Lab activities, which will be conducted in class, are designed to be finished in the time allotted. If you miss a lab, you will find an electronic copy here. No labs will be dropped from your grade, however there will be two makeup days over the course of the semester.
Labs from first half of semester (Celestial Motions and Light/Spectra Units) – 3/10
Labs from second half of semester (Stars/Stellar Evolution and Galaxies/Cosmology Units) – 5/12
Labs
Class Intro
Date: 1/22
Lab: Nature of Science
Supplementary Materials: Reading 1, Reading 2, Reading 3
Celestial Motions Unit
Date: 1/29 and 2/3
Supplementary Materials: Celestial sphere, Astrolabe, Planisphere – see instructor to make up
Date: 2/10
Lab: Moon Phases
Supplementary Materials: lamp and moon balls – see instructor to make up
Date: 2/12
Lab: Seasons
Supplementary Materials: computer
Light and Spectra Unit
Date: 2/24
Supplementary Materials: Prism, thermometers
Date:
Materials: 100W Light bulb
Date: 3/2
Lab: Thermal Spectra
Supplementary Materials: Diffraction gratings, digital spectrometer
Date: 3/5
Lab: Emission and Absorption Spectra
Supplementary Materials: Diffraction gratings, digital spectrometer
Date: 3/24
Lab: Midterm Corrections
For every question that you answered incorrectly on the midterm, complete the following using complete sentences.
(1) Why did you choose the answer you did? What misconception or mistake led you to choose it?
(2) Describe why the correct answer is correct in your own words.
Stars and Stellar Evolution Unit
Date: 3/26
Lab: Solar Neighborhood
Materials: Balloons, washers, string
Date: 4/2
Lab: Planetary Nebulae
Materials:
Date: 4/8
Lab: Exoplanets
Materials:
Galaxies and Cosmology Unit
Date: 4/14
Lab: The Galaxy Song
Materials: None
Date: 4/21, 4/23 and 4/28
Lab: Hubble’s Law
Materials: Computer
Date: 4/30
Lab: Hubble Fields
Materials: computer