Earth Science 🌎

🧑‍🏫 Mr. Porter

📆 2025-26

2025.1024 Earth Science

❓ of the 📅: Which animal would be the scariest if it was super-sized?

📋 Agenda

  1. Kepler's Laws Simulation Lab

🎯 Goals

🥅 Model planetary motion with Kepler's Laws

📆 Upcoming

2025.10.23 Earth Science

❓ of the 📅: If you were a pirate, what would your pirate name be? 🏴‍☠️🦜

📋 Agenda

  1. Kepler's Law Simulation Demo
  2. Prelab
  3. Kepler's First Law
  4. Continue...

🎯 Goals

🥅 Explore Kepler's Law with a computational model

📆 Upcoming

Kepler’s First Law:

Orbits are Ellipses

Planets orbit the Sun in ellipses with the Sun at one focus.

  • Key terms:
    • Semi-major axis (a): half of the longest diameter of the ellipse.
    • Foci: two special points whose sum of distances to any point on the ellipse is constant.
    • Eccentricity (e): how “stretched” an ellipse is (0: circle; near 1: very elongated).

Kepler’s Second Law:

Equal Areas in Equal Times

A planet sweeps out equal areas in equal time intervals.

  • Consequences:
    • Fastest at periapsis (closest approach).
    • Slowest at apoapsis (furthest point).
  • Vocabulary:
    • Periapsis/Apoapsis (general).
    • Around the Sun: perihelion/aphelion.
    • Around Earth: perigee/apogee.

Kepler’s Third Law:

Period–Distance Relationship

For objects orbiting the same star, the square of the period (T) is proportional to the cube of the semi-major axis (a) ().

2025.10.22 Earth Science

❓ of the 📅: If you could only eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?

📋 Agenda

  1. Graphing Orbits
    • Graph & Look for Patterns
    • Complete See-Think-Wonder indvidually
    • Domino Discover
  2. Kepler's Laws Simulation Labs
  3. Developing Our Orbit Models

🎯 Goals

🥅 Finding patterns describing orbits in the solar system

📆 Upcoming

Patterns:

  • What patterns do you see in the relationship between the phase of water on solar system objects and their average distance from the Sun?
  • What pattern do you see in the minimum and maximum distance from the Sun?
  • What patterns do you see in the relationship between an object’s average distance from the Sun and orbital period?
  • Do all objects in the solar system fit that pattern?
  • Which patterns or exceptions to patterns in the data that could help us explain the Comet Borrelly investigative phenomenon?

2025.10.21 Earth Science

❓ of the 📅: If you had to be a villain from a movie, which movie would you pick?

📋 Agenda

  1. Comets
  2. Orbital Data

🎯 Goals

🥅 Look for patterns in orbital data

📆 Upcoming

  • Star PTO Due Wednesday (Pages 14-19)

Comet Lemmon

Closest Approach to Earth is TONIGHT

What makes a comet different than other objects in our solar system?

Water in our solar system

  • Identify 3-5 details that are important in telling the story about water in our solar system

Analyzing data

Celestial Object Average Distance from the Sun1 (AU) Period of Revolution (Earth years) Minimum Distance from Sun (AU) Maximum Distance from Sun (AU) Phase of majority of water
Mercury .387 .241 0.307 0.467 vapor
Venus .723 .615 0.718 0.728 vapor
Earth 1.00 1 0.983 1.017 liquid
Mars 1.523 1.88 1.381 1.666 ice
Comet Borrelly 3.590 6.80 1.350 5.830 Ice, but a great deal vaporizes every several years
Europa (Jupiter’s moon) 5.203 11.87 4.950 5.459 Ice layer at surface, with liquid water ocean underneath
Mimas (Saturn’s moon) 9.539 29.46 9.041 10.124
Uranus 19.185 84.03 18.324 20.078 ice
Neptune 30.061 164.82 29.709 30.386 ice
Pluto 39.479 248.06 29.658 49.304 ice

Graphical Analysis

  1. https://graphicalanalysis.app/
  2. Manual Entry
  3. Fill out data in data table (just number columns)
  4. Make graphs to look for trends and patterns

