Elementary Science Methods II - Kamryn Becker

Week 5: Stars, Galaxies, and Origin of our Solar System 1. What did we do in lab today? In lab today we listened to group presentations on galaxies, black holes, and meteroids/comerts/meteroids/craters. While groups presented we were to be taking notes as a handful of the questions from the groups will be on the quiz next week. 2. What was the big question? The big question presented by Ted at the beginning of lab was if today was the first day of fall (September 22nd) where is the sun and where would your shadow be if you were standing on the equator. I wrote that the sun is on the equator because if it was winter it would be on the tropic of Capricorn and if it was summer it would be closer to the tropic of Cancer. If we were standing on the equator at noon our shadow would be non-existent since the sun in shining directly on top of us. If we look at it from an Iowa point of view our shadow would be to the north because the sun is south. 3. What did you learn in Thursday's lectur...

 Week 4: Scale Model Solar System 1. What did you do in lab today? In lab we conducted an experiment to model the first four planets of our Solar System. We were able to use whatever was available to us in the classroom (lab space). The goal was to make it to scale in means of size and distance. My table group decided to start with our Sun being 500mm. From then on Mercury was 1.748mm, Venus was 4.349mm, Earth was 4.577mm, Mars was 2.428mm, and the Moon was 1.247mm. We ended up going from the science lab room down to the PLC at the West side of North Lindquist.  2. What was the big question? The big question presented at the beginning of lab was "Why is the sight of a full moon phases startling in the middle of the day?". A full moon during daylight happens when the moon and sun are positioned on opposite sides of the Earth. In this phase, the moon usually rises right as the sun sets and disappears as the sun comes up. This makes its presence during the day feel sort of out o...

 Week 3: The Moon, Phases, and Different Sides 1. What did you do in lab today?  In lab we conducted an experiment exploring why the different sides of the Moon appear two different colors and textures. My groups final statements was that d epending on the size of the ball (meteoroid) the crater is bigger/smaller. The larger the meteoroid the larger the crater, the smaller the meteoroid the smaller the crater. In the same way it allows more or less cocoa powder. The crust on the near side of the moon is thinner than the crust on the dark side of the moon making it easier for craters to be created and seen. 2. What was the big question? There were three large questions presented in lab. What direction does the Earth rotate? Sun rises in the East, sets in the West → Counter clockwise. How long does the Moon rotate around the Earth? → It takes 28 days. How long does it take the Moon to revolve (turn on its axis)? → We have only ever seen one side of the moon. We didn't see the “...

Week 2: Space - The Final Frontier 1. What did you do in lab today? There was no lab as it was a holiday. 2. What was the big question? The four big questions we explored in lecture included how the moon was measured, who has gone to the moon, and what is the future of space travel. 3. What did you learn in Thursdays discussion? In lecture I learned that a  Greek astronomer Eratosthenes, 240 B.C.E found that the size of the Earth. He started with the knowledge that a circle is 360 degrees. He measured the angle of his shadow to be able to find the distance and multiply it by 50 and that is the length of the Earth. Ted talked about how y ou can easily do this in a classroom when you team up with other schools aka collaboration!! It allows students to see math and science in a real world context. Textbook: 1. What did you learn? I learned that James Van Allen created the radiation detecter that was in the Explorer 1 Satellite. His discovery of magnetic radiation belts around ou...