Welcome to another great school year! If you are new to my classes, please be sure to subscribe to the blog by entering your email along the right side of the webpage. Then be sure to check your inbox for an activation link. If you were in my classes last year and wish to unsubscribe, there is a link at the bottom of this email that will allow you to do so.

This Week in Physics
By Monday please take notes on Motion in One Dimension Podcast 1 – Distance v. Displacement and Motion in One Dimension Podcast 2 – Displacement & Direction. We will work through that material and do some practice problems followed by a quiz on Tuesday or Wednesday. For Tuesday please take notes on Motion in One Dimension Podcast 3 – Speed vs. Velocity to prepare you for the Analysis of Uniform Motion Lab that we will be conducting mid-week. Following the lab we will go over the Lab Report Writing Guide and Lab Report Rubric as well as procedures for writing using Google Drive and TurnItIn.com. It is possible we may get to Motion in One Dimension Podcast 4, but it is only due if announced in class.

This Week in AP Physics
This week we will explore Unit 1: Newtonian Mechanics – Kinematics in One Dimension and will conduct our first experiment, Lab 1 – Uniform vs. Accelerated Motion. By Monday be sure to take notes on Motion in Two Dimensions Podcast 1 – Vectors vs. Scalars to give you basic background information. We will cover these topics more in depth throughout the semester.

This Week in Astronomy
We will explore the techniques of sky mapping in order to locate stars and constellations using our Star Map – North and South Declination. This means we will get to spend a significant amount of time in the planetarium! Alright! Expect a quiz as we wind down that topic; Celestial Sphere Podcast 1 – Star Mapping will support your studying. Toward the end of the week we will examine the diurnal (daily) apparent motion of the stars and begin to work in how the sky changes when we travel north-south on the globe.

Cool Science of the Week
Are we making animals smarter? Check out the article As Humans Change Landscape, Brains of Some Animals Change, Too to find out if one day we might talk to Mickey!