Astronomy current events question: Mars' habitable past

Astronomy 210L, Fall Semester 2010
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

Students are assigned to read online articles on current astronomy events, and take a short current events quiz during the first 10 minutes of lab. (This motivates students to show up promptly to lab, as the time cut-off for the quiz is strictly enforced!)

Tom Beall, "Mars Was 'Recently' Habitable Planet," September 10, 2010
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/wires?id=149649139&c=y

What recent atmospheric data from the NASA Mars Phoenix lander may provide evidence that Mars was habitable enough for life within the past 100 million years?
(A) Fossil remnants of clouds.
(B) Carbon dioxide isotope proportions.
(C) Doppler radar of the upper atmosphere.
(D) Anomalous readings of the sun's intensity.
(E) Reflectance of dust storm particles.

Correct answer: (B)

Student responses
Sections 70178, 70186, 70200
(A) : 1 student
(B) : 25 students
(C) : 2 students
(D) : 1 student
(E) : 0 students

Astronomy current events question: Mars Rover Curiosity power

Astronomy 210L, Fall Semester 2010
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

Students are assigned to read online articles on current astronomy events, and take a short current events quiz during the first 10 minutes of lab. (This motivates students to show up promptly to lab, as the time cut-off for the quiz is strictly enforced!)

Courtney O'Connor, "Five Things About NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover," September 16, 2010
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/msl5things20100916.html

In addition to solar panels, the NASA Mars rover Curiosity, planned for arrival on Mars in 2012, will also be powered by:
(A) a nuclear battery.
(B) wind turbines.
(C) methane harvested from soil.
(D) hydrogen harvested from the atmosphere.
(E) refueling from supply depots landing earlier that year.

Correct answer: (A)

Student responses
Sections 70178, 70186, 70200
(A) : 48 students
(B) : 4 students
(C) : 2 students
(D) : 4 students
(E) : 0 students

Astronomy current events question: data mining for trans-Neptunian objects

Astronomy 210L, Fall Semester 2010
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

Students are assigned to read online articles on current astronomy events, and take a short current events quiz during the first 10 minutes of lab. (This motivates students to show up promptly to lab, as the time cut-off for the quiz is strictly enforced!)

Astronomy.com editors, "Hubble Data Harvests Distant Solar System Objects," September 14, 2010
http://www.astronomy.com/asy/default.aspx?c=a&id=10220

14 new trans-Neptunian objects (similar to Pluto) were discovered by searching archived data from the NASA Hubble Space Telescope for:
(A) pixels tagged as data errors.
(B) dim infrared spots.
(C) previously uncategorized stars.
(D) changes in Neptune's orbit around the sun.
(E) streaks of light in time-exposure photographs.

Correct answer: (E)

Student responses
Sections 70178, 70186, 70200
(A) : 4 students
(B) : 9 students
(C) : 6 students
(D) : 3 students
(E) : 36 students

Astronomy current events question: lunar bombardment

Astronomy 210L, Fall Semester 2010
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

Students are assigned to read online articles on current astronomy events, and take a short current events quiz during the first 10 minutes of lab. (This motivates students to show up promptly to lab, as the time cut-off for the quiz is strictly enforced!)

Astronomy.com editors, "NASA's LRO Exposes the Moon's Complex, Turbulent Youth," September 17, 2010
http://www.astronomy.com/asy/default.aspx?c=a&id=10237

What recent data from the NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft may provide evidence that the moon was bombarded by two distinct populations of asteroids or comets in the past?
(A) Infrared maps of different composition regions.
(B) Chemical tests of soil sample scrapings.
(C) Orbits of small rocky and icy fragments around the moon.
(D) Discovery of new ice-filled craters at the north and south poles.
(E) Detection of gravitational field anomalies.

Correct answer: (A)

Student responses
Sections 70178, 70186, 70200
(A) : 20 students
(B) : 5 students
(C) : 2 students
(D) : 2 students
(E) : 0 students

Astronomy current events question: ICESat crash

Astronomy 210L, Fall Semester 2010
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

Students are assigned to read online articles on current astronomy events, and take a short current events quiz during the first 10 minutes of lab. (This motivates students to show up promptly to lab, as the time cut-off for the quiz is strictly enforced!)

Clay Dillow, "Undergrads at Colorado Crash a NASA Satellite Into The Ocean," September 1, 2010
http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2010-09/undergrads-colorado-kick-school-week-crashing-satellite

The NASA Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) was recently __________ by undergraduate students at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
(A) illegally hacked into.
(B) deliberately ordered to crash.
(C) accidentally shut down.
(D) uploaded with a new operating system.
(E) named unofficial school mascot.

