Lunar Eclipse - December 21, 2010

Total Lunar Eclipse of December 21

The last lunar eclipse of 2010 is especially well placed for observers throughout North America. The eclipse occurs at the Moon's descending node in eastern Taurus, four days before perigee.

The Moon's orbital trajectory takes it through the northern half of Earth's umbral shadow. Although the eclipse is not central, the total phase still lasts 72 minutes. The Moon's path through Earth's shadows as well as a map illustrating worldwide visibility of the event are shown in Figure 4. The timings of the major eclipse phases are listed below.

Penumbral Eclipse Begins:   05:29:17 UT
Partial Eclipse Begins:     06:32:37 UT
Total Eclipse Begins:       07:40:47 UT
Greatest Eclipse:           08:16:57 UT
Total Eclipse Ends:         08:53:08 UT
Partial Eclipse Ends:       10:01:20 UT
Penumbral Eclipse Ends:     11:04:31 UT

The entire event is visible from North America and western South America. Observers along South America's east coast miss the late stages of the eclipse because they occur after moonset. Likewise much of Europe and Africa experience moonset while the eclipse is in progress. Only northern Scandinavians can catch the entire event from Europe. For observers in eastern Asia the Moon rises in eclipse. None of the eclipse is visible from south and east Africa, the Middle East or South Asia. 

Table 6 lists predicted umbral immersion and emersion times for 20 well-defined lunar craters. The timing of craters is useful in determining the atmospheric enlargement of Earth's shadow (see Crater Timings During Lunar Eclipses). 

The December 21 total lunar eclipse belongs to Saros 125 a series of 72 eclipses in the following sequence: 17 penumbral, 13 partial, 26 total, 9 partial, and 7 penumbral lunar eclipses (Espenak and Meeus, 2009). Complete details for the series can be found at:

eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEsaros/LEsaros125.html

Insect Eating Clock? I Kid You Not!

What do you think about a clock that runs on energy derived from digesting insects that it captures?

This is some cool thinking outside the box!  Talk about using the concept of a non-toxic fuel cell that is also self sustaining!

You'll never look at a clock the same way again . . . . because you will remember this new time-piece.

This prototype clock traps insects on flypaper stretched across its roller system before depositing them into a vat of bacteria. The ensuing chemical reaction, or "digestion," is transformed into power that keeps the rollers rollin' and the LCD clock ablaze.

The inventors also offer an alternative design fueled by mice, another contraption whose robotic arm plucks insect-fuel from spider webs with the help of a video camera, and a lamp powered by insects lured to their deaths with ultraviolet LEDs.

Man, this is so wrong it has to be right . . . . or, at least on the right track

SOURCING: 
Designers -- UK-based James Auger and Jimmy Loizeau 
Engadget

Ants Can Count?

source: NPR

URL: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120587095&ps=cprs

Atoms Around Us

http://www.chem4kids.com/files/atom_intro.html

If you want to have a language, you will need an alphabet. If you want to build proteins, you will need amino acids. Other examples in chemistry are not any different. If you want to build molecules, you will need elements. Each element is a little bit different from the rest. Those elements are the alphabet to the language of molecules.

Why are we talking about elements? This is the section on atoms.

Let's stretch the idea a bit. If you read a book, you will read a language. Letters make up that language. But what makes those letters possible? Ummm... Ink? Yes! You need ink to crate the letters. And for each letter, it is the same type of ink.

Confused? Don't be. Elements are like those letters. They have something in common. That's where atoms come in. All elements are made of atoms. While the atoms may have different weights and organization, they are all built in the same way. Electrons, protons, and neutrons make the universe go.

If you want to do a little more thinking, start with particles of matter. Matter, the stuff around us, is used to create atoms. Atoms are used to create the elements. Elements are used to create molecules. It just goes on. Everything you see is built by using something else.

You could start really small...
- Particles of matter
- Atoms
- Elements
- Molecules
- Macromolecules
- Cell organelles
- Cells
- Tissues
- Organs
- Systems
- Organisms
- Populations
- Ecosystems
- Biospheres
- Planets
- Planetary Systems with Stars
- Galaxies
- The Universe
.And finish really big.

Wow. All of that is possible because of atoms.

What's the Matter?

 

Matter is the Stuff Around You

Matter is everything around you. Matter is anything made of atoms and molecules. Matter is anything that has a mass. Matter is also related to light and electromagnetic radiation. Even though matter can be found all over the universe, you usually find it in just a few forms. As of 1995, scientists have identified five states of matter. They may discover one more by the time you get old.

