This Week in AP Physics
We will complete unit 2 by doing homework problems for Tuesday and a projectiles lab on Monday/Wednesday. Please remember that your lab report for the gravitational acceleration lab is also due on Tuesday and should be uploaded to TurnItIn.com by Wednesday at 3:00. Our unit 2 test will be Wednesday or Thursday. By Friday we will begin our examination of Newton’s Laws of Motion in unit 3.

This Week in Physics
Third period and sixth period are out of synch, so watch for me to announce due dates in class. By the end of the week we will complete the following: Assignment 4, homework (notes) on the remaining three podcasts (Podcast 9 – Introduction to Free Fall, Podcast 10 – Free Fall Sample Problems, and  Podcast 11 – Terminal Velocity),  Assignment 5, and our unit 1 test. For the start of unit 2 you will need to take notes on Podcast 1 – Vectors vs. Scalars and Motion in Two Dimensions Podcast 2 – Vector Diagrams when announced.

This Week in Astronomy
It’s show time! Late this week we will take our unit 1 test, but first we will explore how the sky’s appearance changes over the course of a year. Podcast 4 – Seasonal Constellations and Star Magnitude will support your learning. We will finish up the unit by exploring star magnitude. On Thursday Astronomy Unit 1 – Homework Questions are due. In addition, now that you’ve got some awesome knowledge under your belt, it’s time to check out the REAL sky and do the Unit 1 – Outdoor Lab. You need a clear night and some free time, so plan ahead. This is due on October 4. Late this week we will begin unit 2 in which we’ll turn our attention from the night sky to the day sky. 🙂

Cool Science of the Week
Have you ever wanted to fly on the back of a giant bird (or dragon :))? Then check out this beautiful video from the point of view of a small camera mounted to the back of a bald eagle.

Note: There is no information about how the video was made, although it is speculated that the man on the ground in the video is the bird’s professional handler.

This Week in AP Physics
We will add finishing touches to our Acceleration due to Gravity experiment on Monday. The lab report for this is due the following Monday, September 23 with an upload due to TurnItIn.com by that Tuesday at 3:00pm. To begin our study of two-dimensional motion we will examine vector operations. Guided Reading number 1 is due on Monday. In addition by Tuesday, please watch and take notes on podcasts 2-6 from this webpage. We will solve practice problems in class and then quickly move onto an examination of projectile motion. Guided Reading number 2 will be due as announced. Toward the end of the week/beginning of next week we will do another experiment with our Projectile Motion Lab. Expect the test over this unit (unit 2) toward the end of the following week.

This Week in Physics
For Monday please take notes on Podcast 6 – Acceleration Signs vs. Velocity Signs. We will complete assignment 3 in class followed by a quiz the next day. Third period, you also have a quiz on Monday over Podcast 5 – Introduction to Acceleration (covered in assignment 3.) For Tuesday or Wednesday (as announced) please take notes on Podcast 7 – Introduction to Kinematic Equations and Podcast 8 – Kinematic Equations Sample Problem. We will spend some time developing and solving multiple problems involving motion by using these equations. Then we will do assignment 4 in class followed by a quiz. We are nearing the completion of this unit, so plan for a unit 1 test the following week. Final note: Your lab report for the Analysis of Uniform Motion Lab is due on Tuesday, September 17 at the start of class. Please hand in one hard copy per writing team. In addition, you must upload one copy of your team’s report to TurnItIn.com. If you already have an account, you can add the class using the class ID 6936831 and the password Tesla. If you don’t already have a TurnItIn.com account, you can use this class ID to create your account. The upload is due by 3:00 on Wednesday, September 18.

This Week in Astronomy
On Monday we will complete our examination of the north declination sky including the celestial north pole. On Tuesday we will do a very cool virtual lab using the Stellarium program. Note that this is free software that you can use to help you study and to help you have fun. 🙂 Following the lab we will have a quiz over the celestial north pole, the north declination sky, and the celestial equator. Podcast 3 – Circumpolar Stars will support your studies. We will follow up by examining the phenomenon of seasonal constellations toward the end of the week. Anticipate a unit 1 test early the following week.

Cool Science of the Week
You’ve never seen camouflage like this! Check out the amazing camo abilities of cephalopods such as the octopus featured in this video. You’ve never seen anything like it (most likely)!

This Week in AP Physics
We will complete our work with unit 1 this week. Guided reading is due on Monday, and all homework problems, listed at the end of the lesson plan document, is due on Tuesday. In addition, your lab report for Lab 1 – Uniform vs. Accelerated Motion must be uploaded to TurnItIn.com by Tuesday to avoid a score deduction. (The TurnItIn.com class ID is 6936815, and the password is Einstein.) Our test will be Thursday. During the week we will also work on our second lab, Lab 2 – Acceleration due to Gravity.

This Week in Physics
Please take notes on Podcast 4 – Slope of Position vs. Time Equals Velocity for Monday if you have not already done so. On Monday 3rd period will do a graph analysis activity (that 6th period did on Friday,) and then both classes will do assignment 1 in class…so bring your books! 🙂 The day after we finish assignment 1, expect a quiz over the topics covered in podcasts 1-4. When announced, please take notes on Podcast 5 – Introduction to Acceleration. After we discuss that podcast, we will do assignment 2 in class, followed by a quiz the next day. If time permits, we will also get to Podcast 6 – Acceleration Signs vs. Velocity Signs, after which we will do a quick activity and another assignment/quiz combo. 🙂 NOTE: You should be working on your lab reports for the Analysis of Uniform Motion Lab. The lab reports are due next Tuesday, September 17.

