Mid-America
Christian University - Spring 2009
NATS
2603: Introduction to Astronomy- Online
Instructor Contact
Information:
Email Address: e-mail: johnensworth@earthlink.net
alternative email: johnensworth@yahoo.com
Course Schedule: “Sundays” May 10 to Jun 14
(Daily feedback/help available except Sundays.)
Course Information:
Course Objectives: To understand more
and really enjoy the universe since it is the very fingerprint of God/Jesus.
Psm 19:1-2 The heavens
declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night
after night they display knowledge.
Textbooks,
Supplementary Materials, Software Requirements:
· ISBN-13: 978-0495119630 $120 new/$85 used (amazon.com)
(Any questions, contact Tiffany Clary).
Assessment and
Grading:
(All work is due at the end of the week it is assigned.)
Week 1
Text Questions (due week 2) 10%
Week 2 Text Questions (due week 3) 10%
Week 3 Text Questions (due week 4) 10%
Week 4 Text Questions (due week 5) 10%
Week 2 Paper (due Week 3) 15%
Class Paper Week 4 (due Week 5) 15%
Final Exam -10 short answer questions 20%
(Class Participation = Attend some
of the Live Chats (or schedule one on your terms) or send me questions on the
science via the WebCT mail tool).
Topics and Weekly
ASSIGNMENTS AND PARTICIPATION
______________________________________________________
Week 1 The Sky and the Science of Astronomy
·
How big is the universe?
·
What is the sky like at night, and how do I find
my way around it?
·
How do things move through the sky?
·
Where does modern astronomy come from?
These questions at the start of each week are just the
overall concepts you'll learn in this section.
(Don't answer them as homework!)
We
know that Job is the oldest book in the Bible and makes many mentions of the
stars and constellations including Orion, the Pleiades and the star Arcturas
plus ‘Mazzzaroth’ = the Zodiac constellations as a whole.
Job 38:31-33 Can you bind the chains of [the clusters of stars called]
Pleiades, or loose the cords of [the constellation] Orion? Can you lead froth the signs of the zodiac
in their season? Or can you guide [the
stars of ] the Bear with her young? Do
you know the ordinances [laws] of the heavens?
Can you establish their rule upon the earth?
God assigned His own names to the stars :
Psm 147:4 He determines and
counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by their names.
Arabic tradition states that Seth (Adam’s grandson) and Enoch named the
constellations.
Gen 1:14-16 (stars) … let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years
Reading: Chapters 1-4
Text
Questions (Try to limit answers to one paragraph
each.)
Ch
1, Pg 9: #2,3,5,6,9 Extra Credit (one problem worth):
Problem 5
Ch
2, Pg 21: #1,5,6,11,16 Extra Credit
(one problem worth): Problem 5
Ch
3, Pg 42: #1,3,4,6,8 Extra Credit
(one problem worth): Problem 5
Ch
4, Pg 71: #3,6,10,12 Extra Credit
(one problem worth): Problem 1
Note! The Questions are different from the Problems. The Problems
section is more difficult and is only for extra credit in this course.
______________________________________________________
Week 2 Nature of the Planets
·
What is the origin of the solar system?
·
Why is the surface and structure of the planet
Earth the way it is?
·
What’s different and similar between the planets
in the solar system?
·
What are terrestrial planets and outer (Jovian)
planets?
·
What are meteors, asteroids and comets?
Reading:
Chapters 16-19
Text
Questions (Try to limit answers to one paragraph
each.)
Ch
16, Pg 369: #1,2,4,6,8,15 Extra Credit (one problem worth): Problem 9
Ch
17, Pg 405: #1,3,5,9,14,15 Extra Credit
(one problem worth): Problem 1
Ch
18, Pg 436: #1,5,10,11,14 Extra Credit
(one problem worth): Problem 9
Ch
19, Pg 454: #5,6,13,15 Extra
Credit (one problem worth): Problem 1
Note! The Questions are different from the Problems. The Problems
section is more difficult and is only for extra credit in this course.
