P-dog's blog: boring but important: 201304

20130430

Astronomy current events question: Kepler-69e and Kepler 69f

Astronomy 210L, spring semester 2013
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!)

Michele Johnson and J. D. Harrington, "NASA's Kepler Discovers Its Smallest 'Habitable Zone' Planets to Date," April 18, 2013
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/news/kepler-62-kepler-69.html

NASA's Kepler space telescope discovered three super-Earth planets which may have oceans, as determined by their:
(A) lack of microwave emissions.
(B) reflectivity.
(C) distances from their stars.
(D) colors.
(E) infrared absorption.

Correct answer: (C)

Student responses
Sections 30678, 30679, 30680
(A) : 1 student
(B) : 7 students
(C) : 32 students
(D) : 2 students
(E) : 6 students

Astronomy current events question: Thirty Meter Telescope construction site

Tim Hornyak, "Eye in the sky," April 14, 2013
http://news.cnet.com/2300-17938_105-10016452.html

Hawaii's Board of Land and Natural Resources __________ for the Thirty Meter Telescope atop Mauna Kea.
(A) approved the construction site.
(B) requested a size reduction.
(C) issued a volcano eruption warning.
(D) is holding a naming competition.
(E) will have all city streetlights turned off after midnight.

Correct answer: (A)

Student responses
Sections 30678, 30679, 30680
(A) : 44 students
(B) : 0 students
(C) : 1 student
(D) : 0 students
(E) : 3 students

Astronomy current events question: dark matter detected?

Camille Carlisle, "Homing in on Dark Matter," April 16, 2013
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/Dark-Matter--203199671.html

The Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS) collaboration detected possible three dark matter events from sensors:
(A) at old atomic bomb test sites.
(B) on the dark side of the moon.
(C) in a deep underground mine.
(D) downrange from the Large Hadron Collider.
(E) in an Antarctic research station.

Correct answer: (C)

Student responses
Sections 30678, 30679, 30680
(A) : 1 student
(B) : 6 students
(C) : 33 students
(D) : 5 students
(E) : 3 students

20130425

Astronomy quiz archive: Milky Way, cosmology

Astronomy 210 Quiz 6, spring semester 2013
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

Section 30674, version 1
Exam code: quiz06Nu1N

Section 30674

0- 8.0 :
8.5-16.0 :
16.5-24.0 :	********* [low = 16.5]
24.5-32.0 :	******** [mean = 28.2 +/- 7.6]
32.5-40.0 :	*********** [high = 40.0]

Section 30676, version 1
Exam code: quiz06Sl6n

Section 30676

0- 8.0 :	* [low = 5.5]
8.5-16.0 :	********
16.5-24.0 :	*************** [mean = 21.1 +/- 5.9]
24.5-32.0 :	***************
32.5-40.0 :	* [high = 36.5]

20130422

Astronomy current events question: naming exoplanets?

Thierry Montmerle, Alain Lecavelier des Etangs, and Lars Lindberg Christensen, "Can One Buy the Right to Name a Planet?," April 12, 2013
http://www.iau.org/public_press/news/detail/iau1301/

The International Astronomical Union issued a public warning of an unauthorized organization collecting money to:
(A) repair the Hubble Space Telescope.
(B) broadcast messages to extraterrestrials.
(C) nominate and vote on exoplanet names.
(D) sponsor the International Space Station.
(E) name the asteroid NASA will bring to Earth orbit.

Correct answer: (C)

Student responses
Sections 30678, 30679, 30680
(A) : 2 students
(B) : 2 students
(C) : 45 students
(D) : 1 student
(E) : 1 student

Astronomy current events question: formation of Mars' early atmosphere?

Kevin Stacey, "Carbon's Role in Atmosphere Formation," April 8, 2013
http://news.brown.edu/pressreleases/2013/04/magma

Researchers investigated how magma in the moon and early Mars may have trapped and released atmospheric carbon by:
(A) analyzing sunlight reflected by the moon and Mars.
(B) using rovers on the moon and on Mars to drill into rocks.
(C) melting similar Earth rocks.
(D) creating lunar and Martian minerals from scratch.
(E) detecting fossil bacteria.

Correct answer: (C)

Student responses
Sections 30678, 30679, 30680
(A) : 7 students
(B) : 18 students
(C) : 19 students
(D) : 2 students
(E) : 5 students

Astronomy current events question: Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS)

MIT Press Office, "NASA Selects MIT-Led TESS Project for 2017 Mission," April 5, 2013
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2013/nasa-selects-tess-for-mission-0405.html

NASA selected the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) to launch in 2017 to detect exoplanets:
(A) while they form.
(B) as they orbit in front of their stars.
(C) being swallowed by dying stars.
(D) in neighboring galaxies.
(E) passing close to our solar system.

Correct answer: (B)

Student responses
Sections 30678, 30679, 30680
(A) : 1 student
(B) : 27 students
(C) : 1 student
(D) : 10 students
(E) : 11 students

20130419

Physics quiz archive: circuits (2)

Physics 205B Quiz 5, spring semester 2013
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA
Section 30882, version 1
Exam code: quiz05c4Rb

Section 30882 results

0- 6 :	* [low = 6]
7-12 :	***********
13-18 :	********** [mean = 15.8 +/- 5.5]
19-24 :	*********
25-30 :	* [high = 27]

20130417

Astronomy current events quiz: white dwarf and red dwarf binary system

Whitney Clavin, "Gravity-Bending Find Leads to Kepler Meeting Einstein," April 4, 2013
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2013-124

NASA's Kepler space telescope detected a white dwarf in a binary star system with a red dwarf by observing __________ as they pass in front of and behind each other.
(A) solar flares.
(B) x-ray pulses.
(C) brightness changes.
(D) repeated nova explosions.
(E) magnetic field fluctuations.

