Seniors, this is your last week of school before exams! Congratulations! Juniors, we’ve still got more to go, so let’s finish strong!

NOTE TO ALL AP STUDENTS:  Due to the large number of students who missed class due to AP exams, we are a little off-schedule. AP students, it is your responsibility to check Gradebook Wizard for assignments you need to make up. Please see me on your first day back to class to make arrangements.

This week in physics: On Monday we will do assignment 2 followed by a quiz on Tuesday. Electrostatics Podcast 3 – Electric Force will support your work. If you’ve missed class, please try to take notes from this podcast over the weekend UNLESS you have an AP exam on Monday. (APs come first! :)) Please take notes on Electrostatics Podcast 4 – Electric Fields part 1 and Electrostatics Podcast 5 – Electric Fields part 2 by Tuesday for a podcast quiz. Next we will do assignment 3 followed by a quiz.

This week in astronomy: Ohmygoshthisisthebestpartofthesemester. Two words only: THE UNIVERSE

Cool science of the week: Speaking of the universe, NASA is building a new space telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope, to find the first galaxies that formed in the early Universe, connecting the Big Bang to our own Milky Way Galaxy. Check out NASAs page, which includes a webcam showing the telescope’s construction and a “Build it Yourself” game.

Congratulations to our seniors who are departing on senior project! We will miss you! The remaining seniors have exams during the week of May 20th, and juniors have exams the following week. Please use the unit overviews under each unit page on this website to guide your studying.

This week in physics: On Monday we will finish methods of charging. Please take notes on Electrostatics Podcast 2 – Conductors, Insulators, and Charging for a podcast quiz on Tuesday. On Monday and Tuesday we will also do assignment 1 and will take a quiz on Wednesday. On Wednesday we will also take a podcast quiz over Electrostatics Podcast 3 – Electric Force and will quickly dive into assignment 2. Expect a quiz over this on Thursday or Friday. We’re close to the end, folks! 🙂

This week in astronomy: We will finish our study of our solar system and will take a unit test by the end of the week. Solar System Podcast 1 – The Motion of the Inferior Planets, Solar System Podcast 2 – The Motion of the Superior Planets, and Solar System Podcast 3 – Asteroids, Meteors, and Comets will support your work. Remember that on May 16th your Unit 3 – Outdoor Lab is due.

Cool science of the week: Saturnian weathermen and women are having a field day reporting on the wild storm at Saturn’s North Pole. This hurricane beast is 30 times larger and two times faster than a category five Earth hurricane. Thanks to 10th period’s own TB, EG, AL, and JU for bringing this cool news piece to my attention!

This week we move into the last half of the last quarter of the school year!

This week in physics: On Monday we will take our unit 8 test over electric circuits, after which we’ll experience the shocking world of electrostatics! (I know. That was an absolutely terrible pun…sorry.) On Wednesday (3rd and 12th periods) or Thursday (6th period) we will take the End of Course (EOC) test, for which you will need number 2 pencils and your calculator. For Thursday (3rd and 12th periods) or Wednesday (6th period) you should take notes on Electrostatics Podcast 1 – Introduction to Charge for a podcast quiz. We’ll debrief the information from that podcast and then take part in a jigsaw learning activity that will cover methods of charging. After this activity, as directed in your class, you will need to take notes on Electrostatics Podcast 2 – Conductors, Insulators, and Charging, but that likely won’t be until next week.

This week in astronomy: On Monday and Tuesday you will complete your research projects on your planets. Later you will present your information to the class, and we will create a giant solar system jigsaw activity out of it culminating in an open-notes jigsaw quiz. We will also finish covering the motions of the inferior planets. Solar System Podcast 1 – The Motion of the Inferior Planets will support your work.

Cool science of the week: Who doesn’t like gold (Au)? (Come to think of it, who doesn’t like astronomical units (AU) or alternate universes (AU)?) Well, I can’t think of anyone, so enjoy this cool little finding about how earthquakes create gold deposits in an instant!

This week in physics: We will continue to practice those wacky compound circuit problems, and we will also explore the final topics related to this unit by taking notes on Electric Circuits Podcast 8 – Electric Power and Electric Circuits Podcast 9 – Circuit Safety Features for a podcast quiz that we will take on Tuesday. We will also begin the final assignment for this unit on Tuesday which will carry us into Wednesday. Expect the unit test on Thursday or Friday. Our end-of-course assessment will take place on your first double lab day next week.

This week in astronomy: On Monday and Tuesday we will finish our exploration of eclipses, and we’ll take the unit test on Wednesday. Then we will turn our attention to some familiar friends: the planets of our solar system! We’ll look at them from a different perspective, though, in that our initial focus will be on how they appear to move in our sky.

