Fossils Experiment

Today we talked about fossils and made a do it yourself fossil dig sites in groups.

A fossil is the remains or impression of a prehistoric organism preserved in petrified form or as a mold or cast in rock.

Our task is to create a matrix and determine which plaster/sand mixture is the best. My group and I did 3 different ratios, 25mL Plaster/75 mL Sand, 50mL Plaster/50mL Sand, and 75mL Plaster/25mL Sand. We added water to each mixture until we made a solution that had a pancake batter like consistency. Below is a picture of the 3 cups. Inside of the solutions is a shell for us to find later.

After letting the solutions dry for a week, we used hammers and chisels to find the shells that were hiding. Cup 3 was the best solution, which had 25mL plaster and 75mL sand. It was easy to break the solution up and my group partner just had to use her hands to find the shell. This would be great for young kids because they wouldn't have to use tools to break it apart. On the other hand cup 1 and 2 were much harder, and it took my other group partner and I a while to find the shell, having to use hammers and chisels. This would be hard for an elementary student get the shell, but it would also be dangerous giving a 2nd grader a hammer.

This was a great activity and I can not wait to do this in my classroom.

How Much Money?

If you had $100, how much would go towards the Sun compared to all the other things in the solar system in mass?

Out of $100 I think the Sun would take up about $35. The solar system is huge and all the other planets that are in it take up $65.

The actual sun is $99.85 of the $100, which means the sun makes up 99.85% of the mass of the whole solar system. That was a huge surprise to me, and I still can not believe it.

What have the Astronomers ever done for us??

Aristarchus(310-230BC)

Aristarchus was an ancient Greek astronomer and mathematician and is well known because he presented the first known model that the Earth revolved around the sun,"central fire," placing the sun in the center of the universe. Along with the revolution around the sun, he concluded that the Earth rotates on its axis.  He also placed all the planets around the sun in the correct order, including distance. Aristarchus devised a system which got him values of the size and distance of the moon. Later, more modern Greek astronomers refined his methods and got very accurate values.

References: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristarchus_of_Samos

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Aristarchus-of-Samos

A Private Universe

We were asked in class to model the relationship between the Earth and the Moon. I drew my earth about 20x larger than my moon, but did not account for the distance between them. After Dr. Klett checked all of our drawings he drew it on the board, and the actual earth is about 5x larger than the moon, but the distance between them is very far, about 230,000 miles. Next time I will know to account for both relationships, size difference and distance, when asked to model something.

We started watching a video called "A Private Universe" and it was about different misconceptions with the earth, our moon, and the sun. Dr. Klett asked us the questions during the film and below these are my responses.  

We were asked what are the reasons for the seasons. I believe there are seasons because of the different ways we face and rotate around the sun. This is why the seasons are opposite on the south side of the equator. In the video college graduates were interviewed and they all believed, just like a lot of other people, that the reason for the seasons has to do how close and far the earth is from the sun, which is completely wrong. Our distance from the sun never changes as we go around it. The earth is tilted, which means the earth is hit with direct and indirect lights.

The reason there are different phases of the moon has to do with its positioning with the earth and the sun. As the moon makes its way around the earth we see different parts lit up based on where the sun is. People understand that, but it is hard for people to know what the different phases are and where exactly they are.

It was very interesting to see all the misconceptions for students and how different people learn these things, from a teacher or on their own.