Physics Week A20 (Juniors) – 10 June to 14 June

This past academic week was our last academic week of the year.  We reviewed for the final exam on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. We had the final exam on Thursday. On Friday we watched the sixth and last episode of the NASA history. I think everyone enjoyed this part of the physics curriculum.

All but one student have completed the final exam and the grades were very good overall.  I will be working this coming week with all students who have not passed Term 3. All are within striking distance of passing if missing work is completed.

I hope you found physics worth taking, and if I do not see you this coming week, I will see you next fall. Enjoy your summer.

We will continue to meet for astronomy at the observing site on Saturday evenings through the summer. Next year we have some projects planned. As well as continuing to do astrophotography, we plan on starting a variable star observing program. In this program we will be doing real science by taking measurements that will be added to an international database used by professional astronomers. This will be in conjunction with the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO.org) for which I am a member. This past Saturday evening Joe Bernardo and I started to figure out how to use an astronomical CCD camera to guide a telescope mount so we can get better tracking for astrophotography. We also had the pleasure of being joined by NVTHS math teacher Mr. Doherty for observing. Please feel free to join us over the summer for observing.

Physics Week A19 (Juniors) – 28 May to 31 May

This past academic week was our last academic week before finals. We finished our study of electricity and had a test on Friday.  If you did not take the test yet, please see me to make arraignments to do so.

Next academic week will be the last academic week of the year. We will start reviewing for the final on Monday 10 May. The final will be on Thursday 13 May. If you do not have all the notes I passed out in class over the year, you can get them from the top page of my school website. Please use them as a study guide for the final.

Physics Week B18 (Seniors) – 20 May to 24 May

This past academic week was our last academic week of the year.  We reviewed for the final exam on Monday and Tuesday, and had the exam on Wednesday. All but two students have completed the final exam and the grades were very good overall.  I hope you found physics worth taking and I hope to see you at graduation on Saturday.

We will continue to do astronomy observing all summer on Saturday evenings at the ATMoB observing field on the MIT Haystack grounds here in Westford. Please feel free to join us.

Physics Week A18 (Juniors) – 13 May to 17 May

This past academic week we started our study of Electricity and Magnetism with Chapter 32 on Electrostatics. We talked about positive and negative charges and how we can isolate them to create static electricity. We spent one class experimenting with a Van De Graaff Generator. The homework was the Review Questions and Think & Explain for Chapter 32. We also did the Review Questions for Chapter 33 as an in class exercise.

Next academic week will be our last academic week before finals. We will continue with our study of Electricity and Magnetism by finishing Chapter 33 and moving on to Chapter 34.

The Astronomy Club continues to meet in my room on Thursdays after school with observing on Saturday evenings at the ATMoB observing field on the grounds of MIT Haystack Observatory here in Westford. Please feel free to join us. We will also be observing through the summer.

Physics Week B17 (Seniors) – 06 May to 10 May

This past academic week was our last academic week before finals. We quickly covered Chapter 26 on Sound and Chapter 27 on Light. We had a test on Thursday on Waves and Vibrations which covered Chapters 25, 26, and 27. If you have not taken this test, please make arrangements to do so. Please do not leave it until finals week.

Next academic week we will review for the final which will be on Wednesday 22 May. If you do not have my notes as a study guide, please get a copy from my website.

Astronomy was rained out this past Saturday, but we will try again next Saturday. The Clubhouse will be officially closed since most of the ATMoB members are doing presentations for Astronomy Day at the Clay Center, but I have recruited another ATMoB member to join my so we can open the Clubhouse for our school’s use.

Physics Week A17 (Juniors) – 29 April to 03 May

This past academic week we reviewed Chapter 26 on Sound and covered Chapter 27 on Light. We performed a lab on Thursday. On Friday we had a test on Chapters 25, 26, and 27. If you have not completed any of the homework in these Chapters, you can still submit it for quarter credit. If you have not passed in your lab report, please do so. If you have not taken the test, please make arrangements to do so. This completed our study of Waves and Vibrations.

Next academic week we will start our study of Electrostatics with Chapter 32. The homework will be the Review Questions due on Tuesday 14 May and the Think & Explain due on Thursday 16 May.

Saturday was the first fully clear Saturday we have had in a long time. The Astronomy Club had an observing session. We practiced setting up a telescope and polar aligning it. We had very good views of Jupiter and other deep sky objects. We will meet again next Saturday evening for another observing session. Please join us.

 Physics Week B16 (Seniors) – 22 April to 26 April

This past academic week we covered Chapter 25 on Waves and Vibrations. We discussed the difference between Transverse and Longitudinal waves and where we see them in the world around us. We reviewed the Plug & Chug in class. On Friday we had a presentation on Seismic Waves. If you have not completed the homework, please do so for half credit.

Next academic week will be our last academic week before finals. We will quickly cover Chapters 26 and 27. The homework will be the Review Questions and the Think & Explain from Chapter 26. We will do the Review Questions and the Think & Explain from Chapter 27 as classroom exercises.

