Today we finished our old-school thinking debates; this one was for evidence supporting Geocentrism vs. Heliocentrism. Most classes found that the Geocentric view does have more everyday-type evidence; the Heliocentric arguments are tough unless you know a bit about planets or ways to estimate size and distance in space.
We had a reading discussing problems with geocentrism, namely retrograde motion of planets that appear (from Earth's point of view) to move backward during some period as we watch them move day-to-day across the sky.
Answers to homework were discussed and some classes moved on to discussing tomorrow's notes on gravity and significant figures. We'll probably also start with some more interesting discussion of seasons and misconceptions about Earth's slightly elliptical orbit.
HMWK for Thursday: Read p. 190-195, p. 195#1-6.
remember, optional assignments (see last week's post) are due on Friday!
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