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 reviewing the history of astronomy, Kepler's and Newton's laws, and telescope powers.
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.
"Learning the history of the astronomers and the progression of discoveries made."
"The 'sweep areas' of Kepler's second law, because it describes how a planet slows down or speeds up along its orbit."
"The politics behind Galileo's persecution. I thought it was specifically due to his heliocentric views. I found it amusing that it was more to do with him snubbing the Pope."
"All the factors that go into using/building a telescope, and the different kinds."
"In terms of telescopes, size really does matter."
"What I found interesting is the difference between Kepler's laws and Newton's laws and how they differ in describing how or why planets move."
Describe something you found confusing from the assigned textbook reading or presentation preview, and explain why this was personally confusing for you.
"Some of the aspects, parts, and uses of different telescopes hard to keep straight."
"Differentiating between Kepler's three laws and Newton's three laws. Further explanation please."
"Retrograde and prograde motion. I seem to always get them mixed up."
"Nothing was confusing."
"Why does a planet that is closer to the sun have an orbit that is longer and slower than a planet closer to the sun?"
"I still need more practice on learning which type of scientist each astronomer was. Need more clarity on the non-scientist, scientist, mover, disprover way of classifying each astronomer's contribution."
When a planet is undergoing retrograde motion, over several nights it moves __________ with respect to the background stars.
east to west. *********************** [23] west to east. ********* [9] (Either of the above choices is possible.) * [1] (Unsure/lost/guessing/help!) * [1]
When a planet is undergoing prograde motion, over several nights it moves __________ with respect to the background stars.
east to west. *********** [11] west to east. ********************** [22] (Either of the above choices is possible.) * [1] (Unsure/lost/guessing/help!) [0]
Categorize each of Kepler's laws.
(Only correct responses shown.)
Kepler's first law: describes the shape of a planet's orbit. [90%]
Kepler's second law: describes the motion of a planet along its orbit. [93%]
Kepler's third law: describes the motion of a planet along its orbit. [72%]
Categorize each of Newton's laws.
(Only correct responses shown.)
Newton's first law: relates forces with changes in motion. [68%]
Newton's second law: relates forces with changes in motion. [72%]
Newton's third law: describes a property of forces. [76%]
The __________ powers of a telescope depends on the: (Only correct responses shown.)
light-gathering power: diameter of the primary lens/mirror [85%]
resolving power: diameter of the primary lens/mirror [65%]
magnifying power: both the focal lengths of the primary lens/mirror and eyepiece: [50%]
The least important feature to consider when purchasing an optical telescope is the __________ of its images.
brightness. **** [4] resolution. *** [3] magnification. ************************* [25] (Two of the above choices.) [0] (Unsure/lost/guessing/help!) ** [2]
Briefly explain your answer for the least important feature to consider when purchasing an optical telescope.
"Magnification is no good if you don't have a good image to magnify. Magnification can also be easily changed by changing the eyepiece."
"Magnification is the least important because magnification just enlarges the images. so you would get larger pictures of blurry images."
"What good is magnification if you can't see what you are looking at?"
"The clarity of an image doesn't correlate with the magnification feature on a telescope. By just enlarging an image it will not make the image clearer. It's the light gathering power and the resolving power that allows for how bright and clear an image will be."
Ask the instructor an anonymous question, or make a comment. Selected questions/comments may be discussed in class.
"Are we going to be using telescopes soon? Could you bring a telescope to class and show us the different parts of the telescope?" (Yes, tonight as a matter of fact.)
"I will need a refresher on the different powers of the optical telescope, as well as, the astronomers. I can read all day but discussing it with someone who knows about this stuff already really helps me grasp information better. Thank you."
"If you failed the first quiz, do you still have a chance of getting a decent grade in the class?" (You get to drop your three lowest/missed quizzes, so you're still good.)
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