History of Science Online - Course Info - Time tips - Semester Schedule - Weekly Assignments - Timeline - Projects - Week 1: Beginnings, Stonehenge, and the Shape of the Earth

Starting Assumptions

Every week, you will have a "Starting Assumptions" assignment -- including this Orientation week! In order to complete this assignment, you need to have created a Yuku account and been admitted to the private class Yuku discussion board by the instructor. Only students who have been okayed by the instructor are able to access the Yuku board. Tip: Other students will get to know you by your Yuku nickname, so don't choose one with a huge number at the end, like your OU 4x4. For general information about Yuku, go here.

Before reading further on this page, make sure you are familiar with the general description of the Starting Assumptions assignment. Important instructions given there are not repeated here!

For this week's starting assumptions questions, scroll down to the bottom of this page.

Instructions for Starting Assumptions assignment: Read through the Starting Assumptions questions for this week. If there are images, click on a couple of the images that interest you to learn more about them. PART ONE: Write a paragraph, 150 words minimum, in response to the questions that interest you. You must answer the question(s) marked **in bold with red asterisks**. Spellcheck, word count, and proofread your paragraph. Cut-and-paste your completed paragraph and post it in the Starting Assumptions forum for this week at the Yuku discussion board. PART TWO: Respond to the Starting Assumptions posts of at least two other students. (If you are the first or second person to post, you will have to check back later to complete this part of the assignment.) Note: Please respond to posts with 0 responses first; once every post has at least one response, you are free to choose any post to respond to. IMPORTANT: When you respond, please say "Hi Euclid" or "Hi Alchemist" so that you can get used to the names and Yuku nicknames of the people in class. After you have posted your paragraph AND responded to two other students, complete the Gradebook Declaration in Desire2Learn. (Your Gradebook Declaration is subject to the Honor Code.) Check all that apply: if you have completed the assignment, you will check all five statements. You may redo this Gradebook Declaration up until the due date, if you score less than 5 the first time. Here is the text of the Desire2Learn Gradebook Declaration: (1 point) I have posted my Starting Assumptions (at least 50 words) at Yuku, including a response to the required question(s). (1 point) I have posted my Starting Assumptions (at least 100 words) at Yuku, including a response to the required question(s). (1 point) I have posted my Starting Assumptions (at least 150 words) at Yuku, including a response to the required question(s). (1 point) I have replied to the post of at least one other student. (1 point) I have replied to the post of at least two other students.

Starting Assumptions Questions

1. What interests you most about history? What interests you least about history? What history courses have you taken?
2. What interests you most about science? What interests you least about science? What science courses have you taken?
3. What interests you most about the history of science? What interests you least about the history of science? What history of science courses have you taken?
4. What are some movies that relate to the history of science? Explain the connection to history of science and what you like about them.
5. Do you remember a favorite story from the history of science? Did you learn it from a textbook, your own reading, a science teacher, or from what other source?
6. Where do most people learn what they think they know about the history of science? Science textbooks, children's stories, movies, popular books, or what?
7. Do you like to write? What do you think would be the most interesting aspect of writing about science and its past?
8. Are you interested in the history of science in any particular foreign countries?
9. What languages do you speak / read / write / understand? Are you taking any foreign language classes right now?
10. Stonehenge appears in the thumbnail icon for this week (found in the upper left corner of this page and all Week 1 pages, and always links back to the Week 1 unit page). Do you know much about Stonehenge? Have you visited Stonehenge, or any other similar stone circles? Have you watched any movies or documentaries about Stonehenge? What problems might historians, archaeologists and astronomers face in trying to understand such structures and to interpret how they were used? How would they be able to tell whether their explanations are correct, or merely conjectures? (Larger version of the Stonehenge image.)
11. ****Look at the thumbnail image shown right (this icon for course syllabus pages appears in the upper left corner of all course info pages, and always links back to the course info page). What does this image have to do with the history of science? What does it mean to you?****

	HSCI 3013. History of Science to 17th century Kerry Magruder, 2004-08 Report typos or broken links Many thanks to Mythology and Folklore and other online courses developed by Laura Gibbs.	Search course websites:
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