We’re past the mid-point of third quarter! Parents, interim reports are finalized for viewing on GBW.

This week in physics: On Monday we will complete assignment 3 followed by a quiz on Tuesday over elastic, totally inelastic, and inelastic collisions (podcasts 5-9 from Unit 5- Momentum). Then we’ll explore the last set of this unit’s learning goals which cover the Impulse-Momentum Theorem. We will start by collecting and analyzing some data about the variables force, time, mass and velocity in order to draw conclusions about momentum change. You should watch the remaining podcasts for this unit for either Tuesday or Wednesday as announced in class. We’ll end by completing assignment 4. The unit test will be at the end of this week or early next week. Oh, and YOU! Yes, YOU! Please remember that your lab report for the conservation of momentum lab is due on Wednesday, February 13. Uploads to TurnItIn.com are due Friday by 3:00. (Class ID: 5463766; Password: physicsrules), and you need to share your Google Drive document with me at [email protected] by then, as well. (Note: I do not use that email for correspondence.)

This week in astronomy: We will continue our analysis of the appearance of the celestial sphere at different latitudes by deepening our exploration of the circumpolar stars. The end of podcast 2 and all of Celestial Sphere Podcast 3 – Circumpolar Stars will support your work. A quiz will follow early in the week, and then we’ll analyze the phenomenon of the seasonal constellations as we differentiate between Earth’s sidereal and solar days. Celestial Sphere Podcast 4 – Seasonal Constellations and Star Magnitude coincides with this topic. We’ll end the week with a fun activity in which you’ll analyze data without having any idea what you’re supposed to find. The best part is that you’ll find it anyway! And that will be the end of that. Test next week! Oh, and YOU! Yes, YOU! Please remember that you should begin the Astronomy Unit 1 – Outdoor Lab once we finish our exploration of circumpolar stars. It requires you to go outside at night to make observations, and it will be due the day of the test. Also please remember that if you need some extra perspective on our topics, the Astronomy Unit 1 – Readings may be of help. 🙂

Cool Science of the Week: First item of business: We explored this in a blog post earlier in the year, but since the post-Valentine’s Day asteroid event will occur next Friday, let’s take another look! Long story short: An asteroid will pass between a layer of our satellites (called the geosynchronous satellites) and Earth on Friday, February 15th. That’s pretty stinkin’ close, but by no means is it an all-that-rare event, and it is also not dangerous. Unfortunately it will not be visible to us here in the western hemisphere, and those on the other side of the world will need telescopes to see it. How-evs, this website will post links to live telescopic video, so check it out if you’re interested!

Finally……hedgehogs. Just…hedgehogs. In little habitats. That people make. In their backyards. In England. (They’re not native to North America.) I mean, seriously. Ridiculously cute.

Onward!

This week in physics: On Monday we will continue to work on analyzing and solving problems related to the Law of Conservation of Momentum as we plow through assignment 2, aiming for a quiz on Tuesday/Wednesday, as announced. The following podcasts will support your studying:  Momentum Podcast 2 – Conservation of Momentum part 1, Momentum Podcast 3 – Conservation of Momentum part 2, and Momentum Podcast 4 – Conservation of Momentum Sample Problem. On Tuesday we will analyze data from last week’s lab with a slight twist: Instead of analyzing momentum, we’ll analyze kinetic energy. This will lead us to draw some sweet conclusions about the role energy plays in collisions. The podcasts you watch for Wednesday will further illuminate the concepts, so for Wednesday please view and take notes on…

• Momentum Podcast 5 – Elastic Collisions part 1
• Momentum Podcast 6 – Elastic Collisions part 2
• Momentum Podcast 7 – Totally Inelastic Collisions part 1
• Momentum Podcast 8 – Totally Inelastic Collisions part 2
• Momentum Podcast 9 – Inelastic Collisions

Working through these concepts and practicing problems (with the ActivExpressions) will take us some time, so expect to spend the rest of the week on this. It is likely that we’ll work on assignment 3 on Thursday/Friday, but I doubt we’ll get to the quiz by the end of the week. Next week we’ll explore the last set of learning goals for this unit, so a test looms on the horizon! 😛 Finally, please remember that your lab report for the conservation of momentum lab is due on February 13.

