In our very first two modules we are going to look at

What is Astronomy & what is Science
Math review (powers of 10, unit analysis and basic trigonometry)
Scientific measurements
Accuracy, precision, uncertainty and errors

BE ADVISED: The Math Review and Scientific Measurements portions of the first two weeks tend to scare students away and make them feel that they are not ready for this class. Please please please DO NOT DROP because you feel intimidated by the math in these two weeks! They will be the most math heavy and difficult of the semester. The class will be a lot more conceptual and we are going to use math only when necessary for the rest of the course. Every student that has told me after the first week they are dropping because they feel they are not ready due their math level, I have encouraged them to stay, and they all have done well in this course and do not regret to have stayed.

I like to tackle the most challenging material of this course (the math review) first, and it is not to scare you away. It is to make the rest of the course easier for you and to prepare you for when we encounter math in the lectures and assignments. Doing this will let us move on by focusing on the astronomy rather than the math, and that way using math just as a tool, so hang in there.