This course covers the astronomy of our own solar system. The course is designed for the non-science major and incorporates laboratory exercises and field trips to observatories/planetariums. Topics include Newton's laws; astronomical instruments; radiation and spectra; earth and the earth-like planets; the Jupiter-like planets; moons, comets and asteroids; and the origin of the solar system and the sun. Laboratory work may involve exercises demonstrating Newton's laws; the construction of astronomical instruments, the analysis of spectra, orbit analysis and tides. No mathematical background is assumed.