HS Comments on the Fly

I wish I had known about this book sooner; we did not run across it until my oldest was in high school. It is Next Time Questions by Paul Hewitt. It is one of the supplementary and optional books to be used with Conceptual Physics.

Next Time Questions are little daily doses of physics principles presented specially for the uninitiated. Hewitt has illustrated each brain teaser engagingly and humorously. These simple Next Time Questions are supposed to be used by the high school or college instructor to introduce the next day’s physics topic, so they are not as technical as the actual lesson. So most of them are just right for any beginning physics student.

Example:

Who knew that candle burning was dependent on the effect of gravity and convection? Well, physicists, of course, but if kids learn that and the other physics principles early, then it’s like second nature to them when they’re older. Many of us don’t think scientifically, but little brain teasers like these will help students to understand simple natural phenomena while they’re younger providing a foundation to build on when they’re older.

Originally, when we were using these here at home, I was copying these pages (because the answer is on the back) and then taping the two sheets (question side and answer side) up on the tv screen each morning. Then when we were done discussing, I would just toss them. However, once I got through the first 20 or so that I copied, I didn’t make more copies and this little exercise fell by the wayside. A regret.

The way I would do it now, looking back, would be to tape one of those page protectors up to the fridge with Scotch tape. I’d just tape the back side of the pocket. Then I’d just use the page from the book (mine’s perforated) and place it in there. Once everyone had come up with an answer (many of the questions are multiple choice or yes/no), I’d just turn the page over in the page protector for the rest of the day.

I would keep the Next Time Questions book and a 3-ring binder (my book is 3-hole punched) right on top of the fridge or in a cupboard right next to it so that I could put the used lessons away immediately … even if it meant giving up a shelf. For me, unless the system is set up to be completed easily, I won’t be able to effortlessly stick with it. So I would have a system for this. This is the same system I used with the art photos, except the art photos I kept up longer so that the kids became familiar with them–you know, they looked at them every time they opened the fridge for a couple weeks.

But, yeah, I think that these physics principles are definitely worth this effort. If I had to do homeschooling all over again, I would hope that I would do this when the kids were in their elementary or middle school years. It’s no substitute for a science curriculum, but it is a quick thing to do and can be discussed over breakfast. And you get a lot of bang for your buck education-wise. The time investment:educational value ratio is high.

It really doesn’t matter which version of Next-Time Questions you get. Here are links to the less expensive ones at Amazon. You need to buy used because as far as I know, the publisher doesn’t sell new books to homeschoolers. They’re all less than 10 - 15 years old, and I doubt much physics stuff has changed in that amount of time.

Next-Time Questions 3rd Ed. or Next-Time Questions 9th Ed. (Don’t worry about editions. I’ve got the college and it’s easy enough to understand.)

	last night’s full moon

Tonight Mars is the brightest it will be for the next nine years. Of course, it looks like a star instead of a planet. You should be able to see it in the twilight just before the sky goes totally black. It was the only star out there last night when I saw it up next to the moon in the eastern sky.

It will be up there again tonight, and it should be easy to find if you take the family out just after sunset with a mug of hot cider. But go out before it gets too dark and all the other stars come out. Planets reflecting the recently set sun are visible before stars start to shine. Being out there early will raise your chances of locating Mars easily.

Two articles that will help you locate Mars:

Full Cold Moon Nears Mars (last night)
Earth Between Mars and Sun (tonight)

Other Mars news: “Because of current uncertainties about the asteroid’s exact orbit, there is a 1-in-75 chance of [Asteroid] 2007 WD5 impacting Mars.”

I am stunned. It reads like a science fiction novel, but it is true. There is even photographic evidence.

… NASA’s telescopes show the supermassive black hole as it begins shooting jets of radiation into the heart of a distant galaxy.

With tens of millions of stars in the black hole’s path it is likely that many planets will have been caught up in the deadly blast.

No life on any planet could survive the attack, according to astronomers. (source)

This is difficult to fathom. Here’s another snippet that tells that new stars and new solar systems could be the result of such upheaval.

The offending galaxy probably began assaulting its companion about 1 million years ago, which is relatively recent on a cosmic time scale….

