Hi, I'm Malynda Chizek, your ASTR 105 T.A.


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 (also located at http://astronomy.nmsu.edu/tharriso/ast110/ast105syllabus.html)


Lab Policies

* Lab meets on Thursdays from 4.30 - 6.30 pm.
* Attendance is mandatory and will 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.
* Calculators are cool! Bring one. Your phone calculator might 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.


Hints for Success in 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.



Lecture Notes

Other Objects in the Universe
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