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 runaway planets (Venus and Mars), jovian planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune), and the dwarf planets (and the International Astronomy Union classification scheme).
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.
"Venus and Mars can be considered the 'runaway' planets."
"That Pluto isnt a planet anymore. Ive known that for a while but I never knew why it wasn't considered a planet anymore."
"The history of the planets, as I got a better idea of how they compare to Earth."
"Even though Uranus and Neptune have about the same mass, and Neptune is further from the sun, yet Uranus has a colder atmosphere."
"How core heat and sunlight make weather more active and colorful on Jupiter compared to Saturn. "
Describe something you found confusing from the assigned textbook reading or presentation preview, and explain why this was personally confusing for you.
"Why was Pluto considered a planet before? It seems weird that they just changed the rules and kicked Pluto out."
"Would really like a better explanation as to why uranus and neptune are so similar and yet look so different."
"The gravy analogy. How the formation of volcanoes can pause and 'sleep.' I'm not sure exactly how this works and if the volcano is in a cooling state or in a resting state."
"Nothing confusing. I'm really looking forward to moving out of our solar system, but I understand that we need to know the basics first."
"How gas particles escaped from Mars thus dissipating its atmosphere."
Identify the relative amounts of these characteristics for Venus, compared to Earth. (Only correct responses shown.)
Interior core heat, today: about the same as Earth [50%]
Geologic activity, today: less than Earth [91%]
Volcanic outgassing, up until now: about the same as Earth [76%]
Heat from the sun: more than Earth [32%]
Amount of atmosphere, today: more than Earth [65%]
Identify the relative amounts of these characteristics for Mars, compared to Earth. (Only correct responses shown.)
Interior core heat, today: less than Earth [82%]
Geologic activity, today: less than Earth [85%]
Volcanic outgassing, up until now: less than Earth [71%]
Heat from the sun: less than Earth [71%]
Amount of atmosphere, today: less than Earth [71%]
Which jovian planet has the coolest interior temperatures?
Jupiter (most massive). ** [2] Saturn (most prominent rings). *** [3] Uranus (least active weather patterns). ***************** [17] Neptune (farthest from the sun). ************ [12] (Unsure/guessing/lost/help!) [0]
I believe Pluto should be a planet.
Strongly disagree. * [1] Disagree. ******** [8] Neutral. *************** [15] Agree. ******* [7] Strongly Agree. *** [3]
Briefly explain your answer to the previous question (whether Pluto should be a planet).
"I think that it should be considered a planet because it orbits the sun. Just because it doesn't fit into the terrestrial or jovian category doesn't mean it should be disregarded. "Pluto doesn't posses characteristics similar of those to jovian or terrestrial planets. As explained in the book it is more of a icy cold little object and there are tons it therefore I don't consider it a planet."
"I believe that Pluto is a planet because it orbits the sun and that qualifies it as a planet."
"It has certain aspects that could and couldn't make it a planet so I decided to stay neutral."
"It already was considered a planet. It still revolves around the sun no matter what we call it."
"Until more recently, I grew up learning about Pluto as a planet so do not really understand the sudden change."
It was a planet for 76 years, so I think it should have stayed that way."
"Pluto does not dominate its orbit, which makes it a dwarf planet."
"Pluto is much more similar to the family of icy worlds found recently than it is to the other eight planets in the solar system."
Ask the instructor an anonymous question, or make a comment. Selected questions/comments may be discussed in class.
"I wasn't able to make it last class to the quiz. You drop three quizzes, correct?" (Yes.)
"Could we possibly go over last week's quiz?" (You need to do that yourself, but feel free to ask me questions when I'm circulating through the class during group work, just after class, in office hours, or make an appointment, or e-mail me. In any case, we'll have a practice quiz tonight to review the earlier quizzes, as well as the new material covered on the quiz next week.)
"Can we go over the geologic activity of Venus and Mars in relation to Earth?" (Yes, looking over some of your responses on this online reading assignment, we'll need to.)
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