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.
"I found Earth's active crust very interesting. I found this interesting to try to picture the surface of Earth just floating on the mantle."
"'Runaway greenhouse.' I thought this concept was interesting because I found the greenhouse effect interesting to begin with, but to find out that this is the reason why Venus lost its oceans and habitable atmosphere."
"That Venus could have possibly had oceans like Earth."
"The fact that Venus could have been like Earth. A long time ago it was close to how Earth is weatherwise but then with all the volcanoes exploding and putting CO2 into the air, it started rapidly being a runaway effect and now is the planet as we know it. I just think it's interesting how in the future something like this could happen to Earth if we let it get that bad."
"Venus' atmosphere is *96%* CO2--that's insane, I knew it was primarily greenhouse gases but I didn't know it was that much CO2."
"I found it interesting that we only have a few pictures of the surface of Venus. This interests me because I am attracted to the magic in the universe, and I find that for me, the most magical things are the ones we don't know."
"The maps of Venus and Mars were interesting because it showed basically what their surfaces were and what they're made of."
"The atmosphere of Mars is thinner than Earth's. It is 1% as dense as Earth."
"I found it interesting how Mars has little water, but it is composed of frozen ice water that is covered with carbon dioxide."
"That no liquid water can be present on Mars to this day due to the low atmospheric pressure."
"Mars has small moons, which Mercury and Venus don't. The moons are captured asteroids. I knew Mars had moons but, I didn't know those moons where captured asteroids."
"The term 'jovian planets.' "
"I found gas giants to be the most interesting. Just because it's cool to see different compositions of planets."
"I thought that reading about Jupiter's interior and its atmosphere. I had no idea that Jupiter is only 1.3 times denser than water, which is super interesting and something I had no idea about. Learning that liquid metallic hydrogen makes up Jupiter's interior was a fun fact. Jupiter's force is 10 times stronger than Earth’s force which I usually just learned about Earth and its interior so it's interesting to learn more about other planet and how different it is from Earth."
"What I found the most interesting about the readings were the jovian planets and the dwarf planet Pluto. I found this interesting because I feel that we know more about the inner and terrestrial planets because since they are closer to Earth, they are easier to study and easier to observe. Since Jovian planets are further away, they may be more difficult to study and observe, and we may not know as much about them and their properties. They seem more foreign, which makes them more interesting."
"The difference between a planet and a dwarf planet. It all depends on their size."
"The reasons Pluto isn't a planet anymore. When I was young, I thought it was about size, not gravitational force."
Describe something you found confusing from the assigned textbook reading or presentation preview, and explain why this was personally confusing for you.
"The greenhouse effect is still a little bit confusing to me, I understand the basics, but could use a small review."
"Remember what planet is which and its characteristics are confusing."
"Did Venus' greenhouse cycle collapse relatively recently or was it millions of years ago, and how long is it estimated to have taken for its oceans to have evaporated? That's what I don't understand, do we just not have any idea since it's so hard to get a probe there and keep it working."
"The runaway greenhouse effect on Venus wasn't very detailed and I need further information to understand."
"How/where did the preexisting water on Mars go?"
"Shield volcanos. I just don't understand how they are formed."
"How the jovian planets gained so much mass in the first place. I believe it had to do with how much gas was around when it formed and gravity took over the rest but I'm not sure."
"Jovian planets. Just completely lost."
"Which is the coldest jovian planet. I could not find where it told us."
"I didn't quite understand the reasoning for why Uranus cooled faster than Neptune and what it’s axis has to do with it. I understand the Cooper Cooler® effect but don't quite understand how it applies to Uranus."
"How can a planet even get rings?"
"Something that I still don't understand fully is why the IAU considered Pluto not a planet in the solar system."
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 [29%]
Geologic activity, today: less than Earth [64%]
Volcanic outgassing, up until now: about the same as Earth [36%]
Heat from the sun: more than Earth [82%]
Amount of atmosphere, today: more than Earth [61%]
Identify the relative amounts of these characteristics for Mars, compared to Earth. (Only correct responses shown.)
Interior core heat, today: less than Earth [61%]
Geologic activity, today: less than Earth [86%]
Volcanic outgassing, up until now: less than Earth [43%]
Heat from the sun: less than Earth [64%]
Amount of atmosphere, today: less than Earth [82%]
Which jovian planet has the coolest interior temperatures?
Jupiter (most massive). [0] Saturn (most prominent rings). ** [2] Uranus (least active weather patterns). ********** [10] Neptune (farthest from the sun). ************* [13] (Unsure/guessing/lost/help!) *** [3]
I believe Pluto should be a planet.
