Prof. Eberhard Möbius
Physics Department and
Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space
Morse Hall, Room 407
Phone: 862-3097
E-Mail: Eberhard.Moebius@unh.edu
Mo, Tu, Fr: 11:00 - 12:00 AM, right after class
or send an E-Mail for an appointment
"The Essential Cosmic Perspective", 6th edition
Bennett, Donahue, Schneider, & Voith; Pearson Addison & Wesley
with: Mastering Astronomy & SkyGazer
"Course Review" (available on website and via Blackboard)
"Lab Manuals" (distributed in 1st Lab session)
Please keep manuals in a 3-ring binder, staple labs when handed in!
Lecture Notes and Presentation Material (available on Blackboard)
> 87% A, A-; >78% B+, B, B-; >69% C+, C, C-; >60% D’s; < 60% F
Exam Grade Based on: 3 Exams + Final 50%
best 2 out of 3 + mandatory Final count (1/3 each) (multiple choice, short answer, 1-2 essay questions)Lab Grade 30%
(10 Labs + Planetarium)Classroom Activities & Clicker Questions 10%
Reading Questions + Homework 10%Missing Final and/or more than 2 Labs out of 11 (10 Labs + Planetarium) leads to an F!
Show up at your Group's time!
Planetarium Class:(details in Lab Manual)
Bus Departure: Monday, Feb 3: 6 PM
Tuesday, Feb 4: 6 PM
Exams # 1, 2 during regular class time! Exam#3 Thursday at 7pm.
Wednesday, May 14, 330 - 530 pm, all material; heavy on last quarter of course; Room to be announced!
With the exception of the Exams I want to encourage you to work together on the topics of this class, during classroom activities, in the Lab and hopefully also when studying for this class outside the classroom!!
We plan to have several classroom activities distributed throughout the semester and homework assignments almost each week, most of them electronically through Mastering Astronomy and some of them on paper (observations, Term Paper Outline).
The classroom activities may consist of:
During the activities you are encouraged to work together in a group of 2-4
students. Each student turns the work in individually.
Each class has a brief Reading Quiz (Credit for correct)
at the beginning and a few Interactive Questions (Attendance Bonus),
answered with your CPS-Remote Pad.
Activities and Clicker Questions will add up to 10% of the course credit.
You are allowed to forgo 1 of the Activities and 4 of the Clicker Classes
with no penalty. You can still get the full 10%. However, doing all of them
earns extra credit! If you choose to forgo more, you will loose points accordingly.
Reading Questions & Homework will add up to 10% of the course credit.
Reading Questions and Homework are assigned via MAstering Astronomy online. An Enrollment Kit for this online resource is included in your course book.
2 Exams: 2 Credits + Final Exam 1 Credit = Full Credit: 50%
You are expected to attend
10 Labs and one Planetarium Class.
If you miss a Lab or have a conflict, talk to your TA or (about the Planetarium) to me immediately!
You need all 10 Lab Activities+ Planetarium Quiz for Full Credit!
Labs and Planetarium add up to = Full Credit: 30%
You are expected to attend the
1 Observatory Night of the Labs and one Planetarium Class
These add up to = Full Credit: 6%
Physics 405 Students have to write a Term Paper and Peer Review 2 papers of their class mates!
Full Credit for Term Paper and Peer Reviews: 24%
Course
Grade based on 100%
• Purchase the Course Book “The Essential Cosmic
Perspective”,
bundled with the Astronomy Media Workbook and an Access Kit
for Mastering Astronomy
• Enroll in Mastering
Astronomy online, following the instructions on the back foldout of your
book.
The Course ID is Phys405406MOEBIUS2014. (Yet to be Set up for the Semester; will be available by Semester start)
Use your full last and first name as listed on Blackboard
and use your Blackboard login name
as login name when you register
(if this doesn’t work because your login
is already taken, add one or two numbers at the end).
• Purchase an i-Clicker at one of the bookstores
in Durham
(UNH Bookstore or Durham Book Exchange)
You will get a Remote Pad and an Enrollment Package
• Register the i-Clicker for this class through
the Blackboard portal
- Please follow the instructions on the UNH IT website
So that all students can benefit from the lecture, I ask that you observe a few simple rules. Try your best to be on time, but if you are late, tiptoe in. Feel free to ask questions as soon as they occur to you and NEVER laugh at anyone else's questions! Don't talk during class (except during Concept Quiz time). If the noise level rises I will stop and wait for the noise to subside. If you absolutely, positively must leave early, please quietly tiptoe out without disturbing your fellow students. Please turn off cell phones, iPods, and other electronic devices.
The purpose of the lectures is to give you a broad overview of the material, and in particular, to cover some of the more difficult points of the current subject of study. During lectures I will go over the key concepts, with emphasis on issues that you may have the most questions about and illustrate the principles with demonstrations and visuals.