Cool science of the week: This one will truly spark your imagination! This month’s National Geographic is stirring up wonder and controversy with its focus on de-extinction, a process by which we can bring extinct species back to life! Imagine vast areas full of woolly mammoths, saber-toothed tigers, or dodo birds. Is it possible? It’s been done, actually, although with limited success so far. Is it ethical? That’s the controversy. Read about it!

This week in physics: Entering the final phase of our study of electric circuits, we will complete assignment 3 together in class on Monday/Tuesday followed by a quiz the day after we finish. Next you should view and take notes on Podcast 7 – Compound Circuits by the due date announced in your class so that you’re ready for the podcast quiz. We’ll spend a good amount of time practicing problems with compound circuits, and then you should view and take notes on Podcast 8 – Electric Power and
Podcast 9 – Circuit Safety Features by the due date announced in your class so that you’re ready for that podcast quiz. When we’ve completed these things, we will complete assignment 4 in class. That will bring us to the unit 8 test! This will definitely spill well into next week depending on how much practice we need with compound circuits. NOTE: The day after our unit 8 test, we will take a comprehensive test to give us information about our growth this year. This test will take two class periods.

This week in astronomy: We will continue to examine solar eclipses in detail by completing a project together in class followed by a mega-quiz. Eclipses Podcast 2 – Solar Eclipses will support your studying. Following that, we’ll explore lunar eclipses with a project, in-class activities and notes, and a quiz. Eclipses Podcast 3 – Lunar Eclipses will support your work. We’ll either end the week with the unit 4 test or start next week with it. NOTE: Regarding the unit 1 outdoor lab and the unit 2 outdoor lab: With the exception of spring break, we have continued to have unusually cloudy weather this entire semester. It is still worthwhile to do these labs because they are interesting, relevant, and, at this point, will help you prepare for the final. However, every due date I set needs to be pushed back because of the weather. For example, here’s what’s coming:

Therefore, I am giving us two more weeks with the hope that we’re going to get a break. I’m watching the weather. Saturday, Sunday, and Monday should give you opportunities for the unit 2 lab, which requires repeated measurements over a series of days. Deadline: May 1. GET GOING.

Cool Science of the Week: Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, currently visiting the International Space Station, is making news for his fun, viral Tweets. Check out this video about making PB&J in space! His Twitter feed from space is full of fantastic views from the ISS along with other weird tweets about life in space. He also has a killer mustache.

HOME STRETCH! FANTASTIC!!!

This week in physics: On Monday we’ll have an open-notes quiz over podcasts 3 & 4 from the electric circuits unit. (These were announced for the Thursday before break, but the assemblies got in our way. Hopefully you already have the notes and can veg over break. :)) After the quiz, we’ll debrief the podcasts to answer any questions you may have, and then we’ll work together on assignment 2 followed by a formal quiz the day after we finish the assignment. The next fantastic thing we’ll do is another mini-lab in which we’ll uncover the secrets of a second type of circuit. The day after you do this lab, we’ll have another open-notes podcast quiz over Electric Circuits Podcast 5 and Electric Circuits Podcast 6. Then we’ll follow the same pattern (debrief, assignment, formal quiz.) It’s entirely likely that some of this will spill elegantly into next week.

This week in astronomy: We’ll study one of the most fantastic phenomena in astronomy, eclipses, by creating some conceptual building blocks with notes and activities on Monday. You’ll have to put some puzzle pieces together to figure out how eclipses work, so it should be good fun. We’ll have a quiz on Tuesday or Wednesday over this introductory material. Then we’ll turn our attention specifically to solar eclipses by first doing a “jigsaw” in which you’ll each become an expert on one type of eclipse and then team up to share your expertise to solve problems. Notes and a second project will follow. If we finish the topic by Thursday, you’ll take a quiz over solar eclipses on Friday. Next week we’ll examine lunar eclipses, and it’s possible we’ll test by the end of next week. Like eclipses themselves, this unit is short-lived!

Cool Science of the Week: I’m fairly jazzed about this beautiful, although obnoxiously-narrated, montage of NASA footage of the surface of the sun. Seen through many different filters, the footage allows us a glimpse of various types of radiation to illuminate the activity along the sun’s surface. Fantastic! 

We’re almost to spring break, and it’s a four day week!

