Stars

Answer the following questions in your blog:

1. Name 10 stars.
2. Choose one star. Which one did you choose?
3. What kind of star is it?
4. Are there any planets that orbit this star? Tell me about them.
5. What galaxy is this star a part of?
6. How far is the star from Earth?

R-Time Thanksgiving

Hey R-Time, you've got a tough assignment today. Play these Thaksgiving games.

NASA @ Home

Today you will complete the NASA @ Home assignment. Click here to get started!

When you are done, you will diagram the Solar System on the back of your NASA @ Home paper. Make sure that you label the following parts:

• Sun
• Mercury
• Venus
• Moon
• Jupiter
• Saturn
• Uranus
• Earth
• Pluto
• Asteroid Belt
• Comets (Oort Cloud)
• Mars
• Neptune
• Kuiper Belt

Here are some helpful sites to get you started:

• National Geographic: Our Solar System
• Maps.com Solar System

Astronomy Choice Project

Today you will begin your Astronomy Choice Project. Here are your project guidelines.

CYO Webquest

Today you will create your own Chapter 22 Webquest. You will find quality astronomy-related websites, and create questions. All of the answers should be found on the websites that you use. Your webquest should be 15 questions long, covering 15 different topics. Please provide the website for each question. Here are your topic choices:

• Geocentric
• Heliocentric
• Retrograde motion
• Ellipse
• Astronomical Unit (AU)
• Johannes Kepler
• Galileo Galilei
• Tycho Brahe
• Nicolaus Copernicus
• Rotation and revolution
• Precession
• Perihelion and aphelion
• Perigee and apogee
• Phases of the moon
• Solar eclipse
• Lunar eclipse
• Lunar history
• Lunar surface

Here is a sample question: (feel free to use it in your webquest)
1. What is the shape of Earth's orbit around the sun?
http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/physical_science/physics/mechanics/orbit/perihelion_aphelion.html&edu=mid
2. Type your next question here. On the next line, have the full link.

You may not use any encyclopedia websites (http://www.answers.com/, http://www.wikipedia.com/, http://www.dictionary.com/, etc.). Here are a few helpful websites that will get you started:

1. Windows to the Universe
2. Equinoxes, Solstices, Perihelion, and Aphelion
3. NinePlanets.org
4. Lunar Timeline
5. Geocentric and Heliocentric models, Retrograde motion of Mars

Astronomy Topics

Starting Monday, we will begin our Astronomy unit. This will take us to the end of the semester. Over the next couple of weeks, you will be working on a research paper (in addition to our regular class work) about a topic of your choice. I have included the list of topic choices below.

For today's blog assignment, you will choose 5 topics that sound interesting, and write a paragraph for each. You are not committed to making any of today's choices your research assignment. Here's the list of choices:

• Black holes
• Worm holes
• String Theory (check quarks link, ask Mr. Dunn for explanation)
• Dark Matter
• Dark Energy
• Search for Extra-terrestrial Life (SETI)
• Mars
• The Moon
• Pluto
• Hubble Telescope
• Titan (one of Saturn's moons)
• Apollo Missions
• Saturn's rings
• Big Bang Theory
• Telescopes
• Ultimate fate of the universe
• International Space Station
• Kuiper Belt
• Milky Way Galaxy
• Andromeda Galaxy
• Star constellations
• Astrobiology
• Asteroid belt

CYO Crossword Puzzle

Today you will create your own crossword puzzle. When finished, the crossword puzzle will become your study guide for tomorrow's quiz. Click here to get started.

You will be graded on the following criteria:

• You should have sixteen terms
• Check your spelling and grammar
• Crossword puzzle conventions (author name, only 1 word answers, etc.)

Factors that Affect Wind

Answer the 3 questions in your blog:

1. What 3 factors affect wind?
2. Which of the 3 do you think has the greatest effect? Why?
3. What would happen if this factor (from #2) all of a sudden stopped? Remember to include details about what might happen in your response.

Air Pressure Webquest

Today you will complete the Air Pressure Webquest. Although you already have the paper copy, you will also need the online version to access this links.

Cloud Types

Today you are going to go a little further with cloud types. Answer the following questions in your blog, then play the games. Click here to begin.

1. List three low clouds, three middle clouds, three high clouds, and one cloud with vertical development.

2. Which clouds look the best to you?

3. What kind of weather does that type of cloud bring?

4. Include a picture of that cloud type.

5. When you are done with this blog post, play both of the games (Cloud Matching Game and Cloud Concentration Game).

When you are all done, check out these Earth Science games. There is a basketball, soccer, and Grade or No Grade (similar to Deal or No Deal) game. Have fun!