ASTR 150 E: The Planets

Autumn 2021
Meeting:
to be arranged / * *
SLN:
10658
Section Type:
Lecture
Instructors:
Victoria S Meadows
"TO BE ARRANGED" = ASYNCHRONOUS INSTRUCTION --- ONLINE GROUP-START COURSE: STUDENTS BEGIN & END TOGETHER. COURSE DOES NOT HAVE SYNCHRONOUS MEETING TIMES. --- *OFFERED VIA REMOTE LEARNING: ASYNCHRONOUS
Syllabus Description (from Canvas):

Meet Your "Astro 150 Team"

Instructor: Dr. Kelly

NMKelly.JPG

Instructor: Dr. Meadows

 VSM_Cirrus_1.1.jpg

Instructors

  • Nicole Kelly, Lecturer
  • Vikki Meadows, Professor

Teaching Assistants & Graders

  • TAs
    • Anika Slizewski 
    • Megan Gialluca
  • Graders
    • Henry Venter
    • Emily Graham
    • Luke Surber

Please refer to the Instructor and TA Information page under the Important Course Information module for our contact information and office hours.

Covid-19 Information

We are very aware that these are ridiculously difficult times.  We understand that some of you are new to asynchronous learning, may get sick, may be caring for sick relatives or friends, dealing with kids who are home and online for school, juggling work, etc.  As you read through the Syllabus you will see that there is quite a bit of flexibility on assignments, but there are deadlines in place because we do need to get through a minimum amount of material for course credit.  If you find yourself falling behind, unable to complete assignments on time, need help setting up a schedule, etc., please don't hesitate to ask for help!  And, do this early! If things happen in your life that are out of your control, we will do our best to accommodate you and will handle issues on a case-by-case basis.  Your Astro 150 Team is here to help you be successful and enjoy this course.  Let us know when and how we can help!

This course was originally designed 7 years ago to be an asynchronous, online course.  We have run this course every quarter online since then, so rest assured, you are in good hands!  There are no official or required in-person meeting times nor are there required Zoom sessions to attend.  There will be weekly, optional Zoom and/or Canvas Chat sessions with your TAs and Instructors so you have the opportunity to interact real-time. 

If there is any important information discussed in a Zoom session, we will record it and Canvas Chat keeps a record of the chat thread for those of you unable to attend.  Look for an announcement or email from your Instructors or TAs regarding the optional Zoom sessions.  Your Astro 150 Team members are also available each week on Zoom or Chat for office hours and individual appointments. 

Course Introduction

Welcome to Astronomy 150: The Planets!

Where did our Solar System come from? What is it made of? Are we alone? What else is 'out there'? These are some of the natural and fundamental questions that humans have been asking since the dawn of time. Given the complexity and breadth of such questions, it is not at all surprising that astronomy itself is a diverse and interesting field of study. Over the next ten weeks we will explore the planets of the Solar System in the hopes of bringing you closer to answering these and, undoubtedly, numerous other questions you may already have or will have as we move along in this course.

Whether you are an avid backyard astronomer complete with your own telescope or a complete newbie to astronomy or any science class, we are sure you will enjoy the material in this course. The course is open to all students and there are no prerequisites.  There are some basic concepts that, as intelligent stewards of this planet, we'd like you to leave this course with. By the end of the course, you will be able to answer the following questions:

  • The Geology & Geography of the Planets: What are the basic characteristics of the planets and how do they compare to each other (comparative planetology)?
  • Solar System Formation: What gives rise to the great diversity of worlds in our solar system? What can this tell us about how the Solar System formed?
  • Solar System Evolution: How did the Solar System get to, or evolve to, its current state? Where is it headed in the near and distant future?
  • Life in the Universe and Exoplanets: What do we understand about life in our own Solar System? Can we apply this to other stellar systems? What can be said about life and its distribution throughout the galaxy and the universe?

Course Objectives

After completing this course, students will be able to:

  • Recognize and describe the basic characteristics of terrestrial and Jovian planets.
  • Outline and describe the physical mechanisms that give rise to the great diversity of worlds in our solar system.  Predict how these mechanisms have influenced the formation and evolution of our own Solar System?
  • Discuss how the Solar System arrived at or evolved to its current state. Determine where the Solar System is headed in the near and distant future.
  • Summarize what we currently understand about life in our own Solar System and apply this understanding to other stellar systems. Discuss the implications of this knowledge with respect to life and its distribution throughout the galaxy and the Universe.  

