Astronomy Challenge

[Ad Astra]

Hi there folks!

Well, it's final exam time here at both my college and high school campuses!

Since the weather has been poor of evenings lately, I though some of you might want to try your hand at my practicum exam - just 6 little questions! As the carnival barker at the midway of the county fair says: Step Right Up! Try your skill! Everyone's a winner!!!!

Students everywhere from time immemorial have whined and crabbed about their teachers (you should hear what Plato used to say about Socrates!). Give it a go and see what you think!

Dan

THS Astro Practicum Final - spring 2011.doc

[Ad Astra]

Wow! 32 downloads and no comments and no whining (yet!)

That's what I like - a quiet class during the final exam!

Wish my teens were more like you lot! - they always groan at test time and tell me what a black-hearted monster I am.

Dan

[Vicky]

Hi Dan,

Is this an 'open book' exam or am I supposed to know this lot from memory?

Thanks 'prof'

Best wishes,

Vicky

[david o]

Grroaannn...

Yer a black-hearted monster, yer are !

[stolenfeather]

I love your questions at the end but couldn't discuss this offhand without digging through some books. I love how you smoothly combined technology with knowledge of celestial bodies throughout the examination. I also have created final examinations for my students but they are at the grade 7 and 8 level. so they don't look anything like these!

You are a menace to my neocortex but the pain is (ahem) greatly needed.

Isabelle

[Ad Astra]

Actually, all my exams are 'Open Notes', but not open book. You can use anything you've written down in your travels, or your observing log. 'Course, this assumes you've been coming to class regular like and taken good notes in the first place, and haven't spent the class period texting your friends and playing Angry Birds on your i-Phone.

If you really need to - look over the questions, put the test away, then go back to it (without the book) after you've studied up a bit.

Dan

Hi Dan,

Is this an 'open book' exam or am I supposed to know this lot from memory?

Thanks 'prof'

Best wishes,

Vicky

[Ad Astra]

Hi David!

You realize that comments like that are akin to feeding the bear a pork chop in the hopes that he'll let you alone...

Grroaannn...

Yer a black-hearted monster, yer are !

[Ad Astra]

Hi Isabelle!!

Praise from the praiseworthy is valued above gold - and for a good reason! (happily blushing!!!)

Thanks for your nice comments! To be fair (to everyone here!) these questions mostly reflect things that my students have practiced and done together in lab relatively often.

Q1 on the circumpolar sky is a focus because this is where we learn to identify constellations and sketch with correct shape, orientation, and relative scale. We practice in the classroom first with Stellarium (projected on the a big screen by an LCD projector hooked up to a computer running - what else? - Stellarium! Then we go out and try our hand in the dark, and go back to these 5 constellations again and again for many activities - and almost every time we make a sketch. They should know them by now!!!

Q2 is sketching with the 'clock method'. I teach them to divide what they see in the eyepiece into 'hour angles' and place features by their angle and distance from the center of the field. (Yes, this is polar coordinates - but I don't tell 'em that!) For their test, I take a red marker and a soda can and circle a small area of that photo. This way, each kid gets a different area to sketch and copying is impossible!

Q3 & Q4 I would expect that most anyone on SGL could do pretty easily. Just basic telescope knowledge.

Q5 is a toughie for many - especially the math-phobic. But there isn't anything worse than multiplication and division here. Ok, pi sneaks into the light grasp problem - but that's the worst of it. Each kid is supposed to calculate mag, fov, and know about what a barlow does for every lab we do. 'Course, if you copy off your friends, you don't have any skills to help you through on the final, either!

The extended response deals with major themes from the class. I flatter myself that I give a pretty interesting lecture, and since this is open note - any of them should be able to find one of these that they know a bit about. Remember that they get to choose, and only have to tackle one of 'em - not all!

Cheers! (and thanks again for the nice words!)

Dan

I love your questions at the end but couldn't discuss this offhand without digging through some books. I love how you smoothly combined technology with knowledge of celestial bodies throughout the examination. I also have created final examinations for my students but they are at the grade 7 and 8 level. so they don't look anything like these!

You are a menace to my neocortex but the pain is (ahem) greatly needed.

Isabelle

[Adamski]

It's harder than it looks isn't it? I find that the more i learn the more i forget as i progress on to different things and start getting names mixed up.