Week of April 7, 2014

Week two of 4th quarter! Remember to check out the school musical beginning on Thursday. Lots of our classmates are in it, and it looks like fun!

This Week in AP Physics
On Monday we will play multiple puzzles of series, parallel, and compound circuits and do homework 2 for Tuesday. On Tuesday and Wednesday we will work in analysis of batteries, voltmeters, ammeters, and capacitors and will do homework 3 for Wednesday or Thursday. By Tuesday we need to decide as a class whether to have the unit 11 test next week on Monday or combine it with the unit 12 test to save some time. Give it some thought. 🙂

This Week in Physics
On Monday we will take a quiz on Coulomb’s Law. For Monday please also take notes on Podcast 4 – Electric Fields part 1 and Podcast 5 – Electric Fields part 2. We will spend Monday and Tuesday working on electric fields and will do assignment 3 followed by a quiz. Next up will be one of the most fun labs of the year, the electric fields lab! If time permits, we will take notes on Podcast 6 – Electric Potential Energy and Podcast 7 – Electric Potential Energy Examples, if announced. Expect a test the week of April 14.

This Week in Astronomy
We will collect and analyze data of the moon’s appearance and rise/set times to recognize the pattern of and develop an explanation for the changes in the moon’s appearance over a lunar cycle. Expect a quiz mid-week and a test the week of April 14. Remember to work on our second outdoor lab, the Unit 2 – Outdoor Lab. This takes many days to complete, and it is due on on Monday, April 21. (Do not delay starting, because you need to take multiple measurements spaced days apart.) HEADS UP: If you need to finish the data collection and analysis for the lunar phasing activity, here is the document. Remember there are questions on page two.

Cool Science of the Week
In astronomy this week we had the pleasure of Skype-ing with Ken Aird of the University of Chicago’s South Pole Telescope team to discuss the recent big news about the discovery of evidence for the enormous inflation that occurred in the first 10^-35s of the universe’s existence, according to the inflationary model of the Big Bang.* He sent along this article and video that do a terrific job of explaining the discovery in plain terms. Enjoy!

*As always, remember my disclaimer that since this is a science class, we explore the universe by offering the perspective of science. All world views are respected.