Alyssa's Blog: Astronomy

Proficiency 1

I can analyze galaxies and the differences between galaxies. I will compare the Milky Way Galaxy to other types of galaxies.

Animoto:

To display my information, I used animoto. The challenge with using animoto is the word limit. You really have to work at how to say things so that people understand it, but use little words. Before I started to work on the animoto I first had to do research and get some basics down about each galaxy. While I was setting up my animoto I did more research, since I was getting a better idea of what I needed to do. When researching I struggled to find specific information about irregular galaxies. I eventually concluded that each galaxy is so different from another that it is hard to put the information together.

": 'Dancing with the Stars' Takes on a Whole New Twist." NASA Images . N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Dec. 2010. <http://www.nasaimages.org/luna/servlet/detail/NVA2~8~8~14616~115157:-Dancing-with-the-Stars--Takes-on-a>.

"Curious About Astronomy: How are galaxies formed?." Curious About Astronomy? Ask an Astronomer. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Dec. 2010. <http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=157>.

"Dusting Pictures." Carpet Cleaning Pictures. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Dec. 2010. <http://carpetcleaningpictures.com/dusting-pictures.php>.

"Faulkes Telescope Educational Guide - Stars - An Overview." University of Leicester. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Dec. 2010. <http://www.le.ac.uk/ph/faulkes/web/stars/r_st_overview.html>.

"File:Sphere.jpg." File:Sphere.jpg. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Dec. 2010. <commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sphere.jpg>.

"Ford Banking on Higher Gas Prices For Years To Come Even Without Higher Cafe Regs - BusinessWeek." BusinessWeek - Business News, Stock Market & Financial Advice. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Dec. 2010. <http://www.businessweek.com/autos/autobeat/archives/2008/01/ford_banking_on_higher_gas_prices_for_years_to_come_even_without_higher_cafe_regs.html>.

"Galaxies - Astronomy For Kids - KidsAstronomy.com." Astronomy For Kids - KidsAstronomy.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Dec. 2010. <http://www.kidsastronomy.com/galaxys.htm>.

"Interstellar Medium and the Milky Way." Astronomy Notes. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Dec. 2010. <http://www.astronomynotes.com/ismnotes/s2.htm>.

"Irregular galaxy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Dec. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irregular_galaxy>.

"Logic+Emotion: ." Logic+Emotion. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Dec. 2010. <http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/2007/02/index.html>.

"Milky Way - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Dec. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milky_Way>.

"Milky Way." Aerospaceguide.net: Space Projects and Info. N.p., 11 Nov. 2010. Web. 30 Dec. 2010. <www.aerospaceguide.net/astronomy/milkyway.html >.

"NASA Pictures of the Universe | Galaxies, Nebluae, Stars and More!." Geology.com - Earth Science News, Maps, Dictionary, Articles, Jobs. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Dec. 2010. <http://geology.com/nasa/nasa-universe-pictures.shtml>.

"The Lunar Planner: It Takes Two." Lunar Planner: Sidereal Astrology. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Dec. 2010. <http://www.lunarplanner.com/LunarMonths2006/lunarmonth.06.06.25.html>.

"The Milky Way." The Milky Way: the galaxy we know the most about (by far). N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Dec. 2010. <ircamera.as.arizona.edu/NatSci102/NatSci102/lectures/milkywayparts.htm>.

George, Lawrence. "Types of stars in the Milky Way Galaxy - by Lawrence George - Helium." Helium - Where Knowledge Rules. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Dec. 2010. <http://www.helium.com/items/1745140-types-of-stars-in-the-milky-way-galaxy>.

"Types of Stars and Star Groups." Innvista Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Dec. 2010. <http://www.innvista.com/science/astronomy/types.htm>.

jjoe57. "Mind Blowingly Massive Star Cluster Discovered - Tech Talk - CBS News." Breaking News Headlines: Business, Entertainment & World News - CBS News. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Dec. 2010. <http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501465_162-20019519-501465.html>.

small, a light particle is indeed. "The Big Bang, Redshift Light, and Dark Energy Theories Have Many Big Flaws, Errors, and Problems.." Bible Life Ministries - God's Salvation in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Dec. 2010. <http://www.biblelife.org/bigbang.htm>.

