Scholars Online Astronomy - Introduction
Course Assignments Overview

This homework page has some extra introductory material to help you get started.

Organizing your Work

The following list gives you a general idea of each task you need to complete for our meetings. You may want to copy it to another file or spreadsheet to help you keep track of your assignment completion.

Getting to know the textbook

Reading about science, and reading a science textbook, require a different set of skills those you might use to read a novel or even a history textbook. Besides text information which is common to all of these, science textbooks include diagrams, graphs, tables and other means of presenting numerical information or process steps that must follow a given order. They also include mathematical formula, and often notes on how to use the formula or other scientific concepts in practical application. As you read, you not only need to take notes the way you might take notes for a history text, but you also need to study diagrams and work through example problems.

Take the time to become familiar with your textbook.

• Table of Contents: Look at the two versions of the table of contents. The first gives you the chapter titles, and shows you the order in which we will discuss topics: learning first the tools and basic concepts we need to understand everything else in the course, then studying our own solar system, individual stars, galaxies, and finally the origins of the universe. The second version of the table of contents lists each section, and the "boxes" that explain key concepts and the use of formula. This version of the table of contents will help you find specific concepts when you need to review.
• Prefaces: The prefatory material of the textbook explains the way the text is put together, and some of the goals the authors used to organize their materials. You should look through this material so that you are familiar with the layout of the book. In particular pay attention to the section labeled To the Student. This section includes some hints on how to make the best use of your science course, including your teacher, chat sessions, and even your fellow students.
• Chapter Goals: Take a look at the first chapter, which will be assigned for you formally for our second chat session. It starts with some introductory remarks. At the bottom of the first page are set of learning goals. Read through them, and when you finish reading the chapter come back and check them: did you actually accomplish the goals for this chapter? Can you answer the questions or discuss the topics associated with each goal?
• CAUTION! sections: As you page through the chapter, you will see some CAUTION! sections. These sections point out concepts or terms which are often misunderstood or misapplied. Paying attention to these short warnings can keep you from making mistakes in your homework or on quizzes.
• Boxes: Some of the material in the chapter is set aside in a box. boxes usually introduce and explain mathematical formula used to calculate astronomical quantities such as distance, temperature, or mass from observational data. You need to stop and read these sections carefully. Work through the example problems yourself so that you are familiar with the process of solving this type of problem. Paying attention and mastering the skills presented in the boxes will help you understand and complete your homework assignments were quickly.
• Tutorial icons: These point to online support from the publisher. I do not require that you buy the online support version of the text, since we will be doing our homework and testing through our own secure Moodle server.
• Chapter Review: At the end of each chapter are some review materials: a list of the key terms you should know (including the page number on which they are first used to make it easier for you to look some up if you do not remember the meaning of the term); a list of key ideas; review questions about concepts; and finally advanced questions which apply the mathematical concepts presented in the chapter, along with activities for your Starry Night Enthusiast planetarium software. Your homework will mostly be drawn from these questions and activities.
• The Starry Night Enthusiast questions: Each chapter includes some planetarium-based exercises. You should attempt to do these as best you can with your own planetarium program.
• Appendices, Glossary, Index: Skip all the way to the end of the book and look at the sections following the last chapter. You will find several appendices which supply useful information for your homework problems! The first several appendices(1-3) give information about planets, the next few give information about individual stars (4-5), and the last set of appendices (6-8) provide important astronomical quantities, physical constants, and some formulae that are frequently used for basic calculations. The glossary provides short definition of terms, along with the chapter in which the concept is first introduced. And finally the index gives you the page number where term is used or explained. It's a good place to go if you can't remember a term that crops up in a homework assignment.

Homework

• Reading Preparation
• WebLecture
• Study Activity
• Chat Preparation Activities
• Chapter Quiz
• Lab Work

Reading Preparation

Reading assignment: Read through the Student Survival Guide for Scholars Online Astronomy Course