Friday, May 24, 2013
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Build you own Museum BM
To complete your unit on space, create a series(4-8) of museum exhibits that occupy a space that is 6 x 8 sq ft. The exhibits must contain some interactivity (like a game or a quiz or matching) and be of high quality. A digital walk-through must be completed by 5/24 and uploaded to Youtube/shared with me.
Exhibit 1: How BIG is space? Include a comparison to other known objects in the solar system or the universe.
Exhibit 2: What should we know about a particular star or stars in general?
Exhibit 3: What really matters about our Sun to people here on Earth, and what do we do to study it? Yes, I know there are lots of things, so pick one and make it meaningful.
Exhibit 4: Why are people like Newton, Galileo, Einstein, Annie Cannon or others so important?
Exhibit 5: How big is this place we call the Universe and what implications does that have?
Exhibit 6: Pick something strange about the universe (Big Bang, quasars, gravitational lensing, black holes,etc.) and study it.
Exhibit 1: How BIG is space? Include a comparison to other known objects in the solar system or the universe.
Exhibit 2: What should we know about a particular star or stars in general?
Exhibit 3: What really matters about our Sun to people here on Earth, and what do we do to study it? Yes, I know there are lots of things, so pick one and make it meaningful.
Exhibit 4: Why are people like Newton, Galileo, Einstein, Annie Cannon or others so important?
Exhibit 5: How big is this place we call the Universe and what implications does that have?
Exhibit 6: Pick something strange about the universe (Big Bang, quasars, gravitational lensing, black holes,etc.) and study it.
Exhibit 7: Study an ancient civilization and how they observed astronomy. The Mayans, Peruvians, Egyptians, Stonehenge Celtics, others all had physical models they created.
Exhibit 8: Explain the difference between science, religion, observation, pseudoscience, theory, and philosophy and why it matters to astronomy.
Monday, May 13, 2013
Final Take Home Test (due by Wednesday noon)
You must complete at least one question from each unit. 11/16 total questions must be answered, with most answers taking 1-2 paragraphs. Each question is worth 15 points. ANY FORMAT BUT A SHORT ANSWER PAPER IS ACCEPTABLE
Submit to me as a shared Google Doc from a Google Drive folder.
UNIT 1
1. Comment on the evolution of astrology to astronomy over the past 2000 years, using evidence from at least three astronomers.
2. Explain the significance of the Zodiac, the 88 accepted constellations, and the polar stars to helping us in understanding of Earth's place in the universe.
UNIT 2
3. Why are the phases of the moon a type of time clock? Give three examples of how this could benefit you in the wilderness if the moon wasn't new and wasn't full.
4. Why bother to study other planets in our solar system and beyond?
5. How does our Sun function and create energy for us to live? What ramifications does that have for Earth and for the development of elements?
UNIT 3
6. Why is Galileo's telescope and discoveries using it (the moon, the sun, and the moons of Jupiter) such a turning point for science, and what did he find with each discovery?
7. What have large space telescopes (Chandra, Spitzer, Hubble, SOHO, GOES) told us, and what should be done about such telescopes in the future?
8. What is the role of ground-based telescopes like SDSS and VLAO in the study of space?
UNIT 4
9. Tell me about galaxies and their significance in the universe.
10. What is the role of mass in the life cycles of stars? Contrast at least two stars in your answer as evidence.
11. When a HR diagram is created of a neighborhood cluster of stars, what is it telling me about that region of space?
UNIT 5
12. How does the concept of spectral lines and red-shifting affectour understanding of planets, galaxies, and the universe as a whole? Edwin Hubble must be included in your answer.
13. What is the likelihood of discovering alien life, based on our research towards finding new planets, our understanding of the Drake equation, and the interstellar missions we have undertaken?
14. Think of the contributions of Einstein: E=mc^2, general relativity, special relativity, and the photoelectric effect, and suggest ways each has affect the study of astronomy.
UNIT 6
15. Space is honking big. So is the ability of human beings to understand it. What critical thinking skills have you gained in this class to help you move forward in your future studies?
16. Throughout this class, we have experienced the concept of science as a human endeavor, where fallible people do their best to help advance the cause of science, often with surprising benefits. Skeptics still remain, and a manufactured conflict between some factions in religion and science remains. What can you do about that as you move into your life as a literate science citizen.
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
The SDSS Survey and its Uses
Read the activity found here (this should take 20 min)
Read the opening paragraph of the Wikipedia article on the Sloan Digital Survey. (this should take 5 min)
Today, you will be doing a digital scavenger hunt with a partner. The activity is found here. (this should take 50-60 min, so take your time with the reading)
Note: the magnitudes are listed using 5 different filters-- u, g, r, i ,z Each of the filters is tracking different wavelengths. At this point, just write them down.