The Astronomy Club helped at a work party at the ATMoB observing site this past Saturday. I was happy to hear the high praise for the machine shop skills of one of our students. He constructed a plate to make a variable speed controller for one of the telescope domes. This shows the community the fine skills our students learn at Nashoba Tech.  Saturday evening, we had clear skies and a very good observing session. Please join us next Saturday.

Physics Week A16 (Juniors) – 08 April to 12 April

This past academic week we reviewed the concepts of waves and vibrations.  The students volunteered (for extra credit of course) to put the Chapter 25 Plug & Chug problems on the smart board and we talked about solving problems involving frequency, period, wavelength, and wave speed. We then moved on to Chapter 26 on Sound Waves. We used the extra large slinky to demonstrate the different types of waves. The homework for this past week was the Review Questions and the Think & Explain in Chapter 26. A number of students did not complete these assignments and it will have an effect on Mid-Term Progress Reports. Although I have already entered Mid-Term Progress Reports for this class, if students are able to bring these missing assignments to me by Wednesday, I will try to adjust the reports before they are printed. We finished off the week with the third NASA history video on Friday. In this we saw the Apollo Program up to the landing of the Eagle on the Moon.  After this video we had some great discussions on setting goals and taking risks. We are a little behind on viewing these videos, but I have promised the students we will finish them before the end of the school year.

Next academic week (A17 – 29 April to 03 May) we will finish Chapter 26 and move on to Chapter 27 about Light. The homework will be the Review Questions and the Think & Explain.  We will have a lab on wave motion.  If there is time, we will have a test on Chapters 25, 26, and 27.

The astronomy club has continued to meet on Saturday evenings. We are getting more familiar with the mount and telescope we have been using. This coming Thursday we will review photographs taken with the scope and on Saturday we will practice setting up the scope and taking it down. All are welcome. Please join us.

Physics Week B15 (Seniors) – 01 April to 05 April

Last academic week, we reviewed problem solving for Heat and Phase Changes with a worksheet project that was done in teams in class. We have yet to collect this worksheet so if you have not finished it, please do so. On Thursday we reviewed for a Test on Chapters 21, 22, and 23. The Test was given on Friday. If you have not taken this test, please make arraignments to do so.

Next academic week we will start Chapter 25 on Waves and Vibrations. The homework will be the Review Questions and the Plug & Chug. We will continue this module in coming weeks with Chapter 26 on Sound Waves and Chapter 27 on Light Waves. The homework will be the Review Questions and the Think & Explain in these two Chapters since there is no Plug & Chug for Chapter 26 and Chapter 27.

On Saturday night at astronomy, we set up a “go to” polar mount with a very high quality 85mm refractor. We were able to find and observe a number of Messier objects including the Crab Nebula supernova remnant and a bunch of open star clusters. We will be observing again next Saturday. Join us if you can.

Physics Week A15 (Juniors)– 25 March to 29 March

This past academic week we started our module on Vibrations and Waves with Chapter 25. The homework was the Review Questions and Plug & Chug in that Chapter.  On Friday we watched a NOVA episode on Earthquakes and Seismic Waves.

Next academic week we will finish up Chapter 25 and move on to Chapter 26 on Sound Waves. The home work will be the Review Questions and the Think & Explain. There is no Plug & Chug for Chapter 22.

We had a work party at our astronomy observing site here in Westford. We worked on repairing the observing field after some winter damage. Saturday night was an excellent observing night. We spent the time trying to perfect our astrophotography skills.  We hope next Saturday evening will be as clear. Please join us if you can.

Physics Week B14 (Seniors)– 18 March to 22 March

Due to Early Release on Monday, a snow day on Tuesday, and MCAS testing , we did not cover any new material this past academic week.

Next academic week (the week of April 1^st), we will review problem solving for Heat and Phase Changes with a worksheet project to be done in teams in class. On Wednesday we will review for a Test on Chapters 21, 22, and 23. The Test will be given on Thursday. Friday will be a Lab on Phase Transitions.  This will be the end of our study of Thermodynamics.

The following academic week, we will start Chapter 25 on Waves and Vibrations. We will be covering Chapters 25, 26, and 27 in this next module.

Congratulations to our First Robotics Team.  They finished 11^th in the qualifying rounds out of more than 50 teams at the Boston Regional Competition held at BU. This was high enough to have them be chosen as an alliance captain for the elimination rounds. It was good to see the large number of parents and friends who came to cheer our team on as they completed their most successful season yet.

Physics Week A14 (Juniors)– 11 March to 15 March

This past academic week we completed a worksheet on Temperature Changes and Phase Transitions for a number of different substances. This was an in class project. Anyone who did not complete this worksheet in class needs to finish it for homework and show it to me for grading. We also reviewed for the Chapter 21, 22, and 23 test that was given on Thursday. If you did not take this test, please make arrangements to make it up after school. On Friday we completed a Lab on Phase Changes using the Vernier LabQuest units. Everyone needs to make a graph of their data and explain the curve.

