Weeks of November 25 and December 2, 2013

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

These Weeks in AP Physics
We will complete our exploration of energy and turn our attention to momentum in Unit 6 with the following due dates:
Monday, November 25: Unit 5 homework is due.
Tuesday, November 26: Work-energy theorem lab report is due.
Tuesday, December 3: Unit 5 test
Wednesday, December 4: Unit 6 Guided reading 1

These Weeks in Physics
On Monday, November 25 a hard copy of your friction lab report is due by the start of class. Please remember to share your Google document with me at [email protected] (not used for email) by this due date. By Tuesday, November 26 at 3:00 please upload your report to TurnItIn.com. The class ID is 6936831, and the password to join the class is Tesla. By Monday, November 25 please take notes on  Podcast 14 – Terminal VelocityPodcast 15 – Kinematics Problem with Newton’s Second Law part 1Podcast 16 – Kinematics Problem with Newton’s Second Law part 2. By Tuesday, November 26, please take notes on Podcast 17 – Complex ProblemPodcast 18 – Tying Concepts Together. In class we will spend a good amount of time practicing analyzing dynamics and kinematics problems to be ready for assignment 5, which we will do in class, followed by a quiz, as announced. This will take us into the week of December 2 when we will explore Newton’s 3rd law, perform some informal experiments, and complete assignment 6. By the end of the week will will take the unit 3 test.

These Weeks in Astronomy
On Monday, November 25 we will complete our exploration of solar eclipses and take a quiz over them on Tuesday, November 26. Podcast 2 – Solar Eclipses will help you study. We will also begin our examination of lunar eclipses, concluding our study of unit 4 by the beginning of the week of December 2. Expect the unit 4 test around the middle of that week. The next topic is the solar system. While we will of course take the traditional approach of looking at the characteristics of each planet, we will also take a look at how the planets appear to move in our sky so that we can walk outside at night and spot them, which is cool! 🙂

Cool Science of These Weeks
Scientists have uncovered an enormous abandoned ant colony somewhere in the world at some time. The details are sketchy, but the colony is fabulous. (Note that a few ants get swallowed up by cement here, and I’m not saying I’m cool with that.) It’s a pretty amazing testament to the fabulousness of ants. Check it out!