“We’ve seen jets do pretty weird things to their environments, but a head-on collision is really rare and generates a [large] amount of information about physics that we can understand and use,” Evans said. “For that galaxy to be looking right down … the barrel of the gun of that jet is incredibly rare, so this makes it a really exciting discovery.”

Turns out that the “death ray” may not be all bad news for the victimized galaxy, at least theoretically, as such a massive influx of energy and radiation could help form new stars and solar systems by compressing gases. (source)

The second article has more photos.

We’re reading Galileo’s Daughter, which so far is much more about Galileo and his discoveries and troubles than about his daughter, which I’m happy with if you care to know. But the title, so far, is a tad misleading but may not be so as we get farther into the book. So anyway, I can’t help wondering what Galileo might have thought of black hole that’s on the offensive and what he might have postulated and/or concluded.

You’ve heard of Tycho Brahe, right? He was the Danish astronomer that lost part of his nose in a duel or something. Okay, then, here’s a funny bit from Galileo’s Daughter about Brahe’s beliefs:

According to the Tychonic order, the five planets orbited the Sun, while the Sun — surrounded by Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn — circled the stationary Earth.

Can you imagine? I can’t. Galileo dismissed this view of reality, btw. Seriously, I don’t know why Galileo’s Daughter isn’t on homeschooling reading lists. It has been a great read aloud for us so far and would be fine for about 6th grade and up.

As I topped the french bread pizzas with grated cheese, an aroma wafted up. It was not quite unpleasant, but it was not pleasant either. Of course, I had to have everyone smell it. It was not moldy, but none of us knew for sure if it was safe to eat mozzarella that smelled a little alcoholic. I was encouraged to look it up.

So I tried. I got mostly just goofy sites when I used search terms like: mozzarella smells like alcohol rotten can I eat smelly mozzarella. Is there a site out there that tells us what the progression is on decomposing food? Sort of like, “When going bad, refrigerated guacamole will form a brown-gray layer due to oxidation. For the first 2 hours, you can scrape this off and eat what’s underneath with minimal fear of death.” I have no idea if that’s true or not, but there needs to be a site out there like that, right? I tossed way too much mozzarella in the trash. Maybe the dogs could have eaten it, but I wasn’t sure.

So, anyway, on one site that was rendered as a search engine result for my rotten mozzarella, I found this really good song. It’s from an amusing commencement address and it’s by Greg Crowther. It seems like good advice.

Information all around –
Some is bad, and some is sound.
How can I decide which statements to accept?
There’s a logical recourse:
Locate each primary source,
So conflicting sets of rumors can be checked.

CHORUS:
Show me the data.
You’ve got to show me the data.
If you don’t show me the data,
Then how will I know?
Show me the data.
You’ve got to show me the data.
If you don’t show me the data,
Then how will I know?

Is that candidate a jerk?
Does this toothpaste really work?
I must gather all the facts and then decide.
If there’s truth in what you say,
Let me see Exhibit A.
Then my thirst for details will be satisfied.

CHORUS

In conclusion: remember that the world is full of information and that your success will depend on your ability to distinguish the good information from the bad. Go forth with a skeptical but open mind. Congratulations, good luck, and may the data be with you!

Words to live by. Nice, huh?

Oh, and I put provolone on the pizza instead. Tasted fine.

This is about science. And, basically, I just do not get it. But it does sound amazing. It sort of reminds me of the spiral PHI book that my son read — only the visual depiction of this new theory for the universe is just a really pretty spiro-graph-like design.

And to think that an impoverished surfer/snowboarder bum (you know, sorta like “ski bum”) came up with this theory that is receiving rave reviews! The fellow’s name is Garrett Lisi. Okay, so he’s also got a doctorate. But who says the uber-bright can’t enjoy carvin’ lines and catchin’ waves?

From an article from 14 November 07:

… his proposal is remarkable because, by the arcane standards of particle physics, it does not require highly complex mathematics.

Even better, it does not require more than one dimension of time and three of space, when some rival theories need ten or even more spatial dimensions and other bizarre concepts. And it may even be possible to test his theory, which predicts a host of new particles, perhaps even using the new Large Hadron Collider atom smasher that will go into action near Geneva next year.

[Canadian] Lee Smolin at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics … describes Lisi’s work as “fabulous”. “It is one of the most compelling unification models I’ve seen in many, many years,” he says. (British put quotes inside punctuation.)