Next academic week we will start our study of Waves and Vibrations with Chapter 25. The Review Questions are due on Tuesday 26 March and the Plug & Chug problems are due on Thursday 28 March.

End of this coming week will be the First Robotics Competition at BU. Please think about coming to support our hardworking team.

The Astronomy Club was clouded out again this week. Sooner or later we will get some clear skies. Please join us when we do.

Summary for Physics Week B13 – 04 February to 08 March

This past academic week we covered chapter 23 on Phase Transitions. This included a number of demos and problem solving techniques. We missed school on Friday due to bad weather.

Next academic week will be an early release day for students on Monday and we will miss this class Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday due to MCAS testing. Since we meet for Periods 7 and 8, we will use this time for remedial work and enrichment for this class section. On Wednesday we will watch the second NOVA Thermodynamics video “The Race to Absolute Zero”.

We will review problem solving for Heat and Phase Changes the week of April 1^st with a worksheet project to be done in teams in class. On Tuesday we will review for a Test on Chapters 21, 22, and 23. The Test will be given on Wednesday. Thursday will be a Lab on Phase Transitions.  This will be the end of our study of Thermodynamics. If time remains, on Friday we will start Chapter 25 on Waves and Vibrations. We will be covering Chapters 25, 26, and 27 in this next module.

Week A13 (Juniors) – 25 February to 01 March

This past academic week we covered chapter 23 on Phase Transitions. We planned on having a lab this past week, but pushed it off to next academic week due to EPP testing that took place this week. We watched the second NOVA Thermodynamics video “The Race to Absolute Zero” instead.

Next academic week we will continue to cover Thermodynamics problem solving, perform the Lab, and have a test on Chapters 21, 22, and 23. If we have time we will start Chapter 25 on Waves and Vibrations.

The First Robotics Team met twice this week and are looking forward to the competition at BU which is only three weeks away.

This was the fourth weekend in a row our Astronomy Club was clouded out. We will try again next week.

Week B12 (Seniors) – 11 February to 15 February

I hope everyone had a good vacation week.  Last academic week we covered the Chapter 21 Plug & Chug on Heat and Temperature Change. We also covered Chapter 22 on Heat Transport. 

Next academic week we will cover Chapter 23 on Phase Transitions. This will be the last chapter in our Thermodynamics module and will be followed by a test on Chapters 21, 22, and 23. The homework will be The Review Questions due on Tuesday and the Plug & Chug due on Thursday.

Our First Robotics Team put in 4 full days (Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday) of vacation week to complete the robot on time. This is the best robot yet. We are all proud of the effort our students put in to design, build, and test the robot within the required timeframe. We look forward to the competition at BU March 21, 22, and 23. Think about attending to cheer our Nashoba Valley Tech First Robotics Team on. They have the best chance yet to score high in the completion.

Our Astronomy Club has been hit by weekend storms for the past few weeks. This has not dampened their enthusiasm.  The club continues to meet on Thursdays after school and plans to observe this coming Saturday evening if the weather cooperates. Please feel free to join us.

Week A12 (Juniors) – 04 February to 08 February

The Mid-Year Exam was held this past academic week. Any student who did not take or complete this exam should make arrangements to complete it this coming week.

Next academic week is the week after February vacation. We will be starting Chapter 23 on Phase Transitions. The Review Questions will be due on Tuesday 26 February and the Plug & Chug will be due on Thursday 28 February.

The Astronomy Club Messier Marathon was snowed out last night, but we will try to observe again next Saturday.Catherine and her father were mentioned in the ATMoB newsletter for participating in last month’s work party and observing the Sun through my telescope.

The First Robotics club is feeling the time crunch since we missed build sessions on Friday and Sunday.We only have until Tuesday 19 February to complete the robot. We may need to add an extra build day.

Week B11 (Seniors) – 28 January to 01 February

The Mid-Year Exam was held this past academic week. Any student who did not take or complete this exam should make arrangements to complete it this coming week.

Next academic week we will finish Chapter 21 covering the Plug & Chug, and move into chapter 22 on Heat Transfer. The homework will be the Review Questions in Chapter 22 and 23. We will cover Chapter 23 on Phase Transitions the following academic week.

The Astronomy club has decided to participate in the Messier Marathon next Saturday evening at the ATMoB observing facility on the grounds of MIT Haystack Observatory here in Westford. All are encouraged to join us. We have now moved from binocular observing to using some of the larger telescopes at the observing facility. We are also planning to do more astrophotography.

The First Robotics Team has made great progress on building the team’s robot. We have two weeks of build season left and all our students are working hard to complete the robot on time.