2025.10.20 Earth Science

❓ of the 📅: What is your ideal sandwich? 🥪

📋 Agenda

  1. Finish Quiz
  2. Earth 2.0 - Update Model
  3. Start Orbits

🎯 Goals

🥅 Finish Quiz

🥅 Start Orbits

📆 Upcoming

  • Star PTO Due Wednesday (Pages 14-19)

2025.10.17 Regents Earth Science

❓ of the 📅: Does pineapple belong on a pizza? 🍍

📋 Agenda

  1. Quiz
  2. Earth 2.0 Task

🎯 Goals

🥅 Crush your quiz 💪

📆 Upcoming

2025.10.16 Earth Science

❓ of the 📅: Would you rather discover that witches, vampires, or werewolves were real?

📋 Agenda

  1. ⏲️ 10 Minutes - Finish Questions about Fe26
  2. Discuss Rates of Fusion
  3. Nucleosynthesis
  4. Stellar Evolution Whiteboard
  5. Star Life Cycle Performance Task

🎯 Goals

🥅 Create final model of stellar evolution

📆 Upcoming

  • Stellar Evolution Quiz tomorrow

center

Stellar Evolution Model

  1. Create a model to represent the life cycle of stars.
  2. Make a claim about the best type & stage of star we should look for to support life on Earth
    • support this claim with evidence from your model
  3. Use the rubric in your packet to guide your model
  4. Be prepared to share out your model

2025.10.15 Earth Science

❓ of the 📅: If you could make up a new rule, what would it be?

📋 Agenda

  1. Finish Fe26 Simulation Experiment
    • Share out results
  2. Create Stellar Evolution Model on Whiteboard (see rubric to help guide your model)

🎯 Goals

🥅 Model Stellar Evolution

📆 Upcoming

  • Stellar Evolution Quiz Friday

2025.10.14 Earth Science

❓ of the 📅: Favorite season? 🍂❄️🌞💮

📋 Agenda

  1. Share out fusion vs. gravity whiteboards
  2. Elaborate: Why do the lifetimes vary -> elaborating on fusion
  3. Create a Stellar Evolution Model

🎯 Goals

🥅 Finish modeling stellar evolution

📆 Upcoming

  • Quiz Friday

Share Out

Share out board and consider:

  1. Why do more massive stars die faster than less massive stars?
  2. How does the rate of star death relate to luminosity of a star (amount of energy released per second)?
  3. What factors lead to a star’s stability or instability? Why is it important to understand how long a star is stable and when it might change?
  4. What did you learn from the How the Sun Works investigation that you needed to know in order to explain what causes some stars to be stable and some stars to change?

2025.10.10 Earth Science

❓ of the 📅: What's your favorite classic Halloween monster?

📋 Agenda

  1. Review gravity/fusion balance
  2. Rewatch video
  3. Finish labeling forces
    • Do this on a whiteboard with your lab group BEFORE you put it into your packet

🎯 Goals

🥅 Explain the balance of fusion vs. gravity in stars

📆 Upcoming

  • Star quiz at the end of next week

Consensus Discussion

2025.10.09 Earth Science

❓ of the 📅: Pumpkin flavored or apple flavored?

📋 Agenda

  1. Share See-Think-Wonder
  2. HR Diagram Extension
  3. Forces in a star

🎯 Goals

🥅 Identify stars based on the HR Diagram

🥅 Explain forces in a star

📆 Upcoming

Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram (HR Diagram)

Star Formation

2025.10.08 Earth Science

❓ of the 📅: Do you believe in ghosts? 👻

📋 Agenda

  1. Answer Questions about Graph (see photos in next slides)
    • can access these through Canvas on the homepage
  2. HR Diagram Extension

🎯 Goals

🥅 Use the HR Diagram to describe the life cycle of stars

📆 Upcoming

2025.10.07 Earth Science

❓ of the 📅: Do you like scary movies? What is your favorite?

📋 Agenda

  1. Star Sort & Graphing
  2. See-think-wonder
  3. Class consensus
  4. HR Diagram Extension

🎯 Goals

🥅 Model the HR Diagram

📆 Upcoming

Investigate:

  • How can we determine star mass from observable properties?
  • We will be creating a static model of the star in a box simulation

Instructions

  1. Plot your stars based on their data
  2. Look for patterns & connections based one graph

Investigate:

  • How can we determine star mass from observable properties?
  • We will be creating a static model of the star in a box simulation

Consensus Questions

1. What properties in stars allow us to make predictions about their life span and stability?

2. What kind of stars live the longest and most stable lives?

2025.10.06 Earth Science

❓ of the 📅: Candy Corn: yay or nay?