This Week in Astronomy
We will take our star mapping quiz in the planetarium on Monday and then discuss what you discovered in Podcast 2 – Celestial Equator and Celestial North Pole as we begin to examine the appearance of the sky at different latitudes. We will spend the early and middle part of the week practicing drawing meridian diagrams for different latitudes, and then we will take a quiz over this skill. Following this we will turn our attention to the northern sky specifically and examine how its appearance changes as our latitude changes. Podcast 3 – Circumpolar Stars will aid your work.

Cool Science of the Week
On Earth we have terrifically beautiful solar eclipses when our moon blocks out the sun. Have you ever imagined what solar eclipses might look like on other planets? Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos, and here is what happened when the Curiosity Rover captured photographs of Phobos passing in front of the sun on August 17. Notice that Phobos doesn’t cover all of the sun the way our moon does. Think about relative sizes! 🙂

Welcome to a short but terrific week! I’ve had a few people ask me about the playability of the podcasts on Mac computers. I’ve tested it out (and am, in fact, writing on a Mac right now :)), and everything is working. My suggestion is to check for updates if you’re having trouble. Please keep me posted. 🙂

This Week in Physics
We will conduct our first experiment, the Analysis of Uniform Motion Lab, early in the week. We will then spend time at the end of the week in the computer lab to learn how to write our lab reports. By Wednesday you should take notes on Podcast 4 – Slope of Position vs. Time Equals Velocity.

This Week in AP Physics
** Your lab report on the Uniform vs. Accelerated Motion experiment is due on Friday at the start of class. The Lab Report Writing Guide – AP Physics and Lab Report Rubric – AP Physics are your guides. Be sure to turn your report in as a hard copy on Friday and upload by Monday (next week’s Monday) to TurnItIn.com.
** On Monday and into Tuesday we will continue to practice interpreting graphs of the kinematic values as a function of time. A fun website to give you conceptual practice is Moving Man Website. (Be sure to click the “Charts” tab at the top to see the graphs.) After we’ve conquered these graph interpretation skills, we’ll examine the kinematic equations dealing with displacement, velocity, acceleration, and time and will work with some awesome physics problems. It’s a short week, but hopefully by the end of the week we will conduct our second lab, which deals with the Acceleration due to Gravity. Anticipate the unit test next week. 🙂

This Week in Astronomy
We will return to the planetarium to share what we’ve learned about our constellations and to do our final practice exercises with star mapping. Anticipate a quiz on Wednesday or Thursday over star mapping skills. Podcast 1 – Star Mapping will support your studying. Next we will examine how and why the sky changes throughout a day and will turn our attention to a prominent mapping line, the celestial equator. We will also begin to analyze changes to the sky as we travel north/south on the globe and will create sky sketches called meridian diagrams. Fun! 🙂

Cool Science of the Week
As the saying goes, “Men are from Mars; women are from Venus” …or are we all from Mars? An American chemist this week has posited that Earth did not have the chemicals necessary for life to begin here, and therefore life could only have come to Earth by hitchhiking on a meteor. This reminds me of last spring’s announcement by NASA that the Curiosity Rover found the building blocks for life on Mars. (Disclaimer: I’m not saying we’re all Martians. :))

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!

Exam week is finally here! Please use the unit overview documents on each unit’s web page to guide your studying. Spend time re-watching podcasts while creating graphic organizers. Be sure to practice copious amounts of sample problems. Come prepared with #2 pencils, a calculator with fresh batteries, and (for astronomy) star maps. Take these exams seriously, juniors. This semester’s grades are the last grades on your transcript before college applications go out. Do right by yourselves and work hard this weekend and during the week. You deserve to do your best. 🙂

Cool Science of the next few months: Did you know there was science to summer? Check out this National Geographic special called The Science of Summer!

This week we say goodbye to our seniors as you head off to exams. Best of luck to you in your futures!!! Congratulations!

This week in physics: On Monday we will take a quiz over the concept of the electric field, which was covered in Electrostatics Podcast 4 – Electric Fields part 1 and
Electrostatics Podcast 5 – Electric Fields part 2 as well as  assignment 3. On Monday or Tuesday (depending on your double lab period) will  we will do the Electric Fields Lab in which you’ll map out an actual electric field and use Excel to create an image of the field. Very cool! No lab report…you should use the time instead to prepare for exams. For either Tuesday or Wednesday (as announced) you should take notes on Electrostatics Podcast 6 – Electric Potential Energy and Electrostatics Podcast 7 – Electric Potential Energy Examples for a podcast quiz. We’ll go over these in class, do some cool demos, and then work together on assignment 4. A quiz will follow.

This week in astronomy: We will finish our unit on The Universe by looking at galaxies, dark matter, dark energy, and quasars. SO strangely weird and weirdly strange.

Cool science of the week: FLYING.CAR. 

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!