The Five Criteria Used to Grade Journals:

1. Number of Entries.  Does the Journal have adequate entries for the semester?  If not, does the journal have additional information, such as articles from magazines, brochures from planetariums, star party observations through telescopes, etc. (10 points max.)

2. Accuracy of observations.  Do the entries have accurate illustrations of the observed objects in the sky?  Do the illustrations include angular information about relative positions of the objects in the sky and the names of the objects?  (10 points max.)

3. Content.  Does the information contained in the journal pertain to astronomy, or is it unrelated?  Are there just observations, without any evaluation, or are there comments made throughout the journal about each viewing?  If magazine articles are present, are there synopses made by the student of each article?  Are the synopses just recapitulations of the articles, or does the student provide an evaluative insight into the presented article?  (10 points max.)

4. Syntax and Clarity.  Are the grammar and punctuation of the journal correct and up to college standards?  If another student were to read the journal, would they be able to find the same objects in the sky using the journal entries?(10 points max.)

5. Detail of observations.  Do the entries provide information about the date and time of observation, the place of observation (backyard, hillside, city name, street name, etc.), the sky/weather conditions (partly cloudy, hazy, dark, obscured by trees, obscured by city lights, obscured by moonlight, temperature, etc.), and type of observation (naked eye, binoculars, telescope, magnification, type of telescope, etc.)? (10 points max.)