Proficiency 2

I can identify key technological advancements that helped in making our knowledge of space expand. My research will show the past, but I will also predict what future advancements may stretch our limits even more.

Key Technological Advancements

In this report I will identify key technological advancements that helped in making our knowledge of space expand. I will research about the past but I will also predict what future advancements may stretch our limits even more. To find out about the technological advancements, I researched about the Space Race, which began during the Cold War.The Space Race made the advancements we have today possible, because when the USSR got ahead of the United States; we pushed to improve our technology quicker so we could win the Space Race. If we didn't push all the projects along, we wouldn't know as much as we do today, our technological advancements would be much lower. When something becomes a competition, everyone seems to work harder, since nobody wants to lose.

One of the first advancements was Sputnik 1 also known as PS-1. It was the world’s first artificial satellite. This was a very simple but important satellite for the future of the technological advancements in space. Sputnik 1 was a spherical ball that was very light; weighing 185 pounds and had a diameter of 23 inches. This satellite had 2 radio transmitters that operated on different short wave radio frequencies. Sputnik 1 had the ability to detect if a meteoroid were to penetrate its pressure hull and the ability to detect the density of the Earths thermosphere. Rocket R-7 launched Sputnik 1. The satellite was launched on Friday, October 4, 1957 at exactly 10:28:34 P.M. Sputnik helped to identify the upper atmospheric layers density, by measuring the satellites orbital changes. It also helped give data on radio-signal distribution in the ionosphere. The pressurized nitrogen in the satellites body gave the first opportunity for meteoroid detection. If the meteoroid penetrated the outer hull, it would be detected by the temperature data sent back to Earth. Sputnik 1 traveled at 18,000 miles per hour and took 96.2 minutes to orbit the Earth. The signal only lasted 22 days before the batteries ran out October 26, 1957 and burned up January 4, 1958. The satellite fell out of orbit when reentering Earth’s atmosphere after traveling 37 million miles and spending 3 months in orbit. Sputnik 2 was the second spacecraft sent into Earth’s orbit, on November 3, 1957. It was the first spacecraft to carry a living animal, a dog named Laika. Sputnik 2 was a 13 foot high cone-shaped capsule with a base diameter of 6.6 feet. It contained several compartments for radio transmitters, a telemetry system, a programming unit, regeneration and temperature control system for the cabin, and scientific instruments. A separate sealed cabin contained the dog Laika. An air regeneration system provided oxygen; food and water were dispensed in a gelatinized form. Laika was fitted with a harness, a bag to collect waste, and electrodes to monitor vital signs. In October 2002 it was revealed that Laika had already died after a few hours from overheating and stress.Although Laika died from this experiment, all the information they gathered, would save a humans life.

Explorer 1 was the first Earth satellite of the United States and was the beginning of the United States space exploration. It was launched on January 31, 1958 at 22:48 Eastern Time. It was atop the first Juno booster from LC-26 at the Cape Canaveral Missile Annex, Florida. Explorer 1 was the first space craft to detect the Van Allen radiation belt. This satellite returned data until its batteries ran out after 4 months. Explorer 1 remained in orbit until 1970 and has been followed by more Explorer spacecrafts.

The first man to walk on the moon was Alexei Leonov, he spent 12 minutes outside of his Voskhod spacecraft. He completed his walk on March 18, 1965. Our first man to walk on the moon was Ed White. Jim McDivitt remained in the Gemini capsule. This even was on June 3, 1965.

A great advancement was getting men into space. The first man to go to space was Yuri Gagarin on April 12, 1961. While on Vistok 1 he used automatic controls and orbited the Earth for 108 minutes. Gagarin did not land his spacecraft instead he used a parachute. Alan Shepard was the first American to go to space on May 5, 1961. He was the first person to exercise manual control, although he did not achieve orbit. John Glenn was the first American to achieve orbit on February 20, 1962. He safely landed in the Atlantic Ocean, but had a tense reentry, due to what falsely appeared from the telemetry data to be a loose heated-shield.

