Discovering Astronomy, 3rd edition, Robbins, Jefferys, & Shawl, 1995, J. Wiley & Sons

Discovering Astronomy Activities Manual and Kit, 1995, J. Wiley & Sons

People learn by doing. This is an especially relevant point for science teachers. Science is not a list of facts and complicated math. Science is a process of studying nature with our 5 senses and using our brains to interpret the results. Recently it has been widely recognized that science education is best done through hands-on investigations and encouraging students to ask for themselves how to best explain the outside world. The links to national and state science standards for the physical sciences and mathematics will be stressed throughout the course.

This class is designed to teach science teachers by doing science, so teachers can apply the same activities to their classes. Each week, we will mix hands-on individual/group projects, interactive classroom demonstrations, and the usual lecture/discussions. The purpose of the lectures is to provide science content for upper level college students. Advanced concepts and current research will be discussed. The intent is to supply the prospective and current teachers with enough background knowledge so they may confidently discuss a wide range of topics and field a wide range of questions regarding physics and astronomy. The goal of the demonstrations will be both to support the lectures and to provide examples which might be carried into primary and secondary classrooms. Quizzes will be given to test each student's grasp of the subject. The hands-on activities are the heart of this offering. It is the goal of this class that each student will be able to adapt some, or even most, of these exercises and laboratories into her/

his own teaching repertoire. Original, inquiry-based lesson plans, appropriate to their own situations, will be developed by each student. Finally, this course will stress methods for identifying and obtaining resources so that inquiry based learning can become the standard way for future generations to experience science.

Grading

The final grade will be determined from the contents of your final portfolio, consisting of:

5 Original Lesson Plans

2 Written & Oral Book Critiques

3 Exams

Each item in the portfolio will be graded on a pass/fail basis. A student who submits 9 or 10 passing portfolio components will earn an A. Having 8 passing portfolio components will earn a B, having 7 passing items will earn a C, 6 passing items will earn a D, and an F will be given for 5 or fewer passing portfolio components.

All work turned in for a grade must be your own.

Attendance Policy

Prompt and regular attendance is expected. Quizzes will be based primarily on material presented in class. The only makeup quizzes allowed after the class takes the test will be for students with a verified excuse of illness or extraordinary crisis. A missed quiz will otherwise be scored as a zero.

Original Lesson Plans

Each student will develop 5 original lesson plans to become part of their portfolio. The lesson plans may

contain published demonstrations, exercises, and/or laboratory activities; however, the bulk of each lesson plan must be the unique product of the student. Proper acknowledgment must be given whenever existing material is incorporated. These lesson plans are intended to be working documents. They should be informal and adaptable enough to be useful year after year, yet written in a sufficiently complete, organized and detailed manner to allow them to be shared.

Book Critiques

During the semester you must read 2 general science books, with the hope that the information will be useful to you when teaching your classes. In recent years, many excellent science books have been written for the interested layman. Some examples include A Brief History of Time, Longitude, and The Hubble Wars. The instructors recognize that a teacher's busy life usually makes it difficult to do much leisure reading. Therefore we are requiring you to finally read some of those books you always wanted to get around to. By the dates listed on the course calendar each student will submit two or more titles for approval. The critique of each approved book should not be a simple book report, but an analysis of its content and an evaluation of its ability to communicate that content. Your final profile will include two critiques (roughly 1200 words) which have been graded as acceptable.

Exams

There will be 3 tests during the semester. Exam questions will be primarily short answer, and will contain some quantitative problems involving simple algebra. You will be required to bring pencils and a calculator.

Astronomy 405 - Fall 1998 Course Calendar

Date: Lecture Topic: Activities and/or Skills Due:

Aug 24 Scale of the Solar System tp solar system, calculating ratios

Aug 31 The Nature of Scientific Inquiry exploring sound list of 5 proposed books

Sept 7 *No Class on Labor Day*

Sept 14 Making Measurements hand angles, cross staff, parallax list 20 astrophys resources

Sept 21 Motions in the Sky sundials, suntracker 1^st lesson plan, sun rise/set

Sept 28 Annual Motions, Seasons evening stars, reasons for seasons exam 1

Oct 5 Using Telescopes building and using a small refractor sundial lab

Oct 12 Light and Color reflection and refraction, filters 2^nd lesson plan

Oct 19 Spectroscopy and Atoms spectroscopic observations spectroscopy lab

Oct 26 Traveling Through Space balloon rocket, alka-seltzer rocket book critique #1

Nov 2 Exploring the Solar System vacuums and pressure, greenhouse exam 2, 3^rd lesson plan

Nov 9 Our Moon cratering, age determination moon phase observing

Nov 16 Planets and Moons weight on other planet, planet bingo constellation report

Nov 23 Asteroids & Comets dirty snowball, rocks from space 4^th lesson plan

Nov 30 Stars and Galaxies classifying galaxies, temp and color

Dec 7 Life Beyond Earth create an alien exam 3, critique #2

Dec 14 6:00 p.m. Final Exam exhale final portfolio