Fandom High School

Week 15 -- December 20: Final Exam

"Good afternoon," Ellie greeted the class. "Welcome to the last day of class and the dreaded final." She grinned as she handed out the blue books to the students as they filed into the room.

"I hope you managed to learn something and I didn't bore you to death," Ellie went on. "The test is going to cover the entire semester, from the sun to the outer edges of the solar system. There's some multiple choice, some fill in the blanks, and a couple essays to choose from at the end. Good luck!"

Week 13 -- December 6: Asteroids, comets, meteors

Syllabus | Class Roster

Handouts:
Starmaps: North | South | East | West | Overhead

"Good afternoon," Ellie said cheerfully as the class arrived. "Last week we reached the edges of the Solar System, and today we're going to focus on some of the smaller objects it possesses.

( ''First, asteroids.'' )

Ellie lectured some more, then finished up with, "Next week will be a review week, so bring any questions you might have about what we've gone over or anything you're curious about. The final exam is in two weeks."

Upon arriving for Astronomy 101, students would find a note on the door:

"Class cancelled to give you an early start on the holiday.

Have a great break!

- Ellie"



[ooc: Sorry, things is insane today at work and I don't have the time to write up the class.]

Week 9 -- November 8: Uranus, the tilted world

Syllabus | Class Roster

Handouts:
Starmaps: North | South | East | West | Overhead

"Good afternoon," Ellie said cheerfully, as the music of Holst's "Uranus - the Magician" played softly. "Your midterm projects are due today. You were to conduct an interview with a student from a planet other than Earth, and I'd like you to present a few facts you learned." She peered around the class. "For those of you who I'm sure have forgotten this, I can be convinced to give you an extension.

"I'll keep the lecture short so we can hear your presentations. Today we're going to learn about Uranus. ( Stop snickering. )

Ellie went on for a little while longer, then stopped. "Now, for those of you who are prepared, I'd like to hear a little bit about what you learned about life on other planets."

Ellie opened up the observatory for the Parents Weekend school tour. Unfortunately, it being in the middle of the day, she didn't have anything they could actually observe through the telescope, but the dome was open for any who wanted to take a look at her baby. She did have lots of pictures of astronomical phenomenas on display, however.

Week 7 -- October 18: Jupiter, king of the planets

Syllabus | Class Roster

Handouts:
Starmaps: North | South | East | West | Overhead

Today's music? Holst's Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity.

"Good afternoon," Ellie greeted the class. "I hope those of you who went enjoyed Ms. Frizzle's trip. I certainly did. Today we're going to talk about Jupiter. Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest within the solar system. It is usually the fourth brightest object in the sky (after the Sun, the Moon and Venus); however at times Mars appears brighter than Jupiter.

( ''Jupiter is 2.5 times more massive than all the other planets combined.'' )

"Hi, everyone," Ellie said as people arrived in the astronomy class room. "There might be some thunderstorms tonight, but hopefully we'll get some clear skies to get a good look at some beautiful sights in the night sky.

"First we'll take a look at the Pleiades. The Pleiades (also known as M45 or the Seven Sisters) is an open cluster in the constellation of Taurus. It is among the nearest to the Earth of all open clusters, probably the best known and certainly the most striking to the naked eye. The cluster is about 12 light years in diameter and contains approximately 500 stars in total. It is dominated by young, hot blue stars, which have formed within the last 100 million years, up to 14 of which can be seen with the naked eye depending on local observing conditions. The arrangement of the brightest stars is somewhat similar to Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. It's a mini Big Dipper!

"We'll also take a look at the Ring Nebula, which is located in the contellation Lyra. It is among the most well known and recognizable examples of a planetary nebula, which is what we call the shell of gas left by a star at the end of its life. The nebula is located 2300 light-years from Earth and is illuminated by a central white dwarf.

Any special requests for things to look at?"

Week 4 -- September 27: Venus, the Earth's "twin"

Syllabus | Class Roster

Handouts:
Starmaps: North | South | East | West | Overhead

The strains of Holst's "Venus, the Bringer of Peace" greet the class for this session. Ellie hums along before she beings the lecture.

( Read more... )

Week 2 -- September 13: The Sun

Syllabus | Class Roster

Handouts:
Starmaps: North | South | East | West | Overhead

Today Ellie is wearing a black t-shirt with "Astronomers like it Messier" on it, and They Might Be Giants song "Why Does the Sun Shine?" is playing.

"The Sun is by far the brightest object in the sky," Ellie began the lecture. "It's so bright that during the day its light drowns out virtually everything else in space. The Sun is so powerful that even from the Earth, its light can damage your eyesight. So never look at the Sun directly or through a telescope.

( She goes on. . . . )


[ooc: Thanks to socksofcool for the song! SP is love for me today, since I'm in DC with my family and have no idea what my computer access will be.]

Week 1 -- September 6: Introduction: Overview of the Solar System, its origin and layout

Syllabus | Class Roster

Handouts:
Starmaps: North | South | East | West | Overhead

When the class arrived in the newly refurbished attic classroom, Monty Python's "The Galaxy Song was playing and Ellie was humming along. She was wearing a black t-shirt with an image of the Milky Way Galaxy and a "You are here" arrow. There was a stack of textbooks beside her, along with CDs of a an astronomy program.

"Hi!" Ellie said, smiling broadly. "Welcome to Astronomy 101. I recognize some of you from my summer camp workshops and I'm glad I didn't scare you away by talking too much. Today we're just going to go over a brief introduction to the Solar System, and then I'll show you around the telescope. You'll find the Hartmann text is a little out of date since Pluto was just demoted. But most of the facts should remain the same, and even in the chapter on Pluto there is the debate on just whether it should be a planet or not. Also, the program I'm giving you is a great resource for learning to spot constellations and the planets. Have fun with it."

After having the students introduce themselves, Ellie went on to lecture about the formation and layout of the Solar System. "For fun, check out this website," she said as she finished the lecture. She wrote the URL on the board. "You can create your own little Solar System. And make the planets crash into each other."

Ellie beckoned the students toward a door in the back of the classroom. Stair led upward into another room with a retractable domed roof. "This is Maria," she said, sweeping her arm toward the large telescope that dominated the room. "If you come to the observation lab tonight, we can take a look at a few objects. The moon will be full and we can take a look at the Andromeda Galaxy. I hope I see you all there! Observation Lab attendance is ten percent of your grade, but I hope you learn to enjoy it, too."