You should know about solids, liquids, gases, plasmas, and a new one called Bose-Einstein condensates. The first four have been around a long time. The scientists who worked with the Bose-Einstein condensate received a Nobel Prize for their work in 1995. But what makes a state of matter? It's about the physical state of molecules and atoms.

Changing States of Matter

Elements and compounds can move from one physical state to another and not change. Oxygen (O₂) as a gas still has the same properties as liquid oxygen. The liquid state is colder and denser but the molecules are still the same. Water is another example. The compound water is made up of two hydrogen (H) atoms and one oxygen (O) atom. It has the same molecular structure whether it is a gas, liquid, or solid. Although its physical state may change, its chemical state remains the same.

So you ask, "What is a chemical state?" If the formula of water were to change, that would be a chemical change. If you added another oxygen atom, you would make hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂). Its molecules would not be water anymore. Changing states of matter is about changing densities, pressures, temperatures, and other physical properties. The basic chemical structure does not change.

Jello Animal Cell

Animal Cell Anatomy

The cell is the basic unit of life. All organisms are made up of cells (or in some cases, a single cell). Most cells are very small; most are invisible without using a microscope. Cells are covered by a cell membrane and come in many different shapes. The contents of a cell are called the protoplasm.


The following is a glossary of animal cell terms: cell membrane - the thin layer of protein and fat that surrounds the cell. The cell membrane is semipermeable, allowing some substances to pass into the cell and blocking others.
centrosome - (also called the "microtubule organizing center") a small body located near the nucleus - it has a dense center and radiating tubules. The centrosomes is where microtubules are made. During cell division (mitosis), the centrosome divides and the two parts move to opposite sides of the dividing cell. The centriole is the dense center of the centrosome.
cytoplasm - the jellylike material outside the cell nucleus in which the organelles are located.
Golgi body - (also called the Golgi apparatus or golgi complex) a flattened, layered, sac-like organelle that looks like a stack of pancakes and is located near the nucleus. It produces the membranes that surround the lysosomes. The Golgi body packages proteins and carbohydrates into membrane-bound vesicles for "export" from the cell.
lysosome - (also called cell vesicles) round organelles surrounded by a membrane and containing digestive enzymes. This is where the digestion of cell nutrients takes place.
mitochondrion - spherical to rod-shaped organelles with a double membrane. The inner membrane is infolded many times, forming a series of projections (called cristae). The mitochondrion converts the energy stored in glucose into ATP (adenosine triphosphate) for the cell.
nuclear membrane - the membrane that surrounds the nucleus.
nucleolus - an organelle within the nucleus - it is where ribosomal RNA is produced. Some cells have more than one nucleolus.
nucleus - spherical body containing many organelles, including the nucleolus. The nucleus controls many of the functions of the cell (by controlling protein synthesis) and contains DNA (in chromosomes). The nucleus is surrounded by the nuclear membrane.
ribosome - small organelles composed of RNA-rich cytoplasmic granules that are sites of protein synthesis.
rough endoplasmic reticulum - (rough ER) a vast system of interconnected, membranous, infolded and convoluted sacks that are located in the cell's cytoplasm (the ER is continuous with the outer nuclear membrane). Rough ER is covered with ribosomes that give it a rough appearance. Rough ER transports materials through the cell and produces proteins in sacks called cisternae (which are sent to the Golgi body, or inserted into the cell membrane).
smooth endoplasmic reticulum - (smooth ER) a vast system of interconnected, membranous, infolded and convoluted tubes that are located in the cell's cytoplasm (the ER is continuous with the outer nuclear membrane). The space within the ER is called the ER lumen. Smooth ER transports materials through the cell. It contains enzymes and produces and digests lipids (fats) and membrane proteins; smooth ER buds off from rough ER, moving the newly-made proteins and lipids to the Golgi body, lysosomes, and membranes.
vacuole - fluid-filled, membrane-surrounded cavities inside a cell. The vacuole fills with food being digested and waste material that is on its way out of the cell.


Source: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/animals/cell/

More good stuff!
Plant Cell PrintoutBacterium Cell Printout
Animal Cell
Label Me! Printout

Whales

In Herman Melville's classic novel, a Sperm whale called Moby Dick is portrayed as an evil monster which sinks ships and kills sailors. This is the reputation these whales have gotten throughout the years, perhaps because of their large size and huge teeth.

We now know that Sperm whales are not dangerous to people. They do not break ships apart and swallow sailors whole. In fact, we know a lot about what Sperm whales don't do--but not very much else.

Sperm whales are the largest toothed whales on the planet, and perhaps the most abundant of the great whales, but we rarely get to study them because they spend so much time underwater. Sperm whales are deep divers, holding their breath and diving thousands of feet down to feed on deep sea squid and fish. They spend 90% of their lives down deep where they can't be seen. Only rarely do these energetic animals take a break and rest at the surface.

