I've been teaching seventh grade science for a couple of weeks now and I can honestly say that I love it! We had a TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE on what would have been the second day of school, so naturally I decided to start out teaching the Sun-Earth-Moon system. I gave the students solar eclipse glasses and homework on the first day! An awesome start to seventh grade, I think!
The first week, we learned about the effects of Earth's rotation and revolution (Why are these terms so easy to get mixed up?) and the effect of Earth's tilt. Some students remarked that the motion of the Earth is like a giant clock or calendar, always moving and keeping time. Good observation!
Last week, students learned about the moon and its phases. They all received a calendar to record the moon's appearance for the month of September. The moon was almost full last night and its color changed from red to golden orange (caused by all the smoke in the atmosphere from the wildfires in the northwest) before being covered by clouds. The calendar is due the first week of October. So please remind your child to go look at the moon! This week we will study solar and lunar eclipses in depth.
Next week we'll be reviewing and take our first test. Students should look over their notes and review vocabulary each night. Be sure to contact me if you have questions or concerns!
