Astrobiology is the scientific study of the origin, evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe. The study of astrobiology (from "astronomy" + "biology") brings together researchers from historically separate scientific fields such as astronomy, microbiology, ecology, geology, paleontology, and chemistry and encourages them to work together to answer among the most fundamental questions science can pose: What is life? How did we get here? Are we alone in the universe? How can we tell if we are?
We begin by studying life on Earth, the only place in the universe where we know life exists. How did life begin here? How has it responded to changes in the environment? How has it changed the environment? What conditions does earthly life need to exist?
Then we look beyond Earth to the possibilities of life elsewhere. Most of life on the Earth is microbial, and it is likely that microorganisms will be the type of life we will find elsewhere in the universe. Astrobiologists try to figure out how to search for microbes and other life on the planets and moons in our Solar System and on Earth-like planets orbiting other stars. How do you detect evidence of biology when you cannot hold a soil sample in your hand? Does life leave its mark on a planet so that we can detect its presence remotely? Is life common? Or is our life-filled Earth rare and unique?
Finally, even more significant would be to find complex life (multi-cellular life more complex the microbes), especially self-aware, intelligent life capable of communicating ideas in a symbolic language across the vastness of empty space. How would we detect them? How would we communicate with them? Should we?
At the end of the Life in the Universe (Astr B2) course, the successful student will be able to:
I got two Bachelor of Science degrees, one in Physics and one in Astronomy, at the University of Arizona (Tucson, AZ) in 1987. I worked for a year to decompress from the rigors of studying and then went on to graduate school at the University of Washington (in the Astronomy Department). I got my Master of Science in Astronomy in 1990 and finished my PhD in Astronomy in 1995.
While at the University of Washington I taught the introductory astronomy course, the introductory planetary science course, and the introductory cosmology course. I found I enjoyed teaching much more than research. I came to Bakersfield College in 1996.
To find out more about me, visit my homepage.
Assignments and lecture slides will be posted on the class website. Check the class website several times a week.
The homework assignments will stress critical reasoning (and some computation). Homework assignments may be turned in via email in plain text format---NO word processing file attachments. Exam questions are drawn partly from the required homework assignments. Do your own work—see the cheating policy below. No late (including tardy) homework assignments will be accepted.
Quizzes & exams are multiple-choice format. The exam material will be drawn from homework, quizzes, in-class projects, lectures, and the textbook review questions. The exams are closed book---no live or electronic help, except a calculator, is allowed. Dates for exams are given at the end of the syllabus and also on the class website. There are no make-up quizzes or exams without hardcopy documentation of a medical or legal emergency from an officially-recognized neutral third party. Any other reason, including work schedules, will not be accepted. You will need to do the quiz or exam make-up the week of your return. If you have another school activity or family event that prevents you from taking the exam or quiz on the given date, you will need to arrange with the instructor an alternate exam time that is before the given date.
The expectations for a college class are a definite jump up from what you had in high school! The standard for minimum acceptable work, the quality and amount of study time outside of class, and the pace the material is covered will be a significant jump up from high school. I expect you to take responsibility for your own learning. We meet for just three hours per week, 1.5 hours each Tuesday and Thursday afternoon. Because of the limited time spent in class, you will need to spend at least 6 hours a week outside of class reviewing lecture material, reading the textbook, and doing the homework assignments. You will not pass if you only attend every lecture and do just the in-lecture-period work. Your grade is determined only by your performance on the required assignments not on ``how well I feel you did''. It is possible in a college course to get an ``F'' if your performance on the required assignments is below the ``D'' threshold regardless of the effort you put into the course.
Attendance in lecture is voluntary. If you miss a lecture, I expect you to see me after class or in my office or check the class website on the web to find out what you missed. Homework and reading assignments will be posted on the class website. If you miss four or more classes during the semester or an exam, you may be dropped from the course. However, do not assume that I will automatically do this for you. If you wish to drop, then drop via InsideBC.
If you are tardy, I expect you to enter quietly and sit in the BACK of the room without disturbing anyone.
