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.
"How we can infer so much about planets by assuming their similarities to (and differences from) Earth."
"That we can learn so much about other planets through the history of our planet and we can learn so much about our planet by observing other planets. This is interesting to me because it is nice to see how much we can accurately infer about planets without having been there."
"Learning about how many different variables need to be right for Earth to be so perfect for life."
"I enjoyed the fact that the Turkey/Cornish Hen effect is applied to this chapter, it helps make things more memorable."
"That the oceans or whatever water was on Venus that could be used to control the greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere all evaporated because of Venus' closer proximity to the sun. I knew that the water on Venus had evaporated i never really knew why though."
"That Venus' volcanic activity is somewhat 'simultaneous' that its volcanoes all erupt at once when enough pressure builds up."
"Learning about the composition of Mars' atmosphere was interesting to me because of the potential for life sustainability and water flow in its younger years of existence."
"How big Mars' volcanoes are. I always pictured mars flat with small little hill-like bumps."
"The basis for classifying planets because it is based only on the three International Astronomical Union classification questions. The only way something can be classified as a planet is to answer 'yes' to all three questions."
"Learning why Pluto isn't considered a planet was interesting because I didn't know the factors required to determine what a planet is."
Describe something you found confusing from the assigned textbook reading or presentation preview, and explain why this was personally confusing for you.
"How to remember all the atmosphere information for all the planets."
"I'm still a bit confused on greenhouse gases and how Venus and Mars got out of hand."
"Why Venus would be so hard to live on because Venus and Earth have the same mass."
"Comparing the temperatures of the internal cores was difficult to understand when comparing the jovian planets. I was unsure if core temperatures had any major roles in determining weather activity. "
"I cannot think of something I found confusing."
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 [44%]
Geologic activity, today: less than Earth [70%]
Volcanic outgassing, up until now: about the same as Earth [63%]
Heat from the sun: more than Earth [89%]
Amount of atmosphere, today: more than Earth [67%]
Identify the relative amounts of these characteristics for Mars, compared to Earth. (Only correct responses shown.)
Interior core heat, today: less than Earth [67%]
Geologic activity, today: less than Earth [67%]
Volcanic outgassing, up until now: less than Earth [70%]
Heat from the sun: less than Earth [81%]
Amount of atmosphere, today: less than Earth [93%]
Which jovian planet has the coolest interior temperatures?
Jupiter (most massive). * [1] Saturn (most prominent rings). [0] Uranus (least active weather patterns). *************** [15] Neptune (farthest from the sun). ******** [8] (Unsure/guessing/lost/help!) *** [3]
I believe Pluto should be a planet.
Strongly disagree. [0] Disagree. ********** [10] Neutral. ******* [7] Agree. ****** [6] Strongly Agree. **** [4]
Briefly explain your answer to the previous question (whether Pluto should be a planet).
"Because it was a planet before and they are already thinking of making it back into a planet."
"It became a dwarf planet therefore it is no longer big enough to be considered an object of great mass known as 'planet.'"
"I think that it doesn’t make much of a difference, but it was a sad day for Pluto."
"Although disappointing to hear, the system used to determine planets does correctly identify pluto as a dwarf rather than a normal planet, as its gravitational influence does not dominate its surrounding area."
"No Pluto should not be a planet because it is a separate category than the other planets and it is very small."
"It has moons."
"It was growing up for me and I don't see any reason it should not be i mean if the moon was orbating the sun I think we would consider it a planet."
"They put so many requirements for what should be a planet, but I feel that those requirements don't essentially disqualify the planet Pluto. It's a sphere, has an orbit, its own moons."
"Not for scientifically purposes but because it once was a planet and then they took that away from it. I feel bad for Pluto."
"I'm not sure because Pluto has moons and orbits the sun just like other planets but at the same time it isn't large enough to be qualified as a planet. I'll probably just agree with smart scientists because they know what they're talking about and I really don't."
"I grew up with Pulto being a planet but the world of science is ever evolving and changing. Therefore, if Pluto is not a planet based on criteria, then it's not."
"Pluto got done dirty by everyone and deserves its rightful throne as a planet like it used to be."
"At some point we have to have a cut off for bodies too small to be called planets."
"It's weird growing up with pluto being a planet but it then not meeting the criteria one day. It almost makes you feel a little sorry for the planet. It was just trying best."
"I'm do not have the expertise to say I am for or against."
"I picked disagree, because Pluto doesn't dominate its orbit."
"I don't care if Pluto is a planet or not the current accepted definition of a planet demands that Pluto is not a planet thus it is not if the definition of planet changes to include Pluto then i will consider Pluto to be a planet again."
"Because it is a planet. when its not a planet its called 'dwarf planet'...the word 'planet' is in the name. were it is or isn't it will always be a planet"
"It's nothing like the planets around it so the definition doesn't fit."
"Pluto doesn't meet any of the requirements that the rest of the jovian planets."
"I feel like if it was considered a planet once before, it SHOULD be considered one today, but at the same time, I wouldn't be heartbroken if it never was renamed an official planet of our solar system, so I am strongly neutral on the subject."
"Too small! Just another celestrial object orbitting the sun amongst a cluster of other objects. nothing special"
"Pluto does not dominate its orbit. Pluto's orbit is elliptical and there are times it comes closer to the sun then Neptune."
"I'm kinda in between with Pluto being a planet, but I think they should decide and keep it that way, not switch it back an forth from planet to not a planet."
"It is very small, and as data gathering methods improved we found many objects like it. Also Pluto's 'moon' is like the same size. So it can at best be considered a 'binary' planet :D"
"The reason Pluto shouldn't be a planet because it's small, invisible, and hard to see. "
Ask the instructor an anonymous question, or make a comment. Selected questions/comments may be discussed in class.
"Can Mars or Venus atmospheres be recreated in lab contained conditions here on Earth to test equipment?"
"How can Jupiter's core be several times hotter than the surface of the sun, when a star is a nuclear reaction?" (Although Jupiter's core is hotter than the sun's surface, the sun's core is several hundred times hotter than Jupiter's core. Jupiter's core cannot fuse hydrogen like the sun's because it just isn't hot enough.)
"How likely would it be for an asteroid to get caught in Earth's gravity and begin acting as a secondary moon/natural satellite?" (It's actually more likely for asteroids like 2016 HO3 to become "quasi-satellites," where they don't actually orbit around Earth, but are still "trapped" by Earth's gravity such that they are pulled into and share Earth's orbit around the sun, continuously pulled into and pushed away from Earth.)
"Do you think Pluto should be a planet?" (Eh, no.)
"I find astromy to be a bit deceiving in its use of artist representation or enhanced photos. This makes it feel like a bit of a let-down when you see the original forms or views through a telescope." (Even if you could visit other places in space (besides the planets) up close, your eyes typically would not be capable to "see" anything interesting because they're not sensitive enough, or too sensitive, or can't see the other types of light given off. So yes, some images are enhanced, and this is also because of the limitations of the type and quality of cameras that can be put on spaceships.)
"Could there possibly be extra-credit for out of class projects involving studying the sky at night?" (Night sky observing extra-credit projects are for lab. For lecture we'll have extra-credit worksheets and movie reports in class, and online surveys outside of class.)
"When might we be able to go out and look at the night sky?" (The next scheduled star night is for Thursday after spring break. Weather permitting, of course.)
"What's your favorite thing to do on your off-time?" (I DJ swing music at the Madonna Inn on Monday nights, and Mrs. P-dog and I go on road trips with our converted Subaru: "Slumberjack, the Sleeping Forester." #optoutside)
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