Online reading assignment question: interesting Midterm 2 astronomy topics

Astronomy 210 Reading assignment 12, fall semester 2011
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

111127-Astr210-Midterm2-interesting
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Wordle.net tag cloud for interesting topics covered in Midterm 2, generated by responses from Astronomy 210 students at Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA (http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/4480562/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

dense, warm, monolithic
bigbang, MilkyWay, lookbacktime
bigbang, mainsequence, terrestrial planets
expansion, MilkyWay, bigbang
photons, darkmatter, and blackholes
greenhouseeffect, blackholes planets
MilkyWay, stars, luminosity, bigbang
Sun, formation stars MilkyWay
starclusters, bigbang
space, stars, gravity
galaxies, evolution Sun
awesome, confusing, loud
stars galaxies universe
lithium, supernovae, blackholes
MilkyWay, terrestrial, planets
blackholes, darkmatter, halo
galaxies, MilkyWay, collapse
lookbacktime
darkmatter, supernovae, blackholes, planetarynebulae
luminosity, nebula, spiralarms
housepartymodel, PimpStarRims, Haterade
supernovae, bigbang, MilkyWay
bigbang, universe, blackholes, antimatter
platetectonics, lightyears, stars evolution
stars, darkmatter, blackholes
stars housepartymodel
blackholes, planets darkmatter
MilkyWay, galaxies, stars
extrasolar planets, galaxies, stars evolution
nebulae galaxies stars evolution
space darkmatter
heattransfer research temperature difference
nebulae, mainsequence stars, terrestrial planets
bigbang time craziness
time, space, stars
moonphases, constellations, galaxies
stars bigbang lookbacktime
pulsars, nebulae, novae
mass, bigbang, greenhouseeffect
bigbang, darkmatter, antimatter
convection, craters, yeah
bigbang universe, blackholes, antimatter
blackholes, galaxies, stars
mainsequence, stuff, blackholes

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.

"Formation theories behind galaxies. Looking at all of the colorful details really looked awesome"

"look back time is the most interesting because the stars we see now in the sky were made years ago"

"Big bang, it explains how the universe was created"

"The Milky Way because it is our galaxy."

"Black holes, because they bend space time."

"Black holes are interesting to me. They're just awesome!"

"the Big Bang, because I didn't ever really understand how everything supposedly started out, and now it all makes a lot more sense."

"The Milky Way, because I did not realize how enormous it really is."

"The most interesting subject for me would have to be the Milky Way, mainly because it is where the Earth is located and that it does affect us."

"How the universe is expanding. It's mind-boggling."

"the galaxy how we r able to see i did not know how limted we r and how big everything else is"

"the moon phase, I like to watch the moon"

"star formation"

"The beginning of the universe, specifically the creation of Lithium and the fact that more is not being made any where in the universe"

"I like learning about the Milky Way"

"Look back time into the universe because it's interesting to see how everything was before the big bang"

"I loved learning about the different aspects of galaxies, and how our galaxy was formed."

"I thought that it was cool that you could see into the past even though it has changed to the present."

"I found supernovas to be interesting because before we went over it I thought that it was something that just happens to stars when something goes wrong. I had no idea that they were one of the causes on how a new solar system is formed."

"The look-back times of stars was intriging because it indicates that not only does a star give light even when it's dead, but how expansive the universe is with how long the light travels."

"Features of other planets/ plate tectonics"

"..."

"creation of the universe, its pretty interesting to find out how it was all created and how it all works."

"big bang, the creation of who and what we are"

"dark matter, it's interesting and mysterious."

"Frequency of stars..it's nice to know what stars are out there"

"Black Holes"

"the different planets in relation to ours."

"I find all three things interesting because I've never studied them before"

"I was most interested in how spiral arms are formed in galaxies. It was fascinating to learn how they can be created when a galaxy devours smaller star clusters."

"The concept of our place in our galaxy and just how small our planet truely is in comparison"

"Big bang How the earth and it's moons got here"

"I thought the Nebula's were the most interesting because of the different kinds and the different ways they are produced."

"I loved learning about the big bang because I got to argue with my mom's jerk fiancé about it."

"The big bang, because its how we came to be"

"big bang, i always wondered what started it all and how and the details"

"Stars life and death and how they come n leave to"

"nebula, because it's an awesome sounding word."

"The Big Bang would have to be the most interesting, because it is a big part of history and its interesting to know how it happened."

"How we think the big bang happened because of the whole anti matter thing and how all of the matter in our universe is from a mistake"

"I enjoyed learning about convection and different laws because it had real world application"

"creation of the universe, its pretty interesting to find out how it was all created and how it all works."

"I enjoyed learning about the big bang; it's a subject that is universally (no pun intended) known, yet I had no idea the real event."

"supernova awesome"