| Date Assigned | Task | Availability |
|
Mon.-Thu. 4/2-5 |
Your ET presentations finally began on Friday and continued throughout the rest of the first week of April! | Presentations began! |
|
Mon.-Fri. 3/26-30 |
After my absence on Monday the 26th )which you used to work on your Ch. 27 RQs or on your presentation more), I collected your RQs before we then viewed "Close Encounters" this week to buy you even more time to complete your presentations. | Presentations begin at a date TBA! |
|
Thu.-Fri. 3/15-23 |
A lottery was held, then work began and continued for these 2 weeks on your
teaching presentations for your chosen ET or exosolar topic. See your class's sheet in "Mr. Sweeten's Files" while on a computer at West to be reminded of the requirements for the project! |
Presentations begin at a date TBA! |
|
Mon.-Wed. 3/12-14 |
The last piece of "equal time" was given to those that argue for the existence of ETs in civilization's ancient past. After hearing the arguments, you were once again asked to apply Occam's Razor to evaluate the validity of the specified evidence and take a position of your own. On Tuesday, you also completed the "SETI Songs" assignment and on Wed. I assigned the Ch. 27 RQs for HW, due on Friday the 23rd! | See Mr. S. about the viewing of "Ancient Aliens" and the "SETI Songs" assignment |
|
Tue.-Fri. 3/6-9 |
The remainder of the week (with mostly short classes due to the juniors' HSPAs) was all about "equal time" as those claiming to have witnessed ET technology or the ETs themselves were given the chance to make their case. In the end on Friday, you then stated whether they had succeeded or not. | See Mr. S. about the initial and final opinion statements you need to write for this assignment |
|
Mon. 3/5 |
With so many class members participating in the physics bridge challenge testing, astronomy and ET life was put on hold so our class could go down and watch the competition. | --- |
|
Wed.-Fri. 2/29-3/2 |
Whether natural selection and evolution have ceased continued throughout the rest of the week as we further explored and discussed advances in stem cell research and the mapping and manipulation of the human genome through the viewing of 2 more NOVA scienceNOW segments and the movie "Gattaca". At the conclusion, you turned in your statement about whether this is a net good or bad thing for humanity. | See Mr. S. about this discussion |
|
Tue. 2/28 |
Today we explored the question "has the evolution of humanity stopped?" and in turn, will humans be able to cure, modify and customize themselves with the applications of the findings related to RNAi, stem cell research and the mapping of the human genome. | See Mr. S. about this discussion |
|
Mon. 2/27 |
With my absence, online research by you on the octopus resulted in a decision and stance on your part about which alternate path to intelligence was greater, that resulting in the cephalopod or the dolphin. | See Mr. S. about the computer-based "Octopus vs. Dolphin' assignment |
|
Fri. 2/24 |
Today, we began to explore the alternate evolutionary paths to intelligence that occurred here on Earth by learning more about dolphins and gaining an appreciation for their similarities and advantageous differences when compared to humans. | See Mr. S. about the ET life you must create |
|
Thu. 2/23 |
Once we concluded "Alien Planet", your lab activity involved creating your own ET animal life that needed to bear 2 similarities to Earth life but also include 2 unique characteristics after evolving on its own planet that differs from Earth. | See Mr. S. about the ET life you must create |
|
Mon.-Tue. 2/21-22 |
During these 2 days, we viewed "Alien Planet", a dramatization of the book "The Expedition", taking notes while viewing on the alien life imagined by the author that was either Earth-like or unique. | See Mr. S. about "Alien Planet" |
|
Fri. 2/17 |
After completing "Le Voyage Dans La Lune", we discussed in further depth all of the reasons class members gave for why we have not returned to the moon since 1972. | "Le Voyage Dans La Lune" Qs |
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Thu. 2/16 |
After wrapping up our work on the "How Rare is Earth" Lab, we also began the conclusion of the Earth to the Moon series by viewing "Le Voyage Dans La Lune". | "Le Voyage Dans La Lune" Qs |
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Wed. 2/15 |
Work continued and was completed on the "How Rare is Earth" Lab during your two lab periods today. | See Mr. S. for the "How Rare is Earth" Graphs and Lab |
|
Tue. 2/14 |
Work was actually begun on the "How Rare is Earth" Lab and it will continue through tomorrow (your lab day). | See Mr. S. for the "How Rare is Earth" Graphs and Lab |
|
Mon. 2/13 |
After completing "Galileo Was Right", we discussed the graphs your "How Rare is Earth" Lab will be based upon (which will begin tomorrow) so that you can start it right away on Tuesday. | See Mr. S. for the "How Rare is Earth" Graphs |
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Fri. 2/10 |
A break was taken from our ET life discussion to resume the Earth to the Moon series with the story of how the astronauts were trained to be lunar geologists in "Galileo Was Right". | "Galileo Was Right" Qs |
|
Tue.-Thu. 2/7-9 |
After completing our discussion and interpretation of the fictional alien message, we began viewing "2010", a movie covering many issues pertaining to the nature of advanced ET life. | See Mr. S. for the "2010" Qs |
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Mon. 2/6 |
Today, you were asked to "think like aliens" with the analysis of the Arecibo and Pioneer plaque messages sent out by humanity and the mock received alien message created by the folks at Cal. Berkeley. | See Mr. S. for both messages |
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Fri. 2/3 |
A visit to the Kepler Space Telescope site led to an activity on how it works and questions pertaining to 3 Earth-like planets it has discovered. | See Mr. S. for the KST activity |
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Thu. 2/2 |
It was a video and discussion day today about the Kepler Space Telescope - how it works and what Earth-like planets it has so far discovered. | Kepler Space Telescope |
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Wed. 2/1 |
With our lab period today, we completed the Drake Eq. Lab and we also learned about how planets are being detected around other stars with our Extrasolar Planet Detection Lab. (These links were provided so those absent today could complete them at home.) | Drake Eq. Lab and Extrasolar Planet Detection Lab |
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Tue. 1/31 |
After completing "Understanding: ETs", we began an online Drake Equation lab activity which we will complete tomorrow. | "Understanding: ETs" Qs and Drake Eq. Lab |
|
Mon. 1/30 |
After "Contact" began our quest to answer the question "are we alone?", we started the viewing of "Understanding: ETs" today which introduced us to the Drake Equation and Dr. Jill Tarter, the real Ellie Arroway. |
"Understanding: ETs" Qs |