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.
"I was interested when I started to find more out about astrology. I wasn't sure what it was or what is had to do with. I was surprised when I found out that a zodiac sign is what constellation the sun lined up with on your birthday. It was interesting to find out that I'm not the zodiac sign I was. This has to do with precession."
"That there are different types of eclipses! I thought there was only one! The differences in eclipses is what interest me the most and am awaiting the class discussion behind these things."
"A lunar eclipse happens when the moon is in the umbra of Earth's shadow. I like imagining Earth blocking the sunlight to the moon. I found it interesting that the moon entering the umbra can take up to an hour and another hour for the moon to be totally eclipsed. I have always wanted to see a total lunar eclipse, so understanding how it works and the process it takes to totality is intriguing."
"That it is always full moon during a lunar eclipse, and that it is always new moon during a solar eclipse. Also interesting to me was that the lunar orbit path around Earth is like a spinning coin or spinning plate that's about to fall flat (can't think of another way to describe it)...And that is how the moon gets light from the sun even when it is behind Earth. And when that orbit path aligns just right we get eclipses...very interesting!"
"That lunar eclipses always happen during a full moon. But for every full moon there isn't going to be a lunar eclipse."
"I always wondered why lunar eclipses have a copper-red color--now I know the glow is created by Earth's simultaneous sunrises and sunsets, which illuminate the moon during totality. I watched a lunar eclipse within this past year, but had no knowledge of how eclipses worked."
"I had never heard of annular eclipses, and they seem crazy to see. I’m surprised they are not more commonly talked about."
"I actually did not realize that we has occurrences like annular solar eclipses. From my lifetime, I can only remember only ever hearing about and seeing total solar eclipses. I looked up images, and the annular solar eclipses are amazing!"
"Personally, I never really paid any attention to solar eclipses or lunar eclipses, but reading about them and all their different positions/ components was rather interesting and made me look forward to possibly seeing one someday."
"We don't see an eclipse every full moon because the moon is either tilted too high or too low. The bottom or top part of the moon is how you can tell if there is an eclipse or not."
"I love learning about the astronomers of history and how they made discoveries about the night sky. Without them, we would be sitting in class learning about how we're the center of the universe!"
"I have to say that the idea of a paradigm of a geocentric universe is very interesting. It makes sense to an extent--people just want to agree with what further strengthens their preexisting beliefs, but it's also strange that they were not open to new ideas and understandings. Nowadays, I feel like most of us are open to new ideas and proposals and just sticking with old-school beliefs or styles (in regards to anything) seems counterproductive. I understand why they fell victim to these paradigms, it's just interesting to see how the scientific method and other things of the same sort have allowed for modernization in beliefs."
Describe something you found confusing from the assigned textbook reading or presentation preview, and explain why this was personally confusing for you.
"The eclipse thing was also confusing to me for quite a while. I sat and looked over the book and presentation multiple times to try and figure out which phases did what and when it didn't matter or if it did."
"How to tell the difference between solar and lunar eclipses."
"It took me a while to fully comprehend the idea of lunar and solar eclipses. I couldn't figure out how they worked or why. I still don't truly understand the true reason why the moon goes in front of the sun or why Earth ends up in front of the moon, but for the most part I get it."
"I still can't quite grasp the idea of how the sun, moon, and Earth line up to create eclipses, and why it doesn’t happen more often."
"The umbra and penumbra of the moon is difficult to understand when thinking about how the shadows effect the visibility of the sun. I have a hard time imagining how the umbra covers the earth surface fully while the penumbra would give you a partial eclipse."
"Do the phases of the moon look different from different places on Earth? Why isn't there an eclipse at every new/full moon?"
"I'm still a bit lost in understanding why eclipses do or do not happen during every new or full moon. I get that it involves the orbit of the moon being too high or too low, but I'm having trouble distinguishing what the 'perfect' angle is for an eclipse to occur."
"Remembering names and dates isn't exactly my strong suit, and trying to distinguish and remember each of the seven astronomers and what they individually did, without confusing them together, is somewhat difficult for me."
"Why were ancient astronomers so dead set on following the first principles and never questioned the accuracy of them?"
"I found it challenging to remember all of the categorization of all of the different astronomers and what they all mean. I think it will just take me more time and practice to match each category to astronomer."
"Nothing this week was confusing in any way."
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. **** [4] Taurus. *[1] Gemini. [0] Cancer. [0] Leo. [0] Virgo. **** [4] Libra. [0] Scorpio. [0] Sagittarius. [0] Capricorn. [0] Aquarius. ** [2] Pisces. *********************** [23] (Unsure/guessing/lost/help!) ****** [6]
I believe astrology is able to make accurate predictions about my future. (This is a follow-up question.)
Strongly disagree. ****** [6] Disagree. ****************** [18] Neutral. ******* [7] Agree. ******** [8] 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 feel the same way. Before I had said that Astrology was a form of pseudoscience, that's why I didn't believe it could possibly make accurate predictions about my future."
"Astrology being off by a month. Didn't change my opinion much."
"I had no idea that astrology was off by a whole month due to precession, and I actually find it pretty funny. This further affirms my belief that astrology is pseudoscience."
"No new information was provided that changed my perspective on astrology. I'm not saying its not a thing... I'm just saying it can't be used to predict/determine human behavior or personal information."
"I feel the same about astrology. Its fun to read sometimes but I don't think it actually makes accurate predictions about the future."
"I learned that you can go back in time within a database and find out exactly what the night sky looked like on a particular night 3,000 years ago. This fact reiterates what I had previously stated in my disbelief of astrology. I still think astrology can make somewhat accurate predictions about the future night sky, but it cannot make accurate predictions about my future in particular. My future life is solely dependent upon my choices."
