Wha's Going On: Week of 3/5 - 3/8

This week, we'll be finishing up the life cycle of stars by looking up high mass life cycles and looking at the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. Then moving on to refocus on measurement and conversion again, just before Spring Break.


The end of the third quarter is March 9th. The last day for students this week is March 8th, with March 9th being a teacher in-service day. The last day for students to turn in work, missing or late is March 9th. Please check your child's progress report and make sure they come see me if they have any missing work. I'll be available before school and during lunch. It is the responsibility of the student to make up work.

Life Cycle of Stars

For those interested in getting general understanding of stars life cycles, these pictures should help. We also used them last week and tomorrow in class.

Bill Nye: How To Talk To An Alien

I found this interesting video done by Bill Nye. It shows how we could talk to an alien who understands English.

Interesting Science News Articles

This morning, I searched the web and found several interesting articles on planetary science:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15863549 - From the BBC News website, this article entitled Most liveable alien world ranked. This article ranks alien worlds discovered by probes that humans could inhabit one day. This article does not rank any of the planets found by the Kepler probe, as those Kepler planets were discovered after the article was written.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17225127 - Another article from the BBC website; this article is entitled Oxygen envelops Saturn's icy moon. This article explains how a thin layer of oxygen envelopes the atmosphere of the moon Dione. Although we cannot live there, this does suggest that Saturn's other moons could support life.

Websites on Star Life Cycles

I'm posting links to different websites we have used and will use in class relating to a star's life cycle. If you have time, please check them out.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/space/birth-supernova-type-II.html - This links to a NOVA webpage which has an interactive animation where you discover what leads up to a supernova. Supernovas only occur in medium/high mass stars (10x the mass of our Sun).


http://mail.colonial.net/~hkaiter/life_cycle_of_a_star.htm - A very well done website which takes you into detail of a star's life cycle.

http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/teachers/lessons/xray_spectra/background-lifecycles.html - A webpage from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center which gives you a simple explanation of a star's life cycle.