Strongly disagree. *** [3] Disagree. ******* [7] Neutral. ********** [10] Agree. ***** [5] Strongly Agree. *** [3]
Briefly explain your answer to the previous question (whether Pluto should be a planet).
"Pluto should be considered a planet because it had be considered a planet before why not know."
"I disagree that Pluto should be a planet because: it doesn't meet the IAU's criteria for for planet status, and planetology shows that Pluto isn't related to jovian nor terrestrial planets."
"Why would they make it a planet and then just say, 'Hey let's not consider Pluto a planet anymore?'"
"The status of Pluto shouldn't matter but rather what information we can learn from it."
"It's still pretty big, doesn't orbit another planet, and it has moons."
"I believe it should be a planet because its orbit is severe? wasn't able to read to this section The dwarf planet and others like it are not big enough to clear their orbital path."
"I feel that even though Pluto may not be big enough to be a planet it should still be classified as one since I mean it does have five moons."
"Because Pluto is in our solar system, it rotates and revolves. Plus it would be a little awkward explaining to someone saying, yeah that planet is in our solar system but we just ignore it. Give it the benefits of being a hard working planet even if it is small and slow."
"In the book one of the reasons Pluto is not a planet is because it's not large enough to dominate and gravitationally clear its orbital region."
"By the same classification, the the moon and Mars are both dwarf planets."
"Pluto is not related to the jovian planets or terrestrial planets and is isn't really special in a way. I do not believe that Pluto should be a planet."
"I am not really sure if it should be a planet or not. Because what are the characteristics to define a planet. if we decided to call a planet at one point why did we go back on it?"
"I grew up thinking Pluto was a planet."
"I never really was educated on why Pluto wasn’t a planet anymore, I was just told, but when the book mentioned that it is jovian and other reasons then it makes sense. However at the same time, they made Pluto a planet originally which means they would have evidence which would justify it. This is why I don't really have an opinion."
"I believe Pluto should be considered as a planet because just like any other planet it has an orbit around the sun and even gets closer to the sun in orbit than Neptune at times. Also like a planet Pluto has moons that orbits itself like any other planet would have as a charchteristic."
"I believe it shouldn't because its too small and too far out of our solar system the convention that produced the definition excluding pluto as a planet had a small attendance and their definition that excludes Pluto from being a regular planet, that being it hasn't 'cleared its neighborhood,' excludes Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and Neptune as they share their orbits with asteroids. less than 5% of the astronomical community voted for the change, which hardly represents the total opinion."
"I think if NASA has one stated that it's too small to be considered and it can not make its own orbital path clear then we can't call it a planet like the others."
"If I am correct I think I remember hearing many disputes about whether or not Pluto should be considered a planet but I think it is a dwarf planet. I put neutral due to not knowing the reasons for why it should or should not be a planet."
"Scientists have made Pluto no longer a planet and I trust their judgment."
"From my point of view, I decided that Pluto shouldn't be planet because Pluto is just a chunk of ice floating around the Kuiper belt."
"I picked neutral on whether if Pluto should or shouldn't be a planet because I don't think that I know enough about Pluto to say yes or no."
"With the information I have, I'm neutral because it sounds like it has an orbit since it has 5 moons, but at the same time I'm wondering if the moons are just in the same orbit Pluto is trapped and not actually trapped in Pluto's individual orbit."
"I am not quite sure of Pluto should be or should not be considered a planet, but I may lean towards that it isn't a planet, since it is not classified as terrestrial or jovian and it does not have the normal properties of a planet."
"A planet must be large enough to have the largest gravity in its own vicinity, and Pluto doesn't."
"Pluto is really close to a lot of other dwarf planets."
"This statement is not something I can answer. Pluto is a planet. A dwarf planet. So whether I believe it should be or not is irrelevant."
"Pluto has moons so it should be considered a planet."
Ask the instructor an anonymous question, or make a comment. Selected questions/comments may be discussed in class.
"Venus and Mars are so different, why? Is it just due to the different distances from the sun?" (Also their size as well.)
"Can you go over the planets and what considers something to be a planet?"
"Do you believe that Pluto deserves the recognition to be considered as a planet?" (Eh, not really. There are lots of other planets that were historically demoted as well, notably Ceres.)
"What would the modern reaction be if another planet was classified as no longer a planet or if one that wasn't previously was made into a planet?"
"I think I need a tutor for astronomy because the concepts just don't click with me." (There is an astronomy tutor available on SLO campus on Mondays and Wednesdays.)
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