This week in physics: We will continue our exploration of electric circuits with an open-note quiz over Electric Circuits Podcast 2 – Resistance and Ohm’s Law on Monday, so be sure to take good notes on it.** Following the quiz we will debrief the podcast and then work together on assignment 1 in class on Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday we will take a quiz over the learning goals associated with podcasts 1 & 2 and assignment 1. Then we will do another virtual lab in which we’ll use a pHET sim to analyze the properties of a special kind of circuit. We’ll name it when we know it, so enjoy the mystery! Podcasts 3 & 4 may be due on Thursday (with open-notes quiz) depending on our rate of progress.

** Chorale students: Obviously you may not have Internet access this weekend. Please watch the podcast for TUESDAY when you will have a make-up podcast quiz.

This week in astronomy: For Monday you should take notes on Moon Podcast 2 – Lunar Phases and their Appearances and Moon Podcast 3 – The Phases and their Timings because we will have an open-notes quiz over these podcasts at the start of class on Monday. We will complete our unit on the moon by taking a pretty big quiz on the phases (alignments, appearances, and visibility times) on Tuesday. On Monday and Tuesday we will also explore the lunar geography and theories on the formation of the moon to prepare us for a test on Wednesday. On Thursday we have shortened periods due to the spirit assembly and talent show, so we will do some fun enrichment activities. Alright! After break, our lives will take a darker turn when we begin our study of eclipses.

Cool Science of the Week: It’s about time that we talk about the biggest news in modern physics: the discovery of the Higgs Boson. If the universe is as we think it to be in our “Standard Model,” there must be a particle called the Higgs Boson. However, there was a problem with the Standard Model: No one could find the particle…until this past summer. Here’s a nice video that helps explain the discovery, which marked a pivotal moment in the history of physics and will likely result in the Nobel Prize for the CERN team that made the discovery.

Welcome to the first week of the 4th quarter! Soon-to-be graduates, this is your last quarter of high school!

This week in physics: We will start off the week with the unit 6 test.* That means that your personal learning goal research paragraph on a topic related to circular motion and/or gravitation is due to be uploaded to TurnItIn.com by 3:00 PM on Tuesday. The fun continues, as the hardcopy of your Centripetal Force Lab report is due at the start of your class period on Wednesday and must be uploaded to TurnItIn.com by Friday at 3:00 PM. Remember also to write using Google Drive and share your document with me at [email protected] by the same deadline. (Note: I do not use that address for emails.) IMPORTANT: As discussed in class, I’ve revised the scoring rubric for our lab reports. Here are two important documents you should use while writing: Lab Report Writing Guide and Lab Report Rubric. ONTO NEW STUFF! 🙂 We are beginning unit 8 on electric circuits, which is a LOT of fun. We’ll have a surprisingly hard challenge to solve on Monday involving creating a circuit. It’s one of my favorite activities of the year, and I think you’ll have fun with it! Electric Circuits Podcast 1 – Circuits and Current is due for Tuesday, and we will have a quiz over it at the start of class, so please come prepared. As the week progresses we’ll do some virtual labs using circuit simulators. Electric Circuits Podcast 2 – Resistance and Ohm’s Law will be due as announced in class (followed by a quiz), and assignment 1 will follow. Full week! 🙂
*** For those of you on the chorale field trip, please visit this website to answer questions based on the following three simulations:
1.) Ohm’s Law
2.) Resistance
3.) Battery-Resistor Circuit
AND watch/take notes on Electric Circuits Podcast 2 – Resistance and Ohm’s Law AND do assignment 1.

*6th period, you will race your mousetrap cars since you already took the test. A.W.E.S.O.M.E.

This week in astronomy: We will take a quiz over the first set of learning goals, which is covered in Moon Podcast 1 – Introduction and Orbit. Then we’ll use models to figure out how the phases of the moon work in relation to the positions of the Earth, the moon, and the sun, and we’ll analyze rise/set data to determine the visibility periods for each phase. This will take all week, and it will be awesome. Moon Podcast 2 – Lunar Phases and their Appearances and Moon Podcast 3 – The Phases and their Timings will support your work, as will Lunar Phases Interactive. However, don’t look at these before we do them in class, or it will spoil all the fun. Finally, those outdoor labs are still haunting us. Look at the image below and feel the emotion of my tears. I have full confidence that we can get these done by the week we return from spring break, though. The new due date for BOTH the Astronomy Unit 1 – Outdoor Lab and the Astronomy Unit 2 – Outdoor Lab is Tuesday, April 9. The unit 2 one is spread out over a couple of weeks, and you need to take measurements at the same time of day, so get moving asap. Four days in the coming week should have some sun, so don’t delay.

Cool Science of the Week: So this is big news. I mean BIG news. Like, so big that it almost could be, like, the BIGGEST kind of news…and yet it’s not quite the biggest kind of news. Still, it’s BIG. Really, REALLY BIG.

