If you need another copy, this weekend's take-home quiz is available through the Handouts page.
Group 4: Here is the additional reading for tonight. If you want to learn more about the speaker we met today, here is an article by her (her photos are at the bottom).
Here is a link to the tool I demonstrated for creating scale models of the solar system. And, here are the updated lyrics and additional information about Christine Lavin's song.
Information on the scale of the solar system can be found here.
Check out spaceweather.com. Seriously! Scroll down on their home page for more information about the sunspots you saw on Monday. Even a writer there agrees with me that they look like the Hawaiian islands.
What Planet Am I Like? Need to do some research to figure out what planet to choose and then to fill out your worksheet? Here are several sites worth exploring . . .
1, 2, 3 (check out the individual planet pages), 4 (scroll down and then click on individual planet names for more), 5 (check out the individual planet pages)
Girls! Do you want to be mentored by a scientist this summer? Check out this exciting opportunity. Click on the logo below for information.
Use the links on the left side of this NASA web site to learn more about the layers and features of our local star. This UK Sun|trek web site is a bit more fun. Choose the cartoonish icons at the bottom to go on the trek.
Some photos of today's activities are available through the Media page. In case you were wondering, based on your measurements, the sun should be 1,395,000 kilometers in diameter (3.125 x .0031 x 150,000,000,000 / 1000) (average diameter of projected image x size of grid square x distance to moon / convert from meters to kilometers). The actual diameter of the sun is approximately 1,392,000 km. Not bad for a couple pieces of cardboard, some aluminum foil, and a meter stick!
If you want to study by listening to the Sun Song some more, here is a link to the group's web site. There is a link to the lyrics there.
Here is a nice video showing granulation in the photosphere: the boiling tops of the convection cells in the convective zone.
Group 4: You will find the file you need for the homework that is due on Friday on the Handouts page.
Here is what we will be working with for the next week or so (click on the image to see what the sun looks like today) . . .
Here are the two videos I mentioned in class today. Warning: They are heavy on the math, but they might be of interest to some of you. At least watch the first half minute or so of the first one. This is how you should be in Math!
Do you want to play around some more with ellipses and their eccentricity? Here is a site where you can interact with the variables (click on the diagram below).
Group 4: Here is a direct link to the video you need for tonight's homework.
Here is a site you may want to check out to learn more about this week's classwork. Its links are worth exploring. By the end of the week you should be able to answer any of the questions on this document (there are links at the bottom of it to some good animations that may help your understanding).
Attend one of the many FREE events at the Cambridge Science Festival all this coming week and weekend. Click the logo for more information.
Most of your calendar project scores are posted on X2 if you want to check them out. I'll be giving feedback at school during the week.
Group 4: Here is a direct link to the Monterey Tides web site.
Today's worksheets are available on the Handouts page.
Here is an animation and information about Neap and Spring Tides from NOAA.
Don't forget . . . extra credit for a photo of the moon. Prizes for best photos, but any picture receives credit. Here is one I took this evening at about 8:00.
Solar Eclipse information. Lunar Eclipse information.
Watch the beginning of Space School Musical again! See it below. Also, here is a very comprehensive lunar phase simulator.
Do you want to see a really detailed view of the visible side of the moon? Click on the image below.
Here are some tools you might want to consider for your calendar projects: Glogster, Google Docs, and Prezi.
Want more help? Want to see what we've been doing presented in a different way? Perhaps this (and other) videos from Khan Academy will help. Click on the logo below.
This video may be useful as you study for Tuesday's quiz.
Almost circular! And . . . the slight differences in distance from the sun does not create seasons.
Here are links to a few of the simulations, models, and videos we used today.
Daylight Hours Explorer, Length of Planet Earth's Day and Night, Earth/Sun Relationship, Seasons Simulator, Motions of the Sun Simulator
If you need a copy, you can print out the moon observation form from the Handouts page. Also, if you want to know when to be viewing, here is a site that tells you when the moon will be up (not until after midnight tonight!).
Please take this survey: Technology Use Survey There are 15 questions.
Are you into making videos? Do you have some great ideas? Would you like to win $25,000? Click on the logo below.
Do you want to get started on your calendar projects? Here are some sources of information to get you going (please go beyond these, though). . .
Days of the Week: 1, 2 (scroll down and check out their Links), 3, 4 (click on the individual day names at the top of the page for more info).
Months of the Year: 1 (basic, but may be a place to start), 2, 3, 4.
Calendar Systems: 1 (Julian and Gregorian), 2, 3, 4 (lots of good stuff for many systems).
Want to watch some of today's videos again to help review? The most important is probably the first (from New York). I also highly recommend practicing drawing isobars (or, more generally, isopleths) by doing Lessons 1 and 2 at this University of Wisconsin website.
See the regional winds animated. Click on the map below . . . Also, today's vocabulary list is available on the handouts page.
Group 4: Here is a news story that ties in with the Extra Credit work some of you did and what we are discussing in class.
Remember our discussions of deep sea trenches? There is a race on to return to the deepest spot on Earth. The BBC has put together a nice web site that provides good information and graphics about the ocean deeps and the current attempts to reach them. You can explore it here.
Is vacation going well? I hope so.
Look what Google had for their Doodle this week. Click on it to see why it is related to our classwork.
Groups 1–3: Instructions for your vacation project are available on the Handouts page. It counts a substantial portion of your quarter grade.
Group 4: If you choose to attempt the extra credit vacation assignment, the direct link to the start of it is this Case Study. E-mail me if you want assistance.
The instructions for today's anemometer assembly are available on the Handouts page.
Here are a couple of photos of today's action. One measuring low, the other way up high.
The classwork for the past couple days is up on the Handouts page. Group 4: here is a direct link to the assignment for this weekend. Pick one of the two data sets to analyze.
Do you remember when we were studying about plate tectonics? (Yes, I realize it was a couple of months back . . .)
Here is the latest speculation on what the Earth will look like in the future: America and Eurasia 'to meet at north pole'.
Group 4: Here is the link to the spreadsheet where you can enter your albedo data. Remember: Take four digital photographs and analyze them with ImageJ following the instructions given out in class (or available via the Handouts page). The spreadsheet will calculate the albedo for you.
For your (re)viewing pleasure, here are a couple of the videos used in class today . . .
If you want to practice your Roy G. Biv singing (so that you will be GREAT when we revisit him in a couple of months), you can find the song here via the They Might Be Giants web site).
Some photos of today's lab are available via the Media page.
Do you want to show people the tool we learned to use today? Click on the image below . . .
Want more on albedo? Check out this page from the EarthguideOnlineClassroom.
Group 4: Click on the image below to start your homework. Read the Case Study. Then do Parts 1 and 2 (download and install software and data sets).
Today's vocabulary is available on the handouts page. Also, if you want a nice, full-color version of the energy balance diagram, you can download a big one from there as well. If you want to review the information about the greenhouse effect and Earth's energy balance, here are two animations. One from the BBC and one from the University of California.
Looking for definitions of prefixes? Try this site or this one.
Group 4: Begin the research project that is due on Friday, February 3. Click on the To Do: Journal Activity link on this site. Do not do in your notebooks. Type up as a report.
If you are looking for material from before our work on the Atmosphere and Weather, click on the link below . . .