This week in astronomy: As announced, we’ll take a quiz over: the diurnal motion of Earth as well as the apparent diurnal motion of the celestial sphere; the location of the celestial equator based on latitude; determining the limits of south declination stars visible at different latitudes. Celestial Sphere Podcast 2 – Celestial Equator and Celestial North Pole up to but not including the information on the celestial north pole will help you, and you may also want to review the concept of declination from Celestial Sphere Podcast 1 – Star Mapping if that’ still a struggle for you. Following the quiz we’ll continue our analysis of the appearance of the celestial sphere at different latitudes by figuring in the location of the celestial north pole and exploring the circumpolar stars. The end of podcast 2 and all of Celestial Sphere Podcast 3 – Circumpolar Stars will support your work. A quiz will follow, and then we’ll start to distinguish between seasonal constellations and circumpolar stars by exploring the concept of sidereal and solar days. Celestial Sphere Podcast 4 – Seasonal Constellations and Star Magnitude will help, but this will be toward the very end of the week (if that) and into next week. We are nearing the end of this unit, so start gearing up for a test by the end of next week/early the following week. In addition (TAKE NOTE!) you should begin the Astronomy Unit 1 – Outdoor Lab once we finish our exploration of circumpolar stars. It requires you to go outside at night to make observations, and it will be due the day of the test. A final item: If you need some extra perspective on our topics, the Astronomy Unit 1 – Readings may be of help. 🙂

Cool Science of the Week: Well, this is weird, even by my standards, and sort of Frankenstein-ish. Scientists have created conditions under which a synthesized compound behaves as if…”It’s alive. ALIVE!!!”

Welcome to another great week in the world of science!

This week in physics: First of all, remember that your 5-7 sentence paragraph describing what you discovered about your own personal learning goal for the energy unit is due Monday. Having conquered the topic of energy, we now cruise forward at top velocity into Unit 5 – Momentum, and, yes, this week will go very fast! Please start by watching Momentum Podcast 1 – Introduction to Momentum. We will do assignment 1 in class on Monday to solve tons of awesome problems, and then we’ll take a quiz on Tuesday. We will also begin the Conservation of Momentum Lab. (The lab report for this lab will be due on February 13.) In the lab you will collect data about collisions and examine the data to find patterns, which will lead you to figuring out the formula we’re after. Don’t watch podcasts on Conservation of Momentum until Wednesday so as not to give any secrets away, but you should prepare for class on Wednesday by watching Momentum Podcast 2 – Conservation of Momentum part 1, Momentum Podcast 3 – Conservation of Momentum part 2, and Momentum Podcast 4 – Conservation of Momentum Sample Problem. On Thursday and Friday we will solve gobs of amazing problems as we practice with the ActivExpressions and then do assignment 2.

This week in astronomy: We will take our quiz on star mapping, so bring your flashlights and star maps to the planetarium on Monday, and rewatch Celestial Sphere Podcast 1 – Star Mapping to study. Following the quiz we will observe the diurnal (“daily”, or 24-hour) motion of the stars in the planetarium and explore the celestial equator and celestial north pole in more detail. These two podcasts will support our work: Celestial Sphere Podcast 2 – Celestial Equator and Celestial North Pole and Celestial Sphere Podcast 3 – Circumpolar Stars. A focus will be on examining the differences in the sky at different latitudes, so get ready to use those spatial thinking skills to analyze and predict what the sky will look like if you travel. Good stuff! Expect a quiz late this week or early next on these two podcasts.

Cool Science of the Week: If you could travel to the center of our Milky Way galaxy without getting sucked into a supermassive black hole and could take off your space suit without quickly losing consciousness and dying within a couple of minutes, then you could open your mouth and taste…raspberries!?!? Apparently true…and delicious!

Welcome to a short but amazing week!

