Author: Roland Roberts

I’ve been advocating the use of WeatherBug data in normal classroom exercise for a while.  I’m not sure that it’s caught on, so I decided to start putting together some sample exercises.  This section is that, the examples.  As example, they are “fully worked” meaning I ask questions and then provide answers.  Of course, in …

WeatherBug Example ExercisesRead More

The process of calculating an average is not hard, but it can be tedious. So, in math class, the children are often given a set of made-up numbers that make the process easier. In this exercise, you don’t get a break; we’re going to use real data from the WeatherBug at P.S. 102 for December …

WeatherBug Exercise 1 (Math): Temperature Statistics: Max, Min, Range, Median, MeanRead More

The New Horizons spacecraft on it’s way to Pluto was scheduled to get a wake-up call on November 9 and then spend 10 days running system tests and diagnostics.  The trip to Pluto is so long (in spite of the craft’s record speed of about 23 km/sec) that it spends much of its time in …

New Horizons Wake-Up CallRead More

Okay, the rings themselves haven’t changed at all.  But it turns out that there is an outer dust ring that is about 24 million kilometers in diameter composed of dust grains that do not reflect visible light.  Because of that, it hasn’t been seen before.  NASA has a short (very short) press release showing an …

Saturn’s Ring System Just Got BiggerRead More

Here’s a project in need of (part-time) volunteers.  Classifying galaxies.  Yep, you too can become a galactic zoologist!  You can find a short teaser on the Astronomy Picture of the Day web site (APOD Oct 26, 2009) with more details at the official Galaxy Zoo web site.  Makes a good family game with older kids, …

Galaxy Zoologists Wanted!Read More

Another generic resource, also from the NSTA elementary mailing list.  The issue of using inquiry in science lessons is a big deal and also came up a recent School Leadership Team meeting.  Inquiry does, of course, get used, but it’s always a tough item since it is easy to get "off script" when using a …

Inquiry Based Science LessonsRead More

Today I am at jury duty here in King’s County.  That means, for now anyway, that I’m waiting for my name to be called while the machinations of justice do their thing somewhere else in the building.  But the court system has moved into the modern age, at least in some ways, like providing free …

Science Resources for TeachersRead More

The national Nuclear Security Administration’s Nevad Site Office has made available a number of historically important videos for nuclear tests from the 1940s through the 1960s.  Apart from our common morbid fascination with things that go boom, you can always think of splicing these in as special effects for your next July 4th videos…. Videos …

Historical Videos of Nuclear TestsRead More

Oobleck is actually more than just a made-up name for the stuff in the Dr. Seuss book, it’s the name now applied to a whole class of fluids which display what is called "shear thickening."  That just means that when they have a sudden force applied, include of splashing to the side, the perversely get …

Oobleck – It’s not just for Dr. Seuss AnymoreRead More

Recent, is of course, relative to the timescale involved.  In the case of planetary collisions and their aftermath, that can be a very long time, like, tens of millions of years.  So while very interesting, this isn’t a train wreck (or planetary wreck) in progress, but the aftermath of one that is still settling. Physics …

“Recent” Planetary Collision around nearby StarRead More