Please submit all assignments by email, as file attachements in either HTML or Microsoft Word format. Your submission should be well-written and reflect a depth of analysis and insight. Please document all submissions using either the APA or the MLA standard, whichever is most convenient for you.

Assignment 1: The Awesome Cosmos: Web Site Reviews
Planets. Stars. Galaxies. Entire worlds apart from our own. The study of the cosmos invites us to some of the most majestic beauty and wonder we will ever encounter.

Much of that beauty is captured on the Web. Many organizations and individuals have developed sites and displays to share their passion about the cosmos.

For your first assignment, please make a thorough search of all things astronomy related on the Web and report your findings. You may want to begin with the sites listed in the Resources section of this course.

Be sure to consider the following:

Which sites are graphically the most impressive, and why?
Which sites are most informative, and why?
Which sites provided the information you least expected to find?
Which sites are most disappointing.

Assignment 2: Space, Time, and Physical Realities
Professor Stephen Hawking (Web site) has become famous for his books and lectures devoted to space and time. In general, physicists such as Hawking use spatial devices to explain time, often calling upon the origin of the universe as a benchmark.

Visit Hawking's Web site and read a few of his lectures devoted to space and time. Then read Chapters 1-3 of Stuart Burgess' "He Made The Stars Also." (Or, of course, you may want to read the sources in the opposite order. Please feel free to do so.)

For your second assignment, compare and contrast Hawking's (or other contemporary physicists') view of time with that presented by Burgess. What are the main similarities? What are the main differences? What key assumptions to each make? How do those assumptions influence their conclusions? Do you find one of the explanations of time more compelling than the other?

Suggested Length: 5-10 pages

Assignment 3: Space: Created Just for Us?
You have been challenged by a co-worker with the following statement, "There is no way, in a universe this big, that earth is the only planet where life exists. There must be life on other planets."

Using Stuart Burgess' "He Made The Stars, Also" and any additional resources you may find, develop a lucid, logical response to this argument. Be sure to answer with gentleness and respect, providing a biblically sound answer in a convincing format.

Recommended Length: 5-10 pages

Assignment 4: Book Review: The Gospel in the Stars
Joseph Seiss' "The Gospel in the Stars" is considered a controversial book in many Christian circles, as it seeks to integrate classical astronomy, including the study of constellations, with biblical teachings. Seiss acknowledges this potential conflict, yet contends that the stars hold a unique revelation of God's nature and character.

Please develop a scholarly review of "The Gospel in the Stars." Be sure to comment on the content and the presentation of the material. Your review should briefly summarize the book, then provide detail as to your critical view of its contents.

Assignment 5: Book Review: He Also Made the Stars
Please develop a scholarly review of Stuart Burgess' "He Also Made The Stars." Be sure to comment on the content and the presentation of the material. Your review should briefly summarize the book, then provide detail as to your critical view of its contents.

Assignment 6 (Final Submission): Sky Journal
As you learn about astronomy and the cosmos during this course, begin keeping a "sky journal" that traces your experience and growth in this area. Notice how you become more aware of the cosmos, and also of God's work in creating them.

You may keep your journal in a chronological (sorted by date) or a topical (sorted by topic) format. Your journal should be focused on your learning, as well as on the content of the course.

As you complete the course material, notice the things that you are learning, and especially notice the new things to which you are paying attention. Does the night sky look different to you now than it did when you began the course? Are you more aware of God's presence in the cosmos? (These are not requirements for the journal, but are rather suggestions for your consideration.)

Your sky journal can be quite free-form. Where it is appropriate, be sure to properly cite works that you use in background and research.