ASTR 202 (Life In The Universe) Section 1, Fall 2009

Monday, Wed., Fri.  2:00-2:50,  Room EDUC (education) 211

Prof. Laird Close (Instructor), (Teaching Assistant: Shawn Wheelock)

Dr. Close Office Phone: 626-5992 (Close), TA Office phone: 626-3302 (Wheelock)

Prof. Office Hours: Mon. & Wed. 3:00-4:00  Room N420 Steward Observatory

TA Office Hours: Tuesday 2:00-3:00 and Friday 1:00-1:50 234C Harshbarger

Email:

lclose "at" as "dot" arizona "dot" edu

shawn "at" watergeek "dot" net

COURSE WEB PAGE: http://exoplanet.as.arizona.edu/~lclose/teaching/a202/

ANNOUNCEMENTS

HW#1 due on Wed Sept. 2

NOTE: please add "202" to the subject line of any emails to the professor or TA thanks

This course satisfies the Natural Sciences Tier 2 requirement and is intended for non-science majors.

In this course we will explore how the Universe, Sun, and Earth were formed. How the first life on Earth started. How this life evolved into complex multi-celled species. We will outline what appears to be necessary conditions for life to exist and thrive. We will study where in our solar system there could be life. We will learn about other planets outside our solar system orbiting other stars. We will examine these new worlds for possible habitable zones. We will also estimate how likely it is that we could communicate with another intelligent civilization, and how such communication could be possible.

The class will be divided into groups of 2 students. Each group of students will study the moons of Jupiter (with a telescope that they will build in class) and write an essay about the potential for life on one of these moons. 

After the group projects are finished we will examine issues such as space travel, terraforming, and the evolution of civilizations. The emphasis of the course is on understanding, not on pure memorization.

Background Preparation

The concepts of simple geophysics, basic organic chemistry, and astronomy are fundamental to understanding the information presented in this course. If you have not been exposed to these concepts before, you must study them immediately in a general textbook like that used at the NATS 102 level. You should also be familiar with basic algebra, trigonometry, fractions, and scientific notation. This course will also require frequent reading and discussion of popular science articles, as well as independent research. A strong interest in the course material is the best prerequisite! You should have a small inexpensive calculator at your disposal (one that does powers, roots, and trigonometric functions). Please seek help when you encounter a concept that you do not understand.

Textbook

Evaluation

Group Project

As well each member of the group will write an essay about the astrobiology of one moon that each group can pick. Details on the essays will be given later in the course. They will each complete a essay detailing their part of the project. The grades for this project will based on mainly on individual effort. Students that do not help their group (or use uncited text in their essay) will given a mark of Zero. The papers must be submitted to Turnitin.com (Class ID 2805772). Grades will be strongly based on the individual essays and the observing work and report. However, a great team effort will typically increase your grade.

Policies

• Do your own work. Modern science is collaborative, and people learn from talking to each other. Feel free to talk to the instructor, TA, or other students about homework assignments. But the work you turn in must be your own -- don't just copy assignments. Copying is cheating and will be handled according to university policies. The instructor subscribes to the University's Code of Academic Integrity (click here for more info). The Code prohibits all forms of academic dishonesty, including cheating, plagiarism, and facilitating dishonesty by others. The repercussions for all of those found guilty of violating the Code will include loss of credit for the work (grade=0) and may include failure of the course or more extreme measures.

• Attendance, participation, and conduct. Attendance and participation in class and in your group are an important part of your class grade. Students who are regularly absent will have difficulty passing this course -- attendance of all the lectures is critical in this class or else students tend to fall too far behind to pass. You are strongly encouraged to participate in class by asking questions. Eating or drinking are not permitted in the lecture hall. Talking is also prohibited unless you want to ask a question during lecture or unless you are preparing a presentation with your group during the discussion sessions. People talking during lectures will be asked to leave. No cell phone use, reading newspapers, or surfing the web allowed during class. Students that break these rules will be asked to leave.
  

• Late Homework. No credit, WITH NO EXCEPTIONS, will be given for late homework. Because we want to be fair to those that turn in work on time, we will not accept late work (due at the very beginning (first 5 min.) of class). There is an absolute deadline for homework. If you are concerned about not being able to turn in your work in class on the due date, feel free to turn it in early! We will accept homework at any class meeting prior to the deadline. Please do not email homework, only paper copies will be graded (do not email homework).

• Missed Tests. No makeup tests, WITH NO EXCEPTIONS, will be administered. The exams are already scheduled and posted on the class schedule. If you know that you will miss a test (before the test), you must make arrangements (for valid reasons) for an oral exam at a time and date prior to the written test. Missing the midterm exam is an automatic loss of 20% of your course grade. Missing the final is a loss of 35%.

• Extra credit observing assignments. Each student has the opportunity to replace their worst single homework mark with an extra credit observing assignment with the Steward Observatory 21 inch telescope (located on campus). See the "extra credit" link to the left for more details. This extra credit will only be included in your grade at the very end of the class. Do not expect to be able to observe near the end of the term since the extra credit observing schedule will be fully booked by then -- book your night early in the term (remember cloudy nights don't count so you may have to try it twice)! This is a really fun way to increase your grade, please take advantage of it!

• Students requiring special accommodation in testing or note taking must notify Prof. Close and must deliver to Prof. Close the Disability Resource Center faculty letter within the first few days of the course

• Grading. You have one week from the time an assignment or exam is returned to challenge any perceived errors. Although rare, there are occasions when grading errors occur, and you should review your returned work.

 

 

The final course grades will be >80% of the total number of points available you will receive an A, 70 to 80% B, 60 to 70% at least a C, 50 to 60% a D, below 50% an E.

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