IN YOUR ORBIT

Hello everyone,

We are still cruising through our astronomy unit and are officially entering the last bit of our journey through the cosmos. Students have been working hard, asking big questions, and exploring how our place in the universe works.

Where We Were

We kicked off this unit by focusing on Earth-Sun-Moon interactions. Students modeled moon phases as well as lunar and solar eclipses, conducted gallery walks, analyzed eclipse images, and whiteboarded eclipse diagrams to understand why these events occur and why eclipses display such distinct colors. We also examined atmospheric interactions through hands-on activities like our Milky Water lab, comparing sunrise, sunset, moonrise, and moonset images to investigate how light interacts with Earth's atmosphere.

Where We Are

Over the past week, we expanded our view from our local space to the scale of the universe and space exploration. Students began with space exploration notes and measuring space practice. We took our learning outside to use the sidewalks for a scale model of the solar system lab activity. Finally, students spent time on the electromagnetic spectrum using station rotations and spectroscopy practice sheets to learn how scientists use light to observe space and determine how objects move through the universe.

Images from our Scale Model of the Solar System Lab Activity:

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Where We Are Going

As we move into the final stretch of the unit, our focus turns to gravity, orbits, and how solar systems form. Students will tackle a thought experiment about how Earth would be impacted if the moon were a different size or distance in its orbit. We will cover orbits and gravity using notes, simulations, and interactive demonstrations of Newton's and Kepler's Laws. We'll wrap up this topic with our Gravity station rotations.

To wrap up the unit, students will begin work on the Architect of a Solar System project. There will be no traditional test for this unit. Our final assessment is entirely project-based, as all of our hands-on labs throughout the unit have already tested students on the core content. As a quick reminder, the Marking Period is over October 26th, all missing work is due by Wednesday, October 21st.

If you have any questions or want to connect further, feel free to reach out at curtis_catwood@conestogavalley.org. You can also follow our classroom adventures on Instagram at @classwithcatwood, where I share updates and snapshots of what we are learning!

Stay Gold,

Mr. Catwood