Correct answer: (B)

Student responses
Sections 70178, 70186, 70200
(A) : 0 students
(B) : 56 students
(C) : 5 students
(D) : 3 students
(E) : 0 students

Astronomy current events question: Viking lander results

Astronomy 210L, Fall Semester 2010
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

Students are assigned to read online articles on current astronomy events, and take a short current events quiz during the first 10 minutes of lab. (This motivates students to show up promptly to lab, as the time cut-off for the quiz is strictly enforced!)

Astronomy.com editors, "Missing Piece Inspires New Look at Mars Puzzle," September 7, 2010
http://www.astronomy.com/asy/default.aspx?c=a&id=10194

Scientists recently proposed that the NASA Viking landers had detected organic compounds in martian soil, rather than from:
(A) self contamination.
(B) solar flares.
(C) cosmic rays.
(D) dry ice geysers.
(E) acid rain chemicals.

Correct answer: (A)

Student responses
Sections 70178, 70186, 70200
(A) : 46 students
(B) : 5 students
(C) : 3 students
(D) : 7 students
(E) : 3 students

Astronomy current events question: cosmic pinwheel

Astronomy 210L, Fall Semester 2010
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

Students are assigned to read online articles on current astronomy events, and take a short current events quiz during the first 10 minutes of lab. (This motivates students to show up promptly to lab, as the time cut-off for the quiz is strictly enforced!)

Kelly Beatty, "A Ghostly Cosmic Pinwheel," September 9, 2010
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/community/skyblog/newsblog/102593154.html

The Hubble Space Telescope image of IRAS 23166+1655 resembles a "cosmic pinwheel," apparently created by:
(A) a star falling into a black hole.
(B) a telescope mirror defect.
(C) a dying star with a binary companion.
(D) colliding galaxies.
(E) planetary formation.

Correct answer: (C)

Student responses
Sections 70178, 70186, 70200
(A) : 0 students
(B) : 1 student
(C) : 49 students
(D) : 4 students
(E) : 10 students

Found physics: pocket microscopes

100910-1190133
http://www.flickr.com/photos/waiferx/4978228328/
Originally uploaded by Waifer X

Pocket microscopes, 30x, 100x. Photo by Cuesta College Physical Sciences Division instructor Dr. Patrick M. Len.

Overheard: think-pair-share flashcard shaking

Astronomy 210, Fall Semester 2010
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

(Overheard at the end of a think-pair-share flashcard cycle, when students were apparently unanimously voting for the correct answer, but did not seem very confident in their responses.)

Instructor: (Looking at nearly unanimous student flashcard results.) "Wait: remember, even if you think you have the correct answer--if you're just guessing, or if you aren't comfortable being asked to explain your answer, choose '(E) I'm lost, and don't know how to answer this.'"

Students: (No one changes their flashcard answers.)

Instructor: "Okay. If you're really confident of your answers, then shake your flashcards... (Beat.) Like a Polaroid(TM) picture."

Students: (Only a third of the class shakes their flashcards.)

Astronomy current events question: dusty protoplanetary disks

Astronomy 210L, Fall Semester 2010
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

Students are assigned to read online articles on current astronomy events, and take a short current events quiz during the first 10 minutes of lab. (This motivates students to show up promptly to lab, as the time cut-off for the quiz is strictly enforced!)

Whitney Clavin, "Pulverized Planet Dust May Lie Around Double Stars," August 23, 2010
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/spitzer/news/spitzer20100823.html

Hot dusty disks surrounding close binary star systems observed by the Spitzer Space Telescope may be caused by:
(A) disrupted star formation.
(B) magnetic field storms.
(C) planets that have collided.
(D) telescope software glitches.
(E) lack of liquid coolant.

Correct answer: (C)

Student responses
Sections 70178, 70186, 70200
(A) : 7 students
(B) : 9 students
(C) : 46 students
(D) : 0 students
(E) : 1 student

Astronomy current events question: Kepler-9 planetary transits

Astronomy 210L, Fall Semester 2010
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

Students are assigned to read online articles on current astronomy events, and take a short current events quiz during the first 10 minutes of lab. (This motivates students to show up promptly to lab, as the time cut-off for the quiz is strictly enforced!)

Alan MacRobert, "Two Exoplanets in an Interactive Dance," August 26, 2010
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/101571373.html

How have NASA researchers determined that two planets orbiting the sun-like star Kepler 9 are gravitationally interacting with each other?
(A) Both planets are moving farther out away from their star.
(B) The time for each planet to pass in front of their star changes slightly.
(C) One planet loses hydrogen, while the other gains hydrogen.
(D) Predictions from Einstein's general theory of relativity.
(E) The star's rotation rate changes slightly.

