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       Agendas for Science and Home Base  (last:08-10-2009)
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Astronomy Songs      posted 02-03-2009
Jupiter
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xXQFnIEf_Q

Aquarius
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZUNvcU93UM&NR=1

Solar System Book      posted 02-02-2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3KpUO6t9qQ
Build the Solar System Book in class then...

Option 1:
Read pages 86-101 in Astronomy textbook and
write 5 facts about each object (including the sun and asteroid belt)

Option 2:
Investigate songs, poetry, art, literature, movies, fashion, or consumers goods that are named for planets & describe the connection with pictures, writing, etc.

An example of option 2 for the planet Saturn is the song "Saturn" by Stevie Wonder. Listen to it HERE:





Solar System      posted 12-02-2008
The Orbits of the Planets in our Solar System

Meteors and Asteroids      posted 12-02-2008
Simulation of Cataclysmic Asteroid Strike
REAL Meteor Strike in Canada: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_2aX-784sw&NR=1

Compare the Size of Celestial Bodies      posted 12-02-2008
We are VERY, VERRRRY Small...
Watch the video in the link above to get an idea of the relative size of the earth. Make all your troubles feel insignificant? I hope so...

Gravity on Other Celestial Bodies      posted 12-02-2008
Extra Credit Assignment: Your Weight in Space
Do you recall that weight is the same as mass here on Earth, but not in space? That's because weight is a factor of the gravitational pull of our home planet, Earth. Mass, on the other hand, will remain the same where ever you travel.

The larger the "body", that you are on or near, the greater it's gravitational pull on you. The smaller the body, the less pull. This is why astronauts appear to float or hop along the surface of the moon; it's a smaller body than the Earth so it pulls on the astronauts less than the Earth does.

What is your "weight" on the moon? On the Sun? On Venus? On Pluto? Find out by completing the extra credit worksheet in the link above. (note: print only the first two pages)



Charting the Moon Assignment      posted 08-28-2007
2007 Moon Phase Calendar
Beginning Sunday, October 21, students will have homework every night for a MONTH!! Here it is...Go OUTSIDE AND LOOK AT THE MOON! That's right. All you have to do is gaze at the loverly, silvery orb, note the time and date, where the moon is in the sky (N, S, E, W), draw a picture of the shape, and name the phase. These papers will be turned in on November 21, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving break.



Sally Ride Reading Activity      posted 11-09-2006
Sally Ride had the skills and the talent, and she loved science. She wasn't afraid to keep studying science, even when other girls decided that science was too hard, or when they said that science was a boys' subject. Sally Ride became so good at science that she got to be the first American woman in space.

2 As a science student, she had many demanding subjects to study. Space scientists take advanced courses in math and sciences. They study topics like calculus and physics, and that is just the beginning. These are not easy subjects, but when you are studying something you enjoy, it may be hard work, but the hard work is often fun too. Sally Ride must have really enjoyed space science. She went on to get her bachelor's degree, her master's degree, and her doctorate in science. Her field was astrophysics.

3 When she was 27 years old, Sally heard that NASA was looking for young men and women who were experts in science. At the time NASA wanted to hire 35 astronaut candidates. Sally applied for one of the jobs. At the time she wouldn't have had any way of knowing that 8,000 other men and women had applied too. Sally's application was one of the very best, and in 1978 she joined NASA and began astronaut training.

4 Even though she was a science expert, Sally didn't know much about flying a spacecraft. So she had more subjects to learn. She learned about flying. She learned about navigation. She learned about radio communication. She went through training on weightlessness, water survival, and parachute jumping. Sally must have enjoyed these new subjects that she was learning too. She especially liked flying; it became her new favorite hobby.

5 Sally did many different jobs for NASA. She worked as part of the ground crew for two Columbia flights, in 1981 and 1982. For those flights, she was a communications officer who sent radio messages back and forth between the ground crew and the shuttle itself.

