Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA
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.
The following questions were asked on reading textbook chapters and previewing presentations on blackbody radiation.
Selected/edited responses are given below.
Describe something you found interesting from the assigned textbook reading or presentation preview, and explain why this was personally interesting for you.
"It's all interesting to me, I was never able to conceive of how to measure the brightness, distance or size of a star before. Being that we can't physically travel to these places, it amazes me we have such technology to almost pinpoint everything about stars from here."Describe something you found confusing from the assigned textbook reading or presentation preview, and explain why this was personally confusing for you.
"You can determine the temperature of a star based on its color."
"I found the star colors and temperatures to be interesting in that they are backwards in a sense. You'd think that the color red would be associated with high temperatures, and blue would be associated with cold, when it is just the opposite. Red stars are cool and blue stars are hot."
"I found that glowing objects are determined by its temperature very interesting, and I'm not really sure why, but it caught my attention in a good way."
"The stars are all different colors, not just yellow or white."
"I think it is interesting that a star could be smaller than another, but still be more luminous because it is hotter than the bigger star."
"How the position of a star on the H-R diagram wasn't related to the stars actual position in space."
"Star sizes, only because I didn't realize how different the sizes are."
"The different star temperatures and sizes are interesting, I was always just thinking that they were all the same temperature and size."
"I enjoyed reading and learning about mass-luminosity relations. It makes perfect sense to me now how the stars are grouped together in different sized groups."
"Everything was pretty straightforward...FINALLY!"Ask the instructor an anonymous question, or make a comment. Selected questions/comments may be discussed in class.
"The size of the star having to do with the temperature."
"How much of an effect would star location have if it were to be included in the H-R diagram? Does it really not have an importance?"
"I found it confusing that a small white dwarf could be just as hot as a supergiant."
"Nothing was too confusing, although it's a little curious that most giant or supergiant stars' size doesn't always compensate for a hotter surface, compared with most smaller white dwarfs."
"Do we get to visit the Bowen Observatory again?" (We have another night scheduled on May 8, weather permitting.)
"Is there anything smaller than a white dwarf?" (Yes, neutron stars and black holes, which come from the cores of dead massive stars.)
"So I have been deciding whether I want to major in physics or astronomy. What should I know before I make a decision? Physics is more broad and seems like the more practical choice." (If you haven't already, take a physics class, and see if that clicks with you, and keep in mind that 90% of astronomy is really just physics.)
"Do other stars serve important purposes like the sun does for Earth and the existence of humanity?" (Your atoms were produced by a previous generation of massive stars when they exploded as type II supernovae.)
"Do you think time travel is possible?" (I already knew you were going to ask that.)
"Can you bring Mrs. P-dog into class one day?" (Since we live in north county, Mrs. P-dog usually drives down only on Monday nights when I DJ for swing dancing at the Madonna Inn.)
"I hate the impossible quizzes. I hope the midterm is easier than the quizzes. What major concepts should we have clear understandings of to be able to write essays for that portion of the midterm? How do we study for those?" (The specific topics covered on the midterm are listed on the study guide for the upcoming midterm. You'll practice answering sample essay questions in class, and for homework make sure you go over the multiple-choice questions on the quizzes.)
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