📋 Agenda

  1. 👀🤔💭 See-think-wonder share out
  2. Stellar Evolution Diagram -> Review answers & discuss
  3. Stellar Evolution Practice - Finish for homework

🎯 Goals

🥅 Discuss and define stellar evolution

📆 Upcoming

  • Finish Stellar Evolution Practice Questions

2025.10.03 Earth Science

❓ of the 📅: WYR go to a Haunted House or a Corn Maze?

📋 Agenda

  1. Finish Star in a Box Data
  2. See Think Wonder
  3. Class Share
  4. Group Star Graphing Activity

🎯 Goals

🥅 Look for patterns in stellar life cycle

🥅 Look at star property patterns

📆 Upcoming

🎃 2025.10.02 Earth Science 👻

❓ of the 📅: What is your favorite halloween candy? 🍬🍫🍭

📋 Agenda

  1. Discuss Life Cycle Mass Grouping
  2. Stellar Life Cycle Data Collection - Star In a Box

🎯 Goals

🥅 Collect data on star life cycles using the Star in a box simulation

📆 Upcoming

2025.10.01 Earth Science

❓ of the 📅: Cake or Pie? 🍰🥧

📋 Agenda

  1. Finish Supernova 1054
  2. Star In A Box
  3. Explore:
    • look for evidence of patterns in the relationship between star mass and stability and change in stars

🎯 Goals

🥅 use a computational model

🥅 find evidence of **patterns**

🥅 use mass to explain stability and change in stars

📆 Upcoming

2025.09.30 Earth Science

❓ of the 📅: Should you bite or lick your ice cream? 🍨 🍦

📋 Agenda

  1. Finish Performance Task Organizer Questions
  2. Supernova 1054
  3. What do we need to know about the life and death of stars to find an Earth-like planet?

🎯 Goals

🥅 Generate Questions about the life span of stars

📆 Upcoming

2025.09.29 Earth Science

❓ of the 📅: Would you rather watch a movie on your TV at home or on the big screen in the theater, and why?

📋 Agenda

  1. How much fuel does the sun have? What will happen when it runs out of hydrogen?
  2. Update Earth 2.0 Model
  3. Supernova 1054
  4. Life Span of a Star

🎯 Goals

🥅 Look into the life span of a star

📆 Upcoming

2025.09.26 Earth Science

❓ of the 📅: What is your favorite road trip snack?

📋 Agenda

  1. Finish Chemical Rx vs. Nuclear Card Sort
  2. Consensus Sort as a class
  3. Write CER on Chem vs. Nuclear
  4. Update Habitable Model in PTO Packet

🎯 Goals

🥅 Determine fuel source of the sun

📆 Upcoming

2025.09.25 Earth Science

❓ of the 📅: What is your favorite family vacation?

📋 Agenda

  1. Card Sort - Summarization of CER
  2. How does the Sun release energy?
    • Cart sort #2

🎯 Goals

🥅 __

📆 Upcoming

2025.09.24 Earth Science

❓ of the 📅: If you could do anything you wanted today, what would you do?

📋 Agenda

  1. Whiteboard CER -- what elements make up the sun
  2. Present CER & Come to a class consensus
  3. Reflect on first consensus activity

🎯 Goals

🥅 Determine what elements make up the sun

📆 Upcoming

Board Meeting Procedures

  1. Each group shares CER
  2. What is similar about all of the boards?
  3. What is different amongst the boards?
  4. Can we come to a consensus about what elements compose the sun?
    -> Be sure to provide evidence of this

2025.09.23 Earth Science

❓ of the 📅: What is the worst food?

📋 Agenda

  1. Spectrascopy & The Sun
  2. Elements of the Sun

🎯 Goals

🥅 Explore the spectra of the sun

2025.09.22 Earth Science

❓ of the 📅: If you were to open a store, what would you sell?