Short concept Quizzes (Concept Questions) and/or Interactive Activities will be given in almost every lecture. Concept questions will receive attendance bonus and be instantly graded through e-Instruction (Count 5% of Activity/Homework Grade). Activities (written sheet) will be marked up graded and so will your Homework Assignments (Both count 10% of Activity/Homework Grade). You will be asked to discuss each Question/Activity with your neighbor, so you cannot sit alone in the lecture hall. You must enter into these discussions. The multiple choice and short answer questions on the Exams will be partly based on these concept Questions and Activities.
For the short concept Quizzes (Concept Questions) and questions on what is still the hardest part of a specific class you will have your “Star Track Communicator” (CPS Remote Pad) on you. Bring it to every class!! It is your tool to participate in this course interactively. It helps you to learn your stuff, it tells me where there are still the greatest problems, and - last not least - it earns you a fraction of the credit needed for this class (every time!).
In order to participate efficiently in class you must read the material in the book ahead of time. I will tell you what is assigned for the coming class. One or two simple questions in the beginning will quiz your Reading! Reading is one part of your Homework for this class, written assignments that ask you to work through some questions, to observe the night sky and turn in a log of your observations, and to perform some intermediate steps towards your Term Paper.
The purpose of the labs is many-fold. First, you gain hands-on experience with
some astronomical principles that we discuss in lecture. Second, you begin to
experience how science is done, including using a theory to design an experiment,
taking measurements, and understanding sources of error. Third, in writing the
Outdoor Lab report, you will gain some experience in technical writing. Labs
are run by physics graduate students. They will spend a few minutes at the beginning
of lecturing on the Lab itself or on the relevant concepts.
Everyone should attend the first scheduled lab of his/her group during
the week of September 4. The laboratories will meet in DeMeritt Hall,
Room 253. You also receive Indoor and Outdoor Laboratory Manuals that describe
each Lab and task ahead and walk you through each Lab.
You must hand in the Lab materials for at least 9 of the 11 Lab periods (3 Indoor Lab Sheets, Outdoor Lab Reports, and Planetarium Quiz) to pass the course. All 11 are needed for 100% of the Lab Credit. Lab reports are generally due either at the end of the Lab for the Labs that can be completed during Lab time or 2 weeks after the Lab (for example, for the Observatory or Radio Telescope write-up). Your Lab instructor will let you know of any change of this rule. Labs should be placed on the 3rd floor in Nesmith Hall that is marked with your TA's name and lab time. Every day your lab report is late, 2 points of 20 are subtracted from your grade. Your lab Teaching Assistant will give you details on how lab reports are graded.
If you miss a lab, we strongly suggest that you try to make it up that week (contact your Lab TA). Otherwise, you can make it up during the second last week of classes, and at this time you can make up no more than two labs. (Note that this is a very busy week for many students with projects, so this is another reason to make up a missed lab as soon as possible.)
Lab TAs: Tu night: Luke Jablonski We night: Nick Lubinski
If you have to miss a class for a valid reason (such as trip for another class, team sports activity, illness, serious personal reason), send me E-Mail beforehand (only in case of illness afterwards, of course). CPS Remote count will be adjusted, and you are eligible for make-up of an Activity within 1 week!
For Exams only very serious reasons count. Otherwise, your lowest score on the first 3 Exams is the 0 on the missed Exam.
POSSESSION OF 2 OR MORE CLICKERS BY ONE STUDENT IN THE CLASSROOM is considered a serious offense against academic honesty and will not be tolerated. Being caught with that offense LEADS TO FAILING THIS CLASS by all students who are related to the clickers in question.
Plagiarism of a Term Paper and/or Observatory Paper or copying from another student (explained in detail in the Outdoor Lab Manual) automatically leads to an F in the course.
Cheating on an Exam leads to 0 Points on that Exam.
Understanding!! NOT Memorizing Facts!!
1)Logic and Methods of Astronomy:
How do we know about things far away, which we cannot touch?
So I won't ask you to learn facts, but how we can get the facts.
For example:
We would like to:
2) Help you appreciate what you see in the sky.
3) Let you know, why people do astronomy; we will touch on its history and philosophy.
What its contribution has been, is and will be on our general view of the world.
What the merits and the limitations of science are.
"Science is the most daring spiritual enterprise humanity has undertaken."
Sir Hermann Bondi, at the opening ceremony of the International Space Science Institute, Bern, Switzerland
4) Help you to reach a point where you can read and understand a popular Astronomy Magazine and the Science Section in newspapers, and to understand the new discoveries that will be made during the next decade. What is science and what fiction in Science Fiction?
5) Try to get you to appreciate the space program and to find out about the exciting things we do in Morse Hall on Campus.
This "Syllabus" and your copy of the "Course Review" should serve as a study guide. They pinpoint what you need to study in detail and look for in your textbook as well as listen to during the lectures, but they cannot replace studying the book or being active in the lectures!!
If you have comments, problems, questions, suggestions etc.,
PLEASE, PLEASE
Revised E. Möbius, 1/2014