This week in physics: By Tuesday you must have great notes completed on podcasts 12, 13, and 14 from our unit on energy. We’ll do assignment 3 in class on Tuesday and Wednesday followed by a test on Thursday or Friday. (Yes, last week I predicted we’d take it early this week, but my conference on Thursday and the fact that we have Monday off has bumped us a smidge. Try to contain your disapointment. :-P) Next week: A quick unit on momentum!

This week in astronomy: This is our big planetarium week, so come to class excited!!! We’ll spend the first part of the week practicing mapping the stars and finding them in the “sky.” (You need your flashlights this week. We’ll ultimately take a quiz, and you may not share flashlights. Without a flashlight, you won’t be able to see your map.) Podcast 1 will help you prepare for the quiz. Following this we’ll explore the motion of our night sky and begin doing meridian diagrams in which we’ll identify key markers, such as the celestial equator and the celestial north pole. These will help us better analyze the motions of the stars as we “travel” across the globe. Podcast 2 will lend support to our work. We’ll continue with this topic deep into next week. FUN!!!

Cool Science of the Week: This is from the “Oh no they didn’t!” files…Over 34,000 citizens signed a petition asking President Obama to build the Death Star. Hahahahah!!!! Continuing the “Oh no they didn’t!” thread, the White House responded…with an AWESOME overview of our space program. It’s worth a read…Enjoy!

Special bonus opportunity (astronomy only): What moon in our solar system resembles the Death Star?

Welcome to the start of a new semester! A note to my retiring astronomy students: Unless you would like to continue reading the witty banter available through this blog, you might want to unsubscribe using the link at the bottom of the emails you receive.

This week in physics: Be sure to have watched all podcasts from the energy unit up through podcast 11 by Monday. We will work on assignment 2 in class on Monday, and what is not finished in class is due as homework for Tuesday. Following completion of the assignment we’ll have a quiz over the topics of work and the work-energy theorem. The next topic is the Law of Conservation of Mechanical Energy, and you should watch the following podcasts by the date assigned in your class:

• Energy Podcast 12 – Conservation of Energy
• Energy Podcast 13 – Conservation of Energy Sample Problem 1
• Energy Podcast 14 – Conservation of Energy Sample Problem 2

We’ll complete assignment 3 and assignment 4 in short order with a quiz mixed in. Expect the unit test early next week. After that, we’ll gather some…MOMENTUM! 🙂

This week in astronomy: Welcome to the course! This week we will go over course details and take a preassessment early in the week. Immediately thereafter we will begin mapping the sky and identifying stars in the planetarium. As homework be sure to watch Celestial Sphere Podcast 1 – Star Mapping to support our work in class. This will be fun!

Cool Science of the Week: In the spirit of welcoming new students to astronomy, check out this “Animated Flight through the Universe” based on a montage of telescopic images of 400,000 galaxies. If you own even 1/4 of the nerdy factor that I do, it will make you think of this scene from Star Wars Episode II:

A special thank you goes to Mrs. Cruz for sending in the link to this animation!

More cool science: Some of you met Mr. Wilson’s planet-hunter friend, astronomer Nate Kaib, when he visited in December. Well, MSNBC just did a write-up on his work. It’s like you know someone famous-ish! Check it out!

It is here! The end of the semester is upon us, marking a victorious moment for you as you conquer the material from this semester. Please start studying as soon as possible. The exam schedule is…

(Click the image.)

 Physics: Your exam will cover units 1, 2, 3, and part of 4 (as discussed in class.) Use the “Unit Overview” documents to see the standards (“learning goals”) you need to master, including sample questions and lists of skills. Please use the podcasts and do practice problems from the book. I will run review sessions after school on January 3rd, 4th, and 7th as well as before school on January 4th and 7th.

Astronomy: Your exam will cover all six units from the course.

