Introduction

This class includes a laboratory component. The activities are geared for an individual working at home.

Laboratory Experiments

Lab 1 Math and Meas , Math and Meas Help

Lab 2 Lunar Phase Lab

Lab 3 Lunar/Planetary Feature Chronology Lab

Lab 4 Measure Parallax Lab

Lab 5 Observe and draw spectra of common sources

Lab 6 Sun in Many Wavelengths Lab

Lab 7 Spectral Types of Stars, Classifying Spectra

Lab 8 Analyze Binary Star Light Curves and Velocity Curves Lab

Observing Projects

1	Lunar Phase Observing ~6 wks	Observe and draw the MoonÍs phases and rise/set time (~6 weeks elapsed time)
2	Tracking Planet ~2 months	Draw position of Mars or Venus (for semesters when possible) night to night
3	Motion of the Sky ¾one night	Measure altitude and azimuth of bright stars for 1 night over several hours
4	Fun with a Sundial ¾~ 2 months	Measure equation of time and plot part of analema (Observe Sun near noon)
5	Changing points of Sunrise/Sunset ¾ ~2 months	Photograph sunrise or sunset point and time,
6	Photographing Star Trails one night	Photograph star trails (Requires a camera with bulb setting)
7	Telescopic Observation on Your Own one night	Observe and draw selected items with binoculars or small telescope (if you have the equipment)
8	Star Party one night	Attend star party, observe and draw objects.
9	Eclipse Observations one night	Observe and Record Lunar Eclipse , Find size of Moon compared to Earth This can ONLY be done in semesters when Eclipse occurs
10	Museum Visit 1 visit	Visit Museum and find exhibits related to Astronomy (List of Museums provided)
11	Observing Noon and the Equation of Time ~ 2months	Record¾ shadows near local solar noon and see how it differs from noon on a watch

Supplemental Materials

Graph Paper

Measuring Angles (how to use a protractor)

Plotting Graphs

Precision and Significant Figures

Scientific Notation

Solving Equations

Units and Conversions

Building Altaz Pointer

Altaz pointer -altitude cut out

Altaz pointer-azimuth cut out

Building the Skygrid

Skygrid cut out

Ecliptic Map

Venus Tracking Map Fall 2004

Lab Reports

A write up is required for each laboratory exercise. The descriptive write up normally includes questions to be answered. Each question, computation, or graph is worth part of the points. IF you do not finish the work, it will be accepted, but it will not receive the full number of points.

Laboratory reports should include the hand out, any graphs or drawings you have made, and the objective and conclusion written on regular notebook or white paper, numbered and stapled together. Questions in the report should be answered where they are asked, right on the handout. If you need more space, they can be addressed on a separate piece of paper.

Each laboratory write up must include a statement of Objectives and a statement of Conclusions. Label one section Objective and the other Conclusion.

Objective and Conclusion

Each laboratory write up must include a statement of Objectives and a statement of Conclusions.¾ Label one section Objective¾ and the other Conclusion.

The objective should tell your audience what will be accomplished by the experiment, not the method, but the scientific information you will be finding out, like the semimajor axis of the orbit of the Moon or the age of the universe. The reader should be able to read the objective and decide whether she./he cares about the topic enough to read the text of the lab write up. It should also convince the teacher that you know what you were doing.

The objective should be written in the future tense, as though you have not yet done the exercise. The objective is the plan of what you will discover. The conclusion is what you did discover, past tense. Ideally the objective tells what sort of information you will find.

The conclusion should tell what values (yes, the number values) or relationships you found. The conclusion should be like a response to the objective. For example, the objective might say . One objective is to find the mass of the Earth. Then the conclusion might say , " The Mass of the Earth was found to be 4.4x10²⁴ kg." The conclusion should include the major results of your lab. Typically answers to the questions in the lab are the kind of information to include in a conclusion.

The goal is that the objective tells the reader what the lab will find out, the conclusion will tell what was found, including numbers and errors. A reader should be able to read the objective to see whether he cares, and the conclusion to find out the answers. She/he would only need to read the rest to find out exactly how it was done and what intermediate results you got.

Often it is much easier to write the conclusions FIRST. Then write the objective as though these are the things you set out to discover or measure. The objective and conclusion sections should be separate from one another.¾ Include the specifics (numbers, values, uncertainties) of the things you hope to, and then do discover. Hand them in with the objective first.

Grammar and spelling DO MATTER.

Use complete sentences in the Objective and Conclusion. The words " Objective" and "Conclusion" are titles. They do not count as part of the sentence.¾ Write in paragraphs, not as lists of items. Write in the passive voice. e.g. "The motion of the stars will be examined", rather than, "We will observe the motion of the stars." Spelling and grammar count. Do not write commands (e.g. "Draw the Moon," would be a command. "The Moon will be drawn," would be appropriate.)

The objective and conclusion usually turn out to be about half a page each.

Use your own words. Every person's objective and conclusion should be slightly different.

As you write the Objective and Conclusion, the goal is to summarize the scientific conclusions, as though no one had ever known about them. It is not appropriate to discuss, your feelings, whether the exercise was hard or easy, what you personally learned .¾ I¾ know, and you know, that we are all in class for the purpose of personal learning, but the point of writing¾ the objective and conclusion is to train on how to write¾ an impersonal scientific¾ summary.¾ So don't say that the objective is to learn how to do something.

If you want to write about how things felt or how hard it was, write a separate note and attach it. ¾Do not include impressions, feelings, experiences or procedural details in the objective or conclusion.