Astronomy is an intensely OBSERVATIONAL class. This means that your homework will most likely be outside. There will be several significant project requiring extended viewing. Some may require regular, repeated access to an observable patch of sky. We will do our best to work around the weather to provide at least one “star party” some distance outside of town so that students can experience a darker sky. Hyde Observatory If you cannot make it to the observatory once a month, please arrange with me ASAP an observing project of similar weight and educational value.
Observatory Alternative Project: If you cannot make it to the observatory, please choose an astronomy based project from ZOONIVERSE. Complete the training, do some observations and write a short report of your learning. Be sure to write on your report somewhere which observation you wish it to replace.
Tues Dec 4 -Finish presentations
Friday Nov 30 -Student presentations
Wed Nov 28 -student presentations
Monday November 26 -Lecture / Discussion: 9th grade students review star death including gravity vs. fusion, gravity vs. electron degeneracy pressure & gravity vs. neutron degeneracy pressure. Exit ticket: practice quiz reviewing material. Projects are due next class.
Monday Nov 19 – Continue with stellar evolution project. Lecture / discussion: how many ways can a star die.
Thursday Nov 15 -Does your brain need a break? Start “stellar evolution” project. This will be due the second class after Thanksgiving.
Tuesday Nov 13 -Details about stellar evolution: subatomic particles, quarks, leptons, and the four fundamental forces.
Friday Nov 9 -Introduce stellar evolution, discuss fusion in stars
Wed Nov 7 – Quiz (qualitative) over HR diagrams, solar structure. Lecture: life cycle of stars. Video: life cycle of stars (part 1)
Monday November 5 – Lecture: solar fusion. Finish NAAP Lab Packets. Quiz next class.
Thursday November 1 – The solar struggle: fusion vs. gravity. Fusion pulls inward, gravity pushes outward. HR diagrams online lab (astro.unl.edu)
Tuesday October 30 – This is one of those days where I have a large amount of information to give you. Topic: our sun, stellar classification (spectral types) the HR diagram. HW Study for quiz over spectral classification and HR diagrams next class. Be prepared for a question on Eclipsing binaries.
Friday Oct 26 – We will be in the computer lab completing the “Finding exoplanets” activity. This activity can be found at astro.unl.edu and is one of the NAAP labs.
Wed Oct 24 – Finding exoplanets activity. astro.unl.edu –> NAAP Labs –> ExoPlanets. We will finish this activity and finish watching the exo-planets video next class.
Monday Oct 22 – How do we find exoplanets? What is the “habitable zone”?
Friday Oct 19 – Searching for exoplanets
Wed Oct 17 -Video: searching for exoplanets.
Thurs Oct 11 -Binary stars packet.
Tues Oct 9 – Discussion: models. Standard Solar model example. Moon phases online quiz. Binary stars packet.
Friday Oct 5 – Group presentations
Wed Oct 3 – Group presentations
Monday October 1 – work on project. Quiz: relative sizes.
Thursday Sept 27 – Mark out, sub present. Assigned Exploration Project. There have been many great space exploration missions. Choose a mission (Apollo, Gemini, etc.), a specific satellite (Hubble, CRONOS etc.) or specific rover (Mars curiosity or other lander etc.) In groups of 2 or 3, research the mission and prepare a presentation about it. What was its goal? When did it occur? What were the results? Each group must do a different project so as your group decides what it will do, write it up on the board. I recommend spending at least 15 minutes simply googling things like “amazing space exploration missions” or “nasa space projects” to generate a list of things you could research. You could even get more specific and google something like “probes sent to the sun” or “satellites in space.” You will have this class and next class to complete your research.
Sept 25 – Finish presentations. Steve David will do the final presentation on Thursday. Activity: relative sizes & locations of sun, earth, moon. There will be a quiz next class on these calculations.
Friday Sept 21 – Constellation Presentations
Wed Sept 19 -Constellation Presentations
Monday Sept 17 – Handed back graded quizzes then students continued work on constellation project. Students who finished early took the large telescope out for practice.
Thursday Sept 13 – Took a quiz then students worked on constellation project.