Another great advancement in space was the Apollo missions. Apollo 8 launched on December 21, 1968 and made a lunar orbit and returned on Earth December 27, 1968. It was the first human-crewed spacecraft to leave low-Earth orbit and go to another celestial body, the moon. Celestial bodies are natural objects visible in the night sky. There’s also another great Apollo mission, called Apollo 11. They launched July 16, 1969.On July 20, 1969 Armstrong and Aldrin landed on the sea of tranquility and became the first humans to walk on the moon. Apollo 13 is the mission that inspired a movie. The spacecraft launched April 11, 1970 and two days later an explosion crippled the service module that the command module depended on. They had to conserve its batteries and the oxygen needed for the last hours of flight; instead the crew used the Lunar Module’s resources as a “lifeboat” during the return trip. They fought off the difficulties of limited power, loss cabin heat, shortage of potable water and the critical need to jury-rig the carbon dioxide removal system, and the crew returned to Earth safely on April 17. This mission was called a “successful failure” by NASA.

The Hubble Telescope is a telescope that orbits the Earth. It is positioned above the atmosphere, which distorts and blocks the light that reaches our planet, which gives it a view of the universe that typically far surpasses that of ground based telescopes. This telescope has shredded light on many of the great mysteries of astronomy. It has helped determine the age of the universe, the identity of quasars, and the existence of dark energy. A quasi-stellar radio source (quasar) is a very energetic and distant galaxy with an active galactic nucleus. The discoveries that the Hubble has made have changed the way scientists look at the universe. It has narrowed the list of theories and confirmed many of the theories. The age of the universe has been found to be from 13 to 14 billion years compared to the old range of 10 to 20 billion years. Hubble has also played a key role in the discovery of dark energy, which is a mysterious expansion of the universe to accelerate. It has also shown scientists galaxies in all stages of evolution that show how the galaxies form. Hubble has also found protoplanetary disks, clumps of gas and dust around young stars that are most likely birthing grounds for new planets. It has also gamma ray bursts.

Robotic spacecrafts have been the only way to explore Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune since the conditions are too rough or the planet is too far away to reach. There are many different types of probes, such as Lunar probes, Mars probes, Venus probes, Gas giant probes, Comet and asteroid probes, Solar observation probes, and there are also a few others. Mars is a major robotic exploration planet, with dozens of robotic spacecrafts. There are 3 kinds of robotic spacecrafts orbiters, landers, and rovers. They were hoping to find out about the history and if human exploration is capable, by collecting data about current conditions. About two thirds of all spacecrafts destined for Mars, have failed before completing their mission. As of January 2011 there is a piece of equipment on the surface of Mars beaming signals back to Earth.

I believe that the future of technology in space is only at the beginning. One day we will go to mars and one day our knowledge will expand drastically. We will also hopefully make more discoveries about other planets. Although some of the planets will be unlivable, if we could at least get some robotic spacecrafts on to those planets and find valuable information about the universe. I also believe that as we keep updating the Hubble Telescope, it will keep finding new facts about the universe that only Hubble can see. Another idea for the future is the future of spacecrafts that will eventually be able to travel further distances which will allow them to travel further into the universe and discover new planets and things that could never be predicted about the universe. I also predict that satellites will get larger and more efficient and will detect new things that were never able to be found with the smaller less advanced satellites. One of the future goals for the moon is to have people living on it. All of these ideas may or may not happen, but I believe they will try to attempt all of them.

About the project:
To complete this proficiency I began my research with the Space Race. Once I got a better understanding of what I needed to do; I researched the Hubble Telescope and the robotic spacecrafts or probes. I thought this proficiency was fairly easy. My only struggle was finding out what I truly need to do to complete the proficiency and what I needed to do to identify key technological advancements that helped our knowledge of space expand.

Works Cited

"Exploration of Mars - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Jan. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploration_of_Mars>.

"Explorer 1 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Jan. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Explorer_1>.

"Explorer 1 First U.S. Satellite - NASA JPL." Space, Stars, Mars, Earth, Planets and More - NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Jan. 2011. <http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/explorer/history/>.

"HubbleSite - The Telescope - Hubble Essentials ." HubbleSite - Out of the ordinary...out of this world.. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Jan. 2011. <http://hubblesite.org/the_telescope/hubble_essentials/>.

"Main Hubble Page." Main Hubble Page. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Jan. 2011. <http://hubble.nasa.gov/>.

