Astronomy Lab Syllabus Spring 2014

Course Coordinator: Prof. Steve Schneider (schneider@astro.umass.edu include Astro Lab somewhere in the subject line!) Section TAs: Michelle Benoit, Hansung Gim, Karl Haislmaier, Mihwa Han, Seunghwan Lim, Riwaj Pokhrel, Shawn Roberts, Chris Thibodeau The Purpose of the astronomy labs for Astronomy 100 and 101 is to introduce you to some basic aspects of observational astronomy and to help you relate that knowledge to the broader science of astronomy that you are studying in the lecture portion of the course. We will explore many aspects of the day and night sky to learn how objects change position over the course of the day, month, and year, and how the patterns of what we see in the sky change from different parts of the Earth. We will also carry out several activities in the lab to help you understand important ideas in astronomy. Grading of each lab will be based primarily on participation, which will be recorded on computer scanner sheets (scantrons). Bring a pencil to every lab! The best 10 of 11 lab scores will be counted toward your overall total. There will also be a short final project that will count for 20% of your lab grade. This lab will require you to take several pictures and do about a 1 to 2 page write-up. To do this project you will need access to a digital camera (a cell phone camera is fine) and upload your original pictures into Moodle over the course of the semester. If it is impossible for you to take digital pictures, you will need to contact the course coordinator before mid-semester to make alternative arrangements. More details will be given later. If you miss a lab because you are ill or because of a University-sponsored event, there will be opportunities to make up the lab in a different section the same week or on special make-up lab sessions at the middle and end of the semester. Some of the lab sections are quite full, so if you come to a different lab time than normal, speak to the instructor before the beginning of class to request permission to attend. There will be an opportunity to make up Labs 2, 3, and 4 on the Wednesday before spring break, and Labs 5-11 will have make-up opportunities at the end of the semester. Your work in the lab will count for approximately a quarter of your overall course grade, and most of the work will be done during the lab, so your participation is critical to your grade. If you attend every week and complete the final project, your lab grade will almost certainly raise your overall course grade. Failure to attend will certainly lower your overall grade. The Team-Based Learning (TBL) Classrooms are a new design that we are currently testing out at UMass. The rooms feature tables with 3 computers and seat 9. Note the buttons on each table used for speaking. When addressing the class, you should press this. You can also project what is on your computer screen onto the large monitor on the wall as well as around the room, and you can project yourself and what you put on the white board onto monitors around the room. All of this technology is intended to help you work together as a small 3-person group at one of the computers, as a discussion team at your table, and as a whole class.