The midterm exam addresses the topics from Chapters 1 - 5.  In addition to answering about 40 multiple choice questions from the reading, lectures, and online resources, you will be expected to answer 2 of the following 3 essay questions.  Each will be worth 20 points. You can CHOOSE which of the questions you answer in each group.  Answers should be at least two long paragraphs on each topic.   We'll review each topic in detail in our class, and lecture notes as well as online homework resources will help you prepare.  The exam is worth 80 points (50% essay answers, 50% objective questions).

Answer two of the following three:

• Question 1: What causes seasons? Explain thoroughly why summer occurs for the northern hemisphere in June, July, and August, and how we know this is so, compared with other common explanations for seasons people might hold.
   

• Question 2: What did Galileo see with his telescope? Why were his observations so important?   And whatare Kepler's Laws. Where do they apply?
   

The final exam addresses the topics from Chapters 6-10 and 18.  In addition to answering about 40 multiple choice questions from the reading, lectures, and online resources, you will be expected to answer 3 essay questions - two of the three from the list below (each worth 20 points), AND one final question on the process of science (worth 40 points).  You can CHOOSE which of the questions you answer in each group.  Answers should be at least two long paragraphs on each topic.  We'll review each topic in detail in our class, and lecture notes as well as online homework resources will help you prepare.  The final is worth 120 points (67% essay answers, 33% objective questions).  Remember that a constellation quiz will precede the final essay exam.

Answer two of the following three:

This question is one EVERYONE must answer on the final exam.  And it will be worth twice the credit of any of the other questions you attempt.

• Question 4: How does the process of science work? What are its typical steps?  What distinguishes "good science" from "bad science"? Illustrate your answer with multiple astronomical examples from the class. (This question is not from the text directly--you'll need to synthesize an answer from reading and class discussion.)

Both on-campus and online Astro classes have the same assignments and same essay exams.  Online students are expected to include outside resources in their answers, and must include appropriate quotations when used verbatim, and proper citations - copied material without citation from other sources is not acceptable, and answers copied directly from outside sources without regard to the questions asked will not score well.  Answers that are found to have copied materials without proper citations will not be counted.