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written by
Jennifer Scott
This guide describes a novel project structure for sky observations commonly assigned in introductory level astronomy students at either the high school or undergraduate level. The project is an outside class assignment optimized for a large course that meets during the day. The goal of this activity is for students to make independent observations at a fixed time of day to develop an understanding of: (1) how annual motion of the Earth relates to observed position of the Sun as it sets towards the West; and (2) changes in the Moon phase over the lunar month and how the phase of the Moon relates to its position in the sky relative to the Sun. Students synthesize their understanding by responding to summary questions at the conclusion of the project. The questions require students to use their collection of observations to make predictions about future sunset and Moon positions and Moon phases.
A critical component of this work is an associated scoring script, available through GitHub. The algorithm uses Sun and Moon position data and Moon phase data downloaded by the user from the United States Naval Observatory to score student input and provide feedback in an efficient manner. This allows instructors to assign and grade student observations even in a large university class.
ComPADRE is beta testing Citation Styles!
![]() <a href="https://psrc.aapt.org/items/detail.cfm?ID=15689">Scott, Jennifer. Sky Observing Project. May 25, 2021.</a>
![]() J. Scott, Sky Observing Project (2021), <http://wp.towson.edu/jescott/observingprojectguide/>.
![]() Scott, J. (2021, May 25). Sky Observing Project. Retrieved February 10, 2025, from http://wp.towson.edu/jescott/observingprojectguide/
![]() Scott, Jennifer. Sky Observing Project. May 25, 2021. http://wp.towson.edu/jescott/observingprojectguide/ (accessed 10 February 2025).
![]() Scott, Jennifer. Sky Observing Project. 2021. 25 May 2021. 10 Feb. 2025 <http://wp.towson.edu/jescott/observingprojectguide/>.
![]() @misc{
Author = "Jennifer Scott",
Title = {Sky Observing Project},
Volume = {2025},
Number = {10 February 2025},
Month = {May 25, 2021},
Year = {2021}
}
![]() %A Jennifer Scott %T Sky Observing Project %D May 25, 2021 %U http://wp.towson.edu/jescott/observingprojectguide/ %O text/html ![]() %0 Electronic Source %A Scott, Jennifer %D May 25, 2021 %T Sky Observing Project %V 2025 %N 10 February 2025 %8 May 25, 2021 %9 text/html %U http://wp.towson.edu/jescott/observingprojectguide/ Disclaimer: ComPADRE offers citation styles as a guide only. We cannot offer interpretations about citations as this is an automated procedure. Please refer to the style manuals in the Citation Source Information area for clarifications.
Citation Source Information
The AIP Style presented is based on information from the AIP Style Manual. The APA Style presented is based on information from APA Style.org: Electronic References. The Chicago Style presented is based on information from Examples of Chicago-Style Documentation. The MLA Style presented is based on information from the MLA FAQ. |