80 minutes will be allowed to complete each exam, including the
third one. The exams will be effectively non-cumulative and they will
be curved. An ID is required to take an exam. The test questions will
be multiple choice or true/false and will be machine graded; scantron
sheets will be provided but you should bring #2 pencils and erasers.
The exams are closed-book and no notes are permitted. Although some
elementary math may be used, calculators, PDA's or computers will not
be permitted (slide rules are allowed). When the exam is announed
"over", exams must be turned in immediately or loss of credit is
possible. If you arrive late for the exam, you will not be given
extra time to complete the exam. If you arrive more than 30 minutes
late, without a valid excuse, you may not be permitted to take the
exam.
Grade Correspondence for the Major Exams
| EXAM |
A |
A- |
B+ |
B |
B- |
C+ |
C |
C- |
D+ |
D |
F |
| # 1 |
66 - 90 |
64 - 65 |
62 - 63 |
56 - 61 |
54 - 55 |
52 - 53 |
47 - 51 |
45 - 46 |
43 - 44 |
37 - 42 |
0 - 36 |
| # 2 |
74 - 95 |
72 - 73 |
70 - 71 |
64 - 69 |
62 - 63 |
60 - 61 |
55 - 59 |
53 - 54 |
51 - 52 |
45 - 50 |
0 - 44 |
| # 3 |
66 - 90 |
64 - 65 |
62 - 63 |
56 - 61 |
54 - 55 |
52 - 53 |
47 - 51 |
45 - 46 |
43 - 44 |
37 - 42 |
0 - 36 |
To make up an exam will require a valid, documented excuse
(doctor's/infirmary note, obituary notice, police accident report,
etc.). Make-up exams will be administered during Lattimer's office
hours on dates to be arranged.
Homeworks: There will be 11 homework
assignments, one due every week on Thursday, except the first week and
the two weeks with exams. Homeworks will be posted
approximately one week before they are due. Homeworks also serve
as study aids. Some of the homework questions will appear on the
exams. Your homework responses must be typed or word-processed, except
for algebra calculations, as it is often difficult to decipher
handwriting. Any algebra or math for the homeworks may be handwritten
if it is legible. The homeworks will be collected at the beginning of class on the due date; later
submissions, such as 10 minutes from the beginning of a class or
at the end of class, will be downgraded (exceptions to this rule for
justifiable reasons will be considered individually by the instructor.
This policy is not inflexible, and lengthy absences for athletic,
health or other documentable reasons will be permitted. Obviously,
it is to your advantage to complete the homework before it is due.
The total of your 10 highest
homeworks will count for 20% of your final grade. The lowest
homework grade will be dropped.
Term Report: A term report will count
20% of the total grade. The due date for the report is March 6.
Papers submitted after March 6 will be assessed the equivalent of 1/3
letter grade penalty for each class meeting they are late (i.e., 2/3
letter grade per week). It is preferable for papers to be handed in
directly to me either in class or doing office hours. You should
check Blackboard for the status of your paper; bring discrepancies to
my attention.
The length should be at least 8 double-spaced typed pages. Typing
or word-processing is required. Some suggested topics are listed
below, but you can write about any specific topic (with a science
perspective) closely related to the course. You should find at least
three, and preferably more, recent (i.e., within the last 3 years)
sources on which to base your report. Books and magazine or newspaper
articles are acceptable, as are internet web pages if you identify
your sources and conclude they are providing reliable information. TV
documentaries are not acceptable sources of information. Your report
should not use the lecture notes or the required text as primary
references, neither should it basically copy such material. Footnotes
and detailed referencing are not required, but your paper must include
a bibliography containing the sources from which material was
taken. If you use a figure or table, you must cite the source in the
figure or table. Your paper will be graded on its relevance to our
course, on its originality (i.e., your own opinions and
interpretations) and on the quality of the research you performed in
its writing.
