|
|
ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS Day and evening telescope observation sessions are available from the roof of the Physics building (conducted by Mr. Paul Lewis). These sessions last about 45 minutes. You must sign up in advance on lists posted on the small corkboard outside room P415. Read Mr. Lewis's instructions carefully when you sign up. Failure to follow his guidelines can result in loss of the extra credit privilege. In short, if you sign up, show up or else call Mr. Lewis's office (974-7815) and give a valid excuse to him or his answering machine (e.g., illness-be prepared to prove it with a clinic/Doctor's note)
Be on time for these sessions!!!! Mr. Lewis takes NO PRISONERS on this point--he will shut the roof door before he starts each session. Arrive a little early or you may be left out of the session. You have been warned.If you cannot see the sky clearly then you still need to come or call. It is also important that you try to do your observing as early as possible in the semester/term since bad weather usually causes many cancellations of extra credit sessions. This causes many students to miss their chance at extra credit. Don't let it be you!
At sessions where weather prevents observation, Mr. Lewis will talk to you and show an astronomy videotape from our astronomy library. These sessions will usually be held in a classroom or the Astronomy Reading Room located on the mezzanine floor of the Physics building (right around the corner from my lab office). You should always try again to observe even if you have been rained/clouded out. The video write-up (2 pages) will be counted as video extra credit if you hand in the two (day & night) roof trips. So you can only come out ahead!
One solar and one evening session will be considered for extra credit - half a letter grade onto your final grade. A stamped form from Mr. Lewis a description (typed) of your observing trip should be handed in to me for you to get the full credit.
You can also watch course relevant videotapes (for 161: planets, moons, etc. and for 162: the Sun, stars, galaxies, etc.). You can do this at any time convenient for you in the Astronomy Reading Room on the mezzanine. The room is open M-F from about 7:30 a.m. until either myself or Mr. Lewis leaves for home (usually between 10 p.m.-12 midnite.).
There are some videos are on the shelves of the bookcase near the TV/VCR in the Reading Room. Some of the most relevant videos are kept in my office due to serious thievery in the last couple of years. Check with me if you wish to use these special videos or if you miss the ones shown in class. Please rewind and put the tapes back where you took them from so the next student can find them. They are arranged together by subject matter in groups (Earth, Mars, Galaxies, Telescopes, Biographies, etc.).
There is a remote control for the TV/VCR that you can use to pause or rewind when viewing the tapes. That allows you to stop things as you takes notes for your report. It is usually on the table or a bookshelf near the TV but you may have to hunt around the room if someone didn't put it back there.
. There are hundreds of other astronomy students taking these courses and if you take a video for your personal convenience to view at home then you have stolen opportunities for them. Because some people have done this in the past there are many videos now missing from the list link below. You all lose when this happens since we do not have the money to keep replacing videos. Please do the right thing or we may not be able to continue to allow free access to the tapes. In fact because of this is the reason there are some videos I can only lend out from my office with the exchange of your UT ID card. A list of these is available via the web site.
A two page typed report on what you have watched should be submitted to me anytime during the semester. Try to do them the week you watch them so the material is fresh when you write it up.The ultimate deadline is the last day of class.
Many previous students have said: "I wished I had watched those videos before the quiz." My suggestion has always been that you should budget time each week to watch at least one video relevant to the topic we are covering in class that week. Thay only run from 30 minutes to an hour each. They will help you see how the book/Web material and class go together. This will help you to understand the material and improve your test scores.AND you get extra points added to your final grade at the same time! I use these reports to help me assess your participation and boost you to the the next level when making up grades. It also means I will probably see you in the Reading Room and get to know you and be able to help you if you are having problems.
Video Listing
RESEARCH PAPER
You may also (with advance permission from me) do a research paper relating to material covered this semester (for 161: planets, moons, etc.; for 162:stars, galaxies, cosmology, SETI) but in much greater depth. You will be expected to meet with me about once a week (twice in miniterm) to discuss references, outlines and drafts as you pursue your topic. I always try whenever possible to help you choose a topic that relates to your personal interest or major. A minimum of 10 outside references (articles in journals and books) are required and the paper must be at least 15 typed pages of text. This is a lot of work but an excellent paper will add a full letter grade to your final evaluation.
PLANETARIUM TRIPS
Each semester I will usually arrange extra credit planetarium trips for the UT astronomy classes.
These sessions are held at the Heritage Planetarium in Maryville. The director is a former UT physics graduate student Mr. Thomas Webber. We (Mr. Webber, Mrs. Riedinger and myself) try to arrange for shows that will be relevant to the material being covered that semester. In my classes these will count as much as a roof trip. These sessions will be announced on the various newsgroups and in class as to dates and times. You need to provide your own transportation to the planetarium (carpool with classmates). It takes about 20 minutes to get there from campus. Directions are available from the planetarium web site.