Week 6 Science Methods 2- Astronomy

1. What did you do in the lab?   

2. What was the big question? 

3. What did you learn in Thursday's discussion? 

4. Read the online textbook, Chapter 5 

        1. What did you learn? 

        2. What was most helpful? 

        3. What do you need more information on? 

5. What questions, concerns, and/or comments do you have?  

    In the lab, we were given some questions to think about without googling. They were "How do the phases of the moon occur?" "What causes the seasons?" "What causes a lunar eclipse?" We got to think and jot down our ideas before we got to discuss them with groups. I had an easier time thinking of the first and the last questions, but the one about seasons was a bit more challenging for me.  

    My answer to the first question was "The sun causes only one part of the moon to be shown." In the big discussion, we talked about how as the sun moves, the moon is also moving, and the sun's reflection depends on what the people on Earth will see.   

    My answer to the next question was "The sun?" As a table discussion, we also had trouble thinking about how we have the seasons. Olga did say "Maybe it involves the tilt?" In the discussion with the whole class, we were taught about how it is the tilt of the earth depends on what season it is. Sunlight in the northern hemisphere is called the summer solstice, sunlight on the equator is called the fall equinox, sunlight in the furthest southern part is called the winter solstice, and sunlight moving back up to summer is called the spring equinox.  

    My answer to the last question was "When the moon is blocked by something it goes dark at night." I talked with the group that it is when the moon "disappears." In the whole group, we were short on time, but an eclipse is when the planets are in the same plain.  

    In Thursday's discussion, we talked about the same questions from the lab on Tuesday. We had quiz questions that related to the phases of the moon. We also looked at our answers from the google quiz from lab, and talked about them. 

    In the reading, I learned more about Heliocentrism and Geocentrism. Geocentrism is the theory that the Earth is the center of the solar system. It is the thought that all the other planets and the sun revolve around the Earth. Heliocentrism is the theory that the Sun is at the center of the universe and all the planets revolve around it. It then leads into who thought and changed the way we think this. It talks about how the Catholic Church plays a big role in why there was pushback on the thought of Heliocentrism. The Church believed in Geocentrism, and Galileo claimed that they were wrong, they thought it was scandalous because so many biblical passages would be conflicted because of Heliocentrism. The Church convicted him of heresy. He was on house arrest where he was till he died. They ended up taking back what they said. They ended up saying this in 1822. I also learned that a solar eclipse occurs only during a new moon, and a lunar eclipse only occurs during a full moon. 

    The most helpful was the different visuals given. I'm a very visual learner so the videos and the pictures of the different phases, and the eclipses were very beneficial.  

    At the moment, I don't need any more information and I do not have any comments, questions, or concerns