Week 2
Paper (due week 3)
Prepare a
1050-1400-word paper that answers the following questions:
Is Pluto a planet? What do scientists say
about Pluto and why?
What bodies in the solar system have been called planets in history?
What do you think astronomers should do about Pluto and new planetary-type
bodies discovered in the solar system?
_____________________________________________________
Week 3 Light, Telescopes, the Sun and Stars
·
What are telescopes? How do they work? Are there different kinds?
·
What is the nature and importance of light and
other electromagnetic waves?
·
What is the sun? (Our own star.)
·
What are other stars like?
·
What is the life cycle of stars?
·
How do stars die? How will the sun die?
·
What are white dwarfs, neutron stars and black
holes?
Reading: Chapters 5-11
Ch
5, Pg 97: #2,3,4,13,15 Extra Credit (one problem worth): Problem
3
Ch
6, Pg 116-7: #1,2,6,8,14 Extra Credit
(one problem worth): Problem 1
Ch
7, Pg 140: #1,7,10,15 Extra Credit
(one problem worth): Problem 6 (use E=mc2)
Ch
8, Pg 167: #1,5,9,12,14 Extra Credit
(one problem worth): Problem 1
Ch
9, Pg 195: #1,4,10,13 Extra Credit (one problem worth):
Problem 5
Ch
10, Pg 222-3: #1,3,9,15 Extra Credit
(one problem worth): Problem 2
Ch
11, Pg 247: #2,4,8,12,14 Extra Credit
(one problem worth): Problem 2
Note! The Questions are different from the Problems. The Problems
section is more difficult and is only for extra credit in this course.
Week 3 Final Class
Paper: (due week 5)
Prepare a 2,100 to 2,450-word paper and PowerPoint presentation with notes on each slide (based on the paper you write) that answers any one of following questions. You may also submit your own desired area of research to John Ensworth for approval (if you don’t like any of the ideas below).
Is time travel possible?
Is Astrology Real?
What was the Star of Wonder that led the wise men to the manger?
Is there evidence that the sun stood still once in history?
Does the full moon make people loony? Are there more babies or crimes (911
calls) on full moon nights?
History of the telescope
What do we know about other solar systems?
What will it take to get a human colony on the Moon? or Mars?
Life on Jupiter's Moon Europa? Saturn's Moon Enceladus?
The astronomy (good or bad) behind the sci-fi move/TV show "fill
in the blank"
The planet of your choice
New Planets in the Solar System
Mega-solar storms - what has happened, what could happen?
Planetariums in history, in the present, and the future?
The Beginning of the Universe - Explorations of the Cosmic Background Radiation
- The End of the Universe?
Scientific vs. Creation vs. Intelligent Design?
What is the state of the Unification of the Forces?
What is Dark Energy? Dark Matter?
How may the Universe End?
What are the job prospects in Astronomy?
What is the economics of astronomy...who pays and how much and for what?
What is the history of ...the telescope?...space exploration?...space borne
observation platforms?
What alternatives to the Big Bang exist?
What are Black Holes? What would it be like falling into one?
...or whatever else you like!
______________________________________________________
Week 4 The Large Scale Universe
·
Our galaxy- the Milky Way. What is it?
·
What are galaxies in general? How do they differ?
·
What are active galaxies and why do they warrant
a chapter to their own?
·
What is cosmology? How big is big in the universe and how is it all set up?
John 1:1-3 1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in
the beginning. 3Through him all things were made;
without him nothing was made that has been made.
