Post by Farah Smith on Jun 5, 2010 2:36:04 GMT -5
((OOC: Astronomy has ALL Houses within the class; it's not like in the HP books where there are only two Houses per class.))
Professor Farah Smith walked into the classroom dressed in an orange robe with white stars embroidered on it; the robes were made of a silky material and accentuated her body quite well. Not that that was her intention, of course. She just seemed to exude beauty, both inner and outer.
Smiling brightly, Professor Smith examined each face. She recognized a few of her own Hufflepuffs, but for the most part, these were all new faces and she was eager to get to know them, to find their strengths and to boost their spirits when they were down. “Good afternoon, class. This, is Astronomy.”
Professor Smith waved her hand and suddenly, the room went completely dark and a night sky appeared around them, as if they had been transported to another realm completely and were floating in space. Some of the students gasped as she the sky seemed to move around them. “This is a magical simulation of our place in space at this very moment. In your own words, could somebody describe what astronomy is?”
A Hufflepuff shyly raised a hand, and Farah nodded at her. “Astronomy is the study of the stars, right?”
“Right. Ten points to Hufflepuff. Anybody else?”
"Astronomy comes from the Latin words 'astro' meaning stars, and 'nomy,' which means law, so literally translated, Astronomy is the 'law of the stars,'" called a Ravenclaw boy, sounding smug.
"That's very true as well. Ten points to Ravenclaw. More?"
Nobody raised their hand, but that was to be expected. Most students had a very distinct idea of what Astronomy was, and it didn’t differ too drastically from student to student. “Astronomy is also the study of galaxies, of planets, and of life. It is the study of the beginnings of our universe and perhaps, it can be considered the study of that universe’s ends.”
Professor Smith walked slowly around the classroom, letting her words sink in.
“Do any of you know the name of the closest star, the one that gives life to all things here on Earth?”
One of the students, a Gryffindor, gingerly raised their hand. “Yes?” the professor said.
“It’s the sun, isn’t it?” she said.
“Yes! It is. Ten points to Gryffindor. Today, we will be learning about the sun, which is the power house of our Solar System.” Professor Smith waved her hand again, and suddenly, space disappeared and was replaced by a huge, hovering ball of orange flames. A few black spots dotted the surface.
“What are these called?” Professor Smith asked, indicating one of them with a laser pointing out of her wand.
“Those are sun-spots, aren’t they?” a Slytherin called, almost lazily, but Professor Smith didn’t mind. Slytherins were always sounding like that; sometimes, she wondered if that’s what the Sorting Hat really looked at--voices.
“Correct! Ten points to Slytherin. Our sun is really a medium sized star, and it’s temperature runs at 5800 degrees Kelvin on the surface. Close to the core, where a process called fusion occurs, the temperature is around 10 MILLION Kelvin,” Farah replied. She waved her hand once more and suddenly, they were looking at a list of numbers made out of stars. “Please copy down these measurements; they are likely to be on the quiz, which we will have at the end of this lesson.”
The words listed were:
Radius: 700,000 km
Mass: 2.0 x 1030 kg
Rotation: Differential; rotation takes 25 days at the Sun’s equator, and approximately 36 at the polar regions.
The words disappeared a moment later, and in replacement, a large diagram could be seen:
“The sun has many layers. The visible portion of the sun, which we see every time we look at it, is the photosphere. The other layers are shown in this diagram. The outer-most layer of the sun is its corona, which we can only see during a solar eclipse,” Professor Smith explained. The diagram was then replaced by a beautiful vision of a solar eclipse and the professor took in the awed expressions of her students once more.
Suddenly, the professor waved her hand and all of the hovering, beautiful lights disappeared and the class was normal once again. There were a few groans of protest, but Farah simply smiled and moved back to the very front of the classroom, situating herself on top of the desk. “For the last couple of minutes of the lesson, I would like to discuss the process of nuclear fusion. This is the process by which all stars are created, and which we will go into more depth about in future lessons. Nevertheless, it should be known that the sun, which is a medium sized star, can only fuse Hydrogen, it’s primary component, into Helium, and that is what gives the sun its energy. This process can only be performed in the core of a star, where the temperature is well over 10,000,000 K. Even magic cannot completely reproduce these effects.”
The looks on the students’ faces was priceless. They had probably assumed, like most, that magic could achieve anything. But that was what Farah found so incredibly amazing about the stars. They could do things that even magical forces couldn’t do. Shoot, the death of stars were what gave existence to the elements that people on Earth, and on other planets too, took for granted.
“That is all for today’s lesson. Now, we shall have a quiz.” Professor Smith waved her wand and suddenly, each student had a piece of parchment with questions on it in front of them. On the blackboard, extra credit questions appeared. The quiz parchment stated:
Quiz:
1. What is the mass of the Sun?
2. What are the black spots all over the sun’s surface?
3. Which of the sun’s layers is closest to its core?
4. How hot is the surface of the sun? The core?
5. When is the only time that we can see the Corona?
“On the board, there are extra credit questions. For these, I’d like you to PM me the answers so that I can know that you actually did research and aren’t just copying your neighbors’ work,” Farah said, motioning to the board, where the words explained:
Extra Credit:
1. How much larger is the sun’s radius than the Earth’s?
2. How many more times massive is the sun compared to the Earth?
3. If the sun’s surface is 5800 K, how hot is that in degrees Fahrenheit?
Professor Smith stood. "Alright, once you are finished, you may hand in your work and leave. If there are any questions, I am available. Good day."
~*****~
Grading Syllabus:
RP: 50 points possible.
Questions: A further 50 points possible.