📋 Agenda

  1. The Sun - where does all of this energy come from?

🎯 Goals

🥅 Explore and analyze the sun

📆 Upcoming

2025.09.19 Earth Science

❓ of the 📅: Would you rather be a superhero or super villain?

📋 Agenda

  1. Share out Earth Models
  2. Analyzing Earth Data: How do we survive?
  3. Exploring the Performance Task
    • What do we do?
  4. The Sun

🎯 Goals

🥅 Model what makes Earth Habitable

📆 Upcoming

2025.09.18 Earth Science

❓ of the 📅: What animal do you think is the creepiest?

📋 Agenda

  1. Share out ideas to save the world
  2. Exploring Data

🎯 Goals

🥅 __

📆 Upcoming

2025.09.17 Earth Science

❓ of the 📅: Would you rather live in the ocean 🌊 or on the moon 🌔?

📋 Agenda

  1. Hand in Graphs CER
  2. 🚀 Discovering New Worlds

🎯 Goals

🥅 What sustains life?

📆 Upcoming

2025.09.16 Earth Science

❓ of the 📅: What's the best pizza topping? 🍕

📋 Agenda

  1. Finish CER Worksheet
  2. Whiteboard and Present Assigned Graph

🎯 Goals

🥅 Make scientific arguments from graphical data

📆 Upcoming

2025.09.15 Earth Science

❓ of the 📅: What is the proper length of a playlist?

📋 Agenda

  1. CER Graph Practice
  2. Discuss

🎯 Goals

🥅 Make scientific arguments about graphs

📆 Upcoming

2025.09.12 Earth Science

❓ of the 📅: What is the best fry shape? 🍟

📋 Agenda

  1. Present CER on Metric Olympics
  2. Real-life data and CER practice

🎯 Goals

🥅 Make scientific arguments from data and graphs

📆 Upcoming

2025.09.11 Earth Science

❓ of the 📅: Does a week start on Sunday or Monday?

📋 Agenda

  1. CER: Soup, Salad, or Sandwich
  2. CER Argument for Metric Olympics
  3. CER Graph Practice

🎯 Goals

🥅 Make a scientific argument using CER model

📆 Upcoming

CER (Claim, Evidence, Reasoning)

  • Claim:

    • Sentence that answers the question.

  • Evidence:

    • Explanation of how the evidence supports the claim.
      • Should include details!
      • Refer back to the question, include any data, diagrams, or graphs.

  • Reasoning:

    • Science principle, such as an equation, law, or definition.
      • This is general, do no include specific details.

Game: Soup, Salad, or Sandwich

  1. Make a Claim-Evidence-Reasoning statement arguing whether the shown food is a soup, salad, or a sandwich.

Metric Olympic Presentations

Claim

What is one thing you can conclude from your graph?

Evidence

How does you graph support/show what you concluded?

Reasoning

What is the science or big idea that support your evidence

Claim-Evidence-Reasoning Example

Claim: Strong hurricanes start with greatest wind speeds.

Evidence: On the graph the Major Hurricane initial wind speed > Weak hurricane > Tropical storm

Reasoning: Hurricanes are in part rated by their windspeed.

Metric Olympic Presentations

Claim

What is one thing you can conclude from your graph?

Evidence

How does you graph support/show what you concluded?

Reasoning

What is the science or big idea that support your evidence?

2025.09.10 Earth Science

❓ of the 📅: Would you rather be the hero or the sidekick?

📋 Agenda

  1. Finish Graphs
  2. Whiteboard your graph
  3. Present a finding from your graph

🎯 Goals

🥅 Interpret and analyze graphs

📆 Homework:

  • Get safety contract signed in ParentSquare

2025.09.09 Earth Science

❓ of the 📅: Is it OK to ask the genie for infinite wishes?

📋 Agenda

  1. Finish last two stations to collect data
  2. Discuss how to make histogram
  3. Release them to graph
  4. Work on graphing practice

🎯 Goals

🥅 Practice Graphing

📆 Upcoming

  • Look for safety contract in Parent Square

2025.09.08 Earth Science

❓ of the 📅: Do you think it would be easier to give up sugar or technology?