Study Strategies:

• When watching podcasts or reviewing notes, don’t sit passively. Instead construct a cognitive map (“web”) out of the notes. We’ve talked in class about the benefits of this approach. See a sample here.
• Do practice problems. For physics, retry problems from the book and check your answers against your old homework. Also quiz yourself from the questions in the unit overviews. For astronomy, go over the old homework, quiz yourself from the unit overviews, and practice skills such as star mapping and meridian diagrams referenced in the overviews.
• Physics: Go to the web apps linked from the homepage of our website as well as from each unit’s webpage. Also review your lab reports to ensure you can analyze similar data. (You don’t need to memorize lab procedures or results.)
• Break your studying up into multiple short sessions. You’ll encode the information better.
• Spend enough time studying.

Cool Science of the Week: This is just fun and cool. Scientists use satellites to track navigational patterns of tagged sharks, and you can see them “ping.” Sixteen-footer Mary Lee just pinged this afternoon (12-21) off of Cape Cod. For those of you vacationing near beaches, it sure is fun to think about! 😉

One week until vacation! One week that we still get to do work! 🙂

This week in physics: We will deepen our exploration of the energy unit. Because we’ll be doing modeling in class, do not watch the podcasts until I tell you you’re ready. (Sixth period, you’re ready! :))

• Energy Podcast 1 – Gravitational Potential Energy
• Energy Podcast 2 – Positive & Negative Potential Energy (NOTE: We will not go over this in class unless you have questions. You are nonetheless responsible for the material.)
• Energy Podcast 3 – Elastic Potential Energy
• Energy Podcast 4 – Kinetic Energy

Following the full discussion of these podcasts, we’ll do assignment 1 followed by a quiz. Next you’ll need to watch the following podcasts by the date assigned in class:

• Energy Podcast 5 – Work
• Energy Podcast 6 – Positive & Negative Work (NOTE: We will not go over this in class, either, unless you have questions. You are nonetheless responsible for the material.)
• Energy Podcast 7 – Work-Energy Theorem

We’ll then to practice problems and assignment 2 followed by a quiz. Podcasts 8, 9, 10, and 11 will support your work.

This week in astronomy: We will explore the wild, spooky, cool, and bizarre aspects of our universe, including astronomical theories* of its birth and the possibilities for its death. Come prepared to be inspired to think so hard that your brain hurts! 🙂

* We will discuss these as theories of astronomy, which is what this course teaches. We will do so with respect for other views.

Cool Science: Will the Earth be destroyed on Friday, eliminating the need to study for January’s exams?

Not likely, if you take science as your guide. Let’s look at some of the rumors:

• Myth: An alignment of all the planets in our solar system will gravitationally tug at Earth, disrupting our orbit and making tidal waters flood and recede.
  • Reality: There won’t be an alignment like this, but if there were, the gravitational effect would not be significant. Moreover, it’s happened many times in Earth’s history (last was in Y2K,) and we’re still here. Chalk one up for us! 🙂
    
• Myth: The Sun and Earth will align with the center of the Milky Way galaxy, exposing us to a massive blast from a magnetic field and a huge gravitational shift. The result will be an obliteration of migratory patterns for animals, erasure of our electronic communication systems, and other general deatlhy chaos.
  • Reality: It’s true that this alignment will occur, but it will be at its peak a few days before the solstice. Moreover, there won’t be any change to the gravitational effect of the black hole at the center of the Milky Way or magnetic fields emitted by the black hole because the change in our position relative to it won’t be significantly different from any other time. (We’re really far away. Take a step to the south, and you’re not significantly closer to Florida than you were before.) Finally, this alignment occurs regularly. This has all happened before, and it will happen again. (Battlestar Gallactica reference intended.) This article from NASA explains all of this in more detail.
• Myth: It’s the winter solstice.
  • Reality: It’s the winter solstice. 🙂
• Myth: Semester exams are the week of January 7, 2013.
  • Reality: Semester exams really are the week of January 7, 2013. Next week’s blog will fill you in. 🙂

We’re entering the last 2.5 weeks of the semester at top speed!