 
Week A11 (Juniors) – 21 January to 25 January

Though this past academic week was only a four day week, we finished up Chapter 21 by looking at the way we calculate the heat necessary to change the temperature of different substances. We then moved on to Chapter 22 on Heat Transport. We discussed the three ways we can transfer heat: Convection, Conduction, and Radiation.

Next academic week is Mid-Year Exam week. We will have the Physics Mid-Year Exam on Thursday 07 February. No new material will be covered this week. We will resume new material on Monday 25 February which is the week after February Break. We will be starting Chapter 23 on Phase Transitions.  The Review Questions will be due on Tuesday 26 February and the Plug & Chug will be due on Thursday 28 February.

Week B10 (Seniors) – 14 January to 18 January

We started this past academic week by looking at Circular Motion. On Tuesday we looked at Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation.  Up to this point, we have been using the value of g=9.8 m/s² which was given to us for the acceleration of gravity. It turns out this is only true at the surface of the Earth, but with Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation we are now able to calculate the value of g anywhere. We verified Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation gives us the value g=9.8 m/s² at the surface of the Earth by plugging in the values of the Earth’s mass and radius into Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation.  We missed school on Wednesday due to a snow storm, but on Thursday, we performed a lab to calculate the acceleration of gravity for ourselves by using a pendulum. On Friday we started our study of Thermodynamics with Chapter 21 on Heat and Temperature. Homework this week past week was the Review Questions in Chapters 12 and 21.

The Mid-Year Exam will be held next academic week on Thursday 31 January. It consists of 45 multiple choice questions and an essay question. The academic week after the Mid-Year Exam, we will finish Chapter 21 covering the Plug & Chug, and move on to chapter 22 on Heat Transfer.

The robot being built by the First Robotics Team is now partially built with the basic frame and drive train assembled. Work continues on the remainder of the robot and the programming.

The Astronomy Club had an observing session last Saturday evening. We did some observing with binoculars then went inside where we reviewed the photos of the sky taken by Ben two weeks earlier. We also talked about the Messier Marathon coming up on February 9^th. We finished the evening by rolling the roof off the large observatory and being shown how to set up one of the large telescopes for use. We observed with it for a while before calling it a night.  We plan on using this same telescope next observing session. All are invited to join us.

Week A10 (Juniors) – 07 January to 11 January

We started this past academic week with the study of Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation. Up to this point, we have been using the value of g=9.8 m/s² which was given to us for the acceleration of gravity. It turns out this is only true at the surface of the Earth, but with Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation we are now able to calculate the value of g anywhere. We verified Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation gives us the value g=9.8 m/s² at the surface of the Earth by plugging in the values of the Earth’s mass and radius into Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation. On Tuesday, we performed a lab to calculate the acceleration of gravity for ourselves by using a pendulum.  

This finished our study of Mechanics and on Wednesday we moved onto Chapter 21 to start the study of Thermodynamics which is the study of heat and temperature. Homework this week was the Review Questions in Chapters 12 and 21. Next academic week we will continue Chapter 21 and complete the Plug & Chug for homework before moving on to Chapter 22. We will only be doing the Review Questions in Chapter 22 since there is no Plug & Chug.

The Mid-Year Exam will be held on Thursday 07 February. The week after the Mid-Year Exam, we will finish our study of Thermodynamics with Chapter 23.

There was no astronomy observing this weekend since it was cloudy.  We plan on observing next Saturday if it is clear.

We are now meeting every night after school and on Sundays for First Robotics. We have 5 weeks left to field our robot. Design should be completed this coming week and building will begin.

Week B9 (Seniors)– 02 January to 04 January

This was a short academic week. We completed Chapter 8 on Work and Energy and had a test on Chapters 7 & 8 Friday 04 January.

Next academic week we will spend one day each on Chapter 9 Circular Motion and Chapter 12 Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation. Since we are only covering the concepts in these two chapters, the homework will consist of the Review Questions only. This will complete our study of Mechanics and we will finish the week by starting our study of Thermodynamics with Chapter 21 on Heat and Temperature. The homework in this chapter will be the Review Questions and the Plug & Chug. In the coming weeks, we will cover Chapters 22 and 23 to complete this three chapter sequence.

On Saturday the Nashoba Valley Technical High School First Robotics Team traveled to the University of Southern New Hampshire for the kickoff of the 2013 First Robotics build season. We got to hear the Governor of NH speak about the importance First Robotics plays in STEM education before we picked up our parts kit for this year’s build. We will be very busy over the next six weeks as our students design and build a robot for competition.

Also on Saturday, our Astronomy Club held an observing session. We had some clouds come and go, but we had plenty of time for good observing. Ben brought his digital camera and telephoto lenses with him which we mounted on a tripod. He was able to take some exciting images of the planet Jupiter with its moons, the constellation Taurus the Bull, and the Pleiades star cluster. We are hoping to be able to find the two asteroids Ceres and Vesta in the images of Taurus the Bull. We hope to have another observing session the coming Saturday evening. All are welcome to attend.

