Astronomy 25 – Frontiers in Astronomy Course overview, goals, & objectives About course logistics; About you; About me; The course’s flavor.

Course Logistics Syllabus and Schedule of Activities Syllabus; General Schedule of Activities; Extra Credit; Honesty and emergency handouts. Syllabus Schedule Extra Credit Honesty etc.

Course Logistics Grades (see syllabus for details) Based upon 300 assigned points; Exams (60 pt midterm and 60 pt final; 120pts: 40%); Quizzes (2×15pts; 30 pts: 10%) Class activities (30 pts: 10%); Homework (15 assignments, 75 pts total: 25%); Class presentation and feedback (30 pts; 10%); Planetarium activity and 1-page paper (15 pts; 5%); Extra credit and bonus points (0-15 pts or more; 5%). Grading follows 90% and above for an A, 80-89.9% for a B, etc. Monitor your in-semester grades for accuracy!

Course Logistics Required course materials Easy internet access; Access to a printer (library). Note: all assignments to be handed in via print (i.e., no handwritten or emailed assignments accepted). Recommended course materials Any review astronomy text book that covers stars, galaxies, and the Universe (i.e., Ast 5, 10).

Course Logistics Adding and dropping Emergency procedures Class availability to late adds; Drops for first day no-shows. Emergency procedures If alarms sound, we descend to the first floor, and out to Parking Lot R (behind the dorm); In lock-down, we stay put; If I die, call campus emergency.

Course Logistics General Schedule of Activities Consult daily to be sure you are on task; Pay particular attention to the deadlines; Extra credit is handed to me; First assignment due Monday!

Course Logistics Tough statistics Secrets to Success Only 53.6% of degree seeking students, get their degrees; Only 41% of students seeking to transfer are successful; Secrets to Success Pay attention to deadlines, do not wait for the last minute; Do any assigned reading before the lecture; Read homework questions before the lecture; Attend lectures with PowerPoint lecture notes from the web site; Work in groups; Do some extra credit; Supplement your assigned readings with related readings; Ask questions. Think. Students who seek help at the tutoring center perform 7% better; Students who seek help at the writing center perform 10% better.

Course Logistics Goals Learn about critical predictions made by mainstream astronomical models; Learn about when/where mainstream astronomical models fail; Explore cutting edge theories about the Universe; Discover the art in scientific processes.

About You Your standards of excellence You have a collegiate spirit of intellectual pursuit; Question, listen, think; You are respectful to the classroom and its members; You follow the ethical guidelines in the Sierra College Student Handbook; You arrive on time; Phones, etc, are gone.

About Me Professor Barry Rice B.S: Physics & Astrophysics; Ph.D: Astronomy – star formation; Botany, especially carnivorous plants; Biodiversity conservation (The Nature Conservancy); Photographer; Martial artist; Office Hours: (noted in class); V322B; brice@sierracollege.edu.

Course flavor: topics I: Classical physics in a nutshell (~3 weeks); II: Classical astronomy (~3 weeks); III: Special relativity (~2 weeks); IV: Particle physics--standard model (~1 week); V: Inflationary big bang theory (~1 week); VI: Dark matter (~2 weeks); VII: General relativity and dark energy (~2 weeks); VIII: Misc. topics & student presentations (~2 weeks). --Supernova remnants; --Active galactic nuclei; --Hyper-dimensional geometry; --Time; --Solutions to field equations.

Course flavor: delivery methods I: Sage-on-the-stage—standard lectures; II: Numerous videos—short and long; III: Readings from numerous sources; IV: Wikipedia readings1,2; V: Your initiative; VI: Student presentations; VII: Homeworks. 1Giles, J. 2005. Internet encyclopedias go head to head. Nature, 438: 900–901. 2Reliability of Wikipedia (accessed August 2016). Accuracy issues

Enrollment As I set enrollment, complete your Information Card… Record the Astro 25 ID# in your notes! (This 4-digit # appears on the upper left hand corner of the card.) It is not your Student ID#, nor is it your SSN, not is it the same as any other Astronomy ID# you may receive in another course; This number should be used on all assignments and correspondence with me.