"Quasar - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Jan. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quasars>.

"Space Race - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Jan. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Race#The_Space_Race_begins>.

"Space Race -National Air and Space Museum Exhibition Home Page." Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Jan. 2011. <http://www.nasm.si.edu/exhibitions/gal114/>.

"The Apollo Program (1963 - 1972)." Welcome to the NSSDC!. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Jan. 2011. <http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/apollo.html>.

completed, July 1956 the draft was, and its ion. "Sputnik 1 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Jan. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sputnik_1>.

name. "Robotic spacecraft - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Jan. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robotic_spacecraft>.

program, the standard crew rotation in place during the Apollo, and the prime crew for Apollo 13 would have been the backup crew for Apollo 10. "Apollo 13 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Jan. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_13>.

Proficiency 3

I can research the history of constellations. My research will delve into the stories and the myths associated with each constellation. I will create my own constellation either changing the story of a real constellation or creating one on my own.

Constellations on Prezi

To compelete this proficiency I first got a list of all the 88 constellations. Then I chose 4 constellations that I was intereseted in learning about. Then I research the mythology and a few other facts. For part of the history, I researched the International Astronomical Union. Overall I thought this project gave me a better understanding of the constellations.

Works Cited

" Andromeda." Introduction. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2011. <http://hsci.cas.ou.edu/exhibits/exhibit.php?exbgrp=3&exbid=20>.

"Andromeda (mythology) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andromeda_(mythology)>.

"Andromeda the Chained Princess." FCPS Home Page Redirect Page. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2011. <http://www.fcps.edu/DIS/OHSICS/planet/constell/androm.htm>.

" Andromeda ." UW Astronomy. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2011. <http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/constellations/Andromeda.html>.

"Andromeda." Windows to the Universe. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2011. <http://www.windows2universe.org/the_universe/Constellations/andromeda.html>.

Burns, Tom. "Constellations reflect heroes, beasts, star-crossed lovers | The Columbus Dispatch." Central Ohio News, Sports, Arts & Classifieds | The Columbus Dispatch. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2011. <http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/now/stories/2007/07/stars.html>.

" Canis Minor ." UW Astronomy. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2011. <http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/constellations/Canis_Minor.html>.

"Canis Minor." Welcome to StarrySkies.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2011. <http://starryskies.com/The_sky/constellations/canis_minor.html>.

"Canis Minor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canis_Minor>.

crab, a. "The Mythology of the Constellations: Hercules." comfychair.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2011. <http://comfychair.org/~cmbell/myth/hercules.html>.

e-Laws. " About | IAU ." International Astronomical Union | IAU. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2011. <http://www.iau.org/about/>.

e-Laws. " Naming of Astronomical Objects | IAU ." International Astronomical Union | IAU. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2011. <http://www.iau.org/public/naming/>.

"International Astronomical Union." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2011. <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Astronomical_Union >.

"Orion." The Dinosaur and Space Illustrations of Joe Tucciarone. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2011. <http://www.joetucciarone.com/orion.html>.

"The Mythology of the Constellations: Andromeda." comfychair.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2011. <http://comfychair.org/~cmbell/myth/andromeda.html>.

"The Mythology of the Constellations: Orion." comfychair.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2011. <http://comfychair.org/~cmbell/myth/orion.html>.

Proficiency 4

I can analyze the origins of our solar system. Starting with the sun, my research will emphasize how our solar system formed, the differences between inner planets and outer planets, and analyze the future of our sun and the solar system.

Our Solar System

Our sun is what keeps us living. Our Earth is just the right distance from the sun, so that we don’t freeze and we don’t burn up. If it weren’t for the sun huge star there wouldn’t be Earth and then there wouldn’t be mankind. How did this beautiful star form and how did the solar system with the planets form? Our Earth is what we live on, but our sun is what keeps our Earth living and warm enough for us to survive. Our Earth is just a small part of our large solar system, there are so many things about our solar system that we don’t think about on a day to day basis, but if you really think about things, would you really know how it formed, what makes the inner and outer planets different, and what may happen when the Sun runs out of hydrogen.