Lisi’s inspiration lies in the most elegant and intricate shape known to mathematics, called E8 - a complex, eight-dimensional mathematical pattern with 248 points first found in 1887, but only fully understood by mathematicians this year after workings, that, if written out in tiny print, would cover an area the size of Manhattan.

That’s almost unbelievable. Manhattan??? But that’s about 23 square miles!

From another article:

What makes this group of symmetries so exciting is that Nature also seems to have embedded it at the heart of many bits of physics. One interpretation of why we have such a quirky list of fundamental particles is because they all result from different facets of the strange symmetries of E8. I find it rather extraordinary that of all the symmetries that mathematician’s have discovered, it is this exotic exceptional object that Nature has used to build the fabric of the universe. The symmetries are so intricate and complex that today’s announcement of the complete mapping of E8 is a significant moment in our exploration of symmetry.”

From another surfer dude article of 21 November 07:

Hollywood is now chasing the “surfer dude,” who last week electrified the scientific community with his theory of everything, so that his extraordinary story can be told in a movie.

Ever since an article on his work appeared last week online on telegraph.co.uk he has become something of a celebrity and he admitted yesterday that he was finding the attention overwhelming - indeed he has refused to appear on television.

Sure living books are great for grade school, but should a homeschooler still be using real books (aka living books) at the high school level?

I really don’t see why not. That’s how I, as an adult, learn. Think about it. All adults who are done with their classroom education use real books to learn. Oh, sure, you might use a tutorial to learn PostgreSQL, but a tutorial isn’t a textbook. While some college classes require a textbook, many also require that real books be read or consulted. If I want to know how to garden, I don’t grab the first botany textbook that I can find; I buy a gardening book. Take a look at your local bookstore. Is it full of textbooks? No. That’s because learning is best done through the use of real books.

So why can’t high schoolers learn by using real books, too? Why should high school science education be different? I guess it probably shouldn’t.

However, how can someone like me make sure that my students are properly prepared for college-level science if they’ve not covered what’s in the high school science texts? Well, a high-school-science-teacher homeschooling parent can figure that out. But I can’t. It’s easier and faster to just do what’s in the science text than it is to re-invent the wheel. No pun intended.

So we only do one year of “real book” science in high school. We title the class “Science Survey.” I have no idea if that’s the best title for the class, but it’s good enough for us. If you know of a better name, let me know.

For that class, the student chooses from biographies of scientists or any non-fiction science book that we can find in the library. It has to contain a lot of science; it can’t be a story about the childhood years of Enrico Fermi. My daughter’s already chosen and read a few books. She read that one about Archimedes, I think it was. She read another about a teenage chemist who became a perfumer. She’s read a few others, but I can’t remember the titles. She’s got them written down in her school records, but that’s at her desk a ways away.

Right now we’re reading Galileo’s Daughter by Dava Sobel together as a read aloud. I’m enjoying how Sobel shows Galileo’s excitement about finding four “Jovian planets” and how that when he took a trip from Florence to Rome, he set up his telescope every night along the way. She also tells that when Galileo found two of Saturn’s moons that he sent an encoded note to Johannes Kepler in Prague. Kepler could not read the code, as intended by Galileo. But the code proved to the world that Galileo was the first person to find two moons of Saturn — or it proved it when Galileo released the meaning of the code. He was a little hesitant because he wanted to make sure of a few more things before he told the world, but yet he still wanted to get the credit for the discovery.

So far, it’s a good book and we’re enjoying ourselves reading it. It gives us an example of a real scientist at work and how he recorded his findings and why. Reading books like this makes science seem real to the regular person rather than something only done in labs by people with goggles on. I truly think I’m learning more by reading some of these books with my students than I did taking that required science class at the university. Science doesn’t have to be boring. There are all sorts of science topics out there to choose from when picking real books.

Anyway, if you want to see a list of the books my son read for his class, I’ve posted them over at Homeschool RAQ.

I thought for sure that we would have a difficult time of it, but by following the instructions at Earth and Sky, we had no problems. The comet is named Holmes.

This is the part of the instructions that was key:

“Remember, all stars look like pinpoints. Comet Holmes is a fuzzball.”

We could see it easily with the naked eye. When I brought out the binoculars, it was a little more clear. Binoculars aren’t necessary though.

