Week of January 4, 2010

This week in science class we learned about Astronomy. We learned that the moon revolves and rotates around the earth. We also learned that rotating means changing in orientation but not position and revolving is a complete turn or change in position but not orientation. I learned that the moon and the sun rotate counterclockwise and that it takes 29 1/2 days for the moon to go through all of it's phases. I made the phneumonic device; Nanny Wilson Froze Watermelons For Willie Till Winter to help me remember the phases of the moon. The phases of the moon are New Moon, Waxing Crescent, First Quarter, Waxing Gibbous, Full Moon, Waning Gibbous, Third Quarter, and Waning crescent. These phases keep repeating. Lastly, we started making force diagrams for the earth in relation to the location of the moon and sun. This lead us into learning about the tides on earth. The moon pulls on the surface of the earth and since the surface is mostly ocean it pulls the ocean and creates tides and waves. It is important to know these things if you want to be an astronomer, or are interested in anything that has to do with the different waves and tides of the ocean.