The December sky is remarkable this year, with the Geminid meteors on the 13th and the lunar eclipse on the 21st. Venus can be seen as the “morning star” in the eastern sky in the hours before sunrise, and is especially bright the first week of December. The Summer Triangle, which we saw straight overhead…
featured news
November Sky Watch
by PS 372 PTA •
With the lengthening nights, we have the opportunity to find constellations day and night this month. Just before sunrise, in the southwest sky, the constellation Orion, The Hunter, can be seen. It is easy to spot, as it has the three stars in a slightly diagonal line close together making Orion’s belt in the middle.…
Problems with the Use of Student Test Scores to Evaluate Teachers
by Steve Quester •
Valued-Added Measures (VAMs) are the newest craze in economists’ and politicians’ attempts to create a “scientific” way to measure teacher effectiveness. VAM takes a student’s achievement level upon entering a teacher’s class–as measured by standardized tests–and compares it to the student’s achievement level after a year with that teacher. The difference purports to be that…
Night Sky News for October
by PS 372 PTA •
Here’s a tip for fostering spatial thinking in children: Get a compass and show them how to find the directions with it. Remember when you find North, you are actually finding the alignment of the earth’s rotational axis. The circle of the compass, with its notation of degrees, presents a wonderful exploration of measurement using…