Spectra

Today we talked about identifying elements by their spectra.

We had some short notes and another practice problem like bellwork: Spectra of Elements. Your homework is Quantum IV.

Study Guide

Today we counted stamps (all January stamps) and started work on your study guides. You'll have some of your block day work time, too, and we'll take the test during the last 50 minutes of your block day.

Study guides: honors, conceptual

Some of you were taking that alternative assessment last week. Those students have the option of taking the test at a later time, but it is YOUR responsibility to take it after school. I will not remind you. If I still don't have a test from you in two weeks, you are getting a zero.

Here are the abridged answers to the study guide. The difference between honors and conceptual are in blue.

Shadows and Eclipses

Today we talked about shadows and eclipses. Here is the bellwork:

But the parts of shadows are a bit better explained here.

Next we talked about eclipses in the context of shadows. A good explanation is here. We looked at NASA's Eclipse website and watched some time lapse videos of eclipses (lunar, solar). Finally, I tried to convince all of you to plan a road trip to see the August 21, 2017 total solar eclipse.

No homework this weekend, but I'm still missing A LOT of Light Review sheets. You have a test coming up on your next block day.

Everyone: Light Review

Today we reviewed a bit that we already know about waves and light. Bellwork:

We spent most of the period finishing last night's homework or starting Light Review.

Everyone: Color and Polarization

Today we combined two lessons that I usually do on separate days. First, The bellwork:

The underlined colors in number two are the primary colors of light. We used an old color addition box to show how the primary colors add to make other colors, but you can get the same information here. Note that white and black are not really "colors" in physics because they do not have a designated wavelength - white is all colors and black is no light at all.

We also talked about how screens on devices like televisions and cell phones use RGB pixels to make different colors. You can read about that here.

Then we switched to the other lesson, which was kicked off by number three in bellwork. It would be a good idea to read about stereoscopic vision here. We moved on to polarizers and demonstrated how the difference between unpolarized light an polarized light as well as how polarizers function with some springs and golf clubs. You can read about polarization in the intro to the Wikipedia page.

We then we talked about ways we use polarizers or polarized light. There are lots of examples later in the Wikipedia page, but we focused on polarized sunglasses and 3D movies. The 3D movies are explained in the second paragraph of the Display Technologies section.

Your homework tonight is a light waves practice worksheet that Ms. Trinkley gave me before the printers broke. Please put your answers on the back.

Electromagnetic Spectrum Continued

Today we watched this series of videos: Tour of the Electromagnetic Spectrum

Then you had time to work on your EM Spectrum Project, which will be due next Monday.

Fair warning: I will be gone Friday.

Everyone: Electromagnetic Spectrum

Today we are talking about the electromagnetic spectrum - one of my favorite things! First, bellwork:

Then, depending on your class we watched one of these videos:

Weird sounding song
Catchy song
Tour of the EM Spectrum Introduction

We might watch the rest of that playlist (see the whole thing here) next week.

We then went over the spectrum in more detail with a powerpoint.

Next week we will be working on the EM Spectrum Project. I did not officially pass it out today, but some people took it to get started.

Everyone: Intro to Light

Today we started talking about light and electromagnetic waves.

We watched this video and homework is Waves III.

Study Guide: Quantum

Spectra Lab

Today we did the Spectra Lab.  If you were not here, I will simply excuse you for it.  If you want to make it up, you may do so after school.  Alone, it will probably take you 20-30 minutes.

Spectra

Conceptual bellwork:









Honors bellwork:






Notes Below. There is a nice page with the spectra of each element here. Homework is Quantum IV (Conceptual, Honors)

Study Guides

Today and tomorrow you may use class time to work on the study guide and make your note card for the test on Friday. Below are some abridged answers to check against - blue for Conceptual and pink for Honors.

Shadows and Eclipses

No homework tonight, but Light III is due and this shadow eclipse stuff will show up on your test Friday.

Practice: Light III

First we completed a short bell work to help with #1 on the homework. The rest of the day was work time for Light III, which is due Tuesday. Your test is next Friday.

Colors

Today we talked about colors - what they are, how they are mixed, etc. Note that the primary colors of light are NOT the same ones you may have learned in art. We looked at several demos and pictures online, but what you really need to know is in the bell work below.

Speed of Light

Today we did a sort of demo-lab to calculate the speed of microwaves in air. We then compared this to the speed of light in a vacuum: 300,000,000 m/s. Some notes of this process can be found here, and the homework tonight is Light II. You are encouraged to use scientific notation on the homework, and it may be helpful to know that the speed of sound in air is only 340 m/s - almost a million times slower than light!

Also, here is a picture of the chocolatey goodness that resulted from the demo. Which we ate.

Polarization of Light

Today involved a lot of demonstrations, which I cannot show here. But below you will find bell work and some notes. Homework is Light I.

Electromagnetic Spectrum

Notes below.Homework here.

Light

Today we went through a basic introduction to light. There is no homework tonight, but I hope to see everyone at the game today! Also, here is a pretty good animation of an electromagnetic wave.

Quantum Test

Test today!  If you missed it (we had some field trips) it is YOUR responsibility to make it up within a week.