Seeing a Sperm whale on the water can be tough because the spout is not very high.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

Blue whale - A blue whale spouts at sunset. The blow, or spout, of a blue whale goes straight up and can reach 30 feet into the air. The blue whale is the largest animal ever to live on earth. Blue whale blows, emitted from a blue whale's twin blowholes as it breathes at the ocean's surface, can reach 30' into the air and can be seen and heard for miles.

It is also the loudest animal on Earth. These enormous mammals eat tiny organisms, like plankton and krill, which they sieve through baleen. They live in pods (small groups). These gray-blue whales have 2 blowholes and a 2-14 inch (5-30 cm) thick layer of blubber.

Blue whales are rorqual whales, whales that have pleated throat grooves that allow their throat to expand during the huge intake of water during filter feeding. Blue whales have 50-70 throat grooves that run from the throat to mid-body.  Here is a picture os a blue whale.

 Here is a picture comparing the Blue Whale to other animals.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Right whales are so named because they were considered the “right” whale to hunt.  Weighing in at over 60 tons, they yielded a great deal of oil for commercial whalers.  Additionally, their relatively slow speed, their tendency to feed at the surface, combined with the fact that they float after being killed, made them a prized target for the whalers leaving the ports in Provincetown, New Bedford, and Nantucket, among others.   Here is a picture of a Right Whale.

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 

Whalers can tell different whales by their spouts.

A sperm spout leans back a bit.

A blue spout is straight up and tall.

A right spout splits into two.  


Links for more info:

• the Sperm whale  (a Toothed Whale) 
• the  Beluga whale  (a Toothed Whale)
• the Blue whale   (a Rorqual Whale) 
• the Right Whale  (a Baleen Whale)

8th Grade Science Test

Ocean Information Hunt

1) Oceans cover more than _______ % of the earth's surface.

2) What is the largest living animal on our planet?

3) What are the 5 largest oceans?

4) Which is the largest ocean?

5) What was the H.M.S. Challenger?

6) What are hydrothermal vents?

7) Give 5 examples of sources of ocean pollution.

8) Where did the Exxon Valdez oil spill take place?

9) What year did the oil spill happen?

10)  In what year did the BP Oil Spill occur?  By what 4 other names is it known?

sources:

http://www.ceoe.udel.edu/extreme2004/questions/index.html

http://kids.nceas.ucsb.edu/mmp/blue07.html

http://theos.in/world/the-largest-ocean-in-terms-of-area/

http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/03mountains/background/challenger/challenger.html

http://www.ceoe.udel.edu/deepsea/level-2/geology/vents.html

http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/blue_planet/problems/pollution/

http://www.eoearth.org/articl/Exxon_Valdez_oil_spill?topic=58075

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BP_Oil_Spill

for elementary sctudents -- 2nd through 4th
http://www.calstatela.edu/faculty/eviau/edit557/oceans/linda/loceans.htm

Why is the Sky Blue?

Sunlight is made up of all the colors of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. The gas molecules in the atmosphere interact with the sunlight before the light reaches our eyes.

The gas molecules in the atmosphere scatter the higher-energy (high frequency) blue portion of the sunlight more than they scatter the lower-energy red portion of the sunlight (this is called Rayleigh scattering, named for the physicist Lord John Rayleigh). The Sun appears reddish-yellow and the sky surrounding the Sun is colored by the scattered blue waves.

When the Sun is lower in the horizon (near sunrise or sunset), the sunlight must travel through a greater thickness of atmosphere than it does when it is overhead, and even more light is scattered (not just blue, but also green, yellow, and orange) before the light reaches your eyes. This makes the sun look much redder.

Caution: Never stare directly at the Sun.

Extra Credit Question for everyone: What do the letters of this acronym stand for?

Roy G. Biv

Questions for middle school students:

1) How many miles away from the earth is the sun?

2) How long does it take the sun's light to reach the earth?

3) The continuous fusion of WHAT? into WHAT? keeps the core of the Sun cooking at HOW MANY DEGREES? degrees Fahrenheit.

4) How long would it take traveling nonstop at 70mph to reach the sun?

Look here for answers to #s 1 through 4.

5) What bends more - violet light or red light? You can find the answer here. The author of this answer is Lou Bloomfield, Professor of Physics, University of Virginia.

6) Does light refract? Why or why not?

Refract: The turning or bending of any wave when it passes from one medium into another of different density. (source: Answers.com)

sources:
Enchanted Learning
Answers.com
windows.ucar.edu.com
Howthingswork.virginia.edu