DARK UNIVERSE @ The Museum of Natural History
December 16, 2015 was an amazing sunny day as we traveled to the Museum of Natural History to attend the premier of “Dark Universe”. Students were extremely curious about the creation of dark matter, dark energy, the big bang theory as well as reviewing the biggest model of our universe, galaxy & solar system. Following our trip to the planetarium, students visited several other exhibits and toured the gift shop. Field research is a key component of our scientific inquiry program at BSEA and students from all four 7th grade science classes attend our trip. Students reflected on what helped them to understand the Unit 1: The Universe & The Geology of Planet Earth.
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The 7th grade science trip to the Museum of Natural History is scheduled for Wednesday, December 16, 2015. We will be leaving school at 9:00 am. This field trip supports what students are learning about our Universe, Solar System & Planet Earth.
Students who are current with their classwork received permissions slips on 12/1/15 and must return them ASAP. Other students will receive permission slips this week and must return them right away. Students without a permission will be unable to go. Students must wear their uniforms.
Students will attend the Dark Universe Exhibit, “featuring exquisite renderings of enigmatic cosmic phenomena, seminal scientific instruments, and spectacular scenes in deep space, the Hayden Planetarium Space Show Dark Universe celebrates the pivotal discoveries that have led us to greater knowledge of the structure and history of the universe and our place in it—and to new frontiers for exploration.
Produced by an innovative team that includes astrophysicists and science visualization experts, Dark Universe starts 100 million light years away from Earth. After flying to our own Milky Way Galaxy, visualized using the latest scientific data, and to our own planet, viewers arrive at California’s Mount Wilson Observatory, where Edwin Hubble’s discovery that the universe is expanding gave the first hint of the Big Bang. That initial discovery, and ever more sensitive instruments on the ground and in space, led to other breakthroughs that give astronomers an increasingly detailed and precise picture of how our universe formed and evolved.
But these revelations have also uncovered intriguing new mysteries. What is the mysterious dark energy accelerating cosmic expansion? What is the invisible dark matter underlying galaxies that, together with dark energy, account for at least 95 percent of the universe’s total energy and mass? What lies beyond our cosmic horizon?
In stunningly detailed scenes based on authentic scientific data—including a NASA probe’s breathtaking plunge into Jupiter’s atmosphere and novel visualizations of unobservable dark matter—Dark Universe explores this new age of cosmic discovery and reveals the mysteries that have been brought to light so far”.
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Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum
We are continuing our relationship with Urban Advantage (UA), as well as the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. Mrs. Jennings & Mr. Novins are Urban Advantage teachers and will be attending several professional development workshops throughout the year. Their participation gives BSEA students and parents free access to all major museums in the five boroughs with no admission charge (for free!) .
This year Mrs. Jennings will serve as one of the Lead Teachers with the Brooklyn Botanical Garden UA team.
Our geology unit will enable students to visit the Museum of Natural History, in order to conduct field research about our changing earth and the celestial objects, planets and stars that are a part of our galaxy.
Other trips that will be scheduled will be to the New York Hall of Science as students take part in a physics research project during Spring 2016.
As usual student participation on ALL trips will be contingent on them completing ALL classwork as this prepares them to understand the fieldwork they will conduct. Another very important factor is student behavior. Students must be able to work collaboratively with teachers and peers. Anyone who is unable to respect all members in our school community will not be allowed to participate on field trips, because student safety is very important to us and we need to ensure that poor behaviors will not endanger anyone.
Students MUST wear their uniform and arrive to school on time on trip days, or they will stay in school with another class.
Please note that, not all classes will participate in all field research, because participation is based on completion of classwork. Students or classes who do not complete their classwork by scheduled due dates will not be allowed to travel.
Parents are invited to come on all trips, but must inform Mrs. Jennings 24hrs before the trip, so that she can confirm sufficient space on the bus.
We look forward to seeing you on our trips! for more information about the Intrepid and other museums, please click on our “Calendar” icon.