6 Sally was chosen to go on a space flight in 1983. She became an astronaut aboard the space shuttle Challenger. Her job there was mission specialist. A mission specialist does many different things during a space flight. One of the things Sally did on this flight was to test a robot arm in space. This flight made her famous, because she was the first American woman in space. Here is what she had to say about that flight. "I'm sure it was the most fun I'll ever have in my life."

1. Sally Ride was _____.
The first woman pilot
The first American woman in space
The first American in space
The first woman to study science in college

2. Sally Ride's name became Dr. Ride when _____.
She received her doctorate degree
She flew in the Challenger
She graduated from medical school
She graduated from college


3. Space scientists need to know a lot of math.
False
True

4. When Sally applied to be an astronaut, how many other people applied too?
27
8,000
35


5. Sally worked as a ground crew communications officer _____.
After her second space flight
Before she went to college
Before she flew in space.
After she retired from NASA

6. All together, Sally spent a total of about _____ days in space.
12
8
14
10


7. The article says that Sally's field was astrophysics. What do you think the word astrophysics means?

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8. What can you do while you are in middle school and high school to prepare for a career in space science?

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Neil Armstrong Reading Activity      posted 11-09-2006
When you are planning to go on a trip, you have to get things ready. You have to pack. If you're going to the beach for a vacation, maybe you pack swim suits, shorts, and T-shirts, but you might also pack a few warm clothes in case it gets cold at night. If you're planning a trip to someplace you've never been before, maybe you do a little research to find out what the weather is usually like there. Maybe you pack something to read, something to play with, or some sports equipment. If you're going on a business or study trip, you pack the materials that you will need while you are there. You might look up the best route on a map, or ask someone for directions. You might fill up the gas tank in your car, or buy a plane ticket.

2 In 1969, Neil Armstrong was planning a trip. For this trip, he couldn't choose a route from a road map, and there was no one who had taken the same trip before, so he couldn't just ask for directions. Neil Armstrong was planning a trip to the moon. If the trip went as he planned, he would be the first person ever to set foot on the moon.

3 Armstrong and the other scientists at NASA had a lot of planning to do. Since both the earth and the moon are always moving, it would take a lot of very precise math to figure out how to get there and back. The weather would be unpredictable, as always, and might cause last minute changes in their plans. They had to choose a landing site. Since no one had ever been on the moon's surface, they had to make a scientific guess about where would be a good place to land, and they chose a place named the Sea of Tranquility.

4 They had to pack too. Armstrong and his crew, Michael Collins and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, would have to take everything they would need for their eight-day journey. There would be no stopping for pizza on this trip. Not only would they have to pack all of their food, they would also need to take their own water, and even their own oxygen! They would need to pack special equipment to deal with the weightlessness in space and the low gravity on the moon. They needed to plan how they would keep warm in space. They also packed equipment for science experiments, including a seismograph, -- used to detect earthquakes (or moonquakes) -- and a laser that could be used to calculate the exact distance from the earth to the moon. They took a camera, and containers to bring samples back to Earth.

5 Planning for this trip also involved lots of training. The three astronauts had to relearn many everyday things. Simple activities like eating and moving around would require new skills in the weightless atmosphere of the spaceship.

1. Apollo 11 carried _____ astronauts.
Three
Two
One
Four

2. The module that landed on the moon was called _____.
Apollo 11
The Eagle
Tranquility
Saturn V


3. The rocket that boosted them into space was called _____.
Apollo 11
The Eagle
Tranquility
Saturn V

4. Their spacecraft that flew to the moon was called _____.
The Eagle
Apollo 11
Saturn V
Tranquility


5. _____ astronauts landed on the moon.
Three
Two
One
Four

6. This article is mainly about _____.
Planning for a trip to the moon
Planning for a vacation
The Saturn V rocket
The moon's surface


7. Since there wasn't much room on the spacecraft, the astronauts only packed clothes and science experiments.
False
True

8. Footprints on earth usually wash away, or dry up and blow away, after a while. Why do you think the astronauts' footprints are probably still on the moon?

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