Week A9 – 17 December to 21 December

This past academic week we completed Chapter 8 on Work and Energy and had a test on Chapters 7 & 8 Wednesday 19 December. On Thursday we quickly covered Chapter 9 on Circular Motion. Since we were just covering the basic concepts, the only homework in this Chapter was the Review Questions. On Friday we watched the second episode of “When We Left Earth”. This episode was on the Gemini Program which paved the way for Project Apollo. We will follow this up by watching episode on the Apollo Project at a later date.

This coming academic week we will start by covering Chapter 12 on Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation. Like Chapter 9, we will only be looking at the concepts so the only homework will be the Review Questions.  This will complete our discussion of Mechanics and we will then move on to the study of Thermodynamics starting with Chapter 21 on Heat and Temperature.  The homework will be the Review Questions and the Plug & Chug. In the coming weeks we will cover Chapters 22 and 23 to complete this three chapter sequence.

Week B8 (Seniors) – 10 December to 14 December

This past week we finished up Chapter 7 on Momentum and then moved on to Chapter 8 on Work and Energy. We introduced the scientific definition of Work which is measured in the SI units of Joules. We defined Power which is measured in the SI units of Watts. We then continued our coverage of Chapter 8 by defining Potential and Kinetic Energy which are measured in the same units as work.

We did not have time to review the Chapter 8 Plug & Chug last academic week, so that will be the first order of business when return from Holiday Break on Wednesday 2 January. On Thursday we will review for the test on Chapters 7 and 8 which we will have on Friday 4 January. 

The Astronomy Club planned an observing session for this past Saturday, but we had a poor turnout.  I set up early and was able to locate the two asteroids Ceres and Vesta with binoculars as we had planned, before anyone else arrived.  Clouds were starting to form, so we worked with a member of the ATMoB on the 17 inch telescope looking at deep sky objects and Jupiter before we called it a night. We plan on looking for our two target asteroids again this coming Saturday night. All are welcome to join us.

 Week A8 (Juniors) – 3 December to 7 December

This past week we finished up Chapter 7 on Momentum and Started Chapter 8 on Work and Energy. We introduced the scientific definition of Work which is measured in the SI units of Joules. We defined Power which is measured in the SI units of Watts. We then completed our coverage of Chapter 8 by defining Potential and Kinetic Energy which are measured in the same units as work.

Friday was the 40^th anniversary of the launching of Apollo 17, the last Moon landing. We celebrated by watching the first of a 6 part series on the US space program called “When We Left Earth”.  This series is always a big hit with our students. It shows how science, engineering, and teamwork came together to accomplish this outstanding goal.  We will see the second part on Friday 21 December, the day before our holiday break.  We will be seeing the remaining 4 parts spread out over the course of the school year.

We did not have time to review the Chapter 8 Plug & Chug last week, so that will be the first order of business next academic week as we tie up Chapter 8. There will be a test on Chapter 7 and 8 on Wednesday 19 December.  We will quickly look at Chapter 9 which covers Circular Motion on Thursday. We will only be looking at the concepts, so the homework will be the Review Questions only. After the Holiday Break, we will do the same for Chapter 12 on Universal Gravitation before we move on to Chapter 21 for a more in-depth study of Heat and Temperature.

The Astronomy Club has not done much observing lately due to cloudy weather, but as soon as it clears, we have set a goal of trying to observe two asteroids with binoculars. They are Ceres which is the largest asteroid and considered a Dwarf Planet, and Vesta which is the brightest asteroid. All students, family members, and faculty are welcome.

Week B7 (Seniors) – 26 November to 30 November

This past academic week we continued our study of Momentum. We reviewed the definition of Impulse which is the Force times the time it is applied. Impulse causes a change in momentum. We talked about how we can decrease the force we feel in a collision by increasing the time of the collision. We also talked about how cars are designed to make this happen. We then went on to Conservation of Momentum.

Next academic week we need at least one more day on Conservation of Momentum and problem solving, then we will move on to Chapter 8 starting with a discussion of Work and Power. We will then continue on to Kinetic and Potential Energy.  If we have time, we will cover the Conservation of Energy, but this will most likely have to wait until the week before the holidays. The goal is to have a test on Momentum, Work, and Energy before the holiday break.

Week A7 (Juniors) – 19 November to 21 November

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. We only had two and a half days this past week. We spent two of those days on the Law of Conservation of Momentum. We also had a quick lab on Wednesday where we measured our reaction time using free fall.  This experiment was the reverse of the experiment we did to measure the height of the school football stands by measuring the time it took for an object to drop.

In our Honors Physics class, because of student questions, we spent a day looking at Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity. We first looked at the Galilean transformations for inertial reference frames used in classical physics and then compared them with the Lorentz transformations used in Special Relativity.

Next week we will spend one more day on Chapter 7 and then move on to Chapter 8 which is on Work and Energy.  As usual the homework in Chapter 8 will be the Review Questions and the Plug & Chug. There will be a test after we complete Chapter 8 which will cover Chapters 7 and 8.