We are missing it. And I am not amused.

It is supposed to be out in the evening, but I just am not getting out there. To top it off, I have not even managed to mentioned to either of my progeny — you know, because they might be able to remind me.

I think I am missing this evening comet because when 5 p.m. rolls around (when school ends here), I just turn off and don’t think about anything but getting dinner made and relaxing my brain a bit. My daughter and I did managed to make it outside to see the Perseids meteor shower last August. The streaks seemed especially long this year which made the show rather spectacular. We were up on the hood of the vehicle under a comforter to stay warm and avoid rattlesnakes. In the summer we have to wait until late (like midnight) because sundown is so late.

As usual, Earth & Sky does not fail to inform about the current Comet Holmes. It explains how to see it. According to the comments, people were still seeing it last night. So I suppose there is still hope. I also found this article, too, that seems to tell us that we can still see it tonight. However, the morning news just let me know that clouds are forecast. Drats.

Comet Holmes supposedly doesn’t have a tail. No tail? That’s puzzling. There are supposed to be two tails, right? I believe I learned that over 15 years ago with what I remember as being our very first unit study on astronomy. The kids made comets out of foil and cotton balls (tails) and threw them around the living room. Ah, great memories.

Some pics.

	Not noxious!

It was a tall and pretty thistle plant that I was admiring when someone drove up, jumped out of their car without putting it in park (it kept rolling a bit), and told me that I needed to cut it down because it was a Canadian thistle and a noxious weed. She was very vigilant. And motivated. I was taken aback. I told her, sweetly, of course, that it was the national flower of Scotland and that I wanted to see it bloom first. I assured her that I’d make sure that the flowers didn’t turn to seed. She seemed somewhat mollified. However, I wasn’t.

I took to the internet in a fact-checking frenzy. My daughter and I eventually identified the plant as a Scottish thistle which is not a noxious weed in this state; it is in some others, though. The Canadian thistle is a noxious weed in this state, but our lovely flower was most definitely not a Canadian thistle. There are a number of obvious differences between a Canadian thistle and a Scottish thistle.

I’ll admit it, though. It is rather weed-like. But it’s not noxious, so we can cultivate it if we care to. It did turn out quite nicely. In England, you can buy a Scottish thistle bush and plant it in your garden. Obviously in a land overrun with gardeners, there would be fewer noxious weeds.

Anyway, you can see that big bulb on it, can’t you. We didn’t think that you could press the flower like it showed William Wallace doing in Mel Gibson’s Braveheart. So, we cut one and put it between some leftover bricks. You can see the results. That big ol’ bulb flattened right out. But look at the bloom! It lost all of its delightful color! So, I think that I found an error in the Braveheart movie. William Wallace’s pressed thistle supposedly retained its color, but I think it was due to movie magic instead of botanical science. Just a guess.

	pressed, colorless thistle

I looked on YouTube for Braveheart clips that included the thistle, but could only find a clip of young Murron picking the flower and giving it to young William at the funeral of his father. Her picking the flower is amusing since picking a Scottish thistle is not as easy as she makes it look. It’s extremely prickly, which my daughter and I found out when we tried and succeeded in bringing in a bouquet. And it did take both of us to cut and handle the stalks. And yes, it did hurt. I imagine, judging by its prickles, that it’s not meant to be picked.

Flower of Scotland is about the thistle. Can you believe there’s a song about it? I found it out when searching around YouTube for the above-mentioned clips. It’s my understanding that the “Proud Edward” mentioned in the song is Edward II who fought against Scottish King Robert the Bruce in 1314. He was the son of Longshanks if I’m understanding it correctly. Here’s a link in case you want to hear the song. I guess that it’s sung by Scots before rugby games. There are tons to YouTube clips of that.

Wow, can you believe some partiers in France punched a 4-inch hole in a Monet? Rather shocking. This article gives a good view of the actual tear along with the actual size of the painting. It’s a rather small painting, if you ask me. The title of the painting is Le Pont d’Argenteuil (The Bridge at Argenteuil).

So what can be discussed as a result of this news story? Oh, lots of stuff. Who Monet was. When he lived. What Impressionism is. Where Paris, France is. What river flows through Paris. And, of course, the possible results of getting tipsy in Paris during Nuit Blanche — an annual all-night musical and cultural event. I guess it could read like this: Bottle of French wine, $6.74, Admission to Orsay Museum, $10.53, Ripping a hole in a Monet … Priceless.