Expectations

What you can expect from your Instructors and TAs:

Each module has been designed to tell a part or a chapter in some sense, of a story. That story is a fascinating one that will take the full quarter to tell. It is one about how the Solar System came to be organized as we see it today, which, to foreshadow a bit, is a story about star formation and about how life came to be on this planet and perhaps how it might arise on others.

Presentations will be given for each lesson module on the Canvas site. We encourage you to print the PDF versions out to take notes and to have them with you at office hours if you have questions.  As you will see, the slides themselves will not be a sufficient substitute for reading the text and doing the additional research on related sites that will be given, so be sure to keep up with those as well. 

Your Astro 150 team will be available both in-person (when campus is open: check the Instructor and TA Information page for details) and online on Canvas Chat and/or Zoom for office hours each week and we will have time outside of that for you as well.  

This is a survey course, therefore we do not assume or require that you have a scientific or mathematical background. That being said, we will expect you to do some simple algebra in your head (you can balance your checkbook and multiply 4x4, right?). You will need to know how to use a scientific calculator and a basic spreadsheet and document programs (e.g. MS Office or  G-Suite - See the Technology Requirements section below).

If you do not know how to use these tools, please make a point of speaking with someone on your Astro 150 team as soon as possible so we can help you get started.

What we will expect from you:

Your Astro 150 team's job this quarter is to help you be successful in this class. We cannot do that alone. You must put in effort too. As stated above, we expect you to keep up with the material presented in each module every week, participate in groups and discussions and submit assignments in a timely fashion. It's that simple. As you will see, several short assignments  will be given each week and you have an entire week to complete them.  If you setup a schedule, stick with it, and put in constant weekly effort and you will be very successful! Take advantage of our time too. That's what we are here for!

Success in this class hinges upon your commitment to participate and complete the assignments every week of the quarter. Many of the people who choose this course have jobs, kids, or other commitments that make attending in-person classes difficult, but you must still commit to completing the assignments in a way that works with both your schedule and the course due dates, and ideally gives you enough time to get help when you need it.  We usually do not give extra credit. This course moves quickly through material, therefore we do not allow registrations beyond the first week of classes.

Required Materials

There is no textbook so you are only responsible for the information presented on the course's Canvas site, including Announcements and messages sent to you via Canvas/email. 

Technology Requirements

You will need a reliable and reasonably high-speed connection to the Internet and the ability to connect remotely to the Canvas course.  Note that the images in the Canvas page may not display in Safari.  You may be asked to participate in live Zoom meetings so you'll need reliable high-speed internet to participate on video. Please see 

https://itconnect.uw.edu/connect/phones/conferencing/zoom-video-conferencing/

for more information on connecting to Zoom.

Occasionally it may be useful to compose or edit assignments outside of the Canvas framework.  You also  have the option to hand in some assignments in different formats. As UW students you have access to both Microsoft Office 365 and the Google G-Suite of applications.  Please refer to 

https://itconnect.uw.edu/connect/productivity-platforms/uw-office-365/

https://itconnect.uw.edu/connect/email/google-apps/

for more information about the suite of applications available to you for your studies.

Communicating with Your Instructors, TAs and Peers

Make sure you read Instructor and TA Information and Important Canvas Settings pages before you begin with the course.  All course-related email will receive a reply usually within 24hrs. Meetings with TAs and instructors are available on platforms such as Canvas Chat or UW Zoom.  

Online Discussion Forums allow you to communicate with other currently enrolled students and with your instructor and TA. We encourage you to use the General Discussion Forum to exchange ideas, resources, and comments about your coursework with other students in this course. This forum is monitored by your instructional team. You can use Canvas email to ask the instructor/TA questions but, if the topic would be of general interest, post your question on the General Discussion Forum

Course Elements & Assessment

Please note that our primary form of communication with students will be on Canvas in the form of announcements on the Announcements list, through Canvas email, or in the comments sections on your individual assignments and related discussion boards.

All deadlines and due dates for reading summaries, activities, quizzes and exams are clearly listed with each assignment and will show up in your Canvas Calendar. Any changes will be sent as Canvas Announcements. Please either make a habit of checking Canvas for announcements or set your Canvas preferences to email your UW email account with daily or immediate summaries. Either make a habit of reading your email account or forward it to one that you read often. 

Please be aware that you cannot edit or delete your posts in discussion assignments so please be thoughtful in your posts and responses. If you cannot live with a mistake you've made in a post, you may email your TA or instructor for help.  Please refrain from posting blank, partial, or nonsense posts as these will result in a zero grade.  

