Hello everyone,
I hope you are all doing well! October feels like it’s flying by, but let’s pause and take a look at where we are in science right now and where we’re going.
Where We Are:
We have a little less than a month left of Trimester 1. Students have just completed their Motion & Energy Unit test and we have begun our Astronomy Unit. Astronomy is broken into two parts. In Part 1, we’ll finish before the end of the Trimester. It will focus on small scale interactions between the Earth-Sun-Moon.
This week, we’ve been focused on patterns in the sky related to space. Earlier in the week, students had homework where they should have made connections with family and friends to ask about other patterns in the sky related to space. We spent a lot of time Monday focused on understanding why Manhattanhenge occurs in New York.
Yesterday and today, we’ve been focused on analyzing data related to the Solar Energy output of the Sun and seeing how that relates to the number of “Daylight Hours” and to seasons. This week has been all about pre-assessment and getting to know what students already know and how to move forward to solidify their understanding of the content.
Below are images from an activity we did where students wrote what other patterns they were aware of related to space after creating initial models for how Manhattanhenge may occur (we're going to revisit that at a later date!):
Tomorrow we’ll take a pause on science because of the CDT testing but Friday we’ll have class and analyze more data related to the Sun. It’ll help see things big picture and piece all of what we did this week together.
Where We’re Going:
Moving forward in Astronomy - Part 1, we’ll tackle Day, Night, and Seasons, The Moon, Eclipses, and Tides. Side note: the photos from the recent Annular Eclipse in California are awesome (cue Johnny Cash - Ring of Fire).
November 16th will be our Astronomy - Part 1 test and this grade may end up going on Trimester 2. Potentially it will be the final grade of Trimester 1.
After the Thanksgiving Break, we’ll return focused on Astronomy - Part 2. This will focus on large scale astronomy such as the entire Solar System, Celestial Bodies, Stars, Galaxies, and the Universe as a whole.
As always, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out: curtis_silverwood@conestogavalley.org
Feel free to follow @ScienceWithSilverwood on Instagram.
Thank you,
Mr. Silverwood
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