Use the study tips in the Astronomy Notes website. They include how to more efficiently and effectively use your textbook to succeed in the class and tried-and-true techniques for taking multiple-choice exams.
Students with disabilities who believe they may need accommodations in this class are encouraged to contact Disabled Student Programs & Services at Student Services Building, 1st Floor, Counseling Center, 395-4334, as soon as possible to better ensure such accommodations are implemented in a timely fashion.
How will you succeed at BC this semester? What determines success is not circumstance, but habit. Habits of Mind, It’s POSSIBLE at BC has many free tools intended to help you accomplish your goals in school. Only you can overcome the challenges you face this semester and in life. Start out successfully with these steps:
Success takes energy, planning, and strategies for both the expected challenges in school as well as the unexpected twists life can take. Ask your professor for more information. Now is the time to develop new habits.
Absence for an exam or quiz will result in zero credit. In the event of an unavoidable and documented medical or legal emergency that prevents you from taking a quiz or exam, we will consider a make-up quiz or exam on an individual basis. Work schedules are not valid excuses. The documentation must be from an officially-recognized neutral third party. You must take the exam or quiz the week of your return. Abuse of this policy will void your privilege of a make-up exam or quiz. It is possible to take the exam or quiz early in the case of medical, legal, or job conflicts. Exam and quiz dates are given on the class website. The Final Exam will be comprehensive and will be on the date given in the printed class schedule. It is always possible to take an exam or quiz early but usually only within a couple of days early.
Homework assignments are due at the beginning of class on the given due date. No late homework (including tardy!) will be accepted. If you are sick, have a classmate turn it in. Assignments, including quizzes and exams, can always be turned in early.
I do not like people distracting their classmates by turning in something tardy after we have started instruction! If you are tardy when a homework assignment is due, do NOT turn it in at all. I want you to pay attention in class, not work on assignments that should be completed beforehand. Turn the assignment in the previous day or two before if you plan to miss class or be unavoidably late! You can also email me the homework but only if they are emailed by the beginning of class time of the due day (not a minute or more or later!!). Emailed assignments sent after the beginning of class will simply be returned with no credit. The emailed assignments must be in the BODY of your email message---no file attachments.
Absence on the day of an in-class project (not pop quizzes, homework) will result in half credit provided the work is made up within one week of the day when the project is given. Make-up of an in-class projects requiring me to set something up will have to be done at a time that is convenient for me, the instructor. I will be lenient in the case of unavoidable and documented medical or legal reasons. Other miscellaneous (and missed) in-class activities that may contribute to your participation grade will be dealt with on an individual basis.
By cheating, you are being unfair to yourself and your classmates. Cheating is defined as not doing your own work on class assignments or on exams. There is a distinction between being helped by someone and copying someone's work. State your answers to the homework in your own words. Do NOT show your written (or electronic) copy of your assignment to other classmates. If you help someone out, be sure that they can articulate their response in their own words. NO group solutions! If copying is noticed by me, each person will get a fraction of the total group's solutions grade. Cheating on an exam will result in zero credit with no make-up possible. Permitting someone to copy from you is just as bad. It takes less effort to play fair than to devise clever ways of deceiving your instructor and classmates.
Repeated or flagrant examples of cheating may result in expulsion from the class and assignment of a grade of "F", in accordance with Bakersfield College academic policy. In addition the instructor will report such cheating to the College Administration, who may apply additional penalties, including ones possibly as severe as expulsion from the College, and placing a permanent mark on the student's academic record.
Many have marked the speed with which Muad'Dib learned the necessities of Arrakis. The Bene Gesserit, of course, know the basis of this speed. For the others, we can say Muad'Dib learned rapidly because his first training was in how to learn. And the first lesson of all was the basic trust that he could learn. It is shocking to find how many people do not believe they can learn, and how many more believe learning to be difficult. Muad'Dib knew that every experience carries its lesson. (From the "Humanity of Muad'Dib" by the Princess Irulan)
--Frank Herbert in Dune
last updated: January 22, 2014 (updated link to higher education costs and "Education Pays")