Week of August 27, 2012

A big “GOOD JOB” goes out to all of you for a great start to the school year! You were prepared and focused, and I’m excited to work with you!

This week in physics: If you have not already brought in a composition book for this class, you really need to do so by Monday, as we’ll be using it all the time. Also be sure to bring your scientific calculator and notes with you every day. If you haven’t already done so, you must take good notes on the following podcasts by Monday at the latest: Motion in One Dimension Podcast 1 – Distance v. DisplacementMotion in One Dimension Podcast 2 – Displacement & Direction, and Motion in One Dimension Podcast 3 – Speed vs. Velocity. We’ll be going over these on Monday and then doing classwork based on the notes you take. Come prepared! As the week goes on we’ll also cover Motion in One Dimension Podcast 4 – Slope of Position vs. Time Equals Velocity (I will announce when these notes are due), and we’ll learn how to use the lab equipment and software. By the end of the week we’ll be working on the Analysis of Uniform Motion Lab and will explore how to write our lab reports. Finally, everyone should read over the Math & Measurement Reference Sheet to be up to speed on skills I expect you to bring with you to this course. If you found via the pre-test or from reading the Math & Measurement Reference Sheet that you need to boost your math skills, please go to https://sgbscience.com/helpful-how-to-podcasts/ and view the relevant podcasts.  You also should consider coming to see me for extra help. My interest is to help you be prepared for success! 🙂

This week in astronomy: We will dive into star mapping! The podcast Celestial Sphere Podcast 1 – Star Mapping will help you be successful by reinforcing what we will cover in class. Absolutely positively bring your flashlight every day this week.   We will do a star mapping lab and then have a quiz. After that we’ll explore the Zodiac constellations! 🙂

Cool science of the week: As (I hope!) you know, this summer NASA landed a rover on Mars to collect and send data back to Earth. This week they shot Mars rocks with lasers! Read about it!