FIRST UNIT TEST!

Hello everyone,

I wanted to take a moment to share what we’ve been up to in science class and give you a glimpse into the exciting things we’ve explored—and what’s coming next!

WHERE WE WERE

We recently wrapped up our Small Celestial Bodies Poem or Parody Song project, and I’m so proud of the creativity your students brought to this assignment! From poems to parody songs about dwarf planets, comets, asteroids, moons, meteors, meteorites, and meteoroids, they’ve done an excellent job exploring these fascinating space objects. It was amazing to see how each student used their unique voice and creativity to understand the characteristics of these celestial bodies.

Below are some of the cover art creations from students from the project:

We also spent time looking at the scale of the solar system, creating models outside to understand how vast it is. This led us to an exploration of Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motion, where we learned about how planets move around the sun in elliptical orbits and how their speed changes based on their distance from the sun.

A few photos from the Scale Model fo the Solar System activity:

WHERE WE ARE

Right now, we’re diving into one of my favorite topics in astronomy—the sun and other stars. That involves some of the interactions that occur in space between the Sun and Earth that scientists call Space Weather. A reason we had the Aurora in Lancaster recently!

Images from the recent Aurora (from Lancaster, Morgantown, and Pottstown areas):

We’ve been exploring the anatomy of stars, their life cycle, and what powers them—nuclear fusion! We even did a fun, hands-on nuclear fusion marshmallow lab to bring this concept to life. Your students are beginning to understand how stars are classified using H-R diagrams, and we’ll be exploring that in more detail over the next few days. This all leads up to our first big unit test, where students will show what they’ve learned so far in a more traditional format.

WHERE WE ARE GOING

As we prepare for our first unit test on Monday, October 21st, I encourage your students to review the material we’ve covered in the first part of astronomy. Students were given review packets (study guides), there is a Blooket they can use on Schoology to study, and on my agenda and the 8 Gold homework feed, I have linked the notes for each section of Astronomy - Part 1 to look back on. These slides have videos that their digital notebooks do not have. I also told students to look at their Quick Checks because they might have questions similar to the test. By saying "might," I really meant definitely! 😅

After the test, we’ll move into Astronomy - Part 2, focusing on closer interactions between the moon, Earth, and Sun. We’ll explore topics like day and night, seasons, moon phases, tides, and eclipses—fascinating concepts that will deepen your student’s understanding of our place in the universe.

If you have any questions or want to connect further, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at curtis_silverwood@conestogavalley.org. You can also follow our journey on Instagram at @classwithcatwood, where I share updates and snapshots of our exciting classroom activities.

Thank you for your time,

Mr. Catwood (formerly Silverwood)

ORIGINS OF THE EARTH!

Hello everyone,

Wow, what a stellar time we’ve been having in science class! We’ve wrapped up some exciting projects, had plenty of hands-on learning, and are gearing up for even more cosmic adventures. Whether creating artistic displays or exploring gravity with hands-on demos, your students are diving into Astronomy enthusiastically! Here’s a fun recap of what we’ve been up to and a peek at what’s on the horizon.

Where We Are:

Recently, we wrapped up the Origins of Earth poster board project, and I have to say, your students knocked it out of the park! They researched, designed, and presented beautiful displays showcasing their understanding of how Earth and the Solar System came to be. We topped it all off with a gallery walk, where students checked out each other’s work and learned about the various topics. It was incredible to see them teaching and learning from one another in a fun, collaborative way.

Below are photos of some of the projects:

But that’s not all! We’ve also been diving deep into the world of gravity and forces. We did some awesome demos and station rotations (Check out the Insta for some reaction videos to the Alkaseltzer Rockets demo!), where students got the chance to wrap their minds around how gravity works. Students experienced firsthand the invisible but mighty force that governs so much of our universe. It’s been a blast seeing those lightbulb moments!

Where We’re Going:

Up next, we’re blasting off into space (not literally, of course)! We’ll be exploring Celestial Bodies, including planets, dwarf planets, moons, asteroids, comets, and even space debris. Your student is about to become an expert on all things out there in the vast universe. We’ll also be working on understanding the scale of the universe and how objects in space move, guided by Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motion.

To make things even more fun, we have an exciting Poem/Parody song project coming up where students will creatively express what they’ve learned about celestial bodies. So, don’t be surprised if you start hearing space-inspired tunes at home! This is one of my favorite projects, and I write my own parody songs that I "sing" in front of the class on the day of presentations! After that, we’ll be focusing on stars like our own sun as we prepare for our first big unit test.

Overall, your students are doing an amazing job exploring "big picture" Astronomy, before we focus on local interactions between the Earth, Sun, and Moon.

If you have any questions or want to connect further, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at curtis_silverwood@conestogavalley.org. You can also follow our journey on Instagram at @classwithcatwood, where I share updates and snapshots of our exciting classroom activities.

Thank you for your time,

Mr. Catwood (formerly Silverwood)

SPACE EXPLORATION

Hello everyone,

Welcome back to our science blog! I’m excited to share the incredible adventures your students are embarking on in our classroom. As we dive into the mysteries of the universe, I can already see their curiosity shining bright! Let’s look at what we’ve been exploring and where we’re headed next.

Where We Are:

Lately, we’ve been focused on space exploration and the expansion of the universe. Our journey began with the question: How do we learn about distant stars, galaxies, and celestial bodies? The answer lies in incredible tools like the James Webb Space Telescope, other telescopes, and various technology.

Students have been investigating how telescopes can help us study electromagnetic radiation—think visible light, radio waves, infrared, and more—to uncover the secrets of the cosmos. We’ve learned about types of telescopes and Visible Light using spectroscopes, which gave us some understanding about how telescopes use electromagnetic radiation to study the universe. Students have begun to grasp the concepts we've been discussing and are making great progress!

Below are images from our Spectroscope Activity. We looked at a light source, red, blue, yellow, and black objects to see which colors appear in the visible light spectrum when observing these object. We also looked at different element's spectra to figure out what elements were present in unknown objects. Something that Astronomers use to tell which elements are found in a distant object.

Where We Are Going:

We’re embarking on our “Origins of the Earth” project! This hands-on exploration will take us into the fascinating history of our planet, examining how the sun, solar system, and Earth came to be. The students will research various topics related to the formation of our planet and what makes Earth habitable.

For this project, each student will create a poster board presentation. They’ll research their assigned topic and then share their findings in a gallery walk format, where classmates can take notes on the 8 selected topics that contribute to Earth becoming habitable. It’s a wonderful opportunity for collaboration and creative expression, and I can’t wait to see the impressive displays they come up with! (Pictures to come!)

Following the “Origins of the Earth” project, we’ll shift our focus to exploring galaxies and other large-scale astronomical phenomena. This will set us up nicely for our first unit test, scheduled for mid-October. I encourage everyone to engage in conversations at home about these topics; your support means the world!

If you have any questions or want to connect further, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at curtis_silverwood@conestogavalley.org. You can also follow our journey on Instagram at @classwithcatwood, where I share updates and snapshots of our exciting classroom activities.

Thank you for being such an integral part of our learning community!

Mr. Catwood (formerly Silverwood)