📋 Agenda

  1. Finish Collecting Metric Olympics Data
    • If you are waiting for the next station you should be graphing

🎯 Goals

🥅 Collect ALL of our data

📆 Upcoming

  • Safety Contracts

2025.09.05 Earth Science

❓ of the 📅: Would you rather vacation in Hawaii or Alaska?

📋 Agenda

  1. Question of the Day
  2. Survival Island Share Out
  3. Graphing Notes
  4. Measurement Olympics

🎯 Goals

🥅 Collaborate with Peers

🥅 Collect & Graph Data

📆 Upcoming

  • ☑️ HW: Signed Safety Contracts

Board Meeting - Survival Island

Rules 📝

  1. 👂 Listen
  2. 🗣️ Speak Clearly
  3. ❔ Ask Questions
  4. 🤔 Seek to understand
  5. 👉 Refer to your board and use evidence
  6. 🌟 Come to consensus

Goals 🎯

  1. Practice Presenting to Class
    • speaking clearly
    • listening intently
  2. Learn how to come to class consensus
    • What does the majority of the data show?
  3. Create a culture of learning from each other

Measurement Olympics

🏃 🏋️ 🏊 🌬️ 🥇

Measurement Events

Event 1: Long Jump 🏃

Event 2: Reaction Time ⏱️

Event 3: Lung Capacity 🌬️

Event 4: Cool Down 🧊 🌡️

Station 1: Long Jump 🏃

Compare student's height to their average long jump

  1. Measure your height
  2. Measure three long jumps
  3. Calculate your average jump
  4. Record in class data table on Canvas

Station 2: Reaction Time ⏱️

Make a bar graph representing each group members average reaction time for their dominant and non-dominant hand

  1. Hold ruler above your partners hand, and without warning drop the ruler. Your partner should catch the ruler.
  2. Use the calculator in the group spreadsheet to convert the distance the ruler fell into a time
  3. Record 3 trials for your dominant and non-dominant hand. Average the times.
  4. Make your bar graph

Station 4: Lung Capacity 🌬️

Make a histogram of balloon cirumferences that we can inflate the balloons to with one breath

  1. Get your own balloon -- YOU ONLY GET 1 BALLOON
  2. Take a big breath and inflate the balloon as much as you can with 1 exhale.
  3. Pinch the balloon so no air comes out.
  4. Tie it, or hold it while partner measures the maximum circumference of the balloon.
  5. Record in the class data table in the class spreadsheet.

Station 4: Cool Down 🧊 🌡️

Compare the cooling rate of water when different number of ice cubes are added to water.

  1. Fill each beaker in your group up the same amount using the tap water.
  2. Add in different amounts of ice cubes according to the data table.
  3. Record the temperature each minute for 10 minutes
  4. Graph each cups temperature on the graph.

2024.09.05 Earth Science

❓ of the 📅: Sweet or savory for breakfast?

📋 Agenda

  1. Sit Anywhere (For Now)
    • you will move later
  2. Do Now (fill out questionnaire & card)
  3. Question of the Day
  4. Grouping Game
  5. Survival Island

🎯 Goals

🥅 Introductions

🥅 Classroom Culture

🏠 Homework

  • Signed Safety Contract

Do Now

  1. Fill out index card:
    1. Name
    2. Phone number to reach your parents/guardians if you sleep through the Regents exam
    3. Favorite Candy
    4. Favorite Emoji
    5. Emoji the describes your current mood
  2. Fill out Paper Quesionnaire

Lab Grouping Game

  • There are 15 of you
  • Based on your cards get into LOGICAL groups of 3
  • Check whole class answer with Mr. Porter
    • 4 Chances to Check
  • Reorganize if necessary

(Yes this is the game Connections)

Answers

Answers

  • States of Matter: Gas, Liquid, Solid
  • Energy: Juice, Spirit, Vigor
  • Classical Elements: Air, Fire, Water
  • Things with Rings: Circus, Saturn, Tree
  • Desserts: Pie, Cake, Cobbler

Survival Island 🌴

  1. Share your survival skill that you wrote down with your group
  2. Using everyone's skill develop a plan to survive or escape the deserted island
  3. On your whiteboard present your plan (drawing, mind map, set of instructions)
    • Highlight everyone's skill
  4. Share Plan to the class