Mr. Rotts Classroom Blog Jan 30th - Feb 3rd

Welcome Space Travelers!
After a long week ... of testing.. And more testing.. And still more testing... we are finally ready to get back to work!   1st period is going to really focus on harder material so you will have to decide to step up .. Or just coast along... you know what I want for you!  Be strong... deep space is not a scary place!  Hahah that rhymes!

THIS WEEK: Back to decimals and percents... think of decimals as money and I KNOW all of you like money!

CALCULATOR !!!  YOU really want to make sure you purchase a calculator that can do fractions, it needs to have an ABC button on it!  Trust me you’re going to want a fraction calculator!!

SPACE  FACT: Shooting Stars or Space Aliens?

What are meteor showers?

An increase in the number of meteors at a particular time of year is called a meteor shower.

Comets shed the debris that becomes most meteor showers. As comets orbit the Sun, they shed an icy, dusty debris stream along the comet's orbit. If Earth travels through this stream, we will see a meteor shower. Depending on where Earth and the stream meet, meteors appear to fall from a particular place in the sky, maybe within the neighborhood of a constellation.

Meteor showers are named by the constellation from which meteors appear to fall, a spot in the sky astronomers call the radiant. For instance, the radiant for the Leonid meteor shower is located in the constellation Leo. The Perseid meteor shower is so named because meteors appear to fall from a point in the constellation Perseus.
What are shooting stars?

"Shooting stars" and "falling stars" are both names that people have used for many hundreds of years to describe meteors -- intense streaks of light across the night sky caused by small bits of interplanetary rock and debris called meteoroids crashing and burning high in Earth's upper atmosphere. Traveling at thousands of miles an hour, meteoroids quickly ignite in searing friction of the atmosphere, 30 to 80 miles above the ground. Almost all are destroyed in this process; the rare few that survive and hit the ground are known as meteorites.

When a meteor appears, it seems to "shoot" quickly across the sky, and its small size and intense brightness might make you think it is a star. If you're lucky enough to spot a meteorite (a meteor that makes it all the way to the ground), and see where it hits, it's easy to think you just saw a star "fall."
How can I best view a meteor shower?

If you live near a brightly lit city, drive away from the glow of city lights and toward the constellation from which the meteors will appear to radiate.
For example, drive north to view the Leonids. Driving south may lead you to darker skies, but the glow will dominate the northern horizon, where Leo rises. Perseid meteors will appear to "rain" into the atmosphere from the constellation Perseus, which rises in the northeast around 11 p.m. in mid-August.

After you've escaped the city glow, find a dark, secluded spot where oncoming car headlights will not periodically ruin your sensitive night vision. Look for state or city parks or other safe, dark sites.

Once you have settled at your observing spot, lie back or position yourself so the horizon appears at the edge of your peripheral vision, with the stars and sky filling your field of view. Meteors will instantly grab your attention as they streak by.
How do I know the sky is dark enough to see meteors?

If you can see each star of the Little Dipper, your eyes have "dark adapted," and your chosen site is probably dark enough. Under these conditions, you will see plenty of meteors.
What should I pack for meteor watching?

Treat meteor watching like you would the 4th of July fireworks. Pack comfortable chairs, bug spray, food and drinks, blankets, plus a red-filtered flashlight for reading maps and charts without ruining your night vision. Binoculars are not necessary. Your eyes will do just fine.

 BLOG QUESTIONS: See the Space Facts for help!
1) Have you ever seen a shooting star?

2) How fast is a meteor. traveling before it becomes a shooting star?

3) What fraction would you make out of the letters in the word meteor if the numerator represented the number of vowels in the word meteor?

4) Go to the Meteor Shower Dates web site and answer these questions:
    a)What is the date for the next meteor shower?
    b)At the next meteor shower date... what will be the speed of the          Meteors as they hit our atmosphere?
c)Which month has the most predicted meteor showers?



 

GONZAGA MENS BASKETBALL           
Well it was not a pretty win but at least I was able to see the Zags beat Portland!  PLUS it was my sons birthday! WOW... so  a Zag win, what a great bday present for my son, wouldnt you say! We sat surrounded by Zag fans... from young to old!  

Pure bliss!

