DATE                             TOPIC               READING ASSIGNMENT


Monday, March 24    Review Midterm Exam #2
                    The Solar System                      Chapter 6
                      Terrestrial Planets                 section 6.2
                      Jovian Planets                      section 6.2

Wednesday, March 26 Formation of Planets                  Chapter 13
                      Characteristic Properties
                      Astroids & comets                   sections 12.4, 13.2
                      Formation Scenarios                 sections 6.3, 13.3
                      Extra-solar Planets                 sections 20.3, 20.4

                    Homework #6, due Wednesday, April 2
                    Moon Project begins, due Wednesday, April 23

Monday, March 31    The Earth                             Chapter 7
                      Atmosphere:
                        Composition, Heating & Cooling
                        Greenhouse effect
                        Evolution
                      Surface:
                        plate tectonics, impact cratering, erosion
                      Interior:
                        core, mantle, crust, differentiation

Wednesday, April 2  Scientific Models and Theories        prologue 
                      Science is Problem Solving
                      Process of scientific problem
                        solving and model building

                    Homework #6, due NOW

Monday, April 7     Appearance of the Sky                 Chapter 3
                      A-K: In Planetarium
                           Locating bright stars & constellations
                           Motion of the Sun, Moon, Stars, Planets
                           Geocentric vs. Heliocentric models
                      L-Z: In Class
                           The Seasons
                           Moon phases & eclipses
                           
Wednesday, April 9  Appearance of the Sky (continued)
                      L-Z: In Planetarium
                           Locating bright stars & constellations
                           Motion of the Sun, Moon, Stars, Planets
                           Geocentric vs. Heliocentric models
                      A-K: In Class
                           The Seasons
                           Moon phases & eclipses

                    Homework #7, due Wednesday, April 16

Monday, April 14    Models of the Solar System            section 1.4 
                      Ptolemaic Geocentric model
                      Copernican Heliocentric model
                      Testing the models: Galileo, Tycho Brahe
                      Kepler's model

Wednesday, April 16 Motion and Gravity                       Chapter 2
                      Motion, Velocity and Acceleration
                      Force and mass
                      Newton's Law of Motion:

                        Acceleration = Force / Mass

                      Newton's Law of Gravity (again):

                        Force of Gravity = G M m / R2

                      Orbital motion
                      Kepler's laws explained

                    Homework #7, due NOW
                    Quiz 3: (Warm-up for Exam 3)             Chapters 1-3, 6, 7, 13

Monday, April 21    Review: Chapters 1-3, 6, 7, 13

Wednesday, April 23 Mid-Term Exam #3, Unit III: Sky & Planets
                    Chapters 1-3, 6, 7, 13
                    Moon Project Due NOW

Wednesday, April 30 Final Exam, 8-10 pm, 
                    Eli Broad Business College room N100
                    Entire course

1. Become familiar with the night sky: the bright stars and their constellations, the planets and the Moon.
2. Describe the stages in the development of a new scientific model. Identify these stages in the development of the different models of planetary motion.
3. Describe and explain the apparent daily motions of the sun, moon, planets and stars relative to the horizon.
4. Describe and explain the apparent and real motions of the sun, moon and planets with respect to the stars.
5. Use the celestial globe and celestial coordinates to locate stars and the Sun.
6. Tell what astronomical cycles set the time intervals of day, month and year.
7. Relate the appearance, location and motion of the moon and planets in the sky to their position and motion with respect to the sun and earth in a model of the solar system. Specifically, explain: daily motions, the seasons and annual motions, eclipses and phases of the Moon.
8. Describe the development of the Copernican, Keplerian and Newtonian models of the solar system.
9. Explain retrograde motion in the Ptolemaic, Copernican and Keplerian models of the solar system.
10. Identify the concepts: velocity, acceleration, momentum, force, mass, and energy.
11. Describe the cause-effect relation between force and motion (Newton's law of motion). Illustrate it by simple concrete examples.
12. Describe the relation between matter (mass), distance and gravity (Newton's law of gravity).
13. Describe the observational evidence for and against the Ptolemaic, Copernican, Keplerian and Newtonian models of the solar system.
14. Compare and contrast the Ptolemaic, Copernican, Keplerian, and Newtonian models of planetary motion in terms of geometry, physics, simplicity and prediction.
15. Evaluate the impact of the Ptolemaic, Copernican, Keplerian and Newtonian models of the solar system on our concept of the universe.
16. Apply the theories of motion and gravity to explain astronomical and everyday phenomena.
17. Compare and contrast the Jovian and Terrestrial planets as groups.
18. Describe the structure of the Earth: its interior, surface and atmosphere. Describe how the internal structure of the Earth is determined. Describe the development of the theory of plate tectonics. Describe the energy balance on Earth: how it is heated and cooled, how heat is distributed from the tropics to the arctic. Describe how the Earth has evolved: differentiation of the interior, outgassing of the atmosphere, evolution of the surface.
19. Describe the Greenhouse Effect. Describe the processes contributing to global warming of Earth.
20. Identify 3 characteristic properties of the solar system that any theory of its origin must explain.
21. Describe the Solar Nebula Theory of planet formation. Evaluate how well it explains the 3 characteristic properties of the solar system.
    Evaluate how well it explains recent observations of planets around other stars ("extrasolar" planets).
22. Apply the paradigm of scientific model building to theories of the structure of the planets, their origin and evolution.

Visions of the Universe