Learning Outcomes

• Relate observations of the night sky: rising and setting motions, lunar phases, stars and planets
• Describe Earth's motion in space and how it affects the sky we see
• Explain the reasons for seasons, lunar phases, and eclipses
• Outline the Ptolemaic and Copernican cosmologies
• Describe the roles of Copernicus, Brahe, Kepler, and Galileo in the Scientific Revolution
• Describe and apply Newton's Laws of Motion and Universal Gravity
• Explain the nature of electromagnetic radiation
• Describe thermal radiation and Kirchoff's Laws
• Summarize properties of telescopes and their instrumentation
• Discuss solar system formation and structure
• Describe properties of planets, their moons, dwarf planets, comets, and asteroids
• Explain the techniques for detection of exoplanets
• Discuss the general properties of known exoplanets
• Distinguish the basic traits of legitimate science, and the methods of scientific reasoning
• Paraphrase conceptual ideas through written and verbal work (homework, exams, and papers)

  By the end of these experiences, students will be able to:

  1. apply effective and efficient approaches to mathematical or other formal quantitative reasoning problems; and
  2. formulate, evaluate, and explain conclusions and inferences from quantitative information.