Astronomers believe that the sun formed form a giant cloud that was rotating slowly, which happened about 5 thousand years ago. The solar system formed from clouds that were mostly made of hydrogen gas, although the clouds are also made of a little bit of oxygen, silicon, and carbon. The gravity caused all of the gas to want to concentrate in the same place. When the gas moved closer to the axis of rotation, it started to rotate faster around that axis. The fast rotation, caused the gas to not settle all in one place, instead the gas made a flat disk with most of the materials in the center. Then the material inside the middle concentrated more until it got so hot and dense, that it could start generating through a nuclear fusion of hydrogen. This made the sun become a star. The rest of the material clumped together and formed the planets. It is thought that the hydrogen that is now the Sun was created in the Big Bang, when the whole universe started. In the Big Bang, only the very light elements hydrogen, helium, and a little bit of Lithium were formed. All the heavier elements such as carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and silicon were formed later, inside stars. The earlier stars exploded as supernovas. Then the heavier elements got mixed with hydrogen gas that was still floating around. The elements ended up also in our Solar System. All the carbon, calcium, and oxygen atoms are an essential part of the body. The Silicon, iron, and oxygen atoms form most of the inside of Earth. The oxygen atoms are needed to form water. Nitrogen and oxygen formed most of the Earth.

The inner planets consist of Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. The outer planets are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Inner planets are more closely place and they are also called terrestrial planets. Outer planets Inner planets have a very high density compared to outer planets that are less dense. Outer planets are much colder, which let them old on to some light gasses such as helium and hydrogen. The outer planets are bigger which gives them a higher gravity and helps them maintain the two lighter gasses. Inner planets are small, and made of rock and metallic elements. Outer planets are larger and have a more massive core than an inner planet. The outer planets are big balls of gas that are compressed by their own weight, while the inner planets are just made of rocks. The rotation of an outer planet is much faster. Rings can be found around all the outer planets, but inner planets don't have any. Outer planets also have more moons; there can be from 8 to 20 moons and possibly more.

There are many different ideas around what will happen to our sun and our solar system, but some of the ideas are the same. Scientists believe that the sun has been slightly brightening over time and that the sun has 5 billion more years to go. The sun will become a red giant in about five billion years. It will then become very large and engulf the solar system's inner planets, up to Earth. The radius will expand to 200 times its current size. The mass of the sun will lower a lot during the process of becoming a red giant. There's also the chance that Mars and all of the other outer planets, will escape and all their orbits will widen. Mercury and Venus will most likely be swallowed by the sun's outer layer. Although the Earth's fate is less clear. Earth could potentially achieve a widening of its orbit, but most likely it will be engulfed if its angular velocity isn't right and it will fall into lower orbit. Angular velocity is the rate of change of the angular position of a rotating body. It will then get incorporated by the sun before the sun reaches his largest size. Before any of this will happen Earth's biosphere will have long been destroyed from the Sun's steady increase in brightness. A biosphere is the global sum of all ecosystems. The hydrogen supply will dwindle and its core will contract, even before the transition into a Red Giant. After one billion, the extra solar energy will cause the Earth's to evaporate and the hydrogen from the water to be lost permanently to space. There will be a total loss of water by three billion years. The atmosphere and lithosphere of Earth will become just like Venus's, after another billion years, most of the atmosphere of Earth in space. The lithosphere is the solid part of the earth consisting of the crust and outer mantle. This will leave Earth a dead planet with a surface of molten rock. When the sun forms into a Red Giant it will expand its size 100 times bigger than it is now. It will start turning helium into carbon in the center, and the hydrogen will turn into helium in a shell around the center. This phase will last about one thousand million years. When the Red Giant phase comes to the end, the sun will have run out of hydrogen and helium in its center. Then the sun will she most of its layers, that will blow away from the sun, which will then form a planetary nebula. All that will be left of the sun will be its dense, which is now mostly made of carbon. Only the core will remain where it is and is now a white dwarf. The diameter of the white dwarf will be about a one hundredth of the current diameter of the sun. The size will be similar to the Earth. The dwarf will no longer generate energy, and will very slowly cool down. Some people say that the sun will explode and engulf the Earth and some think that the sun won’t explode, but all of its layers except the core will break off the sun.

