Stay tuned for final results, but it looks as if Comet ISON got a little too close for it to remain intact.  

ISON footage from Goddard Space Center


This is great footage from NASA.

End of Unit Test

What: 30-35 Thoughtful questions encompassing the entire astronomy unitWhen: Tuesday, December 3, 2013Where: CascadeWhat should I do? Review, study, prepare a review sheet because good things happen to prepared students (like bonus or brief access to study sheets at beginning of quiz)

Who: 6-8 grade Science Students

Review terms for Astronomy

History-telescopes, heliocentric vs. geocentric theory, tools (gnomon, etc.) People: Galileo, Kepler, Copernicus, Brahe, Ptolemy, Newton, earth’s motions of revolution and rotation

Universe-expanding, vast, containing lots of different structures, mass only accounts for a tiny portion of its size.  Dark matter is main component.  

Stars and their ilk-black holes, novae, supernovae, quasars, stars (come in different sizes and colors,cycle through a life span)neutron stars,variable stars, binary systems, galaxy types, nebula

Sun-center of our solar system, located in Milky Way Spiral galaxy, runs on nuclear fusion at its core,has sunspots, solar flares, creates solar winds, composed of hydrogen and helium, source of life giving electromagnetic energy waves that create heat and light, also neutrinos

Planets (Earth, too)- order, gas giants, terrestrial planets, Jovian, which ones have moons, which ones have rings, inactive and active planets

Other Solar System Occupants- asteroids, meteors (ites, oids), comets, our moon

Neutrinos

Neutrinos...caught in an incredibly creative way.

Remember neutrinos?  They make up the remainder of particles emitting from stars which are not electromagnetic wave types, basically.  They pass right through us and the Earth...kind of weird.  They don't interact with other particles much, so it's really hard to detect them.

Until now.  It's still hard, but scientists in Antarctica have caught a few.

Neutrino catcher

Have a great weekend. Don't forget the quiz on Tuesday- asteroids, comets, meteors (-oids, -ites, too) and the Moon!

Look for ISON in the Eastern Sky before sunrise (about 1/2 hour).

Assignments for next report, due December 6, 2013.

Space Missions - Manned and Unmanned
 Please address dates, purpose, measure of success in goals, and how it affected future missions.  300-400 words.


        Student              Topic

1. Ethan                Mars Curiosity
2. Jameson           Viking Program
3. Drake               Pioneer Program
4. Christian          Galileo 
5. Aleah               Voyager Program
6. Josiah               Mars Spirit
7. Brooke             Gemini Program
8. Miles               International Space Station
9. Anna               Mars Sojourner
10. Mary Marie     Magellan
11. Christy             Space Shuttle Program
12. Hannah            Cassini-Huygens
13. George             Mars Opportunity
14. Livi                 Mercury program
15. Krysta              Skylab
16. Alec                 Apollo program

BBC's "The Planets" Report

No test this week during conferences.

Instead, please write a 400-500 word essay over the two episodes of BBC's the Planets that we watched.  We watched and discussed episodes 1 and 2, "Different Worlds" and "Terra Firma".  There are several ways to approach your report.

• Organize it as a summary
• Respond to the discussion questions I handed out by using complete sentences and an orderly approach--restating the questions as you respond.  The link is below.    There's also some vocabulary and some activities, but look at  the section labeled discussion questions. 
• Restate in your words the current theory of solar system formation  and explore where it lines up with Christian belief and where it departs

AETV Guide to Terra Firma

  Also, please remember there will be another go around on Periodic Table#1-26.  1-19 are randomly and partially filled in, and 20-26 are completely blank. 

QUIZ TOMORROW!

Name and list the seven planets which aren't Earth in the correct order, spelling counts.
Tell me three things about each planet:  what kind is it, does it have rings, does it have moons, is it different in its orbit....does its soil have a high iron content, rusting away?

Know what the following terms mean, be able to use them.

Aphelion
Perihelion
Albedo

Kepler's 3 laws of planetary motion, in your words--remember, shape, speed, size of orbits.

We did not get to AU.

Next topic of report is due December 2,  topics will be assigned by Mrs. Steele.

Bring a snack if you like, along with your notetaking skills, to watch "The Planets" from BBC later this week.  Please remember to bring critical thinking skills too, as we view this with a mindset that there is a Creator.

Elements 1-26 this week--- 19-26 are the whole caboodle, 1-18 will be fill in the missing part.