3 THINGS I BELIEVE
1. Change happens in life, climate, and learning. And as a learner and teacher, I better adapt to all of them.
2. The world is full of different wavelengths. If you only tune to one band, you miss the big picture.
3. God loves people, without condition. WE impose the limits.
**My opinions and reflections here are my own, not necessarily that of my employer**
Thanks to James Van Allen, a University of Iowa researcher, we know a lot more about how the VanAllen radiation belts protect the earth. You can start here to find out some basic information.
You and a group of 2 others will work to complete the activity found here. I would suggest that you complete it INDIVIDUALLY. When you get done, you will be working on your posts. I also will be tweeting a question to you that needs answering today, so check Twitter!
Today we watched a couple of clips about Neutrinos. The understanding of neutrinos is critical to understanding the sun, but it is just as important to get the back story.
You will be going to the Ghost Particle website to try to unravel the story of Ray Davis and John Bahcall, who persevered over 40 years to find out the true story about neutrinos. Your goal is to figure out what type of person which would create a lab that could only detect 12 particles per week, and what type of person would insist his math was correct when critics were panning him.
As you go through the timeline, jot down ideas of how stars evolve. Include facts such as mass, color, elements, and the type of death they undergo. You will be writing a murder mystery story on one of the stellar characters you encounter. Story should be 1-2 pages, typed, and posted on your blog. Include a visual on the post to help set the scene.
Annie Jump Cannon spent her entire life following her passion. It was not common for a woman in her day to get a degree in physics. It was not common for a woman to have a career. And it was not common for anyone to have the dedication to do one thing for almost 400000 specimens.
So now, I ask you: What's your passion? What do you dream about doing in your future? Post a 2-3 paragraph reflection on your blog.
Sunspots are an important way that we track the sun, starting with the first observations about Galileo. Spaceweather Find out
a) what sunspots are b) how they change c) the purpose of a Maunder diagram d) the cycle of sunspots e) why they matter to Earth f) when the next solar maximum will be g) how we study them safely h) what telescopes work the best
Post your answers, along with illustrative pictures, on your blog.
Also, TWEET me an answer to the following: Why can a solar flare so dangerous to the earth??
Today, your teacher should pass out the powerpoint for the second unit. You should each pick a piece of the solar system and try to find out five facts about it using either http://www.nineplanets.org or that henious website, Wikipedia. Post these on your blog, along with a relevant (not just the first one you find) video or photo, or set of photos.. I think there are enough pieces that no one should have to duplicate. The Moon Comets Sun Mercury Venus Earth Mars Asteroid belt Ceres Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto Kuiper belt Eris Oort cloud
When you get done, you and a partner need to go to Exploratorium Pick a diameter for the sun that is somewhere between 1 and 1000 mm. After you do this, assume that I put this sun right in the media center. Where would each of the planets be on the WD campus? (Hint: if you try to print the worksheet, it will NOT work. You need to make a table that lists the planet, the distance to the nearest foot, and the location in the school where you think the planet will be. Hand this into your teacher)
If, for some reason, it won't play, you can also watch it at the website
When you get done, think of 10 events in TIME that range from 10^-10 second to 10^15 seconds (if you need to convert seconds to years, there is a convertor on mapowell.org) Post these on your blog, then STUDY for your test.
Today, you will create a blog post about your children's book. Crud! You forgot? Ok, sigh, you can pick up a series of books on YouTube by searching for children's literature, or children's books. Here is an example:
Your job is to look through the books and find examples of 5 of the 8 phases of the moon you created with your oreos, and assemble in a table on a blog post (if you find all 8, you get extra credit). Can you work with a partner? Well, to a point....you may not have an identical set of books as another person, or an identical blog post, but you can certainly watch the videos together. You don't really need sound (this is a picture project), but you can use check out speakers from Mrs. Stocks, if you wish.
Assemble in a table on a blog post
Name of Book/Author | Phase of moon shown | Time of Day Shown | Is This Correct?
Of course, to know that requires that you understand a bit about the rising and setting times of the moon. Here is a rough estimate, but it varies a bit on how much of a gibbous, or a crescent, is visible.
New moon: rise at 6 am, set at 6 pm Waxing crescent: rise at 9 am, set at 9 pm Waxing half: rise at noon, set at midnight Waxing gibbous: rise at 3 pm, set at 3 am Full moon: rise at 6 pm, set at 6 am Waning gibbous: rise at 9 pm, set at 9 am Waning half: rise at midnight, set at noon Waning gibbous: rise at 3 am, set at 3 pm
Also, in your blog post, answer the following questions:
a) if you are trying to defeat night burglars, what part(s) of the lunar cycle will cause you the most trouble? b) if someone gets a ticket during a full moon at 10 pm, can they use the defence that the moon got in their eyes because it was rising before them? c) what does the pseudoscience statement, "the crazies come out during a full moon" have wrong with it? d) when are the best times of the lunar cycle to stargaze? e) do illustrators, in general, understand the cycle of the moon? Explain your reasoning.
Questions about your review sheet? TWITTER ME, and I'll respond for the group.
April 2 to 5 is the target date for 100 hours of Astronomy. On Friday, you can take a look at telescopes around the world in a live skycast
On Sunday, you can celebrate National Sun Day. Complete the activity How Big is the Sun? Hand in the calculation sheet and your answers to the question.
And for our part in the celebration, you will be observing the moon twice in the next week, and filling out and handing in the sheet found here. I realize the activity suggests a 15x telescope, but you can complete using a pair of binoculars, or borrow a telescope from me. Hand in the pdf print page.
