INTEGRATIVE STUDIES: PHYSICAL SCIENCE 205

VISIONS OF THE UNIVERSE

COURSE INFORMATION Section 3, Spring 97, Hufnagel & Stein

PLACE: 118 Physics-Astronomy Building (PA)

INSTRUCTORS:

• Prof. Robert Stein, 310 PA Bldg, 353-8661, steinr@pilot.msu.edu
• Dr. Beth Hufnagel, 316B PA Bldg, 355-4570, hufnage4@pilot.msu.edu
  

TEXT: Discovering Astronomy (Third Edition) by Robbins, Jefferys and Shawl. Used books are available.

HELP: Help will be provided after class, in our offices, and via email. In general, both of us will be at lecture. Email will be answered every day, Monday through Friday. Answers to questions of general interest will be posted on the Web in a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) file (preserving the anonimity of the person asking the question).

WEB PAGE: http://www.pa.msu.edu/courses/ISP205/sec-3/

Course information, syllabus, outline, homework assignments and answers to homework, quizzes and exams are provided via this world wide web page. Detailed written instructions on using computers to view the web page will be provided and we will be available for individual and group instruction in computer use. Written instructions on using email are available in the microlabs.

OFFICE HOURS

	Dr. Hufnagel    	               Professor Stein
        Tuesday  5:30-6:30pm                   Thursday  5:30-6:30pm
                      Other times by appointment.

Beyond earning a grade you can be proud of, improving your personal skills and changing your worldview will require effort on your part. We recommend, at a minimum, that you read the assigned chapter(s) before each lecture, attend class, and do the homework assignments.

The book provides general background material that we will expand upon with current discoveries, as well as detail that we will not delve into. How do you tell the difference? Before a topic is discussed in class, you should quickly read the relevant chapters in the text, perhaps writing your own outline of only the important ideas and facts. After the lecture, you should go back through the text to pick out the subjects covered in class and read only those sections carefully.

The syllabi list reading assignments for each class by chapter and section. They also give objectives for each unit that specify what you are expected to know for the exams. Together with the outline we provide on the web, they are a guide to what you should study. Homework assignments and the occasional in-class activity will provide opportunities for you to develop your skills. We encourage you to discuss these with your classmates. It is helpful for you (and us too!) to ask questions about anything that is confusing or unclear, either in class, after class, via email or in our offices.

      First Midterm Exam      Thursday, 13 February, in class
      Second Midterm Exam     Tuesday,  1 April,    in class
      Third Midterm Exam      Tuesday,  22 April

      FINAL EXAM    Tuesday,  29 April.,  8-10 pm, Room 128 NS

1. Models of the Sky: How do the planets move and what makes them move that way?
   Process of developing scientific theories and models. The appearance of the sky and alterations in its appearance. Models of the solar system. The Copernican revolution. Theories of motion and gravity.

2. Stars: What is the life cycle of a star and what determines its development?
   Light and atoms. Measuring Stars. Stellar structure and evolution is determined by the balance between pressure and gravity and between energy generation and loss. The ultimate fate of the Sun and the solar system.

3. Cosmology: How did the universe begin and how will it end? The Milky Way, other galaxies and the large-scale structure of the universe. The Universe before our galaxy formed and its ultimate fate. The latest Hubble Space Telescope observations from the edge of the Universe.

PLANETARIUM: Half the class will meet in the Abrams Planetarium (located at Shaw and Farm Lanes on campus) Thursday 23 January and Thursday 29 January (A-L) or Tuesday 27 January and Tuesday 4 February (M-Z). The other half of the class, not meeting in the planetarium, will meet in PA 118 as usual on those days. There will be an additional planetarium visit later in the term as well.

CLASSROOM ETIQUETTE You are responsible for maintaining a quality learning environment for yourself and your classmates. The general rule is to respect your classmates' goal to learn as much as possible. For example:

• Do not talk during lecture. This is always the number one complaint by students.
  If your classmate has a question, others probably do too and would benefit from it being asked of the professor. The more you think a question is "dumb" or "basic," the more important it is that you ask it promptly so you can absorb the rest of the lecture. Nobody in the class is a science major.
• Arrive on time to not disrupt your classmates' concentration.
  If you must occasionally be late, take off your coat and get out your notebook before entering the class. Enter the class from the back and find a seat in the back of the room. If you will be more than a few minutes late, skip the class altogether.
• Do not leave the class while it is in progress. If you have an unavoidable conflict or are unwell, skip class altogether.
• Do not walk around the class while the lecture is in progress: you are not invisible and it's distracting to your classmates.
• Do participate (do talk!) in the in-class activities, even if you prefer a lecture format. Not everyone is like you, and part of an education is learning how to interact with strangers.

LABORATORY: Registration in ISP205L, the Astronomy Laboratory, is optional and is an entirely separate course. However, we have found that students generally do better in ISP205 if they take the laboratory at the same time. Laboratories start the week of 20 January.

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