Astronomy: High School Curriculum (1st Semester) - Planets, Stars and Space!

This class will cover the basics of Astronomy.
Optionally, parents may requests that students receive assignment each week which I will grade as well as tests and quizzes for each unit.
Topics include: 
Week 1: The History of Astronomy from Aristotle through Copernicus, Galileo and Kepler.-We will discuss scientific revolution and how we moved from a geocentric to a heliocentric model. Time will be spent on Isaac Newton and our understanding of gravity as well.
        - activities include "Name that Scientist Game", calculating gravity on other planets and videos of Newton's Third Law
Week 2: The Earth-Sun-Moon System- In this week we will cover phases of the Moon, eclipses, revolution and rotation, seasons and tides, constellations, the ecliptic  and the zodiac.
      - activities include drawing the two types of eclipses, creating a constellation, and moon observation practice
Week 3: Constellations-In this week we will cover  constellations, the ecliptic  and the zodiac.
      - activities include  creating a constellation 
Week 4: Light and telescopes and how we gather information.-This will also include a discussion about the electromagnetic spectrum,frequency and wavelength and the speed of light as well as the concept of "Lookback Time".
      -activities include calculating the speed of light, "Identifying EM Waves Puzzle"
Week 5: The Solar System- This week we will discuss the formation of the planets and the Moon and why the solar system moves the way it does.
     - activities include drawing a scale model of the solar system
Week 6: Mercury and the Moon- This week will include a look at Mercury and the Moon
     - activities include videos, making Venn diagrams
Week 7: Venus and Mars- This week we compare and contrast Venus and Mars
 - activities include videos, making Venn diagrams
Week 8: The Outer Planets-We will discuss Jupiter, and Saturn
 - activities include videos, making Venn diagrams
Week 9: Uranus and Neptune 
 - activities include videos, making Venn diagrams
Week 10  The Galilean Moons  and a discussion about why Pluto is not a planet.
    - activities include "Name that Planet Game" and writing an obituary for Pluto
Week 11: Other objects in the Solar System- We will discuss comets, asteroids, meteorites, dwarf planets, Kuiper Belt objects and the Oort Cloud
    -activities include modifying our model from Week 4
Week 12: The Sun-We will discuss the Sun and its features such as sunspots, coronal mass ejections and prominences. Also, we will discuss the layers of the Sun and how nuclear fusion works and answer the question, "Why is the Sun's atmosphere is hotter than its surface?"
Week 13: The Birth of a Star- This week we will discuss the formation of stars and how they are classified.
     - activities include video of Annie Jump cannon and writing a mnemonic
Week 14: Stars and the HR Diagram- This week will include a look at the HR diagram and how it is used.
     - activities include making an HR diagram
Week 15: The Death of a Star-We will discuss the life cycle of a star and what happens to small, medium and giant stars at the end of their lives.  -activities include videos, creating a "Visit The Sun Advertisement", drawing and labeling the features of the Sun
Week 16: Review and Final

This class will be highly interactive and students will be encouraged to participate and ask questions. Class will begin with a warm up and an opportunity for the students to be creative.Then there will be a discussion where students will have the chance to interact with each other and myself. Finally,  at the end of each class there will be a review game to help students master the material.
No prior knowledge of Astronomy is necessary.