God/Jesus set the sky in place: Gen 1:14-16 And God said, Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens and separate the day from the night, and let them be signs and tokens [of God’s provident care], and [to mark] seasons, days, and years. (Gen 8:22)
Rom
1:20-23 For ever since the creation of
the world His invisible nature and attributes, that is , His eternal power and
divinity, have been made intelligible and clearly discernible in and through
the things that have been made (His handiworks). So [men] are without excuse
[altogether without any defense or justification], because when they knew and recognized Him as God, they did not
honor and glorify Him as God or give Him thanks. But instead they became futile
and godless in their thinking [ with vain imaginings, foolish reasoning, and
stupid speculations] and their senseless minds were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools
[professing to be smart, they made simpletons of themselves]. And by them the glory and majesty and
excellence of the immortal God were exchanged for and represented by images,
resembling mortal man and birds and beasts and reptiles.
Reading:
Chapters 12-15
Ch
12, Pg 274-5: #1,3,6,9,11,14 Extra
Credit (one problem worth): Problem 1
Ch
13, Pg 298-9: #1,13,15,17 Extra
Credit (one problem worth): Problem 1
Ch
14, Pg 318-9: #9,10,11,14 Extra Credit (one problem worth): Problem 8
Ch
15, Pg 344-5: #1,2,4,11,12,14 Extra
Credit (one problem worth): Problem 1
Note! The Questions are different from the Problems. The Problems
section is more difficult and is only for extra credit in this course.
______________________________________________________
Week 5 Extraterrestrial Life/Astronomy Research
·
What is life on Earth like?
·
Might there be life elsewhere in the solar
system?
·
What kinds of stars might also harbor life?
·
How is searching for life elsewhere in the
universe and how?
·
What if I want to be an astronomer? What are the
job prospects?
Reading:
Chapter 20
Final
Exam: 10 short answer questions. Exam
will be available via email and on the class Website and WebCT.
Text
Questions (Try to limit answers to one paragraph
each.)
Ch
20, Pg 472-473: #1,2,5,6,9,10,11 Extra Credit (one problem worth): Problem 1
Note! The Questions are different from the Problems. The Problems
section is more difficult and is only for extra credit in this course.
______________________________________________________
Policies and Procedures
Papers will be graded
using the included rubric:
Science Content |
50% |
Writing
Flow/Readability/Appearance (see APA guidelines or similar) |
20% |
Correct Length (not
relying heavily on large chunks of quoted material) |
10% |
Spelling/Grammar |
10% |
Citations/Bibliography
(+correct format) |
10% |
Late assignments
ASSIGNMENTS ARE DUE ON THE DAY THEY ARE DUE. A 10% penalty per week,
beginning the week after the assignment is due, will be assessed for all late
work. That is, I will score the paper
and then deduct 10% of the total from that score. The assignment of an A in cases of late work will be rare (for
all practical purposes, impossible), as timeliness is a requisite in defining
excellence.
Course Ground
Rules:
·
Address technical problems immediately contact Tech
Support: bdu@macu.edu
or call
405 – 692-3245.
Guidelines for Communications:
Be patient and read the comments of other group members thoroughly before entering your remarks. Be positive and constructive. Respond in a thoughtful and timely manner.
Library:
Syllabus Changes:
Technical Support: Use the technical support link provided.
ADA Compliance:
Disability Services
Estimated times of completion for graduate programs at MACU do not include necessary accommodations for students with disabilities as defined by federal regulation. Students who claim a learning or physical disability must self-identify and provide documentation of their disability prior to admission to the program if they knew or should have known of their disability.
Documentation provided to the University of any disability must be less than three years old and must contain specific recommendations for accommodation appropriate to the diagnosed disability. Documentation must be provided by a licensed professional in the area of the claimed disability. Based on such documentation, in consultation with the graduate office of MACU, the student will be advised of any program modifications necessary to complete the compressed format of the graduate curriculum.
If discovery of disability occurs after enrollment, the student will be referred by the course instructor to the graduate office for assessment and recommendation. For further information refer to the MACU Catalog.
Academic Standards
The academic standards for students follow the published guidelines in the MACU catalog unless otherwise noted in this handbook.
