"Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet.  Try to make sense of what you see and about what makes the universe exist.  Be curious.  And however difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do, and succeed at.  It matters that you don't just give up."
     --Stephen Hawking, 70th Birthday Speech, presented presented at the 
       University of Cambridge's Centre for Theoretical Cosmology 
       (January 8, 2012).

"The Known Universe" (*.html), (*.mp4), (*.gif)[00:05]
     (American Museum of Natural History)

Instructor background (*.blog)[00:10]
"Marketplace Astronomy" (*.blog) [00:05]

In-class activity 1 (*.pdf) [00:20]
     Find and sit in your assigned groups
     Photos taken for enrollment/identification  
     Cooperate and collaborate within your group
     Share answers within and between groups
     Turn in group worksheet at front

     Marketplace, interesting/confusing word tags (spring semester 2017) (*.html)
     Student questions/comments discussion [00:10]

Course policy question packet (*.pdf) [00:10]
     Work in groups; check answers on whiteboard in back room

"I do not want the constellations any nearer, 
I know they are very well where they are, 
I know they suffice for those who belong to them."
     --Walt Whitman, "Song of the Open Road," Leaves of Grass (1856).

Quiz 1 question packet (*.pdf)

Ch. 2-2: The Sky and Its Motions [00:15]
     Planispheres ("starwheels")
          Ex: Cancer rising at 9:00 PM? (*.blog)
          Ex: Camelopardalis from lowest to highest position in sky (*.blog)
          Ex: first star to set? (*.blog)

In-class activity 2 (*.pdf) (*.pdf) [00:15]
     Find and sit in your assigned groups
     Cooperate and collaborate within your group
     Share answers within and between groups
     Turn in group worksheet at front
     
"Informed Consent Form, Star Properties Concept Inventory" 
     (for education research) [00:30]

Read ASTRO3, Chs. 2-2, 2-3, 2-4a, 2-4b
Purchase "starwheel" from bookstore
     (Familiarize yourself with the terminology used in the textbook; more details will
     be covered in the presentations, and in class.  Make sure you have a starwheel
     to practice with at home and in the next class.  If you can't get one yet, there will be
     a (limited) number of starwheels you can borrow in class.)
     
Preview online presentations (*.blog), (*.blog), (*.blog)
     (Celestial motions and moon phases are covered incompletely in the textbook; 
     go through the presentations in-depth for more information and animations.
     Also read through advice from former students on how to succeed in this course.)
     
Complete online reading assignment 1 (*.html)
     (Due 12:00 AM midnight before start of class next week)
          (Answer questions on reading comprehension and provide feedback on what you 
          understand or don't understand; classwide results will determine specifically 
          which topics should emphasized in the next class, and at what level.)