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 eclipses, and an preliminary overview of the history of astronomy.
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.
"That you have to be in specific areas on Earth to see a total solar eclipse because if you aren't in that area you will see a partial eclipse or won't see it at all."
"Ever since I was a kid I wanted to see a lunar eclipse. I just always thought that they were the coolest thing, and learning more about it and how it happens really interests me."
"Eclipses are not commonplace phenomena."
"Eclipses happen more often than I thought."
"That people had thought Earth was the center of the universe."
"How these early astronomers thought, and how they crafted their hypotheses with the little data that they had."
Describe something you found confusing from the assigned textbook reading or presentation preview, and explain why this was personally confusing for you.
"I didn't know a solar eclipse happens when the MOON goes in front of the sun."
"The penumbra and umbra confused me a lot."
"The different types of eclipse are hard to remember."
"When talking about the phases of the moon in relation to eclipse it was hard to understand if the moon phases had to stay the same in order to have a partial eclipse. For example in the case of a partial lunar eclipse, when I was reading the text it wasn't clear for me as to what phase the moon was in, was it still a full moon?"
"Annular or partial eclipses. I didn't see how to tell if it would be classified as either of these. Would it need to cover a certain amount of the object or would it matter if it was just touching it at all?"
"The retrograde motion of planets, and parallax. I just felt like I'm not quite grasping their concepts and how to apply them in class."
"The models created by the astronomers kind of confusing (epicycles? what?). The illustrations in the book didn't quite cut it for me."
"I found the history of astronomers confusing only because it is not as interesting for me."
A friend of yours has a birthday on March 30. According to your starwheel, the sun would have been located in front of which zodiac sign on that date? (Ignore daylight saving time.)
Aries. [0] Taurus. [0] Gemini. [0] Cancer. [0] Leo. *** [3] Virgo. * [1] Libra. [0] Scorpio. [0] Sagittarius. [0] Capricorn. [0] Aquarius. * [1] Pisces. ******************* [19] (Unsure/guessing/lost/help!) ** [2]
I believe astrology is able to make accurate predictions about my future. (This is a follow-up question.)
Strongly disagree. ****** [6] Disagree. ********** [10] Neutral. ***** [5] Agree. **** [4] Strongly agree. * [1]
Briefly discuss what you know now (that you didn't know before) that may (or may not have) affected your earlier opinion regarding your belief/disbelief in astrology. (This is a follow-up question.)
"I know now that some of the horoscopes are about a month off from what the starwheel says."
"The signs differing from the star wheel from what is commonly accepted makes me want to criticize astrology more. It further confirms my belief people will apply generalized aspects to themselves."
"Nothing has changed in my opinion of astrology. But I feel better informed on how todays Sun signs are no longer in correlation to previous sun signs due to precession."
"I find it cool how the different astrology signs align with the months, but I still don't think it can predict my future. It is too vague."
"I didn't know that precession really had that big of an effect on astrology but know that I do I can honestly say that it even furthers my disagreement with astrology. The changing north stars really changes my perspective on the stars around me, and has me asking a lot of questions."
"I still believe and will always believe in astrology, no matter how science proves it wrong."
Match the phase of the moon during these eclipse types. (Only correct responses shown.)
Total solar eclipse: new moon [81%]
Partial solar eclipse: new moon [58%]
Annular solar eclipse: new moon [46%]
Total lunar eclipse: full moon [96%]
Partial lunar eclipse: full moon [54%]
Place these astronomers in chronological order of their historical contribution to astronomy. (Only correct responses shown.)
Aristotle [84%]
Ptolemy [69%]
Copernicus [77%]
Tycho [69%]
Kepler [62%]
Galileo [50%]
Newton [77%]
Match these terms with their descriptions. (Only correct responses shown.)
Ideas accepted as truth without further examination: first principles [85%]
Predictions that could be tested by observations: hypotheses [96%]
Universal statements of cause and effect: rational laws [77%]
Describe phenomena without explaining why it occurs: empirical laws [77%]
Ask the instructor an anonymous question, or make a comment. Selected questions/comments may be discussed in class.
"Can we go over in more detail about the different eclipses?" (Yes, especially with the feedback you've given me.)
"How can they predict how long an eclipse will be?" (The motion of the moon revolving around Earth (and how the moon's orbit wobbles) is very well understood. Even without computers, past astronomers could predict eclipses quite well from just recognizing how the timing of eclipses repeats over many years.)
"Why is the moon red during a total lunar eclipse?" (Even though the moon is in Earth's shadow during a total lunar eclipse, light from the sun passes through Earth's atmosphere all around its edges, so then the moon is basically lit by sunset (and sunrise) light.)
"I find that trying to keep track of how things move across the sky as seen from Earth versus how they move among the background stars to be confusing at times, and I have trouble keeping track of their direction. Can this be clarified or explained in a way that might help make it stick? (We'll go over planetary prograde and retrograde motion in detail next week.)
"Confused about the astronomers but I didn't spend that much time reading it."
"Still loving this class! Thank you P-dog."
"I really enjoyed this section, but I'm hoping that during class we can go over it a lot more."
"I'll buy the book soon, I swear."
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