Monday, May 6, 2013
Galaxy Understanding
Galaxy Basics
Gathering Online Data
Go to http://www.galaxyzoo.org/ and start looking at the galaxies. As you go through each galaxy, draw it's basic shape. Follow the prompts, but don't limiti your observations to the questions being asked. Take about 5 minutes. When you get done, and have seen at least 15 galaxies, and have 10 or more observations, try to define a galaxy in your own words. Conside what you have seen,
Now, go back to GalaxyZoo and go through the tutorial. As you do this, write down another 10 observations.
Partner with some one else and compare your observations. One good way to do this is a t-chart, or Venn diagram. This can tell us what a galaxy is and what a galaxy isn't. Share at least two questions you still have below your diagram for when your class is discussing your findings.
Classifying Galaxies
Go to http://btc.montana.edu/ceres/html/Galaxy/galunknsheet.html and sort the galaxies into at least 4 categories. Explain what each category has for characteristics. The parts of a galaxy might be helpful.
Compare your classification system to those of others. How are they similar? Different?
Why do people pick one system for classifying over another? Can you think of classifying systems in some of these categories:
* Biology
* Sports
* Medicine
* English
* Other…
Share examples of classification in the world. What makes one system ‘right?’
Misconceptions In Action
Edwin Hubble's misconceptions were reflected in his ideas about the evolution of galaxies and the diagram you see at the top of this lesson. Read the article (but don't do the Exercise) before posting to the forum on galaxy selections and explain what you think is happening.
Our Own Misconceptions
Take the time to create your own pictures of the Milky Way from a top view and a side view using the data found in The Galaxy Song by Eric Idle. Your teacher may play the accompanying song:
Just remember that you're standing on a planet that's evolving
And revolving at nine hundred miles an hour,
That's orbiting at nineteen miles a second, so it's reckoned,
A sun that is the source of all our power.
The sun and you and me and all the stars that we can see
Are moving at a million miles a day
In an outer spiral arm, at forty thousand miles an hour,
Of the galaxy we call the 'Milky Way'.
Our galaxy itself contains a hundred billion stars.
It's a hundred thousand light years side to side.
It bulges in the middle, sixteen thousand light years thick,
But out by us, it's just three thousand light years wide.
We're thirty thousand light years from galactic central point.
We go 'round every two hundred million years,
And our galaxy is only one of millions of billions
In this amazing and expanding universe.
The universe itself keeps on expanding and expanding
In all of the directions it can whizz
As fast as it can go, at the speed of light, you know,
Twelve million miles a minute, and that's the fastest speed there is.
So remember, when you're feeling very small and insecure,
How amazingly unlikely is your birth,
And pray that there's intelligent life somewhere up in space,
'Cause there's bugger all down here on Earth.
Compare your picture to known data of the Milky Way, and to an analysis of the song. Why are galaxies difficult to visualize?
Go to http://www.galaxyzoo.org/ and start looking at the galaxies. As you go through each galaxy, draw it's basic shape. Follow the prompts, but don't limiti your observations to the questions being asked. Take about 5 minutes. When you get done, and have seen at least 15 galaxies, and have 10 or more observations, try to define a galaxy in your own words. Conside what you have seen,
Now, go back to GalaxyZoo and go through the tutorial. As you do this, write down another 10 observations.
Partner with some one else and compare your observations. One good way to do this is a t-chart, or Venn diagram. This can tell us what a galaxy is and what a galaxy isn't. Share at least two questions you still have below your diagram for when your class is discussing your findings.
Classifying Galaxies
Go to http://btc.montana.edu/ceres/html/Galaxy/galunknsheet.html and sort the galaxies into at least 4 categories. Explain what each category has for characteristics. The parts of a galaxy might be helpful.
Compare your classification system to those of others. How are they similar? Different?
Why do people pick one system for classifying over another? Can you think of classifying systems in some of these categories:
* Biology
* Sports
* Medicine
* English
* Other…
Share examples of classification in the world. What makes one system ‘right?’
Misconceptions In Action
Edwin Hubble's misconceptions were reflected in his ideas about the evolution of galaxies and the diagram you see at the top of this lesson. Read the article (but don't do the Exercise) before posting to the forum on galaxy selections and explain what you think is happening.
Our Own Misconceptions
Take the time to create your own pictures of the Milky Way from a top view and a side view using the data found in The Galaxy Song by Eric Idle. Your teacher may play the accompanying song:
Just remember that you're standing on a planet that's evolving
And revolving at nine hundred miles an hour,
That's orbiting at nineteen miles a second, so it's reckoned,
A sun that is the source of all our power.
The sun and you and me and all the stars that we can see
Are moving at a million miles a day
In an outer spiral arm, at forty thousand miles an hour,
Of the galaxy we call the 'Milky Way'.
