Course Syllabus

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Course Description:

The first half of the course covers topics in modern planetary and stellar astronomy, such as gravitational interactions, neutron stars, magnetrons, earth-moon-sun interactions, and the life cycle of stars, black holes, and supernovae. It also includes topics on cosmology and galactic astronomy, such as dark matter, dark energy, the Big Bang, and the expansion of the Universe.

The second half of the course dives into the center of the earth and the atmosphere surrounding earth. We study earthquakes, storms, tsunamis, and include an in-depth look at the methods and impacts of mining in terms of energy and mineral use. 

Your assignments will also include several projects including memorizing stars and constellations of the night sky, planning a trip to Mars, modeling earthquakes and volcanic action, and videoing yourself explaining a variety of topics.

 

Textbook:

Great news: your textbook for this class is available for free online!
Astronomy from OpenStax, ISBN 1-947172-01-8

You have several options to obtain this book:

You can use whichever formats you want. The web view is recommended -- the responsive design works seamlessly on any device.

Important Notes:

  • Academic dishonesty and plagiarism will result in a failing grade on the assignment. Using someone else's ideas or phrasing and representing those ideas or phrasing as our own, either on purpose or through carelessness, is a serious offense known as plagiarism. "Ideas or phrasing" includes written or spoken material, from whole papers and paragraphs to sentences, and, indeed, phrases but it also includes statistics, lab results, artwork, etc.  Please see your student handbook for policies regarding plagiarism, harassment, etc.

Course Summary:

Date Details Due