…so getting on with it then…

The NASA Curiosity Rover that’s been robotically joyriding all over the surface of Mars taking pretty pictures and running chemical analyses of rocks has found…(here’s what it’s found get excited)…evidence that Mars may have sustained life. WHOALIKEWHAT? Here’s the scoop: All of the chemical elements required by living organisms and running, potable water were present on Mars. Now, it’s not like they found fossils, but the fact that it is truly possible that Mars could have supported life is, like, BIG science news. I mean, like, “I’m a scientist and this is me freaking out” big.

Pop quiz: Which one is a real robot?

P.S. Don’t forget to try to find the comet if there’s a timely break in the clouds!

Big star-gazing news! If it’s clear, check out the western sky at sunset starting tonight to see Comet PAN-STARRS, which will be visible for the next couple of weeks. Very cool!

Welcome to OGT week! Due to our wacky schedule, your assignments will vary by class, so this week’s blog is organized by period rather than subject. Physics is listed first.

Note to ALL physics classes: 1.) Your research paragraphs about your personal learning goals for unit 6 are due on Monday, March 18 by 3:00. Please upload them to TurnItIn.com by the deadline. I can’t wait to read them! 🙂 2.) Your centripetal force lab reports are due on Wednesday, March 20 at the start of your class period. Uploads to TurnItIn.com are due by Friday, March 22 at 3:00.

This week in 3rd period physics: In our double period on Monday, we’ll do assignment 2 followed by a mini-lab in which we’ll analyze planetary orbits using an online gravity simulator. In our double period on Wednesday we will tie up loose ends in preparation to take the unit 6 test next Monday. On Wednesday we may also do some enrichment experiments with momentum. Next week we jump off of the mechanics branch of physics and land on the electricity branch. FUN!

This week in 6th period physics: On Monday we will take a quiz over the learning goals related to circular motion. We’ll also do assignment 2 followed by a mini-lab in which we’ll analyze planetary orbits using an online gravity simulator. On Wednesday we’ll take the unit 6 test. Then it’s off to the races as we engage in a mini-engineering challenge: mousetrap cars! Your job will be to design a vehicle powered only by the elastic potential energy in a mousetrap. Whoever’s car goes the farthest wins excessive amounts of glory. Next week we enter a totally new topic: electricity!

This week in 11th period physics: We will barely see each other! On Tuesday we only meet for 38 minutes, during which we’ll finish discussing assignment 2, which you completed for Friday, and we’ll spend a little more time examining gravity, planetary orbits, and practicing calculations. With such limited time, it will be very helpful if you rewatch Podcast 5 – Gravity and Podcast 6 – Center of Mass, Gravity, and Planetary Orbits before class on Tuesday. We again have a single period on Friday, which is when we’ll tie up loose ends to prepare us to take the unit 6 test next Monday. Next week we get to start one of my super favorite topics ever: electric circuits!

This week in 2nd period astronomy: We go to the moon! We will collect and analyze lots of data about the appearance and visibility times of the moon throughout the coming month in order to develop a model for the motion of the moon. This will continue into next week, but FIRST, you have an exciting assignment! For class on WEDNESDAY, please view and take notes on Moon Podcast 1 – Introduction and Orbit. (We will have covered some of it on Monday, but be sure to take notes from the podcast on the rest of the material. We’ll move quickly past it on Wednesday, so you’ll need to be prepared.) NOTE: Oy, these outdoor labs! Clouds remain in the forecast non-stop at night for the next week, so the Astronomy Unit 1 – Outdoor Lab due date is again delayed, this time until March 22nd. (This is getting old!)  HOWEVER, we should have a lot of sun during the days, so you absolutely SHOULD start Astronomy Unit 2 – Outdoor Lab as soon as possible. The observations are spaced out, so you will need at least two weeks to complete it. It will be due the second day we return from spring break.

This week in 10th period astronomy: Everything from 2nd period astronomy applies except that the podcast notes are due on FRIDAY, which is the second time we’ll meet next week.

Cool science of the week: As you may know, privately-owned companies have entered the space race and are the likely sources of outward-bound transportation for humanity of the future. One of these private corporations plans to send a married couple on a 501 day trip in a tiny spaceship to orbit Mars in 2018…and they’re taking applications! (Moms? Dads? Interested?) Click here for a good article about this “Lewis and Clark” opportunity. Click the picture if you’d like to find out about the, um, grosser aspects of such a trip. (ick) Thank you, Ben, for reminding me of this news story!

In other Mars news, this is cool: Scientists using radar are mapping underground Martian riverbeds and islands that were buried long ago by lava. That’s not cool. That’s hot!