I believe that our sun will not last forever and one day, maybe in 5 billion years our sun will change forever. How can scientists really tell that our sun will run out of hydrogen in its core in so many years? The sun is 93,000,000 miles away and we have only made it to the moon that is 250,000 miles away. Each and every year there will be new predictions about our sun and other predictions could change, making it almost impossible to know our exact fate, except that our sun will stop providing for us eventually.

About the project:

To complete this project, I had to first do research on the three main focuses in this proficiency. I then put my notes together creating the paragraphs I needed for my report. This proficiency was fairly easy since my notes were easily put into paragraph form. I didn’t really struggle a lot to complete it.

Bibliography

"Red giant - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Feb. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_giant>.

"Stellar Life Cycle: Red Giants." Center for Science Education at SSL UC Berkeley > Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Feb. 2011. <http://cse.ssl.berkeley.edu/bmendez/ay10/2000/cycle/redgiant.html>.

"Sun, the solar system's only star." Astronomy Today. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Feb. 2011. <http://www.astronomytoday.com/astronomy/sun.html>.

"The Formation of the Sun." Think Quest. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Jan. 2011. <library.thinkquest.org/C002091/data/formeg.htm>.

"The Solar System ." Think Quest. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Jan. 2011. <library.thinkquest.org/27322/planets.php>.

Proficiency 5

I can effectively explain the different theories of the universe. I will discuss theories starting from Ancient Greece through the theories discussed in present day. I will analyze all theories and make a judgment based on my research on which is most valid.

Theories of the Universe on Prezi

About the project:

Overall I thought the project was pretty hard, since you had to understand a lot about the different theories. One struggle I had was finding different theories to research and making sure I understood them. Once I understood the research it was very easy to do.

"Big Bang - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bang>.

"Copernican heliocentrism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copernican_heliocentrism>.

"Geocentric model - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geocentric_model>.

"Mrs. Flynt's Wiki Page / geocentric theory." Mrs. Flynt's Wiki Page / FrontPage. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2011. <http://flynt.pbworks.com/w/page/9198340/geocentric-theory>.

" m = E/c2 (m=E/c^2)." ideonexus. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2011. <http://ideonexus.com/2008/09/05/mec2/>.

"The 2012 Solar Flare Theory." The 2012 Theories: All the 2012 Theories in one Place. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2011. <http://the2012theories.com/solarstorm.html>.

"The Heliocentric System." The Copernican Model: A Sun-Centered Solar System. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2011. <csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/retrograde/copernican.html>.

Proficiency 6

I can analyze the differences between comets, asteroids, meteors and moons. I will research orbits and discuss differences of what we see from the Earth’s surface (phases). I will analyze the effect the moon’s orbit has on our planet. I will predict what would happen if Earth had a 2nd moon or the distance to the moon was increased or decreased.

About the Project: This proficiency had a lot of steps, which made it very difficult. Overall I understand the information good and once I got my notes taken, it was very easy to put together. The hardest part about the proficiency was finding out the differences and combining the so I could easily place them together, to make them easy to understand. My favorite part was finding out how the moon affects Earth, because I had never really realized what the moon does to our Earth.

"A Family of Planets." Astronomy . Austin: Holt Rinehart and Winston, 2007. 110- 123. Print.

" APOD: August 26, 1995 - Two Tails of Comet West ." Astronomy Picture of the Day. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Feb. 2011. <http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap950826.html>.

Apophis&, considering the range of. "Asteroid Apophis 2036." Asteroid Apophis 2036. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Feb. 2011. <http://asteroidapophis.com/>.

Freudenrich, Craig, and Ph.D.. "HowStuffWorks "How the Moon Works"." HowStuffWorks - Learn How Everything Works!. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Feb. 2011. <http://www.howstuffworks.com/moon.htm>.

"Moon Phases / Lunar Phases Explained." Moon Information Resource And Guide. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Feb. 2011. <http://www.moonconnection.com/moon_phases.phtml>.

"Perseid Meteor Shower." Perseid Meteor Shower. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Feb. 2011. <http://meteor-shower.net/>.

"The Earth, Sun, and Moon." Think Quest. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Feb. 2011. <library.thinkquest.org/29033/begin/earthsunmoon.htm>.

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