Syllabus for Astronomy 223 /23
Fall 2003 Planetary Science

Faculty: M. Darby Dyar
217 Kendade Hall, MHC
538-3073 or 538-3220
mdyar@mtholyoke.edu or mddyar@amherst.edu

TAs to be announced.
 
What I expect of you in this class:
  Be professional and participate actively in the course.
Bring calculators to class every day. You will use them.
Know the schedule and be aware of important dates, monitor the web site.
Keep up with the work. Do the reading.
Get help promptly if you need it.
Seek me out if I can help you with problems of any kind, or if you just want to talk!
 
Attendance:
  You do not want to miss this class! If class attendance starts to drop off in mid-semester, I reserve the right to add pop quizes to encourage attendance...
 
Textbook:

 

The New Solar System (4th edition) by Beatty et al. (1999)
Copies are available at the Odyssey Bookstore in South Hadley. Also available from on-line booksellers such as Amazon.com and others.

 
Weekly readings:
 

These are posted in the schedule on the web site. Since this field is constantly changing, I will also make considerable use of web sites for NASA missions and other current events in planetary science. Web addresses will be posted on the web site for the class.

 

Videos:

  I may from time to time make use of (parts of) videos in class, as listed on the web site.

Student Information Form
Homework:
  All homework assignments will be available on the web site. They are due in class ONE WEEK after the lecture in which they are assigned. Points will be deducted from assignments handed in late at a rate of one point per day, unless accompanied by a note from a doctor.
 
Grading criteria:

 

We will have a short quiz at the beginning of every class, containing 2-4 short-answer questions pertaining to content from the previous weeks. All assignments (quiz and homework grades) will be converted to percentages out of 100. The lowest grade is dropped, and the remaining grades are summed to arrive at a final score for the class.



This page was created by Darby Dyar and is maintained by Darby Dyar and Rebekah Robson-May.
Last updated on 8 September, 2008 .