Week B6 (Seniors) - 13 November to 16 November

This past academic week was a 4 day week due to Monday being Veteran’s day. On Tuesday we reviewed Newton’s three laws for the test on Wednesday. On Thursday we started our study of momentum.  On Friday we modified Newton’s second law to introduce the concept of impulse which is equal to the change in momentum.

Next academic week we will review momentum and impulse by covering the review questions and plug & chug from chapter 7. We will then cover the law of conservation of momentum. This will complete chapter 7. We should have time to start our study of energy which is in chapter 8.

Saturday night members of our astronomy club met at the ATMoB observing site at MIT Haystack. We started the evening by practicing our star hopping skills. Two members of the ATMoB then explained how they do astrophotography with their telescopes and explained their equipment. We then toured the automated telescope where we were able to see a real time image of the Pinwheel Galaxy be taken. We then moved over to the 10 inch Schmidt Caesarian telescope where we observed the cloud bands on the planet Jupiter including the Giant Red Spot.  It was a very good observing session where we got to see and use a lot of cutting edge technology.

Week A6 (Juniors) – 5 November to 9 November

This past academic week we reviewed Newton’s 3 Laws and had test on them.  Any homework that is still due for chapters 4, 5, and 6 will now receive quarter credit since the test has already been given.

We are now covering chapter 7 on Momentum and Impulse. The homework assignments are the Review Questions and the Plug & Chug. Next academic week is Thanksgiving week so we only have two and a half days of school, but we plan to finish up chapter 7 with the Law of Conservation of Momentum. We will also have a short lab.

This past Saturday we had an NT Astronomy Club observing session.  The session started at 7PM with only a hint of clouds.  We practiced our star hopping techniques with binoculars using the Square of Pegasus as our anchor point. We found Jupiter and its moons, the Pleiades and Hyades star clusters, and the Andromeda galaxy. We tried to find the Whirlpool galaxy, but clouds were starting to cover the section of sky it was in. We then adjourned to inside where we discussed proper clothing for cold weather observing and how to use star maps.  We plan to have another observing session next Saturday starting about 6PM. All are welcome.

Week B5 (Seniors) – 29 October to 2 November

Due to hurricane Sandy, we lost two days this past academic week, but we were able to finish up Chapter 5 on Newton’s 2^nd law. We did not have time to cover Chapter 6 on Newton’s 3^rd Law and have a test on Newton’s Laws. We will complete these tasks next academic week. We also hope to start Chapter 7 on Momentum and Impulse. Next academic week will be four days since Monday will be Veterans Day.

We did not have astronomy observing this past Saturday, but plan to observe next Saturday, weather permitting. All are welcome.
 

Week A5 (Juniors) – 22 October to 26 October

This past academic week we finished up Newton’s 2^nd Law and covered Newton’s 3^rd Law. We also covered pressure and friction. We went outside and timed objects dropped off the top of the sports field stands. We used our knowledge of the free fall relationship between distance and time to calculate the height of the stands.  Next academic week we will reverse the process and use the same knowledge to calculate time by measuring the distance an object falls.

We wanted to have a test on Newton’s Laws this past academic week, but it took more time to write up this week’s lab than expected.  We will have this exam Tuesday of the next academic week (6 Nov). After the exam, we will start Chapter 7 on Impulse and Momentum. Students will be completing the Review Questions and the Plug & Chug at the end of the chapter.

We had astronomy club participation at the ATMoB work party at MIT Haystack this past Saturday (27 Oct). We had no observing this weekend because of clouds.  We will try again next Saturday. All are welcome.

Week B4 (Seniors) – 15 October to 19 October

This week we looked at Newton’s 2^nd Law.  We also did an experiment measuring distance and time to calculate velocity. We watched a video on the US Mercury program. This is the first of 6 videos on the US space program that I will be showing over the course of the year.  This series gives us insight into the importance of science and engineering to society. It also points out the importance of teamwork in achieving goals.  These videos are always a big hit with our students. An important point in this first video was that when you set goals you don’t need to know beforehand how you will accomplish them. As you move forward, your path will become clear.

Next academic week we will finish up Chapter 5 Newton’s 2^nd Law and continue on to Chapter 6 Newton’s 3^rd Law. Chapter 6 is a short chapter and we plan to finish it next academic week and have a test on Newton’s 3 Laws. The homework next academic week will be the Review Questions and the Think & Explain at the end of Chapter 6.

It was good to have the opportunity to run with so many students, parents, faculty, and school committee in the first annual Nashoba Tech 5k road race this past Saturday. Thanks to all who helped make it happen. I’m already looking forward to next year’s race. I’m planning to be in better shape next year.

