Happy Groundhog Day! I’m sure winter will be over any day now. Right!

This Week in AP Physics
On Monday and Tuesday we will finish our Bernoulli’s experiment and the final homework from our fluid mechanics unit so that we can take our unit test on Wednesday. Next, things will heat up as we examine thermal physics.

This Week in Physics
On Monday, Tuesday, and into Wednesday we will complete our analysis of the role of kinetic energy in collisions by doing assignment 3 and taking a quiz as announced. Following that, we will look at the impulse-momentum theorem. To prepare for that topic, please take notes on Podcast 10 – Introduction to the Impulse-Momentum Theorem and Podcast 11 – Impulse-Momentum Theorem Sample Problem when announced. Expect a test by the end of next week. Finally, your conservation of momentum lab report is due at the start of class on Thursday with the upload to TurnItIn.com due by 3:00 of that day.

This Week in Astronomy
We will complete our constellation activity by the end of class on Tuesday, and this will wrap up our star mapping learning objectives. On Wednesday we will take a star mapping quiz in the planetarium. Podcast 1 – Star Mapping will help you study. After that we will start to examine how the sky changes when we travel north-south on the planet.

Cool Science of the Week
On Monday of this past week, a large asteroid flew fairly close to Earth. It is widely accepted that a huge asteroid impact on Earth led to the extinction of the dinosaurs about sixty-five million years ago, so we have reason to be aware of asteroid behavior. To prepare, NASA’s Near Earth Object Program analyzes the trajectories of asteroids with the intention of finding potential impacts years before they might happen. This will give us time to do something about it. Check out this video to find out more!