Date                             Topic                    Reading Assignment

Monday,  Jan. 12      Introduction                        Chapter 1
                      Our Place in the Universe

Wednesday, Jan. 14    Appearance of the sky               Chapter 2

                      A-L: Planetarium: 
                      Locating bright stars and           Appendix F2
                        constellations using star maps    Appendix J
                      Motions of the Sun, Moon, Stars     Chapter 2
                        daily, monthly, and annual        sections 2.2, 2.6
                
                      M-Z: In Class
                      The Moon: phases & eclipses         section 2.5
                      Seasons                             section 2.3

                      Homework #1, due Wednesday Jan. 21 

Monday, Jan.19        NO CLASS
     
Wednesday, Jan. 21    M-Z: Planetarium: 
                      Locating bright stars and           Appendix F2
                        constellations using star maps    Appendix J
                      Motions of the Sun, Moon, Stars     Chapter 2
                        daily, monthly, and annual        sections 2.2, 2.6
                
                      A-L: In Class
                      The Moon: phases & eclipses         section 2.5
                      Seasons                             section 2.3

                      Homework #1, due NOW
                      Homework #2, due Wednesday, Jan. 28
                      Moon Project begins, due Wednesday, Feb. 18

Monday, Jan. 26       Models of the Solar System          Chapter 3
                      Ptolemaic Geocentric model          section 3.3
                      Copernican Heliocentric model       section 3.4
                      Testing the models: parallax        section 3.4
                        Galileo, Tycho Brahe
                      Kepler's Model                      section 3.4
                      Science is Problem Solving          section 3.5
                

Wednesday, Jan. 28    Energy>                             chapter 4
                      kinetic and potential energy        section 4.1, 4.2
                      conservation of energy              section 4.2
                      E = m c 2                           section 4.2

                      Motion and Gravity                  chapter 5
                      Motion, Velocity and Acceleration   section 5.1
                      Force and mass                      section 5.1
                      Newton's Law of Motion:             section 5.2

                        Acceleration = Force / Mass

                      Homework #2, due NOW
                      Homework #3, due Wednesday, Feb. 4
 
Monday, Feb. 2        Newton;s Law of Motion (continued)
                      Newton's Law of Gravity:            section 5.3

                        Force of Gravity = G M m / R2

                      Kepler's laws explained             section 5.3

Wednesday, Feb. 4     Light and Matter                    Chapter 6
                      How do we learn about the universe?       
                        By analyzing the light we receive.  
                      Light is an electromagnetic wave    section 6.2
                        with frequency(f), period(P), 
                        & wavelength(lambda)                 
                             f = 1/P, lambda = cP = c/f
                      Light is a stream of photons        section 6.2
                        with frequency(f),energy(e), and wavelength
                        ephoton=hf=hc/lambda
                      Spectrum of light                   Figure 6.6
                      Atoms - nucleus orbited by electrons section 4.3, 4.4

                      Homework #3, due NOW
                      Homework #4, due Monday, Feb. 9
 
Monday, Feb. 9        Quiz 1: (Warm-up for Exam 1)        Chapters 1-6
                      Review                              Chapters 1-6

                      Homework #4, due NOW

Wednesday, Feb. 11    Mid Term Exam #1                    Chapters 1-6

 

1. Describe the place of the Earth in the Universe.
2. Describe a scale model of the solar system and of the universe.
3. Describe where humans fit into the history of the universe.
4. Explain what is meant by the phrase "We are star stuff".
5. Describe the motions of the Earth through the universe.
6. Become familiar with the night sky: the bright stars and their constellations, the planets and the Moon. Learn to locate them in the sky (and on a sky map).
7. Describe and explain the apparent daily motions of the Sun, Moon, planets and stars relative to the horizon.
8. Describe and explain the apparent and real daily, monthly and annual motions of the Sun, Moon and planets with respect to the stars. Describe retrograde motion.
9. Explain the reason for the seasons.
10. Tell what astronomical cycles set the time intervals of day, month and year.
11. Relate the phases of the Moon and eclipses of the Sun and Moon, to the location and motion of the moon with respect to the Sun and Earth.
12. Describe the development of the Copernican, Keplerian and Newtonian models of the solar system.
13. Describe how the Ptolemaic, Copernican and Keplerian models of the solar system explain retrograde motion.
14. State the nature of energy - the ability to do work.
15. Describe the different types of energy: kinetic and potential. Describe and apply the concept of conservation of energy.
16. Describe the structure of an atom.
17. Describe the relation between temperature and motion.
18. Describe how energy is stored in atoms.
19. Identify the concepts: velocity, acceleration, momentum, force, and mass.
20. Describe the cause-effect relation between force and motion (Newton's law of motion). Illustrate it by simple concrete examples.
21. Describe the relation between matter (mass), distance and gravity (Newton's law of gravity).
22. Describe the observational evidence for and against the Ptolemaic, Copernican, Keplerian and Newtonian models of the solar system.
23. Compare and contrast the Ptolemaic, Copernican, Keplerian, and Newtonian models of planetary motion in terms of geometry, physics, simplicity and prediction.
24. Evaluate the impact of the Ptolemaic, Copernican, Keplerian and Newtonian models of the solar system on our concept of the universe.
25. Apply the theories of motion and gravity to explain astronomical and everyday phenomena.
26. Use Newton's version of Kepler's Third Law to determine the mass of astronomical objects.
27. Describe the ways in which light acts as a wave and as particles.
28. Describe the types of light in the electromagnetic spectrum and the relation between type of light, wavelength, photon energy and temperature of the source of the light.
29. Describe how scientific thinking is similar to other everyday thinking.
30. Learn to distinguish "good" from "bad" science.

Visions of the Universe