Unusual Dynamics In Earth’s Co-Orbital Resonance and In Our Science Classrooms
When
Where
Instructional Specialist Coordinator - U of A, Lunar and Planetary Lab
Senior Scientist - Planetary Science Institute
There are currently 15,000+ known near-Earth asteroids. A handful of these exist in an unusual co-orbital resonance with Earth, where the asteroids appear to orbit both Earth and the sun with a period of one year. These asteroids are known as quasi-satellites. In the first half of this talk I will present results from recent numerical simulations that suggest Earth’s quasi-satellite resonance may harbor many more asteroids than currently known, as well as a cloud of asteroidal dust particles. I will use computer visualizations to demonstrate how the motion of the most stable quasi-satellites makes them particularly challenging to detect observationally.
In the second half of this talk I will discuss a dramatic alteration to the curriculum being used this semester in a popular general education planetary science course that I teach here at the University of Arizona. Our experimental curriculum is designed around the concept of student choice and allows students to individually customize their own grading criteria for the various components of the course, such as exams, homework, and projects. We are tracking the effects of this choice on the students’ level of interest, engagement, and performance throughout the semester compared to the traditional curriculum used in previous years.