Correct answer: (C)

Student responses
Sections 30678, 30679, 30680
(A) : 3 students
(B) : 6 student
(C) : 24 student
(D) : 2 students
(E) : 18 students

Astronomy current events question: Io's volcano locations

Jia-Rui C. Cook, Nancy Neal-Jones, Bill Steigerwald, "Scientists to Io: Volcanoes are in the Wrong Spot," April 4, 2013
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2013-125

According to NASA and European Space Agency researchers, __________ on Jupiter's moon, Io, are displaced from positions expected from tidal heating.
(A) hydrocarbon lakes.
(B) polar ice caps.
(C) lightning storms.
(D) volcanoes.
(E) subduction zones.

Correct answer: (D)

Student responses
Sections 30678, 30679, 30680
(A) : 2 students
(B) : 1 student
(C) : 0 student
(D) : 49 students
(E) : 1 student

Astronomy current events question: hydrogen peroxide on Europa

Jia-Rui C. Cook, "Mapping the Chemistry Needed for Life at Europa," April 4, 2013
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2013-126

Analysis of near-infrared data from the Keck II telescope confirmed the presence of __________, a potential energy source for life on Jupiter's moon, Europa.
(A) hydrocarbons.
(B) adenosine triphosphate (ATP).
(C) hydrogen peroxide.
(D) radioactive nuclides.
(E) chlorophyll.

Correct answer: (C)

Student responses
Sections 30678, 30679, 30680
(A) : 5 students
(B) : 2 students
(C) : 43 student
(D) : 2 students
(E) : 1 student

20130414

Astronomy quiz archive: stellar evolution

Astronomy 210 Quiz 5, spring semester 2013
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

Section 30674, version 1
Exam code: quiz05n3wT

Section 30674

0- 8.0 :	* [low = 8.0]
8.5-16.0 :	***
16.5-24.0 :	******
24.5-32.0 :	********* [mean = 25.8 +/- 8.5]
32.5-40.0 :	******* [high = 40.0]

Section 30676, version 1
Exam code: quiz06s0uL

Section 30676

0- 8.0 :	* [low = 8.0]
8.5-16.0 :	******
16.5-24.0 :	********** [mean = 23.5 +/- 6.9]
24.5-32.0 :	****************
32.5-40.0 :	**** [high = 36.5]

Physics quiz archive: capacitors, circuits

Physics 205B Quiz 4, spring semester 2013
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA
Section 30882, version 1
Exam code: quiz04eQu7

Section 30882 results

0- 6 :	** [low = 6]
7-12 :	********
13-18 :	*************** [mean = 15.7 +/- 5.2]
19-24 :	*******
25-30 :	* [high = 27]

20130412

Overheard: Wite-Out™

Astronomy 210L, spring semester 2013
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

(Overheard as students are working on their astronomy laboratory worksheets.)

Student: "P-dog--do you have any Wite-Out™?"

Instructor: (Making crossing-out motions.) "Can't you use 'black-out?'" (Looks around the instructor work station.) "Besides, I can't have any Wite-Out™ lying around the classroom--it's a controlled substance."

20130411

Astronomy current events question: Mars solar conjunction

Guy Webster, "Sun in the Way Will Affect Mars Missions in April," March 20, 2013
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2013-108

Early next month, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory will suspend sending commands to spacecraft at Mars because:
(A) Mars is nearly behind the sun.
(B) of massive winter dust storms.
(C) daylight saving time starts on Mars.
(D) they are listening for possible extraterrestrial radio signals.
(E) of loss of government funding.

Correct answer: (A)

Student responses
Sections 30678, 30679, 30680
(A) : 50 students
(B) : 2 students
(C) : 1 student
(D) : 0 students
(E) : 2 students

Astronomy current events question: twin GRAIL spacecraft crashes

Nancy Neal-Jones and Bill Steigerwald, "NASA's LRO Sees GRAIL's Explosive Farewell," March 19, 2013
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/news/grail-results.html

NASA's twin Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory spacecraft crashed into the moon's north pole regions in order to __________, as observed by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
(A) kick up dust and gas plumes.
(B) avoid disturbing the Apollo landing sites.
(C) create future moon base shelters.
(D) measure the moon's gravitational pull.
(E) release raw building blocks of life.

Correct answer: (A)

Student responses
Sections 30678, 30679, 30680
(A) : 38 students
(B) : 3 students
(C) : 1 student
(D) : 11 students
(E) : 1 student

Astronomy current events question: "sideline" quasars

Michael Shull and Jim Scott, "'Sideline Quasars' Helped to Stifle Early Galaxy Formation, says CU Study," March 21, 2013
http://www.colorado.edu/news/releases/2013/03/21/%E2%80%98sideline-quasars%E2%80%99-helped-stifle-early-galaxy-formation-says-cu-study

University of Colorado researchers studied quasar light passing through gaseous material in space, and propose that quasars __________ in the early universe.
(A) slowed the rate of expansion.
(B) produced antimatter.
(C) created helium.
(D) destroyed black holes.
(E) prevented small galaxy formation.

Correct answer: (E)

Student responses
Sections 30678, 30679, 30680
(A) : 8 students
(B) : 0 students
(C) : 13 students
(D) : 3 students
(E) : 40 students

P-dog's blog: boring but important