Reading Summaries

As good citizens and stewards of this planet, we'd like you to be aware of what is going on in science and technology in the world. We live in really stunning times - we (the scientific communities of the world) landed another rover on Mars and a new on is on its way! We landed a probe on a comet and a new probe is on it's way to "touch" the Sun; we have several exciting missions in progress to different worlds in our solar system and a whole slew of other projects in the works. If that's not exciting to you, then in a very practical sense, it's your tax dollars hard at work, so you'll likely want to be aware of how scientists are spending your money! 

Almost every week you will be responsible for having read one news article from an astronomy-related source. You will prepare a written summary of the article you read and submit your summaries each week to a discussion under the appropriate module/assignment on Canvas.  Your Astro 150 team will attempt to answer questions on the readings in a timely manner so feel free to start a dialogue with us on them!

The list of appropriate web sources can be found under each assignment along with detailed instructions and due dates.  

Late submissions will receive 1/3 credit per day off, zero credit thereafter.  Missing submissions after this will receive a zero grade. Your lowest reading summary grade will be dropped.

Group Discussion Participation

Participation is a requirement for this course.  The Canvas Discussions platform will be used for online discussion about class topics and assignments. It has been shown that learning outcomes are better when students are encouraged to interact with each other in small groups.  Since this is an asynchronous, online class, you don't have any in-person contact with your fellow students, so online discussions are particularly useful and important in the learning process. 

Your participation in these discussions will count towards your final grade.  You will be working in small groups (~4-5 students) for most of these discussions.  

Credit for the discussions will be based on the timeliness, frequency and relevance of your posts.  The more you participate and post, the better you will do in this course as the discussions will usually be closely tied to the topics, assignments, and learning goals each week.  You will also see questions on the exams based on these discussion topics.

Before you start posting, be sure to read the Group Discussion Guidelines. If your post doesn’t follow the guidelines, there is a chance it will be removed and you won’t receive points for that discussion.

You must participate throughout each week for full credit.  All group discussions count towards your course grade.  Group Discussions are due on Mondays at 11:59pm.

Missing or late submissions will receive a zero grade if submitted after the due date.  All group discussions count towards your course grade. No group discussions will be dropped.

Lesson Activities

Almost every week you will be assigned an activity which emphasizes a specific learning goal from that week's lesson module.   Most weeks the activity is closely tied to the group discussion so you will be working on them closely with your group.  These assignments have been selected to be closely related to or augment in some meaningful way, the current week’s course material.  

Late submissions will receive 1/3 credit per day, zero credit thereafter.  Missing submissions after this, will receive a zero grade. All lesson activities count towards your course grade. No lesson activities will be dropped.

Online Quizzes

There will be a weekly online lesson quiz, consisting of 20-25 multiple choice questions. The quiz will be based on the material presented in the weekly lesson modules, activities and required textbook readings. 

You are allowed 2 attempts for each quiz with the high score being recorded as the final grade.    Correct answers will be revealed after your second attempt. If you miss an online quiz, you will not have access to the answers and will need to contact a member of your Astro 150 Team for the answers after the quiz closes.

Missing online quizes or quizzes submitted after the due date will receive a zero grade.  Your lowest quiz grade will be dropped. 

Exams

There will be two online exams.  The Midterm covers all of the material presented in the first 5 lesson modules (5 weeks) of the course. The Final Exam is cumulative with heavy emphasis on the material presented after Lesson Module 5.  The Final Exam will cover all of the material presented in each module, including the textbook readings and group discussions. The format of the exams will usually consist of some combination of short-answer or short essay questions.

If you know you are going to miss either exam for an excused reason please let your instructors know immediately. We will attempt to accommodate your schedule, if possible. If you encounter a last minute unforeseen issue (e.g. "I’m having my appendix out" or "I got called into Jury Duty"), the issue will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

It is not possible to take an exam after the scheduled date/time windows unless prior accommodations have been made with your instructor (see above). Both exams count toward your course grade. No exam grades will be dropped.

About The Lessons

Week 01: Numbers, Vocabulary and the Lunar Surface

Week 02: The History and Origin of the Moon

Week 03: The Surfaces and Exploration of Mercury and Mars

Week 04: The Surface of Venus and Terrestrial Atmospheres [weeks 4 & 5 are combined for Summer Qtr]

Week 05: Earth and Life – How Impacts Have Shaped Them (and Midterm)

Week 06: Meteorites, Asteroids, and the Asteroid Belt

Week 07: Giant Planet Satellites – Dead Worlds, Rinds, and Recently Active Worlds

Week 08: Active Worlds – The Kuiper Belt, Oort Cloud, and the Comet Connection

Week 09: Giant Planet Atmospheres & the Origin of the Solar System

Week 10: Extrasolar Planets & Life in the Universe

Evaluation/Grading

Component

% of Total

Reading Summaries

10%

Group Discussions

30%

Lesson Activities

30%

Weekly Lesson Quizzes

10%

Midterm (10%) & Final Exam (10%)

20%


Your assignment submissions and exams will be graded by the graders and TAs with suggested point values and rubrics designed by the instructors.  Weekly lesson quizzes will automatically be graded by Canvas.  The answers to quizzes and assignments will be made available in the following week's lesson module. 

