Class 21: Wednesday, 10/26/26
Warm Up: 

1. Can you make two videos, put them together in one video, and then add voice narration?

2. How do you do it?

Today:

  • Return Quizzes
  • Make a video from two separate clips and add narration, using WeVideo.
  • Continue working on the Solar System Formation Slideshow.

Homework: 

  • None
Class 20: Monday, 10/26/26
Warm Up: 

The diagram on the right shows a basic refrigeration unit.  I have circled the compressor and the expansion valve.  In this system, a substance called a refrigerant, moves through the pipes.

1)  What happens to the temperature of the refrigerant when it is compressed?

2)  What happens to its temperature when it is allowed to expand?

3)  In which direction is the refrigerant flowing through the pipes?

4)  Can you guess the purposes of the fans and radiators?  Do you know what a radiator does?

 

Today:

  • Quiz over Birth of The Earth video.
  • JR clean desk
  • Work on Solar system history project.
  • Don't use up your Gemini image generation time outside of class.

Homework: 

  • None
Class 19: Tuesday, 10/20/26
Warm Up: 

1.  Why does frost sometimes form on propane tanks, even when the weather isn't very cold?
2.  Does this frost make the propane tank perform better or worse?  Explain why.
3.  Is the propane in a tank solid, liquid, gas, or a combination of states of matter?

Today:

  • Return Quiz
  • Finish "Birth of The Earth"
  • Begin the Solar System History project.
  • Return yarn
  • FI and KW leave late today  -- since they left early last class

Homework: 

  • Quiz next class over the Birth of The Earth questions
Class 18: Friday, 10/16/26
Warm Up: 
I measured the amount of force it takes to open my freezer door after it had been closed for a long time.  I closed the door again, and then I measured how much force it takes to open the freezer door a second time.  Video
1.  How is the required force different the second time? 
2.  Why?
3.  What happened to my freezer's mass, volume, and density when I did all of this?

Today:

  • Discuss new organizational stuff.
  • Quiz over Formation of The Solar System, Part 2
  • Watch video and answer questions in Google Classroom -- Birth of The Earth
  • Tidy the room: 
    • Folders into their cubby
    • Desks back on the dots

Homework: 

  • None!  Have a relaxing weekend.  Next week is short.
Class 17: Wednesday, 10/14/26
Warm Up: 

1.  If you rub a balloon on your head and then hold it next to your hair, your hair is attracted to the balloon.  Why?

2.  Your hair may also stand on end after being rubbed by a balloon.  Why?

Today:

Homework: 

  • Quiz next class over the information on today's quiz review.  Study!
Class 16: Monday, 10/12/26
Warm Up:  This diagram shows the Earth's orbit.
1.  Where in our orbit is the Earth, right now?
2.  Does this diagram look correct?  Is there anything wrong or misleading?

Today:

Homework: 

  • None
Class 15: Thursday, 10/7/26
Warm Up:  Why does the bird keep drinking?

Today:

Homework: 

Class 14: Tuesday, 10/5/26
Warm Up: 
Nuclear fusion happens when the core of the star is hot enough to fuse Hydrogen into Helium.  This diagram was made to help explain how stars keep "burning" evenly, without cooling off or heating up.  For most of their lives, stars don't overheat, and they don't cool off.  These questions explore why this happens...
  1. We modeled this system with a vacuum cleaner, by putting a student in a trash bag.  Compare and contrast our model with the diagram on the right.
  2. Suppose nuclear fusion in the star in the diagram slowed down, so the star cooled down a little.  How would the star's volume change?  Why?
  3. What force would cause the star's volume to change?
  4. Explain why that volume change would cause the star to heat back up?
  5. Now suppose the star happened to heat up a little.  How would the star's volume change?  Why?
  6. Explain why that volume change would cause the star to cool back down?

Today:

Homework: 

  • None
Class 13: Friday, 10/2/26
Warm Up:  1.  What would happen if you made a hole through the center of the Earth, and you jumped in? 
2.  If you made it all of the way through, where would you come out?  (antipodes map)

Today:

  • Return quiz 4
  • Test over physical properties
  • Space facts test practice

Homework: 

  • Test next class over all of the space facts (quizlets)
Class 12: Wednesday, 9/30/26
Warm Up: 
  1. What are the lines in the sky?
  2. How was the picture created?
  3. Why are the lines arranged in a circular pattern?
  4. If this picture was taken in the Northern Hemisphere, in which direction did the circles form? (clockwise or counter-clockwise)
  5. Which stars are moving faster, the inner ones or the outer ones? ** this is a trick question**
  6. If there is a star near the center, what is its name?
  7. Why did the photographer have to stop the picture before the stars made a complete circle?

Other long-exposure photos

Star trails on the equator

 

Today:

Homework: 

  • None.  Test next class over Physical Science Concepts relating to astronomy.
  • The class after that we will have a test over all of the Quizlets
Class 11: Monday, 9/28/26
Warm Up:  In the Phet States of Matter simulation, the container has a movable lid.  What happens if you use the finger to push the lid downward when the substance is in gas phase?
1.  What happens to the volume?
2.  What happens to the pressure?
3.  What happens to the temperature?
4.  Why?

