Kennedy Space Center Field Trip

Dear parents and students,

There are still 22 seats left for the Astronaut Training Experience field trip on December 14th - if you would like to secure a seat, please bring 100$ and the 2 permission slips to Mrs. McLeod as soon as possible!  It should be a blast!

10.29.12/10.30.12 Characteristics and Life Cycle of a Star

Agenda

• Star Characteristics Four-Square Diagram (100pts) - students outline the varying characteristics of stars including:  Mass and size, composition, magnitude, and temperature
• Life Cycle of a Star Foldable (100 pts) - students create a foldable that outlines each stage of a star's life cycle
• Hand in the following:  Mass vs. Weight Lab, Sunlight Intensity Lab, Angle of Sunlight Lab

Objectives

• Students will categorize stars by brightness, mass, size, composition, and temperature

Homework

• Study for Quiz on Friday
• Topics include:  NASA, mass vs. weight, W= m * g, seasons, sunlight intensity, stars

10.25.12/10.26.12 Sunlight Intensity

Agenda

• Sunlight Intensity notes 
• Major concepts:  Angle of incidence, solstices & equinoxes, temperature changes on latitude, Important latitudes (tropic of cancer, tropic of capricorn, arctic and antarctic circles)
• Sunlight angle lab - students use a flashlight to investigate the effect of angle of incidence on the amount of heat absorbed by an individual
• Sunlight Intensity lab - students use a GLX explorer probe to measure temperature differences based on latitude

Objective

• Students will accurately identify the effect of the Earth's tilted axis

Homework

• Finish lab questions

10.23.12/10.24.12 Reasons for the Seasons

Agenda

• Seasons notes - students take notes on a reading; notes go on page 28-29 in the notebook; 
• Seasons review - students answer questions based on what they have learned.  
• Student conferences - Mrs. McLeod meets with each student to review grades and make-up work. 

Objective

• Students will understand the impact of the tilt of Earth's axis

Homework

• Make-up work

10.19.12 Astronomy Quiz #1

Agenda

• Astronomy quiz #1 - tests knowledge on the following topics: 
• Weight = Mass x gravity
• Comparing planetary data

Homework

• Make- up work

10.17.12 / 10.18.12 Solar System Scale Lab

Agenda

• Solar System Scale Lab - students construct a scale model of the solar system on campus

Objective

• Students will understand the relative distances and compare compositions of the planets

Homework

• None

10.15.12/10.16.12 Weight, Mass, and the Solar System

Agenda

• Weight Vs. Mass notes  
• Weight Vs. Mass Lab - students calculate weight from the masses of different objects.  

Objective

• Students can calculate weight in Newtons. 

Homework

• Finish questions for Mass vs. weight lab

10.12.12 History of Astronomy Timeline

Agenda

• Hand in Language of Science 
• History of Astronomy Activity - Students critique event posters from the history of astronomy poster and analyze events in astronomy through time.  

Objective

• Students analyze the relationship between events in astronomical history

Homework

• None

10.10.12/10.11.12 Root Words and International Space Station

Agenda

• Language of Science - Students look at a root word glossary and define complex scientific words using smaller words to construct meaning. 
• IMAX - International Space Station:  Students take notes on a video on the International Space Station, focusing on the following topics: 
• How Astronauts prepare for space
• Describing the daily life on the ISS
• Why the ISS is important
• What types of research are conducted on the ISS

Objectives

• Students can determine the meaning of complex words using root words
• Students describe the importance and complexities of the ISS

Homework

• Language of Science (Due Friday, Oct 12)

10.8.12/10.9.12 NASA Notes

Agenda

• Hand in History of Astronomy posters including:  Poster, research questionnaire, 1st draft, and rubric
• Review Map Assessment (Last day for make-ups)
• Update notebook - students start astronomy unit in the science notebook
• NASA notes - students read about NASA and get basic background information on the program. 

Objective

• Students learn the basics behind NASA

Homework

• None

10.5.10 History of Astronomy Timeline Day 2

Agenda

• Complete 1st draft of poster, have it edited by Mrs. McLeod, a peer, or a parent
• Start final draft of poster - make sure you collect poster paper and background paper from Mrs. McLeod

Objective

• Students learn about an event in the history of Astronomy

Homework

• Final Draft of poster, edited first draft, research questionnaire, and rubric due: 
• 2,4,6th period - Monday, Oct 8th
• 3,5,7the period - Tuesday, Oct 9th

10.3.12/10.4.12 History of Astronomy Research

Agenda 

• Meet in the CLT (Media Center)
• Astronomy Timeline Project - students are assigned a topic in time that relates to the field of astronomy.  Students complete research for the topic and fill out the Research Questionnaire using encyclopedias and the internet.  

Objective

• Students learn about an event in the history of astronomy.  

Homework

• Final Draft of poster, edited first draft, research questionnaire, and rubric due: 
• 2,4,6th period - Monday, Oct 8th
• 3,5,7the period - Tuesday, Oct 9th

10.1.12/10.2.12 Introduction to Astronomy

Agenda

• Astronomy stations:  Students complete 8/10 possible stations that ask questions involving Astronomy topics.  

Objective

• Students explore various topics in Astronomy

Homework

• None

9.28.10 Mapping Assessment

Agenda

• Mapping assessment - all students who missed the quiz need to see Mrs. McLeod.  Make-ups must be completed by Thursday!

Homework

• None