Guidelines
for Academic Integrity
Mid-America Christian University seeks to support and promote qualities of academic honesty and personal integrity. Serious offenses against the university community include cheating, plagiarism, and all forms of academic dishonesty. Any student who knowingly assists another student in dishonest behavior is equally responsible.
Academic violations and dishonesty is defined as the deception of others about one’s own work or about the work of another. Examples of academic violations include, but are not limited to:
1. Submitting another’s work as one’s own or allowing another to submit one’s work as though it were his or hers.
2. Failure to properly acknowledge authorities quoted, cited or consulted in the preparation of written work (plagiarism).
3. The use of a textbook or notes during an examination without permission of the instructor.
4. The receiving or giving of unauthorized help on assignments.
5. Tampering with experimental data to obtain a “desired” result or creating results for experiments not done.
6. Tampering with or destroying the work of others.
7. Submitting substantial portions of the same academic work for credit or honors more than once without permission of the present instructor.
8. Lying about academic matters.
9. Falsifying college records, forms or other documents.
10. Unauthorized access of computer systems or files.
11. Violating copyright of any form of media.
Students who are guilty of academic violations can expect to be penalized. An instructor whose definition of cheating may differ from that stated above has the responsibility and obligation to so inform the students, in writing, at the beginning of the course. Those instructors who fail to do so have no basis for disciplinary action instances of purported student dishonesty outside of the above provisions.
The course instructor shall have the authority to deal with instances of academic dishonesty within the following guidelines:
1. Courses of action may include, but are not limited to, the following:
a. Work may not be redone and no credit will be given for that specific
assignment.
b. The student may receive a failing grade for the course.
c. Work may be redone for partial credit.
d. Alternate assignments may be given for partial credit.
2. Faculty members must report any incident of violation of the policy on academic integrity to the Director the program and Dean of Adult and Graduate Studies.
Upon the second report against a particular student, action will be initiated under provisions of the judicial code and may lead to dismissal of the student from the university.
The student has the right to appeal action under this policy through the regular channels as established by the grade appeals process.
Instructor
Bio
John Ensworth
I am currently the Senior Science Education
Specialist at the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies which is a
non-profit organization formed (among other things) to conduct independent
reviews on all Earth and space science education products produced by or for
NASA. (www.strategies.org) My position is the one responsible for
directly conducting these reviews and monthly online workshops for NASA and at
the large education conferences (i.e. NSTA, NCTM) that introduce the products
that pass on the criteria of scientific accuracy and classroom usability.
For the last decade I was a masters
student and a PhD candidate in meteorology at the University of Oklahoma. I have earned undergraduate degrees in
physics, astronomy, geography and meteorology with minors in math and computer
science.
I became interested in
astronomy in the 2nd grade and began to teach astronomy to cub
scouts and boy scouts by the 5th grade. I began to work for the Arizona State University planetarium when
Halley’s Comet paid the inner solar system a visit in 1985-1986 and taught the
astronomy labs, became head TA and eventually taught an astronomy class through
the rest of the 80’s (as an undergraduate).
I have worked an internship at Steward Observatory, at the University of
Arizona, Tucson, site testing for the placement of the Mt. Graham observatory
complex. I’ve also observed at the
4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak, a 36” telescope at Kitt Peak, and at the
Multi-Mirror Telescope at Mt. Whipple.
More recently, I’ve successfully
run 43 astronomy nights for Norman residents and OU students and have worked at
the Oklahoma City Omniplex Planetarium for 8 years. I’ve taught astronomy for the college degree completion program
at Mid-America Christian University (formerly Mid-America Bible College) for the
last 3 years and am a member of the Oklahoma City Astronomy Club. I have also served an internship at NASA
Goddard Space Flight Center.
I was saved in the
winter of 1991 in Oklahoma (on a flight back from Christmas break) and have
been a house church pastor (late 1990’s in Oklahoma) and am currently a Kinship
pastor in Northern Virginia.