This course is graded on the 4.0 scale (not C/NC). The final percentile score (out of 100%) is displayed in the Canvas gradebook and will be converted to the 4.0 scale upon submission to the registrar with the typical average grade of 80% receiving around a 3.1. Higher and lower grades scale accordingly.  The cut for credit for this course is 60% (0.7). Grades around 97% or higher typically receive a 4.0, though these anchor points vary slightly from quarter to quarter.   Your minimum estimated GPA for the course is listed in the gradebook at the very top right of your view of the gradebook.

Please Note: Think carefully if you are considering taking this class as S/NS. As an undergraduate, you need a 2.0 (~70%) to receive an S (satisfactory) for the class this way.  As of Spring Quarter 2020, the S/NS guidelines have changed to accommodate the Covid19 precautions.  We are following these guidelines until further notice: https://www.washington.edu/provost/springquarter/

Academic Integrity & Conduct

Treat Instructional Staff & Fellow Students with Respect - Some Guidlines to Follow

Although our classroom environment is virtual (asynchronous online), the standards of behavior are as important as they are in the in-person classrooms at UW. In other words, our online class is a real classroom with real instructors, teaching assistants and graders. Therefore, appropriate student behavior is expected.  Below are some general rules for behavior in this online course:

  • Students should address all course members as adults with the courtesy expected for education professionals. Unless otherwise instructed, students are to use both the appropriate title, preferred pronouns, and last name of the instructor when interacting with the instructors. Please ask your TAs how they prefer to be addressed.
  • Students should phrase communications with instructors and TAs in a polite and courteous manner appropriate for speaking to adults. The tone of emails, chat messages, Zoom conferences, phone conversations and comments on assignments must be respectful.
  • Since our online environment is a learning environment, students should not use excessive slang, shorthand, emojis or language that they might use in other environments. Students must communicate with instructors and TAs in complete sentences.
  • Students are not to use obscene, profane, threatening, or disrespectful language or images in any communications, discussion boards, chat or Zoom meetings.
  • Students must use a profile picture and Zoom video background that is appropriate for an educational environment. The course instructors reserve the right to determine if a profile picture or Zoom background is inappropriate. Students using an inappropriate profile picture or Zoom background will be required to update their settings.
  • All communications with other students enrolled in this course must be of a course-related nature. Any sending of unsolicited email or chat messages to classmates is prohibited.
  • All communications with other students in any forum, course-related email, group discussion post, etc., must be polite, courteous and respectful.
  • The integrity and authenticity of student work is something that we take seriously and check using a variety of technologies (see below). Copying the work of others, allowing others to knowingly copy your work, and/or misusing content from the Internet could result in removal from our courses with a failing grade. Students are expected to abide by the Academic Integrity Policy that is accepted as part of your enrollment at the UW.
  • Students are not to use obscene, profane, threatening, or disrespectful language or images in any communications with other students. Please see below for more details.

Finally - keep in mind that the TAs assigned to this course have graduated from undergraduate programs and are here at the UW working on advanced degrees in Astronomy.  They each have extensive knowledge of the course material and should be considered subject matter experts (SMEs).  Many of the TAs have been a part of this course for several quarters and are very familiar with the course, Canvas LMS and course materials and should be considered valuable resources.  When interacting with the TAs in discussions, office hours or other online activities, they should be treated with the same level of respect as your instructors as outlined above. Verbal or written abuse of the TAs will not be tolerated and will immediatly be escalated to UW Student Conduct.

The graders assigned to this course are advanced undergraduates in the Astronomy Department and have advanced knowledge of the information presented in this course.  They are hardworking undergraduates, just like you, with courses, assignments and exams of their own to manage while working on this course.  All grading rubrics and point values are developed by the instructors; and the graders are required to follow them.  If you have an issue with the way an assignment has been graded, please do not argue with the graders.  Escalate all grading issues to your TAs or instructors for further review.  Verbal or written abuse of the graders will not be tolerated and will immediatly be escalated to UW Student Conduct.

Written Work

Cheating/plagiarizing is obviously not tolerated. You will be allowed and encouraged to work with other members of the class, but all of your assignments must be your own original work, in your own words, and/or using proper citations.

