What if
I find an error?
If it
is in a homework etc, look in the section of this FAQ list to see whether it
has already been detected and commented upon. If not, email or phone the instructor
at 925-685-1230. Try to be specific about what you think is wrong, or at least
where the problem is. Don’t be concerned that I will be angry. I am
counting on you to find these things.
The
homework/lab/ observing project doesn’t work or I don’t understand
what to do. Now what?
Look in
the FAQ list to see whether there are any comments. If that doesn’t help
(enough) Phone or email or show up at an office hour. If you are leaving a
message, be as specific as possible about what it bothering you. After the start of the semester, when I
am certain that everyone has access to WEBCT, I will probably email you at your
WEBCT account. Give me a way to phone you and tell me what time(s) are good,
and what time at night would be too late. Tell me the phone number every time.
Where
can I turn materials in?
Some of
the materials can be brought to the instructor meetings. Or, if you are
finished early, mail them to Karen Castle, Physical Science Department, Diablo
Valley College, 321 Golf Club Drive Pleasant Hill,
At
Science Center 313, doors unlocked approximately 8 AM-10PM m-th, 8am to 6 pm f
At Physical Science Division Office PS 268 approximately 8 AM- 4PM m-f, but the secretary steps out and locks the door at lunch etc
At the DVC mail room, part of the AB complex, approximately 7:30 AM-8PM m-f
Where
are all those places? I don’t know the campus.
If you go to the DVC home page and look under Info you will get to a campus map. The Science Center buildings are near D-E 1. The number 2 is two floors down from my office. The letters SC are just below the observatory. The number 8 is on the Physical Science Division office near E 1-2. The mail room is in AB near CD 2 on the map. Park in lot 4 or 4a at night to get to SC or PS building. There is no student parking near AB. If you come during the week, be careful about parking. The school does charge.
How can I fax material to the school?
You really can’t. There are faxes, but I am not allowed to have homework or assignments sent to any of them.
I need
the lab, homework etc but I can’t
open the file.
Download Adobe Acrobat Reader (www. Adobe.com). It takes a while, be patient. The files to print are generally in PDF, portable document format. This should allow you to read or print everything.
I need
three copies of the page where things are recorded. But the document only has
one.
Just print extra copies of that one page. The print command will do it.
I
haven’t finished the homework, lab etc, but it is due.
You will get credit for what you have done and do turn in. NO, you may not have an extension. If it is a lab or observing project, write the objective and conclusion based on what you have done.
But,
Your
dog ate your homework.
It will be easier to do it the second time.
My dog ate your homework (yes it happens)
You won’t have to do it again.
You are in the hospital on the day that something is due.
(or your child is)
PHONE or get someone else to do it to alert me, preferably the same day that you have the problem . After you get out, or know when you are getting out, phone again to discuss what we will do.
You have a doctor’s (dentist, teacher conference,
DMV, counselor) appointment at the time something is due.
There are lots of times on my calendar, choose another.
You are arrested and placed in jail.
Phone when you get out, or get someone to phone for you. Bring in documentation of when you were detained.
You
have a family vacation or a business trip on the day(s) of a meeting or test.
Get in touch ahead of time. We could do the meeting on the phone, if I have your materials. The test can be taken at a distant proctored facility, but we need to find one with the right capabilities. You would need to be able to make some time during one of the right dates or take the test BEFORE you leave.
Calendar
and Scheduling
When are the Meetings etc?
Go to the Syllabus or http://my.calendars.net/astro128cal/
, then page through the months until you find months for this semester.
The calendar page has refused me
access. Now what?
Be patient, Just try a gain and
type slowly. You didn’t do anything wrong.
I signed up for a meeting and now I
need to change it. But the calendar won’t let me remove the entry.
The calendar is set up so that you cannot take anything off, but I can. On the day where you have the WRONG meeting, make another entry. Make it either a comment or an appointment at some off the wall time when nothing else is scheduled. Write your name and what you want to do. Now make the entry you want. When I see the extra entry, I will clean up the calendar.
Meeting 1
Turn In
HW1
Lab 1
Get
Diffraction grating
Tell
Your choice of Observation
Projects
Meeting 2
Turn In
Meeting 3
Are there time limits for taking the tests and quizzes?
For the quizzes, there ARE time limits. You are not supposed to be consulting books, your brother etc. For the tests, there are not strict time limits. You may have as long as you want, but
I normally get a quiet environment, extra time, reader etc for test taking?
You will be able to have that accommodation, but DSS will be providing it either at the learning center or the assessment center. I don’t think that you will be able to take the quizzes from home. Please email me or phone ASAP, so that I will be able to provide your quizzes in time. Then bring the forms to the office.
I normally take more time for tests and quizzes.
The quizzes that you take at home
really do have time limits. I will try to make the practice quizzes be as long
as the real ones (in the sense of about the same number of problems and the same number of total
questions). Or if the practice quizzes are longer, it will say so. So as you
practicing, see how you are doing for time.
If you see that you will really
need more time, there are two possibilities. IF lots of you need more time, but
it is like 5 minutes more,
everyone please email me before quiz time. I can change the limits.
If you NORMALLY get extra time or
some other form of help, I think you will need to come to a proctored facility
like the Assessment Center or the Learning Center.
How do I email this stuff anyway?
You can copy the information from the PDF file with the lab questions etc and then paste it into your word processor. Fill in the answers. TAKE OUT the pictures and examples. Whatever you are left with, put it in the BODY of an email and send it. Please avoid attachments, because they don’t always open well.
How do I prove that I have actually emailed something? What if your server is down?
Use return receipt requested or email yourself a copy. If there is a problem, like the email bounces, print out the part of the returned mail where it says when you sent it. Then send it to me again and add in a copy of the return receipt.
