Science Methods 2 Blog Post 6

 Lab

What did you do In lab today? 

In lab today we talked about the big question "How big is the solar system?" to answer this question we designed a solar system to scale including the Sun, Moon, and the four inner planets. We first started by getting the diameter of the Sun and then scaling the Moon and four inner planets according to the diameter of the Sun. We used a globe as our Sun then used a measuring tape to put the size of the planets to scale, followed by measuring the distance between the planets. Here are some pictures of our lab activity: 

Lecture 

What did you learn in Thursday's lecture? 

In the lecture today we learned that the Moon does rotate, and the rotation of the Moon goes the same exact speed as the Earth. We also learned it takes 28 days total for the Moon to circle the Earth, and that the distance between the Moon and the Earth continues to gradually increase. During the lecture we also discussed different theories on how the Moon was formed some of the theories include the Capture theory, Fission theory, Co-formation theory, and Colliding theory. The main theory we talked about was the theory that the Moon was formed due to the collision of a larger object with Earth, but we did talk about the importance of learning different theories that might connect with students' different up brings or religious beliefs. The Moon is also about the size of the United States, and when we see a full Moon that looks really big it is not because it's closer to the horizon it's just a trick of the eye due to the comparison of the things around it such as trees, mountains, and buildings. We lastly talked about why the two Moon sides look different the dark side of the Moon faces away from Earth which allows it to stay cooler so it has a harder surface, while the light side of the Moon faces towards Earth which causes the light side to be softer which allows more damage. 

Pressbook 

What did you learn from the press book? 

I learned from the pressbook more in depth about Pluto, and why it is not a planet. According to the pressbook Pluto meets two of the three requirements to be a planet 1. Pluto orbits around the Sun 2. Gravity formed Pluto to be a round shape, the one requirement Pluto does not meet the requirement of "clearing the neighborhood." Clearing the neighborhood means Pluto needs to clear neighboring regions of other objects, which Pluto is unable to do which is why it is not a planet. 

What was most helpful about the press book?

Having the section on why Pluto is not a planet was extremely helpful. When I was younger I was taught the only reason Pluto was not a planet was based on its size, this is definitely part of the reason but not the whole truth. I found it to be really interesting that a planet has to meet three criteria in order to be a planet, and I found that learning these criteria was helpful and informative. 

What do you need more information on?   

I would like a video demonstrating what "clearing the neighborhood" looks like. I feel the press book did a good job describing how it works, but did not do a good job demonstrating the process and I feel seeing a picture or a video of "clearing the neighborhood" would be helpful.