 

Today:

Homework: 

  • None.  Practice test next class over Physical Science Concepts relating to astronomy.
Class 10: Thursday, 9/24/26
Warm Up: What do you notice about this hot air balloon that I saw from my back yard?  For each of the following, tell whether each of the following is increasing, decreasing, or staying the same.  Explain why and how you know.
1.  Density
2.  Volume
3.  Mass
4.  Weight
5.  Speed of air molecules inside the balloon
6.  Air pressure (inside the balloon)

 

Today:

Homework: 

Class 9: Tuesday, 9/22/26
Warm Up: **Use this warm-up to finish the notes from last class**

1.  What will happen if I put a balloon over a flask of water and then boil the water? 

2.  What will happen if I put the flask on ice?

3.  Will the balloon behave differently if I put it on after the water is already boiling?

4.  What will happen if I inflate a balloon, tie it off, and then place it in cold water?

5.  Why does all of this happen?

 

Today:

  • Check/review homework
  • Hot Air Balloon Activity
    • Make a hot air balloon.
    • Get/Make a video of your balloon being heated, beginning to fly, and then flying. 

Homework: 

  • In a few classes, we are going to have a big test, and all the Quizlets will be on it.  Review the Quizlets.  We have one more that I will introduce next class.
Class 8: Thursday, 9/17/26
Warm Up: 

1.  Find Polaris (the North Star) in the picture on the right

2.  Suppose you went out last night and looked at the night sky, and it looked like the picture on the right.  What time was it?  Follow these directions for telling time with the Big Dipper.

Did you know that the Big Dipper isn't a constellation -- it's an asterism?

 

Today:

Homework: 

Class 7: Tuesday, 9/15/26
Warm Up: 
1. Do eggs sink or do they float?
2.  Suppose one egg floats, one egg sinks, and one egg neither sinks nor floats.  What can you infer from this?
3.  Do you know what's special about the Dead Sea?

Today:

  • Quiz -- objects in space Quizlets 2 and 3
  • Go over the last quiz.  Make a video.  If you didn't do well, figure out how to do this so that you can get a better score.
  • Take a walk through the scaled solar system.  Consider this question before and after the walk -- how much empty space is there in the Solar System?
  • Begin: Investigate temperature, volume, and pressure in Astronomy Concepts Handout (PDF)

Homework: 

  • None!  No quiz next class.
Class 6: Friday, 9/11/26
Warm Up: 
1.  How can I crush a soda can using a hot plate and ice water?
2.  Forces are either pushes or pulls.  Is the force that crushes the can a push or a pull? 
3.  What exerts that force?  What is doing the pushing or the pulling? How is it doing it?
4.  What else did I put in the can?  Why?  Is it really necessary?

Today:

  • Quiz -- Mass, Volume, Density, and Weight
  • New Objects in Space --
  • Investigate temperature, volume, and pressure in Astronomy Concepts Handout (PDF)
  • Next week -- scaled solar system tour.  If the weather is nice, we will go for a walk next class. 

Homework: 

  • Practice the 2nd and 3rd Quizlets.  Next class there will be a quiz over both of them.
Class 5: Thursday, 9/9/26
Warm Up: 
1.  Without cracking the shell, how can I tell if an egg has been boiled?
2.  How can I insert a boiled egg inside a milk bottle?
3.  If I can get the egg inside, how do I get it out?

Today:

  • Check/review homework that was due last class -- I think I forgot.  I'ts Quizlet #2.
  • Take at look at Ms. Vensel's Objects In Space Slideshow
  • Practice quiz (PDF) -- Physical Properties, Part 1 -- Mass, Volume, Density, and Weight
  • Modeling Astronomy Concepts:
    • Finish some more of pages 2-3 -- changes in mass, volume, density, and weight
    • Finish The Floating, Sinking, Floating, Sinking, Floating Challenge!

Homework: 

  • Study for the quiz next class.  It will be very similar to today's practice quiz  (PDF) .  I will make a video of our quiz review and post it here.  If you want to do a little review before the quiz
Class 4: Thursday, 9/3/26
Warm Up: 
Rank the items in the photograph according to their mass, volume, and density.  The items are... 1) an empty sandwich bag, 2) a pair of pliers, 3) a sandwich bag filled with air, and 4) a steel ball with some rings welded to it.

Today:

  • Return Quizzes
  • Stapleton Slideshow?
  • Modeling Astronomy Concepts:
    • Finish some more of pages 2-3 -- changes in mass, volume, density, and weight
    • Finish The Floating, Sinking, Floating, Sinking, Floating Challenge!

Homework: 

  • None
Class 3: Tuesday, 9/1/26
Warm Up: 
1.  Why can't we see our breath right now?
2.  What can I do so that you can see my breath?
3.  How does that work?
4.  How does this relate to meteors?

Today:

Links

Homework: 

  • Practice this Quizlet until you know all of the non-bonus answers.  Then mark it complete in Google Classroom.
Class 2: Friday, 8/28/26
Warm Up:  Why do raisins "dance" when you put them in carbonated water?  What is carbonated water?  What's the connection to the submarine activity?

Today:

Links

Homework: 

Class 1: Wednesday, 8/26/26
Warm Up: 

The bottle on the right contains a "cartesian diver."  The diver dives when the bottle is squeezed, and the diver rises when the bottle is released. 

1.  Why does this happen?

2.  How does this relate to space science?

Today:

  • Sit in assigned seats
  • Warm-up
  • Fill out the Student info sheet (PDF)
  • Get the ESS Course Expectations.  Important things you need to know...
    • Hall passes
    • The plan for the next few weeks:
      • "Objects in Space"
      • Modeling Astronomy Concepts: hands-on activities to experience some of the same processes that happen inside stars and during the Earth's formation
  • Objects in Space -- Begin Structure and Scale of The Universe -- making sense of the Quizlet facts
  • Modeling Astronomy Concepts:  Exploring Physics and Chemistry concepts that help explain astronomy
    • Begin Film Canister Submarine lab.
    • Clean up

Things we will get to over the next few days