Extra credit: 10 points each
Total Points Possible (w/ Extra Credit): 130 points for your House.
Professor Farah Smith walked into the classroom dressed in an orange robe with white stars embroidered on it; the robes were made of a silky material and accentuated her body quite well. Not that that was her intention, of course. She just seemed to exude beauty, both inner and outer.
Smiling brightly, Professor Smith examined each face. She recognized a few of her own Hufflepuffs, but for the most part, these were all new faces and she was eager to get to know them, to find their strengths and to boost their spirits when they were down. “Good afternoon, class. This, is Astronomy.”
Professor Smith waved her hand and suddenly, the room went completely dark and a night sky appeared around them, as if they had been transported to another realm completely and were floating in space. Some of the students gasped as she the sky seemed to move around them. “This is a magical simulation of our place in space at this very moment. In your own words, could somebody describe what astronomy is?”
A Hufflepuff shyly raised a hand, and Farah nodded at her. “Astronomy is the study of the stars, right?”
“Right. Ten points to Hufflepuff. Anybody else?”
"Astronomy comes from the Latin words 'astro' meaning stars, and 'nomy,' which means law, so literally translated, Astronomy is the 'law of the stars,'" called a Ravenclaw boy, sounding smug.
"That's very true as well. Ten points to Ravenclaw. More?"
Nobody raised their hand, but that was to be expected. Most students had a very distinct idea of what Astronomy was, and it didn’t differ too drastically from student to student. “Astronomy is also the study of galaxies, of planets, and of life. It is the study of the beginnings of our universe and perhaps, it can be considered the study of that universe’s ends.”
Professor Smith walked slowly around the classroom, letting her words sink in.
“Do any of you know the name of the closest star, the one that gives life to all things here on Earth?”
One of the students, a Gryffindor, gingerly raised their hand. “Yes?” the professor said.
“It’s the sun, isn’t it?” she said.
“Yes! It is. Ten points to Gryffindor. Today, we will be learning about the sun, which is the power house of our Solar System.” Professor Smith waved her hand again, and suddenly, space disappeared and was replaced by a huge, hovering ball of orange flames. A few black spots dotted the surface.
“What are these called?” Professor Smith asked, indicating one of them with a laser pointing out of her wand.
“Those are sun-spots, aren’t they?” a Slytherin called, almost lazily, but Professor Smith didn’t mind. Slytherins were always sounding like that; sometimes, she wondered if that’s what the Sorting Hat really looked at--voices.
“Correct! Ten points to Slytherin. Our sun is really a medium sized star, and it’s temperature runs at 5800 degrees Kelvin on the surface. Close to the core, where a process called fusion occurs, the temperature is around 10 MILLION Kelvin,” Farah replied. She waved her hand once more and suddenly, they were looking at a list of numbers made out of stars. “Please copy down these measurements; they are likely to be on the quiz, which we will have at the end of this lesson.”
The words listed were:
Radius: 700,000 km
Mass: 2.0 x 1030 kg
Rotation: Differential; rotation takes 25 days at the Sun’s equator, and approximately 36 at the polar regions.
The words disappeared a moment later, and in replacement, a large diagram could be seen:
“The sun has many layers. The visible portion of the sun, which we see every time we look at it, is the photosphere. The other layers are shown in this diagram. The outer-most layer of the sun is its corona, which we can only see during a solar eclipse,” Professor Smith explained. The diagram was then replaced by a beautiful vision of a solar eclipse and the professor took in the awed expressions of her students once more.
Suddenly, the professor waved her hand and all of the hovering, beautiful lights disappeared and the class was normal once again. There were a few groans of protest, but Farah simply smiled and moved back to the very front of the classroom, situating herself on top of the desk. “For the last couple of minutes of the lesson, I would like to discuss the process of nuclear fusion. This is the process by which all stars are created, and which we will go into more depth about in future lessons. Nevertheless, it should be known that the sun, which is a medium sized star, can only fuse Hydrogen, it’s primary component, into Helium, and that is what gives the sun its energy. This process can only be performed in the core of a star, where the temperature is well over 10,000,000 K. Even magic cannot completely reproduce these effects.”
The looks on the students’ faces was priceless. They had probably assumed, like most, that magic could achieve anything. But that was what Farah found so incredibly amazing about the stars. They could do things that even magical forces couldn’t do. Shoot, the death of stars were what gave existence to the elements that people on Earth, and on other planets too, took for granted.
“That is all for today’s lesson. Now, we shall have a quiz.” Professor Smith waved her wand and suddenly, each student had a piece of parchment with questions on it in front of them. On the blackboard, extra credit questions appeared. The quiz parchment stated:
Quiz:
1. What is the mass of the Sun?
2. What are the black spots all over the sun’s surface?
3. Which of the sun’s layers is closest to its core?
4. How hot is the surface of the sun? The core?
5. When is the only time that we can see the Corona?
“On the board, there are extra credit questions. For these, I’d like you to PM me the answers so that I can know that you actually did research and aren’t just copying your neighbors’ work,” Farah said, motioning to the board, where the words explained:
Extra Credit:
1. How much larger is the sun’s radius than the Earth’s?
2. How many more times massive is the sun compared to the Earth?
3. If the sun’s surface is 5800 K, how hot is that in degrees Fahrenheit?
Professor Smith stood. "Alright, once you are finished, you may hand in your work and leave. If there are any questions, I am available. Good day."
~*****~
Grading Syllabus:
RP: 50 points possible.
Questions: A further 50 points possible.
Extra credit: 10 points each
Total Points Possible (w/ Extra Credit): 130 points for your House.