Our galaxy itself contains a hundred billion stars.
It's a hundred thousand light years side to side.
It bulges in the middle, sixteen thousand light years thick,
But out by us, it's just three thousand light years wide.
We're thirty thousand light years from galactic central point.
We go 'round every two hundred million years,
And our galaxy is only one of millions of billions
In this amazing and expanding universe.
The universe itself keeps on expanding and expanding
In all of the directions it can whizz
As fast as it can go, at the speed of light, you know,
Twelve million miles a minute, and that's the fastest speed there is.
So remember, when you're feeling very small and insecure,
How amazingly unlikely is your birth,
And pray that there's intelligent life somewhere up in space,
'Cause there's bugger all down here on Earth.
Compare your picture to known data of the Milky Way, and to an analysis of the song. Why are galaxies difficult to visualize?
Friday, May 3, 2013
Spectra as a Tool
We've talked about Annie Cannon and her use of stellar spectra.
We've gone through the lab on Stellar Spectra
What else can we use spectra for?
Doppler Shift reading (Book, 102-104)
Where have we seen this?
Activity: http://carma.astro.umd.edu/AWE/Doppler/redshift.html
Based on the applet shown, what will happen when
a) a star moves towards the earth
b) a star moves away from the earth
c) the star and the earth are both moving towards one another
d) the star and the earth are both away from one another
====================================
Spectra can also be shown in a graphical form
Let's look here: http://casswww.ucsd.edu/archive/public/tutorial/Stars.html
What happens to the graph form when the line is black on the prism version?
What do the numbers at the bottom of the graph mean?
=====================================
How can I red-shift or blue-shift a star?
http://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/visualizations/es2802/es2802page01.cfm
What is happening?
=====================================
How does a galaxy spectra differ from a regular spectra....
http://www.galaxyzooforum.org/index.php?topic=1923.0
http://www.astro.washington.edu/users/anamunn/Astro101/Project1/stellar_spectroscopy_introduction.html
======================================
Are galaxies moving towards or away from us?
http://www.astro.washington.edu/courses/labs/clearinghouse/labs/HubbleLaw/knowgalaxies.html
======================================
What elements are present in an atmosphere (HOMEWORK)
http://lasp.colorado.edu/home/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Goldilocks_Three_Planets_student.pdf
http://lasp.colorado.edu/home/education/k-12/project-spectra/goldilocks-interactive/
http://lasp.colorado.edu/home/education/k-12/project-spectra/goldilocks-interactive/
We've gone through the lab on Stellar Spectra
What else can we use spectra for?
Doppler Shift reading (Book, 102-104)
Where have we seen this?
Activity: http://carma.astro.umd.edu/AWE/Doppler/redshift.html
Based on the applet shown, what will happen when
a) a star moves towards the earth
b) a star moves away from the earth
c) the star and the earth are both moving towards one another
d) the star and the earth are both away from one another
====================================
Spectra can also be shown in a graphical form
Let's look here: http://casswww.ucsd.edu/archive/public/tutorial/Stars.html
What happens to the graph form when the line is black on the prism version?
What do the numbers at the bottom of the graph mean?
=====================================
How can I red-shift or blue-shift a star?
http://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/visualizations/es2802/es2802page01.cfm
What is happening?
=====================================
How does a galaxy spectra differ from a regular spectra....
http://www.galaxyzooforum.org/index.php?topic=1923.0
http://www.astro.washington.edu/users/anamunn/Astro101/Project1/stellar_spectroscopy_introduction.html
======================================
Are galaxies moving towards or away from us?
http://www.astro.washington.edu/courses/labs/clearinghouse/labs/HubbleLaw/knowgalaxies.html
======================================
What elements are present in an atmosphere (HOMEWORK)
http://lasp.colorado.edu/home/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Goldilocks_Three_Planets_student.pdf
http://lasp.colorado.edu/home/education/k-12/project-spectra/goldilocks-interactive/
http://lasp.colorado.edu/home/education/k-12/project-spectra/goldilocks-interactive/
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Special and General Relativity
SPECIAL RELATIVITY
The background
Tutorial 1
Tutorial 2
Tutorial 3
Tutorial 4
Tutorial 5
Tutorial 6
Each of these tutorials focuses on a specific concept. When you get done, you should be able to explain
*the twin paradox
*simultaneity
*length dilation
*time dilation
*special relativity
The background
Tutorial 1
Tutorial 2
Tutorial 3
Tutorial 4
Tutorial 5
Tutorial 6
Each of these tutorials focuses on a specific concept. When you get done, you should be able to explain
*the twin paradox
*simultaneity
*length dilation
*time dilation
*special relativity
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