Online reading assignment question: interesting Midterm 1 astronomy topics

Astronomy 210 Reading Assignment 6, fall semester 2011
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

111003-interestingwordle
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Wordle.net tag cloud for interesting topics covered in Midterm 1, generated by responses from Astronomy 210 students at Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA (http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/4176089/Untitled).

Students have a weekly online reading assignment (hosted by SurveyMonkey.com), where they answer questions based on reading their textbook, material covered in previous lectures, opinion questions, and/or asking (anonymous) questions or making (anonymous) comments. Full credit is given for completing the online reading assignment before next week's lecture, regardless if whether their answers are correct/incorrect. Selected results/questions/comments are addressed by the instructor at the start of the following lecture.

List at least three words describing interesting subjects covered in class (up through this midterm). (Graded for completion.)

[Responses have been edited to consolidate related common subjects.]

Student responses
Sections 70158, 70160

telescopes moonphases
moon stars sun
wavelength, retrograde, moonphases
moonphases, eclipses, EMradiation
moonphases starwheel
fascinating, mindblowing, clocklike, logical
sunsatmosphere, telescopes, moonphases
sun, Copernicus, stars
moonphases, wavelength, EMradiation
moonphases, eclipses Keplerslaws
moonphases eclipses
photons, moon, telescopes
moonphases, stars, starwheel
cool, amazing, weird
cool, fun, different
moon stars telescopes
quantumleaps, EMradiation, mooncycles
mooncycles, Earthmovements, starmovements
wavelength, telescopes, astronomers
moonrise/set moonphases
moonphases
mooncycles
shadows, circulation, moonphases
moonphases, prograde retrograde, eclipses
eclipses, starwheel, moonphases
eclipses, solarflares, mooncycles
eclipses stars astronomers
zodiac, moonphases blackbodyradiation
planetarymotion moonphases
starwheel, planetarymotion constellationmovements
moonphases Keplerslaws planetarymotion eclipses
stars, moon, P-dog
stars alignment moon
eclipses, moonphases, EMradiation
moonphases planetfinding
moon, eclipses, telescopes
eclipses
wavelength, retrograde, history
zodiac, eclipses, moonphases
moonphases, parallax, EMradiation
justwanttopass
EMradiation, moon, eclipses
eclipses, solarflares mooncycles
moonphases, constellations, sun

Describe your most interesting subject, and briefly explain why this subject interested you. (Graded for completion.)

The following are all of the student responses to this question, verbatim and unedited.

"telescope power, it opened my eyes to how they are realy rated"

"everything is pretty intresting at this point its all new material for me so everything seems interesting"

"Eclipses, i'm a huge twilight fan"

"The most interesting subject for me is the moon phases because now when i look at the moon all i see is the phases...thanks p-dawg :("

"moon phases, because they were difficult to memorize"

"The most interesting subject to me was how you can draw a diagram and figure out what time a moon phase rises, is highest overhead, and sets. I was not aware that a certain moon phase always rises at the same time. It is fascinating that the revolution of the moon around the earth is like a clock."

"I liked learning about the telescopes the most, finding the focal length of the telescope is the most fun."

"The most interesting part of the midterm is probably the history behind the famous astronomers who discovered everything about the sun, moon, and stars."

"moon phases are when the moon changes phases and it is interesting because I didn't realize that I could figure out the different phases based on time."

"I really enjoyed learning about the scientists that brought about new theories that the Earth is not the center of the universe. I'm also a history geek thats why."

"The section we did on eclipses was really interesting mainly because I never knew why they were so rare despite how often the moon changes phases."

"Light because it is both a wave and a particle."

"the moon because i did not know how much we get from the moon our monthes ,tides."

"The most interesting subject covered in this midterm is stars and star mapping. I find this most interesting because
telescopes because it was cool to see all the different types."

"moon phases because I found it interesting to know how the moon phases change and all the different times the moon rises and sets depending on date and time"

"I thought that retrograde motion was interesting. I didn't know what paths the planets took in the night sky."

"I have an obsessions with the Moon. I like learning about it."

"The Astronomers, even though they were a pain in the butt to remember it was interesting to learn about what they did and who they were."

"I think I've used the information about the moon phases the most in my daily life."

"The phases of the moon are interesting to me because it is a little common knowledge that you can use."

"I liked learning about the moon cycles because I love the moon. It makes it bright at night and it is always a constant no matter where you are in the world."

"Knowing the phases of the moon at different times and knowing the time of the year. I was able to know whether the season was spring, summer, fall, winter based on how high the sun rose and set."

"Moon phases. It's interesting because you have four different phases each month and I am able to describe them when I see them."

"Eclipses, I love how rare they are to experience."

"astronomers, because they fought hard for what they believed was true."

"learnig about past astronomers and thier accomplishments because i am interested in history"

"Moon Phases. Answered a lot of questions I had had."

"Telescopes, because i never new the different types of telescopes and i also had no idea about their powers."

"Using the starwheel to track star movements"

"I was most interested in the relation of moon rise/set times to the phase of the moon. I was interested to discover how precisely these two phenomenon could be charted."

"Stars because they are far"

"The way the earth rotates causing the stars to move along with season and the moon."

"Electromagnetic Radiation was the most interesting for me because I had never known about different types of radiation not being able to reach different atmospheric levels."

"astrology because i've always enjoyed it."

"Using the sky wheel to figure out hat constellations will be over head on certain dates."

"I would say eclipses and how thy happen."

"History, with such little technology they still saw so much"

"The Zodiac Signs would have to be my most interesting topic, because where they are in the sky determins when you were born."

"Parallax. I think it's interesting because it's something so simple that that can be used to measure big things"

"The moon phases are interesting to me, even though I don't fully understand them."

"the moon phases because I understand it the best."

"I just like that I can predict the moon cycles now, its fun."

"I enjoyed learning about the different astronomers, as I like learning about history and it was interesting to see the progression of theories."