Methods II Lab Week 6: Earth, Sun, Moon

 This week in lab, we started by answering these questions to the best of our knowledge:

1. How do the phases of the moon occur?

The phases of the moon change because as the moon orbits the earth, the earth blocks the sun's light at different degrees which causes more or less of the moon to be visible on earth. 

2. What causes the seasons?

 As the earth orbits the sun, it rotates around on an ovular trail so when the Northern Hemisphere is further from the sun/pointing away from the sun, we have the colder seasons. When the earth/northern hemisphere is closer to the sun in its rotation, we experience warmer seasons. 

3. What causes a lunar eclipse?

The earth is directly in between the sun and the moon so the moon goes fully dark.  

Once we worked through the lab and discussed as a group, I am adding this information to my answers:

1. How do the phases of the moon occur?

As the moon orbits the earth, it reflects the sun's light at different amounts which regulates how much of the moon we can see. 

2. What causes the seasons?

The earth's axis is tilted, so as it rotates on its path around the sun, the hemispheres are tilted towards or away from the sun, which gives it more or less direct sunlight, and causes the warmer or colder seasons. 

3. What causes a lunar eclipse?

When the position of the moon is directly in line with the earth so earth's shadow covers the moon and it goes dark. 

In this week's reading, 

I learned: that we have 2 equinox's each year, where the amount of sunlight and the amount of darkness each year is equal at 12 hours. We have 2 solstices each year, where the amount of sunlight the earth gets is the most and the least. 

I found helpful: the videos included about the moon's phases showed how the moon's orbit around the earth only sometimes results in an eclipse and other times it is just the full or new moon. 

I need more information on: simulating a real-world representation of the moon and earth's orbit to show the moon phases and how the seasons change. 

In lecture on Thursday, I learned more about each phase of the moon and what it will look like in the sky. We practiced how we can determine what phase the moon is in by finding its location in the sky relating to the sun, and how the orbit of the earth around the sun creates seasons. I found a lot more clarity on how we get seasons and see different phases of the moon after this lecture. 

My only concern is that on a quiz or exam, I might struggle answering the questions without a physical model to help me work through the question visually rather than mentally. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Methods II: Week 9

 What did we do in lab this week? This week we focused a lot on the timeline of our existence and Earth's existence. We looked into big events such as the formation of the earth, water found on the earth, Earth freezing over, the first plants and animals on the earth, and when humans first existed on Earth. We emphasized that humans have been here for a very short time in comparison to the timeline of the universe since the "Big Bang". We used a simulation called Earthviewer to look through some of the big events and eras our earth has gone through.  What was the big question? When did big events relating to our Earth take place? What did we learn in Thursday's discussion? We took our Space exam so we did not continue our discussion on this topic.  This week's reading:  Chapter 15: History of Earth - I learned: the Earth was able to freeze over completely due to a positive feedback loop. When Ice accumulated on the planet, it reflected more and more light away fro...
Read more

Methods II: Week 11

Image
What did we do in lab this week? We started by talking about the law of superposition, that the rocks further down in the earth are older than the ones above it. We also talked about how rocks are changed, through weathering/erosion (chemical or physical). We looked at different samples of sand and tried to determine if it was eroded by water, wind, or glaciers.  What was the big question? The big question was, how is sand made/what do different kinds of erosion cause?  What did we learn in Thursday's discussion? In our lecture, we did some investigations about what would float or sink in water and read a book about Archimedes' rule. We talked about how we could determine if the two objects were the same, using water displacement and buoyancy. Then we used this method to figure out how we can determine how many crystals/empty space are in a geode. We can decide how hollow a geode is using Specific Gravity. If it is less than 2.7, then it is at least somewhat hollow. If it is 2...
Read more

Methods II: Week 8

What did we do in lab this week? This week in lab, we focused on presenting our group slides covering several different ideas. We were able to practice teaching about these topics rather than just sitting and listening and learning ourselves. Being able to teach our classmates helped us to practice some of the tactics we have been seeing and learning about, as well as address misconceptions about each topic which we have learned how prevalent they are even in higher education.  What was the big question? The main themes we covered in our presentations were, the origin of the universe, lifecycles of stars, galaxies, black holes, origin of the earth, and space exploration in the past/present/future.  What did we learn in Thursday's discussion? We started by doing a short review about the moon phases and space. Then we discussed the Big Bang Theory as well as alternative theories. Then we went through the life cycles of stars and how/why stars are different and change. Next we ta...
Read more