"I'm honestly just mildy annoyed that I am an Ares and not a Taurus. And every connection that I've seen with myself and the 'Taurus' identity confuses me greatly."
"Nothing has affected my beliefs in astrology up until now. I've thought it was bogus ever since I started a degree in astrophysics back at UC Riverside two years ago."
"The planets are not in perfect orbits, and are not a part of a mystical heavenly clock, such as what the Greeks believed. And still don't believe in it."
"My opinion is still the same. I think western astrology is bogus. Whereas India astrology, aka Jyotish, from what I have heard (anecdotal I guess), can make very accurate predictions (this is what some of my Indian friends have told me). I know that, for example, the shifting of the north star is something that IS accounted for in their calculations. Regardless, I am still neutral about astrology."
"The starwheel affected my belief in astrology because it gave me a different zodiac sign. I was under the belief that I was a Taurus but the star wheel says that I am an Aries."
"I never knew much about the science behind astrology all I knew is that I was a Pisces and anything I looked up about my sign aligned a lot in some ways with how I view myself."
"I didn't know that your sun sign is the zodiac constellation the sun is in on your birthday honestly. It didn't really influence my neutral attitude towards astrology though."
"I now know a lot more about the specific type of moon phases and eclipse types, which I didn't know much about before taking this class. Knowing more about astrology solidifies my belief in it."
"I know astrology is not accurate but I still am entertained by it and definitely read my horoscope on the regular. Also, I am kinda mad about the fact that I am actually a Cancer and not a Leo (July 23rd)."
"I still have the same opinion because what I learn in class of our zodiac signs and what I have read still makes me believe that astrology can predict the future but it can make mistakes."
"My opinion remains unchanged, people can believe what they want as long as their beliefs do not impede others ideals."
"I think that there are some things that can be predicted using science (such as when certain celestial bodies will be in certain places) however this has little to do with what we commonly refer to as 'astrology.'"
"With the sun signs being a month off from common astrology signs, predictions will overlap and be different depending on who is making them."
"I always believed in astrology so I am biased."
"I didn't know how zodiac signs worked previous to this class. After learning that zodiacs came from constellations I was really intruigued on how that all worked, but I still don't think it has anything to do with my future or any of that."
"Everything I’ve learned so far has only further strengthened my belief in astrological phenomena :-)"
"I never knew that your sun-sign changes do too the change of axis. Everyone has a completely different zodiac sign then they previously thought!"
"I don't think the position of the stars while you were born has a huge impact on your personality traits."
"Since astrology seems to be so popular right now, it's almost funny to think that people use their sun signs as justification for their behavior, yet in reality they are an entirely different sign but they don't know it yet."
"I learned a bit about how the sun and stars move throughout the year with the zodiac constellations and as I do believe the zodiac signs effect some monthly changes in the universe. I still don't believe in astrology, because I don't believe the alignment of the sun and stars on our birth months actually effects who we are as people."
"Well now I know that there are lunar and solar eclipses and the annular."
"I now know that everyone's original zodiac sign is a month different than what it really is. It is interesting to see that this has been different for many years and people rarely shine light upon the subject."
"Nothing will change my opinion on the matter."
"I believe I still feel the same. Believing there is some truth but it is usually taken overboard."
"I did not know that the zodiac signs were assigned based on when the sun went through the star paths during certain months. I also didn't know that they change either. I thought they were just given random months just because, but now I know otherwise."
"Again, astrology can tell me no more than where the planet will be in its orbit in six months. It cannot predict that I will find the love of my life this week and then dump him two months later because he bought be the wrong flowers."
"I don't believe horoscopes because according to the starwheel on my birthday, my true zodiac is between Sagittarius and Libra. There's a disparity between 'wikipedia' zodiacs and true zodiacs."
"I feel like maybe it has some type of effect, like maybe it'll explain like good or bad luck (?) but ultimately it goes come down to you as a person and the choices you make."
Match the phase of the moon during these eclipse types. (Only correct responses shown.)
Total solar eclipse: new moon [80%]
Partial solar eclipse: new moon [60%]
Annular solar eclipse: new moon [53%]
Total lunar eclipse: full moon [88%]
Partial lunar eclipse: full moon [58%]
Place these astronomers in chronological order of their historical contribution to astronomy. (Only correct responses shown.)
Aristotle [83%]
Ptolemy [68%]
Copernicus [75%]
Tycho [70%]
Kepler [70%]
Galileo [53%]
Newton [83%]
Match these terms with their descriptions. (Only correct responses shown.)
Ideas accepted as truth without further examination: first principles [80%]
Predictions that could be tested by observations: hypotheses [95%]
Universal statements of cause and effect: rational laws [75%]
Describe phenomena without explaining why it occurs: empirical laws [60%]
Ask the instructor an anonymous question, or make a comment. Selected questions/comments may be discussed in class.
"I never study astronomy before, and I was always curious about how does the universe work and how it was created. Therefore, what I learn when I read the chapters and during lectures is very fascinating."
"Could you maybe talk about the moon phases relating to the eclipse types?"
"I would like some demonstrations/further explanation on the solar and lunar eclipses."
"I couldn't find anything in the reading on how the phase of the moon is related to solar and lunar eclipses."
"I am amazed at the theories that some of these ancient astronomers had, and some that I had never even heard of before."
"Terms and descriptions for first principles, empirical laws, hypotheses, and rational laws wasn't very clear to me. Could you elaborate in class?"
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