Tonight's Homework

Students should complete the "Can You Planet?" booklet we started in class.

What's Up for March 2012? (from the NASA website)

Mark your calendar for amazing planetary views this month as Mercury, Mars and Saturn put on a show in the western sky, Venus prepares to transit the sun and comet Garradd sticks around for its close-up.

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/index.html

Partial Solar Eclipse From Space - Feb. 21, 2012

On February 21, 2012, the Moon moved in between NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) satellite and the Sun (seen here in extreme ultraviolet light) and produced a partial solar eclipse from space. The SDO team observed the lunar transit, which began at about 8.10 am EST and ended about 10 am EST.

Answers to Chapter Review p. 105-107 (in Green Study Guide)

1. Rotation is the spinning of a body on its axis. Revolution is the motion of a body as it orbits another body.

2. The equinox is the point at which the sun is directly above the equator. The

solstice is the point at which the sun is as far north or south of the equator as possible.

3. Spring tides occur when the sun, the Earth, and the moon are aligned. Neap tides occur when the positions of the sun, the Earth, and the moon form a 90° angle.

4. tides

5. eclipse

6. orbit

7. tidal range

8. D

9. D

10. D

11. C

12. Sample answer: Because sunlight hits the Earth’s surface differently depending on latitude, different areas experience different amounts of seasonal change.

13. Sample answer: The changes of seasons and length of day are caused by the Earth’s tilt, the Earth’s rotation on its axis, and the revolution of the Earth around the sun.

14. Sample answer: The phases of the moon are caused by the Earth’s movement and the moon’s orbit around the Earth.

15. Sample answer: A solar eclipse happens when the moon comes between the Earth and the sun and the shadow of the moon falls on part of the Earth. A lunar eclipse happens when the Earth comes between the sun and the moon and the shadow of the Earth falls on the moon.

16. Sample answer: High tides happen on the side of the Earth that is opposite the moon because of the gravitational pull of the Earth and the moon on each other as they revolve around each other.

17. Sample answer: The period of a planet’s revolution is determined by the planet’s semimajor axis.

18. Sample answer: The sun and the moon appear to move across the sky because of the Earth’s rotation on its axis.

19. Sample answer: A solar eclipse can happen during a new moon. The moon is between the Earth and the sun, and the disk of the moon covers or almost covers the disk of the sun.

20. Sample answer: The tidal range is small during neap tide because the sun, Earth, and moon form a right angle. The sun’s gravitational pull opposes the gravitational pull of the moon and reduces the bulge of water caused by the pull of the moon.

21.

22. Sample answer: Kepler could describe planetary orbits, but he could not explain why planets stay in their orbits. Newton’s law of gravitation explained why the planets orbit the sun.

23. Sample answer: Kepler’s first law of motion states that a planet revolves around the sun in an elliptical orbit. Kepler’s second law of motion states that planets move faster when they are

closer to the sun and slower when they are farther from the sun. Kepler’s third law explains the relationship between the period of a planet’s revolution and its semimajor axis. Planets

that are farther from the sun have a longer period of revolution.

24. Sample answer: The best time to pick a place to build the house is during a spring tide because spring tides are the highest tides.

25. Kepler’s first law of motion

26. Sample answer: The equation supports the law by allowing us to determine distances between a planet and the sun as the planet orbits the sun.

27. major axis

Over the weekend

Today we took sometime to make sure that students' notebooks are in order. I have made sure that the notebook Table of Contents has been updated on my web page. Students will have a quiz on the material in their notebook. It will only cover pages 84-91.

Phases of the Moon

http://www.wonderville.ca/asset/phases-of-the-moon

A link to a helpful activity about phases of the moon.

Check it out!

Week in Review

This week we discussed planetary motion, including simplifying Kepler's 3 laws of planetary motion. We also discussed the causes of day and night as well as the changes in the seasons.

We added the following pages with Essential Questions to our notebooks:

p. 84 EQ What is the difference between rotation and revolution? Describe the 3 laws of planetary motion (Kepler's Laws).

p. 85 Vocabulary and section Summary Skills worksheet "Planetary Motion"

p. 86 EQ What causes season? How does latitude affect the amount of seasonal change than an area experiences?

p. 87 Directed Reading "Section: Days and Seasons on Earth"

p. 88 EQ What causes equinoxes and solstices?

p. 89 BrainPop handout on Equinoxes and Solstices.

Pages 88 and 89 are incomplete. We just started them on Friday and did not have a chance to complete them.

New Unit--Astronomy!

For the next month we will be studying the Solar System. The first topic will be planetary motion including orbiting, revolution, rotation, equinoxes, and solstices. Also, we will be discussing why days and seasons occur on Earth.

I would like to encourage adults to take their students out on clear nights to look up at the night sky to see the stars and pose questions about what is out beyond our planet. There is a free app for smart phones called google sky map. Just go to your market for apps and you should be able to download it. I don't know if there is a version for ipods or ipod touch. If you find one, let me know so I can notify others.

If you have a recent version of Google Earth on your desktop, you may already have a "sky" button that can show the stars, planets, and galaxies.

The application below is from http://phet.colorado.edu . It is a model of how various celestial bodies revolve around each other in different situations.

Here is a neat little demonstration about how different colored lights mix to create the colors that we see.

Click to Run

Due to time constraints, we had to move our test that was scheduled today to tomorrow for my 4th and 5th periods. Students seemed to have more questions than answers as we were reviewing our study guide Chapter review. I felt it was in the best interest of the students to move the test rather than try to rush after our discussions and answering questions.

In addition, I introduced a short poster contest project that we will be working on in class. This poster will be due on Tuesday. Guidelines and a rubric for the poster were given to the students today and we watched a short video about the wetlands. This contest about wetlands is sponsored by the NC Association of Soil and Water Conservation District.

Students may, or may not, be able to finish this project in class and may need some time over the long weekend to finish it up. I will be able to provide poster board that is 19.5 inches x 25.25 inches or some large construction paper for the final product of their posters. If a student wishes to create a larger poster, this will have to be provided from a resource outside of school.

I will make materials available for students to do some brief research. But, students may want to do some of their own research outside of class. Here are a couple of links I have found that students may find useful:
http://www.mbgnet.net/fresh/wetlands/why.htm
http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/publications/files/exploringwetlands.pdf (you may need Adobe Reader to view this document.)
http://www.nwf.org/Kids/Ranger-Rick/People-and-Places/Whats-a-Wetland.aspx

Upcoming Test

Tuesday we will be finishing our lesson on "the properties of sound." Then, we will review for our test on Wednesday. Material on this test will be Waves, including p. 174-184 in the green Study Guides and Sound. This covers pp. 56-67 in the notebooks.

Homework for the tonight (Monday) is to make sure the study guide is complete and study for the test. Students should also get notebooks up-to-date. I have updated the science notebook Table of Contents on my webpage.

Wednesday, we will take the test and I will introduce the project that we will be working on in class on Thursday and Friday.

Thursday we will do some research together and begin working on the project. Students should have ample time in class to complete the project, but may need to do some work on it over the weekend at home. The final project will be due on Tuesday, January 17. I will post the requirements when I get a chance on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Quiz tomorrow!

Tomorrow we will be having a quiz over parts of the Ear. Students will be required to label a diagram of an ear exactly like the one we did in class. Students will also be able to identify a part based on a written description of it's function.