Fri, Nov 11 Eastern Washington Spokane, Wash. W 77 - 69
Mon, Nov 14 Washington State Spokane, Wash. 9 p.m. W 89-81
Sat, Nov 26 Western Michigan (Spokane Arena) 1 p.m. W 78-58
Wed, Nov 30 Notre Dame Spokane, Wash. 8:15 p.m. W 73-53
Sat, Dec 03 Illinois Champaign, Ill. 12:15 p.m. L 82-75
Sat, Dec 10 Michigan State Spokane, Wash. 6 p.m. L 74 - 67
Thu, Dec 15 Oral Roberts Spokane, Wash. 6 p.m. W 67 - 61
Sat, Dec 17 Arizona (Battle In Seattle) Seattle, Wash.1 p.m. W 71 - 60
Tue, Dec 20 Butler Spokane, Wash. 6 p.m. W 71-55
Thu, Dec 22 Air Force Spokane, Wash. 6 p.m. W 70-60
Wed, Dec 28 Portland * Spokane, Wash. 6 p.m. W 90-51
Sat, Dec 31 Xavier Cincinnati, Ohio 5 p.m. W 72-65
Thu, Jan 05 Pepperdine * Spokane, Wash. 6 p.m.  W 73-45
Sat, Jan 07 Santa Clara * Spokane, Wash. 5 p.m. W82-60
Thu, Jan 12 Saint Mary's * Moraga, Calif. 8 p.m. L 83-62
Sat, Jan 14 Loyola Marymount * Los Angeles, Calif. W 62-58
Thu, Jan 19 San Francisco * Spokane, Wash. W 74-63
Sat, Jan 21 San Diego * Spokane, Wash. 5 p.m.  W 77-60
Thu, Jan 26 Portland * Portland, Ore. 8 p.m. W 74-62
Thu, Feb 02 BYU * Provo, Utah 7 p.m.
Sat, Feb 04 Pepperdine * Malibu, Calif. TBA
Thu, Feb 09 Saint Mary's * Spokane, Wash. 8 p.m.
Sat, Feb 11 Loyola Marymount * Spokane, Wash. 5 p.m.
Thu, Feb 16 Santa Clara * Santa Clara, Calif. 8 p.m.
Sat, Feb 18 San Francisco * San Francisco, Calif. TBA
Thu, Feb 23 BYU * Spokane, Wash. 8 p.m.
Sat, Feb 25 San Diego * San Diego, Calif. TBA

Remember MATH is OUT OF THIS WORLD!

As always, you are amazing, incredible people with the whole world waiting to be changed by YOU!

Mr. Rott 

Notes for State Math Test

Here are the notes from our state math test study packet.. remember you have had NO homework at all this week and NONE next week so  you can have time to study... push yourself to go over the study packet every night, it will help!

Mr. Rott's Classroom Blog January 17-20

Hello Space Travelers… 

Well I will confess, last night I was sure, completely sure we were going to have a snow day that I – in keeping with the Space theme for the year, I watched Transformers The Dark Side of the Moon… oh very cool movie! But sad to say we did not have a snow day… shoot!  Tonight we are supposed to get 1 inch … perhaps that will make enough snow so you can stay home and play in the snow!

This week.. we will be working on getting ready for the state math test… today we worked on rounding whole numbers and decimals.. remember the rules! 

The homework this week will be you studying the packet that I will give you tomorrow if we have school… you are to review it every night for at least 20 mins… just like if you had homework to turn in.  Next week… test time!

Remember you are amazing wonderful people!! Do something great today!

Adding Subtracting Decimals

If your having a hard time with adding or subtracting decimals MAKE sure you check out  the class notes for 1/9/12!  They are way cool!  Mr. Rott

REMEMBER to notice if your homework equation is addition or subtraction.  YOU do NOT borrow if its addition!

Mr. Rotts Blog for the week of 1/13/12

Welcome Space Travelers!

 Now isn’t it nice to back at school?  Come on.. I know you couldn’t wait until you were able to hang out with your friends, talk, tell each other what you got for Christmas!..... it sure seemed like you were all excited about getting back to school by all the chatter in the hallways... 

THIS WEEK: We have started to work on percents and decimals, we will continue that this week and then start to get ready for our State Math Test... OH BOY!... 

CALCULATOR !!!  YOU really want to make sure you purchase a calculator that can do fractions, it needs to have an ABC button on it!  Trust me you’re going to want a fraction calculator!!

SPACE  FACT: Space Suits

We all know that clothes are important, in fact there is a saying that goes, clothes makes the man... meaning that what a person wears can say a lot about the person.  Astronauts also need space clothing for when they go out and work on the shuttle or even walk on the moon!

Spacesuits help astronauts in several ways. Spacewalking astronauts face a wide variety of temperatures. In Earth orbit, conditions can be as cold as minus 250 degrees Fahrenheit. In the sunlight, they can be as hot as 250 degrees. A spacesuit protects astronauts from those extreme temperatures.

The reason that spacesuits are white is because white reflects heat in space the same as it does here on Earth. Temperatures in direct sunlight in space can be more than 275 degrees Fahrenheit.

Putting on a spacesuit takes 45 minutes, including the time it takes to put on the special undergarments that help keep astronauts cool. After putting on the spacesuit, to adapt to the lower pressure maintained in the suit, the astronaut must spend a little more than an hour breathing pure oxygen before going outside the pressurized module.

