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.
"Being able to see features of the sun's atmosphere while in the umbra of a solar eclipse. It's quite neat during that moment you’re able to see details about the sun that you usually are unable to on a regular basis."
"That if you moved into the penumbra you would be in partial shadow, but could also see part of the sun."
"The way eclipses rely on the moon and Earth lining up with the sun and the moon's orbit being in the correct plane explains why eclipses are not as common as one might think just thinking about all the times the moon's phase and orbit lining up with the sun two-dimensionally."
"Eclipses were especially interesting, specifically, their relation to the moon phases. I liked learning why there isn't always a solar or lunar eclipse when the moon is new or full."
"The visibility of Venus and Mercury as morning/evening stars to be interesting because I never quite think to look for planets during dusk or dawn, only during later hours of the night."
"Aristotle's idea that Earth was the center of the universe was interesting. Also later that if anyone challenged the idea, that they were challenging beliefs of Heaven and Hell and possibly being charged as a heretic and maybe death."
"I enjoyed the history of the different astronomers and what they did or did not bring to the table. Personally I found the story of Kepler and how he ended up in the position he did by overcoming obstacles motivating to say the least."
Describe something you found confusing from the assigned textbook reading or presentation preview, and explain why this was personally confusing for you.
"The varying eclipse types. The total eclipses are easy to grasp, but I don't fully understand the annular and partial types."
"It was hard to tell which picture was which type of eclipse."
"What phase the moon has for different eclipse types."
"Understanding when the moon's orbital plane is suitable for an eclipse. Can there be partial eclipses because the plane is just slightly tilted up or down?"
"Why some solar eclipses are annular. Why isn't the size of the moon blocking the sun always the same?"
"The total eclipses are easy to grasp, but I don't fully understand annular and partial."
"I did find it mind-boggling that, as early as the 1400s, we were already starting to map out our place in the universe and draw theories about where we place. It's kind of stunning to think that regular, everyday people like Copernicus from the 1400s, were already making theories and discoveries that would affect us so greatly, at such a early point in our recent history."
"It was confusing to match the astronomers with their approaches, either scientific or non scientific as the difference is hard to understand."
"I'm still working to put together the timelines and advancements of the models from Aristotle, Prolemy, to Copernicus, Kepler and then Galileo."
"Reading about all the different astronomers along with when and what they brought to the discussion. I'm not very good with remembering names that go with theories, so it’ll take a bit to sort out who did what."
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. *** [3] Taurus. ** [2] Gemini. * [1] Cancer. [0] Leo. [0] Virgo. ** [2] Libra. * [1] Scorpio. [0] Sagittarius. [0] Capricorn. [0] Aquarius. * [1] Pisces. ******************** [20] (Unsure/guessing/lost/help!) * [1]
I believe astrology is able to make accurate predictions about my future. (This is a follow-up question.)
Strongly disagree. ****** [6] Disagree. ****** [6] Neutral. ********* [9] Agree. ********* [9] 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 still love astrology regardless and still feel strongly connected to the sign I am despite it being a month of! I could never imagine being a different one."
"I didn't know that your traditional astrology sign could be different from your sun sign. I found it very interesting that some signs are still the same taking this into account."
"Well before taking astronomy with P-dog, I believed that the moon was lit on its own. It's not, though. I also was a daily devotee to reading my Taurus horoscope. Then I come to this class to find out I'm an Aeries. Wonder what I'll learn tomorrow."
"My option hasn't really changed but if anything I feel more strongly that its not true given that the sign in a horoscope isn't even the actually sing your born under."
"Now that I know that many of the constellations no longer correlate with the months that have been assigned to them, it further disproves astrology."
"I still do not believe that astrology is able to make predictions about my future. Based on the information I knew before and the information I know now, I still don't understand how one prediction will be the same for a group of individuals. We all differ from one another. I do have to mention I found the starwheel sun-signs very interesting and that due to procession sun-signs will change over time."
"I still am a skeptic of astrology, but it's interesting to know my REAL sign. Now when people ask, I’m going to tell them I'm a Taurus."
"What has affected my earlier opinion is now I know how you personally define astrology, before I assumed you meant the obviously made up aspects that are often published everywhere on the internet (example: the article written by Buzzfeed, 'Your Zodiac Sign Will Tell You Where To Travel In 2019 And It's Scary Accurate') rather than the specifics of the planets and stars."
"I am still neutral because I feel as if I still don't know enough about astrology to agree or disagree."
"Nothing really seems to change or affect my view of astrology changing my future life."
"I did not know that when astrology was created the stars were a month behind then it is today. It did not change my opinion about astrology predicting my future, but it was interesting."
