Online reading assignment question: interesting Midterm 1 astronomy topics

Astronomy 210 Reading Assignment 7, spring semester 2013
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

130317-midterm1interesting-hue
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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/6494187/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 30674, 30676

complex mindbending
moonphases, Newtonslaws, quantummechanics
telescopes, moon, eclipses
resolution, magnitudes, blueshift
starwheel
moonphases, starwheel, retrograde
quantummechanics, telescopes, eclipses
moon, telescopes, wavelength
moonphases stars eclipses
stars planets colors
moonphases, starwheel, planethunting
moonphases, starwheel, zodiacsigns
constellations rotation revolution
starwheel, history, telescopes
eclipses, light, lightpollution
parallax, Copernicanism, geocentrism
weird, interesting, similar
spectra, eclipses, Dopplereffect
planethunting, eclipses, moonphases
moonphases, cycles, starcharts
moonphases, magnitudes, time
parallax, eclipses, moonphases
moonphases, wavelengths, retrograde
starwheel, moonphases
corona, eclipse, astronomy
astronomy, photosphere, mainsequence
eclipses quantummechanics, ellipses
starwheel, eclipses, moonphases
eclipses, moonphases, rotation
retrograde, astronomers, telescopes
starwheel, eclipses, moonphases
moonphases, starwheel, zodiacsigns
moonphases, parallax, penumbra, parsecs
moonphases, spectra, telescopes
gammarays, xrays, UV, visiblelight, IR radio telescopes, BioDome, spacestation, Galileanmoons
moonphases, eclipses, zodiacsigns
moonphases, telescopes, starsizes
parallax, zenith, retrograde
starwheel, suncycles, moonphases
redshift blueshift sunspots spectralclasses OBAFGKM
interesting, cool, applicable
starwheel, zodiacsigns, history, moonphases
moonphases, sun, eclipses

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.

"The most interesting subject is being able to tell where a star will be at what time of day or night. I like that because I can know what is what."

"I found the quantum leaps the most interesting, because of how the electrons can change from one energy state to another within an atom. Understanding how the electrons work in an atom makes it easier to understand chemical reactions."

"The most interesting subject covered in the midterm will have to be telescopes because these are the actual instruments we use to view the night sky and learn about it. Besides being one of the things we learn about that we can physically touch"

"Telescopes and Moon motions."

"The history of astronomy."

"the star wheel is the most interesting subject covered in this midterm. Since it is cool how you could you could see all the constellations."

"I enjoyed learning about quantum leaps. I don't know why but I thought it was pretty cool"

"the telescopes because i always wondered about thm"

"earth's motion and cycles, it was interesting learning about rotation, precession, revolution, and tilt."

"moon phases because I have always been fascinated by the moon"

"The fact that you can have a giant ass telescope doesn't mean you get better resolving power compared to two medium telescopes placed X distance from each other. This is cool because you think bigger is always better, but in the case, it isn't."

"I found the moon phases to be interesting because I now can look into the sky at night and identify the phase of the moon. I enjoyed using the star finder with different times and months to find constellations. I also enjoyed identifying dimmer/brighter stars, the size, and the illumination because it's a simple procedure and fun to be able to find differences in the stars."

"Prolly when we talked about the different constellations for a day, looking at them on the starwheel was cool because a little with what we know about the constellations we can spot them in the sky."

"I really liked learning about the starwheels and how they work. It was fun to line up the date and time of my birthday to see that I was actually born under a different horoscope."

"I really enjoyed learning about eclipses and doing the in-class activities where would determine when or where a certain planet would be visible in the sky. It really helped me to get a better picture of our solar system and how it works on a spatial level."

"I found the history of the development of astronomy interesting. I've always liked history, but I never really knew how many of the theories in astronomy had developed. Getting the background information on the astronomers helps me better understand their theories and relate them to my own personal life."

"probably stars and their brightness because know i am able to tell which are hotter and more visible."

"Star chart, because I always wanted to learn about constellations and where they were positioned in the sky"

"Probably eclipses because they are so rare, but also because I understand how they work now."

"absolute and apparent magnitude because I never thought or knew that stars were brighter or dimmer they all just looked the same until you learn about it and the different colors also....cooool :)"

"Moon phases cause now I can look at moon and know what's going on"

"Eclipses--learning about the way the moons tilted orbit makes this occurrence rare is really neat. Learning about the moon in general is cool because it has such a profound effect on the planet in the form of tides."

"I really liked learning about the light spectrum and deciding what to send up into space, because it was something that I really understood."

"the moon fazes because it's interesting to me that the moon changes due to rotation"

"moon phases and eclipses. I thought the moon phases was interesting because I see the moon so often but it was cool to learn some good information about something seen so often. And the eclipses were interesting because now when I witness one, I'll understand it completely, like where the sun is, and if I'm in the umbra or penumbra."

"I suppose I don't know that it will be on the midterm, but I enjoyed gaining an understanding (officially) of the vastness of our solar system, galaxy, and universe. Putting distances into perspective can only help in gaining a better ability to grasp our place in space."

"using the star wheel , just because I can use it almost every night, I can apply to real life citations"

"i thought it was interesting reading and learning about all the old theories some of the astronomers had and how we came to where we are now with astronomy."

"The people who made the discoveries we know today. Without them it would be tougher to understand how every works and how everything looks in the sky. I like to know who helped us as a society reach this point in our knowledge."

"moon phases"

"I personally found the star wheel to be very interesting. I loved being able to look up at the sky and know what would be seen and certain month, time, and direction."

"Waves and the reasons some are meant to be in space and others meant to be in desserts."

"I found the modern high tech telescopes to be interesting, how they can adjust to the twinkle of a star by actively adjusting its mirrors."

"The distance of stars, their absolute magnitudes, and the infinite possibilities that coincide with these origins of life. all of the stuff about the moon, i just found it interesting to learn the different names for the phases and how it revolves around earth."

"I think the star sizes and temperatures are the one most interesting things because its the one thing i feel i understand."

"I found retrograde interesting because I didn't know that the planets that earth overlaps during its revolution causes them to look like they are going backwards before going forward again."

"The most interesting to me is the moon phases because I find it really interesting how the moon changes through its cycle during a month."

"Binary stars. It's interesting to me because through goldilocks binary stars they can monitor orbits and orbital periods to figure out the mass of the stars. It seems like the method could use some serious improvement. Mass = volume x density. They are only guessing it seems and trying to sound like they're not."

"how to navigate by looking at the night sky, it's interesting because I can use it in my life."

"Most interesting subject in my opinion is probably the various astronomers/scientists and their varying views; what was proved right and wrong."

"The phases of the moon is most interesting to me probably because I have the greatest understanding of it among everything else."