If it says to email something, may I turn it in another way?
Yes, but the due date is not any later. If it says to email, you MAY bring it in or US post it ahead of time.
It says to bring something, may I email it?
Maybe. The ones that are supposed to be sent, are homework etc with pictorial parts. I don’t want a big picture file. If you can do the pictorial thing, transform it into something less than say 200k total , then email it. I can take most sorts of picture files and PDF files.
May I fax the homework?
NO, I don’t have a fax machine and the school won’t let you fax homework to them.
HW 1 (turn in at mtg 1)
Where do I find the conversion
factors?
In the textbook in appendices 2
and 3. Or come from the lab information page through supplemental materials to
the Units
and Conversions. That has a list of conversion factors and how to use them.
I am stuck.
Look at the examples in the Units
and Conversions section, Try
them. If that doesn’t work, PHONE.
What kind of calculator do I
need?
Anything that says scientific on
it will do the job. They start at about $10. You can use the calculator on your
computer or Excel for the
homework. But I don’t know how well it will work for the quizzes and
tests.
It says to email the results, but the questions are in PDF format. What do I actually send?
See general homework section
HW 3
HW 4
HW 5
HW 6
HW 7
HW 8
How do I turn in the materials?
Most experiments are to be brought to a meeting. But if you want to email etc. see General and Homework.
My
lab/project didn’t get the right results, as judged by the textbook etc.
Write the objective in the normal way. Write the conclusion based on YOUR results. IF you want to discuss why they are wrong, go ahead. But DO use your own numbers. That is the scientifically honest thing to do.
How
is a lab report supposed to be written?
Look on the lab information page.
Lab 1 Math and Meas
Lab 2 Lunar Phase Lab
Lab 3 Lunar/Planetary Feature
Chronology Lab
Lab 4 Measure Parallax Lab
Lab 5 Observe and draw spectra of
comm on sources
Where do I get the diffraction
grating?
At the instructor meeting 1. If
you missed the meeting, phone up and make an appointment to come by. I don’t
know any easy place to go buy one. It is a small transparent piece of plastic. on
sources
What if I am colorblind?
Definitely tell the teacher.
Preferably at one of the meetings.
Remember that the colors come in
th
e order ROYGBIV. If you have
trouble with only two of the colors you can probably do this lab. If you really
don’t see any color, we’ll need to think of something else.
Lab 6 Sun in Many Wavelengths Lab
Lab 7 Spectral Types of Stars
Lab 8 Analyze Binary Star Light Curves and Velocity Curves Lab
I planned to do one of the outdoor projects, but the weather is not good and it is late in the semester. What should I do?
Do the Museum Visit for sure. Look at the Star Party and Eclipse Observations. These can be done in one evening.
I have done a bunch of observations, but I don’t have as many as were required.
Do your best, but if it is late in the semester, finish what you have and turn it in. You will get fewer than the maximum number of points, but that’s life.
Where do you get the AltAz tracker? The Sky Grid?
You
make them. Look at the Lab
information page (go back to the homepage for a link). There are cut outs
at the bottom.
1 Lunar Phase Observing
I saw the Moon last week (or several
days ago) and I came out at the same time. But I cannot find the Moon. What is
wrong?
The
Moon isn’t up at the same time every day. That is part of what you are
supposed to be experiencing. Count the number of days since you last saw the
Moon and go out that same number of hours later. You will probably find the
Moon. If the prediction is to go out at some time between 10 AM and 2 PM, you are probably too close to new Moon
to find it. Go out just at dusk for the next couple of days and look west and
south for a crescent.
2 Tracking Planet
3 Motion
of the Sky
4 Fun with a Sundial
5 Changing points of Sunrise/Sunset
6 Photographing Star Trails
7 Telescopic Observation on Your
Own
I bought a telescope, but I cannot find anything.
This is
pretty typical. If you are not
already doing the star party, try that.
Some
observing sites allow you to bring your telescope and that would be a good way
to get help. But don’t count on this as a way to guarantee that you will
be able to do the project.
If you
phone, we may be able to make an appointment for you to come in at night and
get some help.
I can find the object in the finder scope, but not in the big telescope.
This is
pretty typical. You can just look, and look, and look until you find the object
in the larger telescope. But it is much better to align the finder so that if something is in the finder, it
will also be in the telescope. First, look at something big, like the Moon or a
telephone pole. Move the big telescope around until the object is right in the
middle of the field of view. Then, without letting the object get away, change
the way that the finder scope is aligned until the object is in BOTH the finder
and the big telescope. Usually there are screws to align the finder. You would
need to loosen these, move the finder, and then tighten them. DON’T
expect this alignment to remain ok if you put the telescope away.
If you
find something in the finder, but
not in the main telescope, it is helpful
to have two people working. One should look through the main telescope
while the other watches in the finder and moves the big telescope around. Usually you would keep the object in
the finder and sweep in one direction at a time. The person who is watching in
the main telescope alerts you when the object is seen. (after this go back and
align the finder).
I can find things, but I don’t know what I am looking at.
The
planets should all look different as should the Moon. Planets appear larger through the
telescope. Stars appear brighter, not larger. Jupiter shows moons and bands. Saturn shows rings and
sometimes, one moon. Mars doesn’t usually show any features, but it is
distinctly orange and it is
circular. Venus is bright, whitish, shows no features, but is NOT always
circular
I will
help you to figure out which is which, after you have drawn them. But I cannot
tell one star cluster from another if you have just found them in the scope.
8 Star Party
9 Eclipse Observations
10 Museum Visit
11 Observing Noon and the Equation of Time