This week in physics: On Monday we will quickly tie up the loose ends of our exploration of the dynamics and related kinematics of Newton’s Second Law. We will also enjoy a quick conceptual exploration of Newton’s Third Law and assignment 6. On Tuesday we’ll take a quiz over Newton’s Second Law. This will complete Unit 3, which brings us to a decision. I don’t want the Friction Lab to be due on the same day as the unit test, so each class can decide whether to postpone the lab or the test until Thursday. If a class postpones the test, then that class will begin the energy unit a day early. Based on each class’s decision, the following podcasts to begin Unit 4 – Energy will be due either on Wednesday or Thursday. These podcasts are:

• Energy Podcast 1 – Gravitational Potential Energy
• Energy Podcast 2 – Positive & Negative Potential Energy
• Energy Podcast 3 – Elastic Potential Energy
• Energy Podcast 4 – Kinetic Energy

Following our exploration of these types of energy, we will do assignment one from this unit. A quiz will likely occur the following week.

IMPORTANT: For the lab that is due this week, please be sure to read the blog entry from the week of December 3rd for important instructions and information.

This week in astronomy: On Monday and Tuesday we’ll do our group presentations on Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. (If you are absent the day your group presents, you will need to do an alternate assignment. See me for details.) We’ll take a quiz over the planets on Wednesday and complete our study of the solar system unit by exploring asteroids, comets, and meteoroids/meteors/meteorites. Expect a test by the end of the week.

Cool Science of the Week: NASA has just released a free app called “Earth as Art” to share some of the beautiful images taken by satellites over the  years. I like the idea of Earth being art. Color me cheesey.

Speaking of beautiful satellite images, check out this video of the Earth at night, compiled by NASA from one of its satellites. While you watch it, think about the direction the satellite must be traveling relative to the Earth’s rotation. That will make it even more fun and science-y. 🙂

Finally, there’s much ado these days about planetary and galactic alignments, the Mayan calendar, and the winter solstice. We’ll look at that from a science perspective next week, but in the meantime, did you know you can create an online countdown clock for any event? There’s also a link on that page to a site where you can calculate the number of days between any two events, like how many days between the day you were born and today. Seems fun! 🙂

We are past the mid-way mark in the second quarter. It’s unbelievable how fast time is flying! This week we’ll continuing using bellwork to help you begin reviewing for the finals, which begin three short days after winter break.

This week in physics: We will take a quiz over Newton’s Law of Inertia (Force Podcast 9 – Inertia and Force Podcast 10 – Static Equilibrium) and then look deeply into Newton’s Second Law. For Monday be sure to have watched and taken notes on…

• Force Podcast 11 – Newton’s Second Law
• Force Podcast 12 – Elevator Problem part 1
• Force Podcast 13 – Elevator Problem part 2
• Force Podcast 14 – Terminal Velocity

We will do a lot of practice problems with the ActivExpressions. For Tuesday or Wednesday (as announced in class) watch and take notes on Force Podcast 15 – Kinematics Problem with Newton’s Second Law part 1 and Force Podcast 16 – Kinematics Problem with Newton’s Second Law part 2, and for the next day view and take notes on the remaining podcasts for this unit: Force Podcast 17 – Complex Problem, Force Podcast 18 – Tying Concepts Together. We’ll spend most of this week simply practicing these problems in order to deeply understand the role of force in why things move the way they do, tying together our study of kinematics and dynamics. We’ll ultimately work on assignment 5 in class followed by a quiz. All that will be left is a quick conceptual exploration of Newton’s Third Law and assignment 6, which we’ll likely do early next week. Expect a unit test the week of December 10.

In addition to finishing the unit, on December 12 your friction lab report is due. Some requirements: You must write using Google Docs (now known as Google Drive.) Each writing partner must contribute her/his edits under her/his own Google account, as we did before, and you MUST share me on the document so that I can trace your revisions. This helps us remember to be responsible to each other in our level of contribution. My Google account is [email protected]. (Note: I do not use this for email.) Finally, you will need to upload one copy of your final lab document to TurnItIn.com by Friday, December 14 at 3:00. (If you haven’t created your account, you’ll need the class ID, which is 5463766, and the password, which is physicsrules.) Remember that you will need to use three documents when writing your lab report:

• Friction Lab
• Friction Lab Rubric
• Lab Report Writing Guide

This week in astronomy: Podcasts about the inferior and superior planetary motions are posted on our webpage for the solar system unit. We will spend most of the week researching, creating presentations, and sharing information about the planets when we do the planet project. Toward the end of the week we will study asteroids, meteors, and comets, which will complete our unit on the solar system. Expect a test the week of December 10th. After that, we’ll start our last unit when we look at various aspects of the universe. (It’s awesome!)

