Unit 1- About Science (Total 8 days, 238 pages) &Unit 2 – The Sun (Total 22 days, 353 pages): $30

Students will begin the unit by doing some simple exercises in experimental design.  This will lead to an experiment on the validity of astrological predictions and will serve as an experimental design model for the rest of the course. Fundamental principles of experimental design will be applied in the lab.

Topics include Experimental Design, Nature of Scientific Knowledge, Horoscope lab (relation to Constellations).

Unit 2 – The Sun (Total 22 days, 353 pages): Students will learn about the observational characteristics of the sun and the internal structure and power source of the sun.  The sun is the basis for most of our timekeeping and the connection between the sun and clocks will be investigated, including a project to build a sundial.

The observational characteristics of the sun include the patterns of rising and setting on a daily basis and the annual changes in position which marks the seasons.  The internal structure shows the parts of the sun and how they affect the sun’s brightness, temperature, lifetime, and eventual fate.

Topics include the tangent function, Observing Sun Altitude, Stellarium Simulation: Azimuth of the Sun, The Analemma, longitude and latitude, Designing an Equatorial Sundial, Sun Motion, Structure of the Sun, Observing Sunspots, Rate of Solar Rotation, Age and size of the Sun.