A spacesuit weighs approximately 280 pounds on the ground -- without the astronaut in it. In the microgravity environment of space, a spacesuit weighs nothing.

Astronauts wear orange spacesuits called "launch and entry suits" during launch and landing of the space shuttle. In space, these suits can be worn only inside the shuttle.

An EVA is a spacewalk that takes place outside of a spacecraft. EVA stands for "extravehicular activity."

Alan Shepard is the only person to hit a golf ball on the moon. During the Apollo 14 mission, he fitted an 8 iron head to the handle of a lunar sample collection device and launched three golf balls. They are still there!

Each Apollo mission required 15 suits to support the mission. For the main, or prime, three-man crew, each member had three suits: one for flight; one for training; and one as a flight backup in case something happened to the flight suit. Thus, the prime crew had a total of nine suits. The backup three-man crew each had two suits: one for flight and one for training.

The Sonny Carter Training Facility including the Neutral Buoyancy Lab provides controlled neutral buoyancy operations to simulate the microgravity or weightless condition that is experienced by spacecraft and crew during spaceflight. For the astronaut, the facility provides important prefflight training for extravehicular activities and with the dynamics of body motion under weightless conditions.

Putting a spacesuit on is called "donning" the suit. Removing the suit is called "doffing."  

Thermofoil heaters are attached inside each of the fingertips in one of the layers of the glove. The heaters are located approximately over each of the crew member’s fingernails. The heaters have an on-off switch near each of the gloves' wrists.

No difference exists in a male's or female's suit, though the female astronaut usually requires a smaller size.
BLOG QUESTIONS: See the Space Facts and also the link for Click able Space Suit

Space Suit

1) Add the amount that you weigh plus the weight of the Space Suit and what is that total____?

2) How many suits does each Apollo mission require____?  If there were 25 missions in ten years how many total suits would have been used______?   

3) How many golf balls were hit on the moon__?  And where are they today______?

4) How many parts are there to a space suit_____?  See the Space Suit link.

5) How long does it take to put on a space suit___?  If you were an astronaut and had to put on and take off your space suit three times in one day... how much time would you have spent in one day getting into your suit___?

GONZAGA MENS BASKETBALL           

The team is doing great!  They will be playing some tough teams...
Fri, Nov 11 Eastern Washington Spokane, Wash. W 77 - 69
Mon, Nov 14 Washington State Spokane, Wash. 9 p.m. W 89-81
Sat, Nov 26 Western Michigan (Spokane Arena) 1 p.m. W 78-58
Wed, Nov 30 Notre Dame Spokane, Wash. 8:15 p.m. W 73-53
Sat, Dec 03 Illinois Champaign, Ill. 12:15 p.m. L 82-75
Sat, Dec 10 Michigan State Spokane, Wash. 6 p.m. L 74 - 67
Thu, Dec 15 Oral Roberts Spokane, Wash. 6 p.m. W 67 - 61
Sat, Dec 17 Arizona (Battle In Seattle) Seattle, Wash. 1 p.m. W 71 - 60
Tue, Dec 20 Butler Spokane, Wash. 6 p.m. W 71-55
Thu, Dec 22 Air Force Spokane, Wash. 6 p.m. W 70-60
Wed, Dec 28 Portland * Spokane, Wash. 6 p.m. W 90-51
Sat, Dec 31 Xavier Cincinnati, Ohio 5 p.m. W 72-65
Thu, Jan 05 Pepperdine * Spokane, Wash. 6 p.m.  W 73-45
Sat, Jan 07 Santa Clara * Spokane, Wash. 5 p.m.
Thu, Jan 12 Saint Mary's * Moraga, Calif. 8 p.m.
Sat, Jan 14 Loyola Marymount * Los Angeles, Calif. TBA
Thu, Jan 19 San Francisco * Spokane, Wash. TBA
Sat, Jan 21 San Diego * Spokane, Wash. 5 p.m.
Thu, Jan 26 Portland * Portland, Ore. 8 p.m.
Thu, Feb 02 BYU * Provo, Utah 7 p.m.
Sat, Feb 04 Pepperdine * Malibu, Calif. TBA
Thu, Feb 09 Saint Mary's * Spokane, Wash. 8 p.m.
Sat, Feb 11 Loyola Marymount * Spokane, Wash. 5 p.m.
Thu, Feb 16 Santa Clara * Santa Clara, Calif. 8 p.m.
Sat, Feb 18 San Francisco * San Francisco, Calif. TBA
Thu, Feb 23 BYU * Spokane, Wash. 8 p.m.
Sat, Feb 25 San Diego * San Diego, Calif. TBA

Remember MATH is OUT OF THIS WORLD!