Cool Science: There is a rumor floating around the Internet about a planetary alignment over the pyramids of Giza occurring on Monday, December 3rd as in the following picture, purportedly showing Mercury, Venus, and Saturn. Sigh. Why do all of the cool Internet-y things turn out to be untrue? The planets WILL be visible in the pre-dawn skies, but not like the picture suggests. Bummer!

Happy Thanksgiving!!! Because we only have two days of school next week, I’m combining these two weeks together into one post.

These weeks in physics: Unless your class took a quiz over friction on Friday, you will take it on Monday. All physics classes will spend Monday and Tuesday scraping things together in an awesome friction lab. For Monday, November 26, please view Force Podcast 7 – Elastic Force, and Force Podcast 8 – Elastic Force Sample Problems. We will do practice problems in class with the ActivExpressions and then dive into assignment 3. Expect a quiz on Tuesday the 27th over elastic force. Also for Tuesday, please view the podcasts on inertia and static equilibrium: Force Podcast 9 – Inertia and Force Podcast 10 – Static Equilibrium. We will have some fun with demos in class, do a little practice with the ActivExpressions, and then do assignment 4, followed by a quiz on Wednesday or Thursday. Then things will get a bit intense when we explore Newton’s Second Law. Podcasts 11-18 cover this topic to great depth. I’ll let you know when you should watch each of these. We’ll practice a lot in class, and each class will follow a pace natural to that class. My aim is to finish Newton’s second law, visit Newton’s third law, and take a test by the end of the week of December 3rd.

This week in astronomy: We are just about finished with the unit on eclipses, and I have uploaded the last podcast for this unit: Eclipses Podcast 3 – Lunar Eclipses. We will take a test over this unit on Tuesday, November 20. (Remember my policy that if you have more than two tests on the day we have a test, and you bring me signed and dated notes from the other teachers verifying that you have those tests, you can postpone my test by one day. This will mean you have to schedule to take the test on the Monday after Thanksgiving break during a lunch or study hall.) When we return from break, we will explore the solar system…not literally, but figuratively speaking. 🙂 After some preliminary basic information from me, you’ll begin a research project on a planet of your choice. Fun times ahead!

COOL SCIENCE! Lot’s of fun stuff again! First, there’s a big NASA conference called Technology Days that’s taking place RIGHT HERE IN THE LAND OF CLEVE from November 28–30! According to the website, “this three-day event and technology showcase will bring together a broad community of stakeholders from industry, academia, and the U.S. government to engage in strategy development, partnership building, and implementation of ways to foster technology transfer and innovation.” It’s free and open to the public! That includes you!

Second, outer space right around Earth is becoming a bit of a giant trash can, filled with broken bits of satellites, old rocket boosters, and other debris. The US military is asking for help from amateur astronomers in identifying trajectories of this debris so that we can try to protect our valuable equipment that’s in orbit. A shout out to Gavin for sending in this article!

Finally, this has nothing directly to do with science, but I thought it might interest you. Here’s an excerpt from an article on college admissions officers checking prospective students’ social media footprints at an increasing rate, to deleterious effect: It’s no secret that college and university admissions officers run semi-frequent social media checks of prospective students, but the practice has turned increasingly dismal for students who failed, in one way or another, to exercise Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and YouTube caution. Admissions officers who responded to a national survey this fall said the percentage of applications that had been negatively affected by social media searches had nearly tripled, from 12 percent in 2010 to 35 percent in 2011.

…Did that say 35%? Yikes…

Nagging completed! I wish all of my students and their families a great Thanksgiving!