for
the public nights are given on the student assignment calendar. Telescopes are set up
by the TAS in the parking lot. Park in the Pierce College parking lot by the Olympic
Building (North side of the campus). In addition to the telescope viewing, TAS members
give presentations in the Olympic Building.
You should view at least four different objects and have the person running the
telescope initial this sheet to show what you viewed and that you were truly amazed at
what you saw.
Student Name __________________________________
School __________________________________
Date _________________________
Telescope 1 Object ______________________________ Signed ___________
Telescope 2 Object ______________________________ Signed ___________
Telescope 3 Object ______________________________ Signed ___________
Telescope 4 Object ______________________________ Signed ___________
Lecture
______________________________ Signed ___________