Friday, May 2, 2008

Space Day is TODAY!!!

What is Space Day?

Since its launch in 1997, the Space Day educational initiative, which takes place on the first Friday of each May, has evolved into a massive grassroots effort dedicated to the extraordinary achievements, benefits and opportunities in the exploration and use of space. The ultimate goal is to promote math, science, technology and engineering education by nurturing young peoples' enthusiasm for the wonders of the universe and inspiring them to continue the stellar work of today's space explorers.

International in scope, the award-winning program involves hundreds of thousands of teachers and millions of students throughout the United States, Canada and beyond. Space Day events have taken place in 21 countries around the globe on six continents. Thanks to widespread media, millions of people have learned about the Space Day programs since its inception. So effective is this global initiative that it has been honored with the Space Foundation's prestigious Education Achievement Award.

Characteristics of Stars

Essential Question(s) for Lesson;

• How do astronomers measure distances to nearby stars?
• How are stars classified?
• How many kilometers are in three light-years?
• Name five sizes of stars, in order from largest to smallest.

Key Terms:  galaxy, universe, light-year, parallax, giant star, apparent magnitude, absolute magnitude, Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, main sequence

Warm-up:

• Take a bookmark, (1) one per person
• Read section 21.2, pages 723-729, do GR wkbk pages 256-259

Classwork:

• Constellation activity and group quiz:  Listening activity to learn the basic constellations in the sky in the northern hemispere.  Students identified the Big and Little dipper, Leo, Hercules, Pegasus, Cassiopeia, and the Twins.  Groups took an activity quiz and turned in for a grade.
• Celebrate SpaceDay, go to www.SpaceDay.org and check out the puzzles, games, and other links regarding space astronomy.

Homework:  Practice WS(75) 21.1

Astronomy Unit Test - Wednesday, May 14th  (Ch. 19-21)

Last reading notecard for Ms. Moore's science class is due:  Friday, May 16th  (Choose a topic of study from this nine weeks - see handout)

Help-sessions on Wednesdays @ 8:20 am   Make-up tests arrive 10-15 minutes earlier to begin.