Jon Schrage

Thank you for your interest in my “Orbits of Satellites” activity. In this activity, students use the equations for the orbital period and the orbital velocity of a satellite to determine these properties of satellites in three different orbits: geostationary orbits, low earth orbits, and the orbits of the satellites in the GPS system. The equations and constants that the students need are provided in the assignment. I have used this activity in my Astronomy course as a lab and as a homework. St

Everyone loves word searches, right? But what if they were... brutal? Each of the 10 word searches in this download contain one ONE WORD, and that one word only appears once. Sounds easy, but the problem is that the grid is made up of only the letters IN THAT WORD! So you have to find "GRAMMAR" in a grid that only contains the letters G, R, A, and M! Kids love these! They make great bell work, or extra credit work, or just something to keep them occupied and quiet while other students are, s

Everybody loves a word search puzzle, right? This is a set of 10 of the hardest word search puzzles imaginable! The each only have one word to find, and that word only appears once! The puzzle is made up of only letters that appear in the target word, so finding that word in the puzzle is a real challenge! Use these as "bell work" or "extra credit" or just something to keep kids busy and challenged while other kids are finishing up a test! Any time you need to keep students engaged and stimul

Here is a set of printable cards about “Exponential Functions” for use in a Precalculus or College Algebra class. I use these problems as part of teaching Chapter 3 Section in “Precalculus with Limits: A Graphing Approach” by Larson, but any Precalculus (College Algebra) textbook will have an equivalent section. Inventory of this download: Section_3.1_Group1.pdf: 56 cards (7 sheets) of problems that ask a student to determine a particular value of a simple exponential function. These problems ju

Here is a set of printable cards about “Properties of Logarithms” for use in a Precalculus or College Algebra class. I use these problems as part of teaching Chapter 3 Section 3 in “Precalculus with Limits: A Graphing Approach” by Larson, but any Precalculus (College Algebra) textbook will have an equivalent section. Inventory of this download: Section_3.3_Group1.pdf: 56 cards (7 sheets) of problems that ask a student to evaluate a log using the “change of base” formula.Section_3.2_Group4.pdf: 1

Here is a set of printable cards about “Logarithmic Functions” for use in a Precalculus or College Algebra class. I use these problems as part of teaching Chapter 3 Section 2 in “Precalculus with Limits: A Graphing Approach” by Larson, but any Precalculus (College Algebra) textbook will have an equivalent section. Inventory of this download: Section_3.2_Group1.pdf: 120 cards (15 sheets) of problems that ask a student to rewrite a log expression in exponential form. All of the values in these pro

A "space gun" is a non-rocket way to achieve low orbit. The cargo for the mission is shot along a very long track, accelerating to the escape velocity of the Earth. In this activity, student's apply basic physics (provided in the handout) to determine how long the space gun's track would have to be in order to get a manned mission into orbit. I created this activity for the rocketry section of my Astronomy class. In general, I find that students like stuff about "how to get to space" more than

This activity uses the wild physics of the Breakthrough: Starshot initiative to teach about the Laws of Motion and the incredible challenges of interstellar travel. I have used this as a short lab, but usually this is just a classroom activity or a homework in my Astronomy class. If you aren't familiar with it, Breakthrough: Starshot proposes sending a very small (30 g) spacecraft to the nearest star system, using a solar sail for propulsion. How practical is this? How great is the accelerat

Thanks for your interest in my “Phases of Venus and the Moon” lab activity. I really like this activity, and I often get compliments about it from the students. In this activity: Students use the familiar phases of the Moon to build up a set of vocabulary for talking about the phases of Venus and what the discovery of these phases meant for the paradigm shift from geocentrism to heliocentrism.Students utilize a hands-on technique to produce a set of diagrams illustrating the phases of the Moon,