Suggested Topics for the Term Paper:
| Topic |
| 0 | Detail About a Recent Discovery Concerning Extrasolar Planets |
|---|
| 1 | What is the Fermi Paradox and Some Resolutions? |
|---|
| 2 | Detail About a Recent Discovery Concerning Extremophiles |
|---|
| 3 | Discuss a Mass Extinction: What Were its Causes and Consequences? |
|---|
| 4 | The Causes of Global Warming and Should We Stop It and How? |
|---|
| 5 | The Feasibility of Interstellar Space Travel. |
|---|
| 6 | Could Life Exist on Europa or Titan (choose one)? |
|---|
| 7 | Has Life Existed on Mars in the Past Or Does it Now? |
|---|
| 8 | Detail About a Recent Discovery Concerning the Origin or Evolution of Life on the Earth? |
|---|
| 9 | The Connection Between Oxygenation of the Earth's Atmosphere and Snowball Earth |
|---|
| 10 | Ice Cores and What They Tell Us About the History of the Earth |
|---|
Extra Credit: A second term report may
be written for extra credit. The topic can be any topic you
haven't already written about. The amount of extra credit will be
determined at the end of the course and the maximum will be equivalent
to a two-letter grade increase of any of your exam grades or term
paper grade (whichever gives the maximum increase in your overall
course grade). For example, an A on the extra-credit report could raise an exam grade from a C to an A; a C on the extra-credit report could raise an exam grade from a C to a C+. The due date for the extra-credit report is April
19; late submissions will be downgraded an equivalent of 2/3 letter
grade per week.
Plagiarism - Copying from currently or previously submitted
papers or homeworks, copying directly from the WWW without
attribution, or copying part of an article or book without reference
will result in an "F" for the report or homework and a complaint will
be filed with the student judiciary. Since I cannot determine who copied from who in the case of plagiarism of another student's work, both students will suffer the penalty.
Hints on how to succeed:
1, 2.
Overall Grade: Each exam and the term paper will
count 20% each, and the homework counts 20%. The only
opportunity for extra credit is to do the extra-credit term report.
If you have a physical, psychological, medical or learning disability
that may impact your ability to carry out assigned course work,
contact the staff in the Disabled
Student Services office (DSS), 128 Educational Communications
Center, 632-6748/9. DSS will review your concerns and determine with
you what accommodations are necessary and DSS will advise me. All
information and documentation of disability is confidential.
Stony Brook University expects students to maintain standards of
personal integrity that are in harmony with the educational goals of
the institution; to observe national, state, and local laws and
University regulations; and to respect the rights, privileges, and
property of other people. Faculty are required to report to the Office of
Judicial Affairs any disruptive behavior that interrupts their
ability to teach, compromises the safety of the learning environment,
and/or inhibits students' ability to learn.
Each student must pursue his or her academic goals honestly and be
personally accountable for all submitted work. Representing another
person's work as your own is always wrong. Any suspected instance of
academic dishonesty will be reported to the Academic Judiciary. For
more comprehensive information on academic integrity, including
categories of academic dishonesty, please refer to the
academic
judiciary website.
Homework 9 Solutions
Homework 10 Solutions
Homework 11 Solutions
LECTURE TOPICS (SYLLABUS)
LECTURE NOTES
Red = no class; Black =
an exam
| Sun |
Mon |
Tue |
Wed |
Thu |
Fri |
Sat |
| January 2012 |
| 22 |
23 |
24 |
25 |
26 |
27 |
28 |
| February 2012 |
| 29 |
30 |
31 |
1 |
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4 |
| 5 |
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29 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| March 2012 |
| 4 |
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| 11 |
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| 18 |
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| April 2012 |
| 1 |
2 |
3 |
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5 |
6 |
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| 8 |
9 |
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14 |
| 15 |
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| 22 |
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| May 2012 |
| 29 |
30 |
1 |
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5 |
| 6 |
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11 |
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