Hi, I'm Malynda Chizek, your ASTR 105 T.A. I'm really not as scary or intimidating as I look. To find out what I do when I'm not teaching this lab section, check out
my homepage at: http://astronomy.nmsu.edu/mchizek/


ANNOUNCEMENT

NEXT WEEK'S LAB (10/9) WILL BE IN JACOBS HALL 129! READ THE LAB AHEAD OF TIME

If you have to miss the lab for any reason (illness, school activity, work, etc.) and cannot make it up at any of the other lab times, I will assign a short paper on the lab topic for that week. The topics we cover in lab are important, and relevant to what you are learning or will be learning later in the lecture. Talk to me if you have to miss a lab so I can tell you what to write about. The paper will be due the day that particular lab is due.

Handy Links

Lab Schedule & Notes
Campus Observatory


Class Policies

*Attendance is mandatory
*There will be 13 labs during the semester, worth a total of 20% of your grade
*No makeup labs are scheduled
*Rules for the university on disabilities, plagiarism, student conduct, etc. are located in your syllabus located at: http://astronomy.nmsu.edu/jasonj/TEACHING/AST105/2008_FALL/syllabus.html


Lab Policies

* Lab meets on Thursdays from 3.30 - 5.30 pm.
* Attendance is mandatory and wil l be reflected in your final lab grade. If you have to miss lab one week (for a legitimate reason, which is at my discretion) and let me know ahead of time, or if you are sick and have a doctor's note, it will not be held against you. You are still required to turn in the previous week's lab on time. If you miss a lab and you do not have an excuse, you will receive a zero for that day's lab. There are no make-up labs available (remember, I am also a full time student taking classes, just like you).
*Read the lab before showing up to do the lab. I will be giving quizzes at the beginning of each lab on the material you should have read. * Calculators are cool! Bring one. Your phone calculator will not be enough in some labs, so be prepared.
* You may work in groups of 3 or 4.
* Each group must turn in one copy of its in-lab work, and each individual must turn in his/her own take home section. Any instances of plagiarism will earn a zero for all parties involved.
o The group lab must have "Group Lab" written on the front and list all the group members' names.
o Please staple your lab and make sure the pages are in order.
* Labs are due one week from when they are assigned. Late labs will be penalized 10% for each day that they are late.
o Each student is allowed to turn in one lab one week late with no penalty. This applies to the take-home section of the lab only. You must tell me you are using your free late pass.
*I reserve the right to answer any cell phone which rings during lab. It's probably better if you turn off your phone. The same applies if I see anyone text messaging. I am a text messaging fiend.


Hints for Success in Lab

*Read the lab before coming to do the lab I will be giving a quiz at the beginning of each lab.
*Know how to use your calculator! Most errors made in labs are a result of calculator-student-error. This usually happens with division. While you might implicity know that when you divide a quantity by 2*pi, you are dividing it by the quantity two times pi, the calculator will require you to put 2*pi in paranthesis (i.e. Quantity/(2*pi)... NOT! Quantity/2*pi. The later case here will divide the quantity by 2 and then multiply that result by pi).
*Be on time. I will typically begin each lab by running through the methodology of how to do the lab. If you miss this intro, I might have time to give you a quick run through of the lab, but most likely, you'll have to pester your lab group for the information.
*Count Question Marks: The questions in the lab and lab takehome usually ask you to answer more than one thing. For example, a question might ask you to provide a few facts, and then explain how they are linked together. A good rule of thumb, is to see how many question marks there are, and provide an answer for each one that you count.
*Be interactive/Ask Questions: I have yet to pick up the talent of reading minds. If I don't know that you are confused or stuck, I won't help you. If you ask me questions, I'm more than happy to help.
*Show your work. I'm a big fan of partial credit, but it's hard to give you points if the only thing you write down is a wrong answer.
*Remember your units. 2 hours is very different from 2 seconds, and 26.2 miles is very different from 26.2 cm.

If you have questions outside of lab time, come by my office or send me an email.