February 2017
Dear
3-C Parents,
We are embarking upon an Astronomy unit
in Science, focusing primarily on the movement of the moon, earth and sun and
how that impacts daytime/nighttime, months, seasons, tides and phases of the
moon. Although we will be reading about and discussing this, the best way to
learn is by doing.
As part of your child’s nightly
homework for a month beginning on Monday, February 26th (the day after the new moon phase), he/she will be required to
record his/her observations of the moon each night on our online class blog
entitled “3-Conklin Moon Journal”. I have already set up our moon blog to help
students best record a written account of what they see, including the date and time
of observation, condition of the sky, the phase of the moon, and any constellations spotted. On a night
where the moon may not be visible, your child should still blog about what
he/she does see (perhaps a dark or cloudy sky, stars, constellations or visible
planets).
To access our class moon blog, the children
will need to visit the link: http://3-conklinmoonjournal.blogspot.com/. This is where they will be posting their
observations and written accounts. The children have already practiced blogging
on this site with Mr. Casal, our technology teacher, before the break, recounting what they already know about the moon. They were encouraged to reply
to their classmates’ posts and more importantly proofread over the writing
before posting to avoid grammar, spelling and punctuation errors. I will be
closely monitoring their posts and only when I have approved of what they have
written will their posts be visible on our blog.
It is very important for your child to
document what he/she sees (or does not see) every night including weekends and holidays. We will only be “moon
gazing” for one month, so that the students can see a complete cycle of the
moon. We have already discussed that their recording may only take a short time
each night. Please support your child’s scientific inquiry and help remind him/her
to fulfill this homework obligation.
Thank you for your cooperation with
this month’s Science homework!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Conklin
Please Note:
**The Moon is visible at different times during its monthly cycle. When the Moonrise is after 9:00 pm, or extremely early in the morning, March 15th -
March 26th, your child should observe the moon and blog in
the morning before leaving for school. Please refer to the “Optimal
Moon Viewing Times” chart at the top of the moon blog page.**
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