"Before, I did not know that Earth's tilt and precession affected which star is our 'north star' and consequently affects the positions of the constellations in relationship to the sign that is seen in that month. I still believe that astrology can tell a lot about a persons life and events that will take place in it. I am a Gemini though and will never accept being a Taurus according to the starwheel for my birthdate."
"I know how to read a starwheel. This has really helped me understand the sky and how we view it. I was always a little lost with that before this class."
"It makes a little more sense, now that I know that the zodiac signs are actually one month off."
"I believe my perception of moon phases and the way the moon operates around our solar system has greatly improved!"
"Knowing now that the zodiac signs are one month behind has shown me that some of the predictions made by horoscopes are actually wrong. Although some still make sense."
"My slight disbelief in astrology has grown bigger through learning that things such as horoscopes are inaccurate and do not account for the Earth's precession. On top of this it's difficult to believe in astrology knowing that there are frequently conflicting scenarios between those who study it."
"I didn't know that people way back used to call the closest planets the 'wanderers' and they looked at them as gods."
"Students talked in class about their life stories of their zodiac sign helped them predict some bits of their future. I found that interesting, makes me believe it is possible."
"Has not changed."
"Still do not believe in it."
"I still don't know a whole lot regarding astrology, and I never really thought about it so I don’t necessarily see it being a big part in my life."
"I agree because when you explained it, I am starting to believe that astrology is a such thing and I am starting to understand the meaning."
"I can make predictions on which way Earth will be facing."
"Honestly, my opinion still hasn't changed. While it is interesting to see the similarities of my zodiac with myself, there is no real way to prove I would be a different person or have a different personality, if I was born under a different sign. It's certainly possible, but I don't want to place TOO much faith into it. "
"I know more about the moon and what it does."
"I did not know that the constellations lined up with the sun at noon for star signs. I thought the selection of signs was more random."
"I am not sure."
"I mean, it's definitely interesting, but I don't know how much I can count on it to predict my future."
"I found that learning that I'm actually a Scorpio didn't change my mind about astrology, I thought it didn't mean anything before because I never felt connected with being a Sagittarius."
Match the phase of the moon during these eclipse types. (Only correct responses shown.)
Total solar eclipse: new moon [84%]
Partial solar eclipse: new moon [58%]
Annular solar eclipse: new moon [68%]
Total lunar eclipse: full moon [97%]
Partial lunar eclipse: full moon [65%]
Place these astronomers in chronological order of their historical contribution to astronomy. (Only correct responses shown.)
Aristotle [71%]
Ptolemy [64%]
Copernicus [74%]
Tycho [71%]
Kepler [61%]
Galileo [55%]
Newton [77%]
Match these terms with their descriptions. (Only correct responses shown.)
Ideas accepted as truth without further examination: first principles [81]
Predictions that could be tested by observations: hypotheses [74%]
Universal statements of cause and effect: rational laws [84%]
Describe phenomena without explaining why it occurs: empirical laws [74%]
Ask the instructor an anonymous question, or make a comment. Selected questions/comments may be discussed in class.
"Why is it that we can see the moon during the day?" (It is possible see any of crescent-quarter-gibbous phases during the day, as long as it is daytime somewhere between their rise and set times.)
"Why do eclipses only occur every so often and not at every full or new moon?" (Because, reasons. Which will spend some time talking about in class this week.)
"I've had a classmate in the past, who legit still believed Earth was the center of the local universe, but was quickly corrected by our science teacher. I don't think this happens often, I hope it doesn't happen often, but have you ever met someone who thought the geocentric theory was correct?" (Not really, but I've suspected a few students of harboring that belief at the same time they just accepted the facts just for the sake of passing astronomy.)
"Do you like doing astronomy in your free time and stargazing? Or is it more just something you teach?" (Just a casual hobby--especially since I started teaching astronomy, doing it in my free time seems like I'm bringing my job back home with me.)
"What's your favorite first principle that eventually turned into a rational or empirical law?" (I can tell you one of my personal first principles that was disproven later on in my early childhood: "all dogs are boys and all cats are girls.")
"If the universe is continuously expanding, would constellations ever expand or appear much farther as well?" (Well, the universe is expanding, but because of the gravity within each galaxy, the size of the galaxy (and the space between stars within each galaxy) remains the same, while the distances between galaxy (which are empty and have no gravity) increases over time. So we won't notice stars in our own galaxy getting further apart, but we are seeing how other galaxies are effectively moving further out.)
"Why is my friend so bad at darts? What can he do to improve?" (Tell him to take astronomy. Knowing astronomy fixes everything.)
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