The astronomy club, along with parents, held an observing party on Saturday evening (20 October). The theme of the evening was observing the night sky with binoculars. We started by viewing the terminator of the Moon. This is where the sun is rising on the Moon. Using charts in the book “Exploring the Moon with Binoculars and Small Telescopes” we were able identify by name lunar seas, mountain ranges, and craters. We then moved on to deep sky objects. We started by learning how to find key constellations and asterisms such as the Big Dipper, Cassiopeia, the Square of Pegasus, and the Summer Triangle to use as landmarks to find our way around the night sky. With these landmarks we were able to find the double cluster in Perseus and the Andromeda galaxy with our binoculars.  Those who stayed later got to see the moons of Jupiter as the planet rose in the east. There were also some spectacular views seen through the larger telescopes. The club went home with enough knowledge to successfully observe from their own backyards.

There is another work party this coming Saturday at 10 AM (27 October). As usual community service hours will be given to students who participate and lunch will be served.  I will be continuing my project of clearing brush and trimming trees along the observing field. We have planned another observing party for next Saturday evening (27 October). All are welcome.

Week A4 (Juniors) 9 October to 12 October

This week we talked about applying the equations for distance, velocity, and acceleration to free fall. We watched a net video on the planned Stratos jump by Austrian Felix Baumgartner to break the high altitude skydive (free fall) record.  This led to a discussion of how they were using the same physics equations to calculate the jump as we were studying in class. We tried to watch the actual jump but it was postponed because of high winds. The jump happened today (Sunday) and he reached a top speed (terminal velocity) of 833.9mi/h. This was much faster than the 120 mi/h terminal velocity we saw in the Myth Buster’s episode. This was due to the near vacuum at 24 miles high where the air pressure was only 2% of what we experience at the Earth’s surface.

We had a test on distance, velocity, and acceleration this past week. We then moved on to Newton’s 2^nd Law. Next week we will finish Newton’s 2^nd Law and move on to his 3^rd Law.

We had a lab exercise where we measured distance and velocity and calculated average velocity.  We also compared the walking speeds of different students.

In our honors class we experimented with videotaping a falling body and analyzing its motion frame by frame using computer software. We also experimented with the orientation of the accelerometer in Android cell phones with an app developed by UMass Lowell.

We had no astronomy observing this past Saturday since it clouded over about 7:30PM. We will try again next Saturday evening. All are invited.

Week B3 (Seniors) 01 October to 05 October

This past academic week we had a unit test on distance velocity and acceleration.  The unit test did not cover free fall which will be included on a later unit test.  We looked at Newton’s 1^st law this past week and introduced Newton’s 2^nd Law F=m.a.  We will continue our investigation of Newton’s 2^nd law next academic week. The homework due next academic week will be the Review Questions and Plug & Chug from Chapter 5. 

We conducted a coin drop experiment this week to investigate if a horizontal velocity will affect the free fall of a body.  We then watched a segment of Myth Busters where they dropped a bullet and fired a bullet at the same time to test this same question.  The Myth Busters segment also gave a good insight into experimental design considerations.  This was a good application of the Scientific Method.

Next academic week we will use an Android App developed by UMass Lowell to investigate the orientation of the three special axis used by the phone’s accelerometer.  Students who have an Android phone will be asked to use them in the experiment.

The astronomy club helped out at the ATMoB work party at the Haystack this past Saturday.  We cleared back brush and undergrowth by the observing field.  It was cloudy so we did not do any observing. The next work party will be Saturday 27 October. All volunteers receive community service hours toward graduation.  We hope to have another observing session this coming Saturday evening.

Week A3 (Juniors) 24 September to 28 September

This week we finished up linear motion (Chapter 2) and started Newton’s 1^st Law (Chapter 4). We played with non-Newtonian fluids on Monday and on Wednesday we explored the properties of projectile motion by performing a coin drop experiment. We had three quick warm-up quizzes on linear motion. Most students did very well on the quizzes.

Next academic week we will have a test on linear motion. We will finish up Newton’s 1^st Law and go on to his 2^nd Law, the second most famous physics equation of all time, F=m.a. Can you guess what the most famous physics equation of all time is?

Even though it was cloudy Saturday night, some members of the astronomy club and their parents met at the ATMoB clubhouse. We looked at some telescopes and talked about future activities. There is a work party this coming Saturday (6 October) at 10 AM which will count for community service hours. Our next observing session will include the use of binoculars in astronomy.

If you guessed E=m.c² as the most famous physics equation of all time, you were correct.

Week B2 Summary (Seniors)

This past week we introduced the three fundamental quantities we will use in mechanics. They are distance, mass, and time. From two of these (distance and time) we built two new quantities, velocity and acceleration. In the weeks to come we will build all the other quantities we will use in mechanics such as momentum, force, energy, impulse, and work.

We had our second lab on measurement. This lab needs to be written up in the same format as the first lab report and submitted next academic week.

The Review Questions and the Plug & Chug problem set from Chapter 2 were due this past week.  Anyone who did not complete them can submit them late for half credit.

