STEM/Technology
February 5, 2019
Today we worked on a very useful website called Code.org. Code.org helps students learn and utilize skills aligned with coding, programing, robotics, and computer sciences. I encourage students to practice as much as possible in school and at home truly hone in on these necessary skills. Once these skills have been practiced, I will then apply their coding techniques to Spheros for an Out of this World Experience. I asked students to bring in an Old, Oversized, Tshirt that you don't mind getting dirty - so that our students can complete a painting project. Please be sure to bring them by next week. Thank you. ![]() |
January 22, 2019: Pluto
Pluto Facts and Information
With a diameter 1,473 miles, Pluto is about 1/6 the width of Earth. If Earth was the size of a nickel, Pluto would be about as big as a popcorn kernel. The known moons of Pluto are:
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January 8, 2019: Uranus & Neptune
Uranus Facts and Information
Earth has a diameter of 7,917.5 miles, whereas Uranus has a diameter of about 31,770 miles. This means that Uranus is almost 5 times the size of Earth. In other words, you could fit 63 planets the size of Earth inside Uranus. Finally, the mass of Uranus 95 times the mass of the Earth. ![]() Neptune Facts and Information
Earth has a diameter of 7,917.5 miles, whereas Neptune has a diameter of about 30,800 miles. This means that Neptune is almost 4 times the size of Earth. Neptune is dark, cold, and very windy. It's the last of the planets in our solar system. It's more than 30 times as far from the Sun as Earth is. Neptune is very similar to Uranus. It's made of a thick soup of water, ammonia, and methane over an Earth-sized solid center. Its atmosphere is made of hydrogen, helium, and methane. The methane gives Neptune the same blue color as Uranus ![]() |
December 18, 2019: Saturn
Saturn Facts and Information
Earth has a diameter of 7,917.5 miles, whereas Saturn has a diameter of about 74,900 miles. This means that Saturn is almost 10 times the size of Earth. In other words, you could fit 764 planets the size of Earth inside Saturn. Finally, the mass of Saturn is 95 times the mass of the Earth. MOONS OF SATURN While the larger moons are spherical, others are shaped like a sweet potato (Prometheus), a regular potato (Pandora), a meatball (Janus), and even a sponge (Hyperion). Some have a gnarled, irregular shape and texture like a dirty ice-ball (Epimetheus). One object observed in the rings (and unofficially called Peggy) may be a moon forming or disintegrating, or it might not truly be a moon at all. Four spacecraft have visited the Saturn system, but Cassini alone actually orbited the ringed planet. Doing so bought Cassini time—more than a decade—to linger and watch Saturn’s exotic zoo of 60-plus moons like no spacecraft before. Cassini looked, listened, sniffed and even tasted Saturn’s moons, and what it learned about them is nothing less than extraordinary. ![]() |
November 27, 2018: Websites
Here are some websites to help you with your love and passion of Space and Astronomy. Enjoy! https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/overview/ https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/moons/overview/ https://pds.jpl.nasa.gov/planets/special/planets.htm |
November 27, 2018: Jupiter
Jupiter Facts and Information
Earth has a diameter of 7,917.5 miles, whereas Jupiter has a diameter of about 89,365 miles. This means that Jupiter is almost 11 times the size of Earth, and just under 318 times as massive. 1,000 Earths can fit into 1 Jupiter. However, Earth’s density is significantly higher, since Earth is a terrestrial planet Jupiter is a Gas Giant. Jupiter is composed primarily of gaseous and liquid matter which is divided between a gaseous outer atmosphere and a denser interior. Jupiter has 53 named moons. Others are awaiting official names. Combined, scientists now think Jupiter has 79 moons. There are many interesting moons orbiting the planet, but the ones of most scientific interest are the first four moons discovered beyond Earth—the Galilean satellites. The Galilean Moons The planet Jupiter's four largest moons are called the Galilean satellites after Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei, who first observed them in 1610. The German astronomer Simon Marius claimed to have seen the moons around the same time, but he did not publish his observations and so Galileo is given the credit for their discovery. These large moons, named Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, are each distinctive worlds ![]() |
November 27, 2018 (Mars)
Mars Facts and Information
Mars, the fourth planet from the sun, is the second smallest planet in the solar system; only Mercury is smaller. Mars is about half (53 percent) the size of Earth, but because Mars is a desert planet, it has the same amount of dry land as Earth. Earth has a diameter of 7,917.5 miles, whereas Venus has a diameter of about 4,200 miles. This means that Venus is roughly 0.9499 the size of Earth. Mars is home to both the highest mountain and the deepest, longest valley in the solar system. Olympus Mons is roughly 17 miles (27 kilometers) high, about three times as tall as Mount Everest. It is also one of the largest volcanoes in the solar system. It is about 370 miles (600 kilometers) in diameter, wide enough to cover the entire state of New Mexico. The Valles Marineris system of valleys — named after the Mariner 9 probe that discovered it in 1971 — can go as deep as 6 miles (10 kilometers) and runs east-west for roughly 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometers), about one-fifth of the distance around Mars and close to the width of Australia or the distance from Philadelphia to San Diego. ![]() |
November 12, 2018 (Mercury)
The Planets in Our Solar System: MERCURY Mercury Facts and Information
The diameter of Mercury is 4,879 km (3,031 miles), which is approximately 38% the diameter of Earth. In other words, if you put three (3) Mercurys side by side, they would be a little larger than the Earth from end to end. While this makes Mercury smaller than the largest natural satellites in our system – such as Ganymede and Titan – it is more massive and far more dense than they are. ![]() |
November 12, 2018
The Planets in Our Solar System: Venus Venus Facts and Information
In terms of their respective sizes, masses and compositions, Venus and Earth are quite similar. Whereas Earth has a diameter of 7,917.5 miles, where Venus has a diameter of about 7,520 miles. This means that Venus is roughly 0.9499 the size of Earth. ![]() |
November 12, 2018
The Planets in Our Solar System: EARTH Earth Facts and Information
![]() Earth and Moon Facts
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