We will be using the standard plagiarism checker (SimCheck by TurnItIn) within Canvas on most assignments.  SimCheck will automatically produce originality reports for assignments in this class. The SimCheck Report will indicate the amount of original text in your work and whether all material that you quoted, paraphrased, summarized, or used from another source is appropriately referenced. Please refer to this site for more information on SimCheck:

https://itconnect.uw.edu/learn/tools/canvas/canvas-help-for-instructors/assignments-grading/simcheck

The University takes academic integrity very seriously. Behaving with integrity is part of our responsibility to our shared learning community. If you’re uncertain about if something is academic misconduct, ask your instructors. We are willing to discuss questions you might have.

Acts of academic misconduct may include, but are not limited to:

  • Cheating (working collaboratively on quizzes/exams and discussion submissions, sharing answers and previewing quizzes/exams)
  • Plagiarism (representing the work of others as your own without giving appropriate credit to the original author(s))
  • Unauthorized collaboration (working with each other on assignments or exams)

Concerns about these or other behaviors prohibited by the Student Conduct Code will be referred for investigation and adjudication by Community Standards & Student Conduct (https://www.washington.edu/cssc/; https://www.washington.edu/cssc/facultystaff/academic-misconduct/).

Audio, Video, & Recordings

Misuse or abuse of any recorded content is also prohibited under the student conduct code.  Screenshots of instructors, TAs or other students during active Zoom participation sessions are strictly forbidden.  Re-posting or altering of video, still, or recorded images is also strictly forbidden.  Any student caught engaging in this behavior will automatically be referred to the Community Standards and Student Conduct (https://www.washington.edu/cssc/) representatives for review and consequences as determined by their findings.  

The University of Washington Student Conduct Code (WAC 478-121) defines prohibited academic and behavioral conduct and describes how the University holds students accountable as they pursue their academic goals. Allegations of misconduct by students may be referred to the appropriate campus office for investigation and resolution. More information can be found online at https://www.washington.edu/studentconduct/

UW Library Services

As a UW student, you have access to a wealth of online resources compiled to provide fast, easy access to information that supports your learning experience. Organized by subject, UW Library Services links you to sites with help for writing and research, study skills, language learning, and library reference materials. All links have been assessed for credibility and reliability, and they are regularly monitored to ensure their usability.

Access and Disability Accommodation

Your experience in this class is important to me. It is the policy and practice of the University of Washington to create inclusive and accessible learning environments consistent with federal and state law. If you have already established accommodations with Disability Resources for Students (DRS), please communicate your approved accommodations to me at your earliest convenience so we can discuss your needs in this course.

If you have not yet established services through DRS, but have a temporary health condition or permanent disability that requires accommodations (conditions include but not limited to; mental health, attention-related, learning, vision, hearing, physical or health impacts), you are welcome to contact DRS at 206-543-8924 or uwdrs@uw.edu or disability.uw.edu. DRS offers resources and coordinates reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities and/or temporary health conditions.  Reasonable accommodations are established through an interactive process between you, your instructor(s) and DRS.  It is the policy and practice of the University of Washington to create inclusive and accessible learning environments consistent with federal and state law.

Religious Accommodation

Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available at Religious Accommodations Policy (https://registrar.washington.edu/staffandfaculty/religious-accommodations-policy/). Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form (https://registrar.washington.edu/students/religious-accommodations-request/).

About the Instructors 

Nicole Kelly is an observational astronomer specializing in the evolution of binary star systems, primarily those comprised of a low mass star and an evolved white dwarf star. Nicole arrived at UW for her first post-doctoral position in January 2003 to work in the Astronomy Department, after completing her dissertation work at the Florida Institute of Technology. Nicole's research at the UW utilized photometry and spectroscopy from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) to identify and investigate the properties of white dwarf and M dwarf stars in close binary (pre-Cataclysmic Variable) systems. Nicole has been a member of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) Project and is currently lecturing full time in the Astronomy Department.  In her spare time she enjoys keeping up with her daughter and husband while hiking, biking, backpacking, paddling and playing in the great outdoors!

Vikki Meadows is

Catalog Description:
For liberal arts and beginning science students. Survey of the planets of the solar system, with emphases on recent space exploration of the planets and on the comparative evolution of the Earth and the other planets. Offered: AWSpS.
GE Requirements Met:
Natural Sciences (NSc)
Quantitative and Symbolic Reasoning (QSR)
Credits:
5.0
Status:
Active
Last updated:
December 12, 2024 - 12:33 am