Next academic week we will move on to Chapter 4 which covers Newton’s first law.  We will be skipping Chapter 3 on projectile motion. The homework will be the Review Questions which will be due on Tuesday and the Plug & Chug problem set which will be due on Thursday.

On Friday we explored non-Newtonian fluids in class. I hope to have a video of the class demo made by one of our TV Media students for our website.

On Saturday one of our astronomy club members and her family enjoyed the astronomy picnic at Haystack.  We were able to observe Sunspots and Solar flares.  I led a walking tour of the radio telescopes at the sight and explained what science each one is used for.  In the evening we observed the Moon in a number of telescopes.

Week A2 Summary(Juniors)

Our class has just completed the second academic week. We wrote a joint lab report together in class for the first measurement lab we did last academic week. Every student who copied the joint lab report from the board received 100% for the lab.  We followed this up on Friday with a more extensive measurement lab. This lab needs to be written up in the same format as the Monday lab report and submitted next academic week.

We completed our study of what physics is and started the study of mechanics with chapter 2 which covers distance, velocity, and acceleration. We will complete this chapter next academic week and move on to chapter 4 which covers Newton’s first law.  We will be skipping chapter 3 on projectile motion.

Homework for the chapter 1 and chapter 2 review questions were due this past week. I will be calling home for any student who missed both homework assignments.

We had our first astronomy club observing session this past Saturday night. We had a number of parents as well as other family members participate with our students. Besides observing constellations, we had the opportunity to look through a number of telescopes. Some of the objects we were able to see were a globular cluster in Hercules, a globular cluster in Sagittarius, and the Andromeda galaxy.  Everyone had a good time and all are looking forward to our next observing session.  The next club meeting is this coming Thursday after school. All students are welcome.

Week B1 Summary (Seniors)

I would like to welcome everyone in my senior physics class to the start of the Nashoba Valley Tech’s 2012-2013 school year.

We have had a great start to our physics class. We discussed that physics is our understanding of the physical world in which we live. We also discussed the vast amount of knowledge about the physical world every member of our class already knows. In the coming months we will be building on that knowledge.

Our first area of investigation will be mechanics which is the study of how objects move when force is applied to them. This will take us up to the end of the calendar year. After that we will cover heat, waves, and electricity.

We have had our first lab this past week. This was a warm-up exercise where we measured the classroom in centimeters. We wrote a joint lab report in class. Every student who participated in the class exercise received a 100% for the lab.  This first grade was a great start for the class.

Homework this past week was to read chapter 1 in the textbook and answer the review questions on page 8. A number of students did not have the assignment completed by Friday which was when we discussed the answers in class. For those students, I will accept the assignment for half credit if it is completed by next academic week.  I will be sending an email or giving a call home if more than one homework assignment is missing in a row.

Lab, homework, and class participation grades for the week have been entered into X2 and are available for viewing.

Next academic week we will start our investigation of mechanics with the study of distance, velocity, and acceleration.  We will also discuss the difference between Aristotle’s and Galileo’s views of the physical world. Homework for next academic week is to read chapter 2, answer the review questions and do the Plug & Chug problems at the end of the chapter. There will be a more extensive measurement lab to build on what we learned in this past week’s lab.

I am available for extra help on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2:40 to 3:30 or any other time we can make arrangements. If you are having problems with any class concepts, please let me know.

I am starting an astronomy club which will meet Thursdays after school. We will be doing our observing at the Amateur Telescope Makers of Boston observing facility on the grounds of MIT Haystack Observatory here in Westford (Rte. 40). Students will be able to bring other family members and friends to the observing sessions. We also have work parties at the site once a month where our students can earn community service hours towards graduation. Students do not have to be a member of the astronomy club to participate in the work parties. Please see me if you are interested.

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Week A1Summary (Juniors)

I would like to welcome everyone in my junior physics class to the start of the Nashoba Valley Tech’s 2012-2013 school year. 

We have had a great start to our physics class. We discussed that physics is our understanding of the physical world in which we live.  We also discussed the vast amount of knowledge about the physical world every member of our class already knows.  In the coming months we will be building on that knowledge.

Our first area of investigation will be mechanics which is the study of how objects move when force is applied to them. This will take us up to the end of the calendar year.  After that we will cover heat, waves, and electricity.

We have had our first lab.  This was a warm-up exercise where we measured the classroom in centimeters. In our next class we will discuss how to write a lab report for the data we took.

Homework is to read chapter 1 in the textbook and answer the review questions on page 8. This assignment is due on Tuesday 11 September.

I am available for extra help on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2:40 to 3:30 or any other time we can make arrangements.  If you are having problems with any class concepts, please let me know.

I am looking for volunteers for a work party on Saturday 8 September at the Amateur Telescope Makers of Boston observing facility on the grounds of MIT Haystack Observatory here in Westford (Rte. 40).  Lunch will be served. This will count for community service hours. Please see me if you are interested.