UNIT 2 - TAP WATER Vs BOTTLED WATER

Supporting bottled water:

5 razones de peso para beber agua mineral

Supporting tap water: (

Video: La historia del agua embotellada (in spanish)

WHAT IS YOUR OPINION???

UNIT 2 - STRUCTURE OF THE ATMOSPHERE


Hello atmospheric scientist!

Check this video about atmosphere structure (in english):

Or this one (in spanish):

What is the lowest atmosphere layer? and the highest atmosphere layer?

SOLUTION GAME OF THE MONTH:

Find out the animal, looking to its eyes:

HORSE'S EYE

SNAIL'S EYE

GUINEAN PIG'S EYE

CROCODILE'S EYE

RABBIT'S EYE

SIAMESE CAT'S EYE

IGUANA'S EYE

FISH'S EYE

DID YOU ENJOY THE GAME?

LEAVE A COMMENT TO START ANOTHER GAME OF THE MONTH!

UNIT 1 - GLOSSARY - KEY WORDS

The following words are important for this unit. Learn them:

• Universe
• Heliocentric and geocentric model
• Big Bang theory
• Telescope, probe and robots
• Galaxy
• Milky Way
• Star
• Color, size, bright
• Sun
• Planet
• Dwarf planet
• Comet
• Satellite
• Asteroid
• Meteorite
• Solar System
• Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
• Inner and outer planets
• Rocky, liquid and gaseous
• Asteroid's belt
• Light year
• Moon
• Full moon, new moon, first quarter, third quarter

GOOD LUCK FOR THE EXAM (Thursday 31 october).

IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS, WRITE COMMENTS PLEASE!

UNIT 1 - PLANETS AND OTHER BODIES

Hello astronauts! 

Planet Kepler 10-b, discovered by NASA's Kepler mission

What is a PLANET? They are bodies that: 

- are spherical or almost spherical

- turn around a star

- can atract other bodies

Other bodies:

- DWARF PLANETS: They are spherical but they are smaller and they do not attract other bodies.

Dwarf planets, and their sizes compared with planet Earth

- SATELLITES: They are bodies that turn around planets. For example: moon, titan...

In the following picture you can find different "moons" in the solar system, look how big are Jupiter's satellites:

Different satellites in the Solar System

- COMETS: They are icy small bodies that travel showing a tail.

In the following video, you can find information about Halley's Comet, the most famous periodic comet:

- ASTEROIDS: They are rocky bodies with a variable size; from few metres to several kilometres.

When asteroids enter into atmosphere, they are called METEORITES. 

Look this amazing video about a meteor in Russia, which was seen on February, 15th 2013 in Russia. 1500 people injured by the expansive wave.

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bólido_de_Cheliábinsk

Are you afraid of meteorites? :O

Unit 1 - The Universe - Stars

STARS

Remember, STARS are spheres with its own light and energy.

The energy is produced by NUCLEAR FUSION: At very high temperature, hydrogen joins to hydrogen and the reaction produces energy (lignt and heat) and Hellium:

There are different type of stars:

- with different Color, according to its temperature:

- with different Size, (Dwarfs, Medium, Giants and Supergiants)

Check the stars size comparison in this video:

- with different Bright, according to the distance, the size and the temperature.

LIFE OF THE STARS:

Our star, THE SUN:

This extraordinary video looks back on the 3rd year of operation of NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. Since its launch in 2010, SDO's data and imagery have exceeded everyone's hopes and expectations, providing stunningly detailed views of the sun. The observatory has continued to return breathtaking pictures and movies of eruptive events on the sun. These images are more than just pretty. By highlighting different wavelengths of light, scientists can track how material on the sun moves. Such movement, in turn, holds clues as to what causes these giant explosions.

SDO is the first mission in a NASA's Living With a Star program, the goal of which is to develop the scientific understanding necessary to address those aspects of the sun-Earth system that directly affect our lives and society.

Do you know that each constellation of zodiac has different stars? For example, in Capricorn the main star is called ALGEDI.

Which is your zodiacal sign and what is your main star?

Unit 1 - The Universe - The galaxies and our galaxy: the Milky Way

Hello space explorers!

 Galaxies are systems composed by stars, gases and dust. Examples of galaxies range from dwarfs gallaxies, with as few as ten million stars (10^7) to giants galaxies, with a hundred trillion stars (10^14).

NGC 4414, a typical spiral galaxy

They are normally spiral, eliptical or irregular. The only difference between the three is what shape they are. 

The Local Group
There are billions of galaxies in our Universe. Most of these are clumped together in small groups. Our own galaxy which is called The Milky Way Galaxy lies within a group of galaxies that we call The Local Group.

The Local Group consists of about 30 galaxies. The three largest are The Andromeda Galaxy, The Milky Way Galaxy, and Triangulum.

THE MILKY WAY: 

Our galaxy, the Milky Way:

- Diameter: 100 000 light years 

- Thickness: 1 light-yea

- Number of stars: 400 billion.

CHECK THIS AMAZING VIDEO!

Time-lapse captured in Dakota (USA). Ten seconds of the video is about 2 hours 20 minutes in real time. 

One question: if Milky Way is spiral, why do we see it lineal?

Unit 1- The Universe - Observing the universe

Hi dear space explorers!

I have found two interesting videos about Hubble Telescope (in spanish):

If we want to observe the universe from Earth, we have a big problem: the light polution.

Check the following links, they offer information about this problem:

• ¿Qué es la contaminación lumínica? (Asociación contra la contaminación lumínica)
• International dark sky association

What solutions do you propose?

Unit 1 . Universe . The geocentric and heliocentric models

I find those two videos quite interesting to understand the geocentric and heliocentric models:

VIDEO 1 : GEOCENTRIC AND HELIOCENTRIC MODELS (IN ENGLISH)

VIDEO 2: GEOCENTRISMO E HELIOCENTRISMO (IN SPANISH)

If you want to know more about Galileo's trial, read the following text (in spanish):

UNIT 1: UNIVERSE, STARS AND THE SOLAR SYSTEM - Interesting apps and software

How big is the Universe! In this unit, we will discover the exciting field of astronomy. Before getting into details (we will study details in the following sessions), I would like you to take a look to the following apps, and software:

• ANDROID APPs (look for both in Google play)
• mapa estelar
• google sky map
• SOFTWARE:
• Space Engine, to download it (attention: 582 Mb) click here

Do you find them interesting? Thanks for your comments.

Bienvenue! Welcome! 歡迎! Willkommen! Benvenuto! 반갑습니다! Seja bem-vindos! Bienvenidos!

Welcome to MAD ABOUT SCIENCE blog!

Aquí encontrareis información interesante sobre la asignatura, explicaciones, enlaces de interés, actividades, y todo lo que pensemos que puede ser interesante compartir. Es muy importante vuestra participación, y por ello os pido que visiteis el blog con regularidad y que comentéis las entradas, incluyendo opiniones o información de utilidad. Así todos podremos descubrir el interesante mundo de las ciencias naturales, por cierto, ¿alguien sabe que significa Mad about science?

Aprovechamos esta bienvenida para recordarte los criterios de evaluación de la asignatura pinchando aquí.

Por último, recordad el horario de tutorías del profesor (por favor previo aviso):

- Miércoles de 13:00 a 14:00

- Lunes de 16:00 a 19:00      

Good luck and happy 2013-2014 Science course!!!