Monday September 10 -Fake Pop Quiz. Draw solar system. Draw Phases of the Moon. Draw eclipses and seasons. Explain how our approach to astronomy has changed from the time of Stone Henge to now. Constellation project. Due in about 1 week.
Thursday Sept 6 – Redid the worksheet for phases of the moon. Students should be able to a) draw which side of the moon is lit by the sun as seen from above b) draw the phases of the moon as seen from the earth c) tell which direction the earth is spinning and which direction the moon is moving d) tell which direction is East and West for a person standing on the equator. Finally handed out books. Prepped for quiz next class.
Tuesday Sept 4 – Seasons, eclipses & phases of the moon. Instructions for drawing moon phases were a little confusing. We clarified this and will NOT turn in the packet we were working on today. Next class we will do a follow up assignment and turn that in.
Thursday Aug 30 – Review constellations with Stellarium. Return homework with spotlight on Field Sketching practice. Review requirements for field sketching accurately. Sketching assignment turned in at end of class. Watched next 20 minutes of Chaco Canyon video.
Tuesday Aug 28 – Look at constellations using stellarium. Practice recognizing & drawing constellations. Moon Viewing Assignment. Due one week from today. Field sketch assignment.
Friday Aug 24 – Discussed observations students were making. Qualitative vs. Quantitative. Discussed using hands to find degrees and using hands to find parallax. Parallax experiment / activity. Found that longer distances resulted in larger “shifts”. Students will submit graphs on Tuesday. Homework: look up terms equinox and solstice.
Wed Aug 22 – Solar observations / field drawing. Went to the path behind computer lab and practiced doing field drawing including degrees, horizon, treeline and position of sun. HW: students will continue “a week of observations” but ONE of the observations must include multiple observations of the sun. Goal is to measure movement of sun across sky and compare to the known value of 15 degrees per hour.
Monday Aug 20 – Fake Pop Quiz (planets, major features of solar system other than planets), constellations & asterisms, when did Astronomy become a science. HW: A week of observations: once a night for 7 nights in a row you must go outside and observe the sky for at least 5 minutes. Record what you see and email me EACH night.
Wed Aug 15 – Intro to Astronomy. 4 tests, 4 main projects. What do you know about our solar system? Draw Earth, moon, rest of planets, sun, solar system as a whole and galaxy. Put each in context as much as possible. Show rotation and direction of travel.
Day 4 (Fri) – Phases of the moon and seasons. Constellation quiz next class. Feel free to use the free Stellarium program to practice. Class Notes.
Constellation viewing assignment
Day 5 (Tues) – Constellation quiz. Track location of sun. Continue group work. Each group must be prepared to give a 3-5 minute presentation on one of the following topics (Lunar Phases, Eclipses, Seasons). Topic to be presented will be chosen at random next class.) Turn in Constellation viewing assignment from Day 2.
Day 6 (Fri) – Finish preparing presentations. Watch 30 minutes of “Mystery of Chaco Canyon.”
Day 7 (Tues) – Track location of sun. Give remaining presentations.
Day 8 (Fri) -Finish watching Chaco Canyon
Day 9 (Tuesday) – Article: How Gallileo Changed Astronomy. Essay: summary and self reflection: write a 1.5 to 2 page typed essay in reflection.
- Summarize what the author says
- Tell me what you think
- Give specific examples
- Write a concluding paragraph
Day 10 (Friday) – Constellation project. Notes & Instructions.
Day 11 (Monday February 13) – Practice drawing northern constellations. Solar observation in upper field: this is the 3rd observation so by now your template should be well developed. Work on constellation project.
Day 12 (Friday Feb 17) – Group work on constellation project.
Day 13 (Tuesday Feb 21) – Group presentations on constellation project.
Day 14 (Friday Feb 24) –
Day 15 (Tuesday Feb 28) -Sub. Students will each prepare an in-class presentation on a particular part of the solar system. This will be due next tuesday. Students will have Friday to work on this project.
Day 16 (Friday March 2) -Preparation for solar system presentations
Day 17 (Tuesday March 6) – Solar observation. Students are asked to research a simple, economical and safe “sun scope” prior to our next Tuesday class. We will be making sun scopes in class and using them to do solar observations. Class presentations. Homework: T-shirt design regarding minor planets.