Kathleen Frank
UMBC
MD

Scope on the Skies: Between the planets

Tue, Oct 08, 2013 10:07 PM
Packed with information!

This article is packed with information!. It is well organized and detailed with clear explanations. The main ideas of the article include, the asteroid belt, orbital resonance, tracking an asteroid, and the locations of visible planets (as of September 2009). The article helped to clarify aspects of the asteroid belt, noting that while we often think of the asteroid belt as a crowed space, there is actually a good distance between asteroids. I found it interesting to learn that the gravity of Jupiter disrupted the orbits of asteroids preventing them from forming a planet. I also thought the questions at the end of the article were helpful in summarizing the main points.

Earth and Space Science

Wed, Sep 25, 2013 2:11 PM
Helpful with ideas

This book chapter is very straight forward. It has a user friendly format; including a discussion of the content standard (including assesment suggestions), then an example of the implementation of the standard. This chapter outlines content Standard D relating to Prooperties of Earth Materials, Objects in the Sky, and the Structure of the Earth System. It also clearly explains which grade level the standard is intended for. I found this to be a fine book chapter for reference with ideas relating to teaching this standard. While it is not elaborate or flashy, it is a quick and useful resource, thus the 4 Stars rating.