4/16 Thursday Apparent Brightness Lab
Look at the size of Maverick Finazzo's paws! That is going to be one big dog!
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Apparent Brightness of Stars Lab!
Today you will be conducting a simple lab that will demonstrate the idea that stars often have an apparent brightness. Apparent brightness means how bright something looks to you, depending on how far away you are from it.
For the lab today you will need a few things - see my YouTube video for examples.
1) A ruler
2) A tape measure (nice to have but not completely necessary)
3) A flashlight with a round end
4) A piece of paper (you can use the next one in your journal if you like.
5) A pencil
6) A dim or dark room and a dark surface on which to shine your flashlight.
I have prepared a YouTube video to help you understand how to do the experiment...I have never recorded a video like this before so it's definitely not perfect!! It will give you the idea of what you need to do though.
After you watch the video, here are some further pieces of information.
- You will be writing down the width of the beam for every 1-inch increment on your ruler...1 inch, 2 inches, 3 inches, 4 inches, 5 inches.....all the way up to 12 inches.
- It helps to have someone help you either hold the ruler & flashlight, or help you measure the width of the beam. Two hands are better than one for this lab.
- If you don't have something to measure the beam as you are shining it on the surface while, at the same time, using the ruler to keep a specific distance from the surface, then you can shine the beam onto a piece of paper, trace it's circumference, and then measure it with the ruler. After you watch the video that sentence will make more sense.
- You may record your data in your journal. One column will be for the distance of the flashlight from the surface and the other column will be to record the width of the beam in inches.
To start the lab, first print out the following worksheet, or use your science journal to write down your responses.
Start by ONLY doing the hypothesis on the first page.
Then set the paper aside and proceed with the lab.
Once you have written your hypothesis, put the worksheet away. You will finish answering the questions after you finish everything tomorrow.
OK...when you are ready go ahead and watch the video below. After that you can do the 12 measurements, recording them in your journal as you go, and then put your journal and supplies away.
You will create a graph using your data tomorrow so keep the data record handy.
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Spelling Corrections for This Week!
Here is the PDF of the answer key for this week's spelling, pages 49 - 51.