Correct answer: (B)

Student responses
Sections 70178, 70186, 70200
(A) : 3 students
(B) : 46 students
(C) : 4 students
(D) : 0 students
(E) : 11 students

Astronomy current events question: pre-Chicxulub impact event

Astronomy 210L, Fall Semester 2010
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

Students are assigned to read online articles on current astronomy events, and take a short current events quiz during the first 10 minutes of lab. (This motivates students to show up promptly to lab, as the time cut-off for the quiz is strictly enforced!)

Kelly Beatty, "The Dinosaurs Got a Warning Shot," August 31, 2010
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/101880488.html

__________ obtained by Scottish scientists buried in sedimentary layers in a recently-discovered impact crater indicate that life may have recovered quickly afterwards, until the later Chicxulub impact that killed the dinosaurs.
(A) Alien spores.
(B) Iridium samples.
(C) Small primitive mammal fossils.
(D) Lack of dinosaur fossils.
(E) Plant material.

Correct answer: (E)

Student responses
Sections 70178, 70186, 70200
(A) : 1 student
(B) : 3 students
(C) : 9 students
(D) : 4 students
(E) : 46 students

Overheard: think-pair-share fail

Astronomy 210, Fall Semester 2010
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

(Overheard at the end of a think-pair-share flashcard cycle, when students were not able to come to a consensus after explaining to each other in pairs why/how they thought their answers were correct.)

Instructor: (Looking at student flashcard results.) "You guys...suck!"

Students: "What?!?"

Instructor: "And you know who's to blame?"

(Beat.)

Instructor: "Your astronomy teacher."

Astronomy current events question: mud volcanoes on Mars

Astronomy 210L, Fall Semester 2010
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

Students are assigned to read online articles on current astronomy events, and take a short current events quiz during the first 10 minutes of lab. (This motivates students to show up promptly to lab, as the time cut-off for the quiz is strictly enforced!)

Anuradha K. Herath, "Mud Volcanoes on Mars," August 19, 2010
http://www.astrobio.net/exclusive/3586/mud-volcanoes-on-mars

According to NASA researchers, __________ may be evidence of mud volcanoes on Mars.
(A) underground seismic activity.
(B) lack of above ground water.
(C) images taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
(D) samples drilled by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity.
(E) Mars Exploration Rover Spirit sinking into mud.

Correct answer: (C)

Student responses
Sections 70178, 70186, 70200
(A) : 16 students
(B) : 0 students
(C) : 46 students
(D) : 5 students
(E) : 2 students

Astronomy current events question: shrinking moon

Astronomy 210L, Fall Semester 2010
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

Students are assigned to read online articles on current astronomy events, and take a short current events quiz during the first 10 minutes of lab. (This motivates students to show up promptly to lab, as the time cut-off for the quiz is strictly enforced!)

Astronomy.com editors, "Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Reveals Incredible Shrinking Moon," August 20, 2010
http://www.astronomy.com/asy/default.aspx?c=a&id=10155

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter recently observed __________, which may indicate that the moon shrank recently, and may still be shrinking today.
(A) sizes of craters decreasing over time.
(B) fresh lava flows.
(C) mud volcanoes.
(D) cliffs that cut across small craters.
(E) growing sinkholes.

Correct answer: (A)

Student responses
Sections 70178, 70186, 70200
(A) : 5 students
(B) : 0 students
(C) : 0 students
(D) : 27 students
(E) : 2 students

Astronomy current events question: HD 10180 planetary system

Astronomy 210L, Fall Semester 2010
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

Students are assigned to read online articles on current astronomy events, and take a short current events quiz during the first 10 minutes of lab. (This motivates students to show up promptly to lab, as the time cut-off for the quiz is strictly enforced!)

Kelly Beatty, "One Star, Seven Planets," August 24, 2010
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/101410964.html

The recently discovered planetary system around the star HD 10180:
(A) contains the largest number of exoplanets in a single system.
(B) survived a recent nova explosion of HD 10180.
(C) emits radio signals of possible technological origin.
(D) matches descriptions found in ancient Mayan writings.
(E) may be entirely formed from dark matter.

Correct answer: (A)

Student responses
Sections 70178, 70186, 70200
(A) : 31 students
(B) : 2 students
(C) : 1 student
(D) : 0 students
(E) : 1 student

Cuesta College North County campus star party

100909-1190130
http://www.flickr.com/photos/waiferx/4975512415/
Originally uploaded by Waifer X

Cuesta College Astronomy 210L students and guest during a North County campus star party. Photo by Cuesta College Physical Sciences Division instructor Dr. Patrick M. Len.

Sights seen:
Venus
Mars
Mizar A/B
Alcor
Epsilon Lyrae
Jupiter