I couldn’t believe it when I read that the famed (possibly notorious) Northwest Passage had been opened up. What would Captain Cook, Sir John Franklin, and Henry Hudson, etc., etc., etc., think?!?! Wow! But yes, it was open earlier this year as revealed in this BBC article (map inc.). I know you probably already know about it, but we found the info of interest … what was it? … about a month ago now. And to think that Hudson, Franklin, and Cook, etc., spent so many years searching for it. Without them what would Turnagain Arm or Hudson Bay be called? Did Franklin name anything after himself? If he did, I don’t know it about it. All I know is that he died somewhere up near Nunavut.

So now Canada, the US, and the UN are fighting over the Northwest Passage. Should we expect anything less?

Canada says it has full rights over those parts of the Northwest Passage that pass through its territory and that it can bar transit there.

But this has been disputed by the US and the European Union.

They argue that the new route should be an international strait that any vessel can use. (from above article)

Canada and the US are also engaged in a dispute over the future of the Northwest Passage, the partially frozen waterway that links the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

The US says it regards it as an international strait but Mr Harper [Canadian PM] has vociferously defended the passage as Canadian territory.

He has already announced plans to build six naval patrol vessels to secure the route. (source)

Lastly, the new theory about the appendix is startling. You know, how they always say that the appendix is useless and unnecessary. Well, now they claim that possibly it’s used by the body to repopulate the large intestine with healthy intestinal flora after illness, that the appendix reboots (so to speak) the digestive system. Cool, huh? It sounds reasonable to me.

So, what can we discuss after reading this article with our students? That good bacteria live in the intestines. We can look up the appendix in the Body Atlas. Learn the warning signs of appendicitis. Learn about cholera and dysentery … not exactly a light-hearted subject. And that drinking drinking fresh water is important.

So, that’s three subjects touched on: Art, History/Geography, and Biology.

Oh, yeah, and also What We’re Reading is part of the Subject Line, too.

So have you been keeping up with Bree, the homeschooler, in her online show LonelyGirl15? Yea, me neither.

I did watch it way back before everyone found out that she wasn’t actually a homeschooler, but rather just an actress. Our family was trying to figure out the mystery. We weren’t too fanatical about it, but we were intrigued. It was kind of fun to read all the crazy notions people had about the show.

For those who have no idea what I’m talking about, here’s a simplistic and partially ignorant recap. A small group of acting types got together early last year and made a few videos about a homeschooled girl and her friend Daniel. Somehow, the video diary became very popular on YouTube.com. The main character, Bree, actually wrote back to people who emailed her, but as Bree, a character the actress was playing. No one knew that Bree was actually the actress/student Jessica Lee Rose. Everyone wondered where Bree and Daniel were located. Viewers analyzed everything in her room and everything she said, looking for clues. Even their camera choice is discussed. Finally it was discovered that Bree was an acting student and stuff … I can’t remember the whole story.

Anyway, one thing that made me wonder if she was really a homeschooler was that Bree knew of the physicist Richard Feynman. I thought it was really strange because I think we’re average homeschoolers and we had only just discovered Richard Feynman by looking for science biographies. Maybe I’m way off base (quite possibly), but I don’t think that many average homeschooling moms/students have even heard of Richard Feynman. So, I found it suspicious that Bree, the homeschooler, had heard of him and was even mentioning the book, Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman! That book just isn’t on homeschooling booklists. I smelled a rat.

Which brings me to What We’re Reading. My daughter’s reading Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman! right now, and she’s enjoying it. Feynman could weave a good yarn. It’s part of her science class for this year (remember, she’s a teen). My son and husband read it last spring, right before we found LonelyGirl15 on YouTube.com. I’ve not read the book yet, but my son and husband shared some good bits with me. I’ll read it one of these days.

Warning: Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman! isn’t a book that everyone will want to just hand to their high school student without pre-reading. I can’t remember what exactly, but there’s something in it that would offend some folks.

I just finished The Second Mrs. Gioconda. I liked it in some respects and didn’t like it in others. But that’s for another entry. One quick comment, though: Way wrong way to title the book.

So the LonelyGirl15 season finale occurs today in 12 separate installments.