Cricket Wickets, Ellipses and Orbits

Using bangles obtained from the budh bazaar to understand some great circles and also the fact that the Solar System is shaped like a disc, with small angles between the orbits of the planets - it is not like wound up wool - a nice round ball.

http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/6544/dsc9058smallsq1.jpg

When Anurag asks a question, everyone wants to answer :-)

http://img61.imageshack.us/img61/5447/dsc9086smallxb3.jpg

Using bangles obtained from the budh bazaar to understand some great circles and also the fact that the Solar System is shaped like a disc, with small angles between the orbits of the planets - it is not like wound up wool - a nice round ball.

http://img78.imageshack.us/img78/9476/dsc9148smallfa2.jpg

Anurag and Pankaj helping students to draw confocal ellipses using cricket wickets.

http://img65.imageshack.us/img65/5748/dsc9205smallfb2.jpg

After drawing an ellipse using the third wicket and a piece of chalk, students paced out the distance to a point on the circumference, from the two foci to feel the basic property of ellipses with their own feet.

(:title Cricket Wickets, Ellipses and Orbits :)

Two cricket wickets placed firmly as two foci for elliptical orbits, some fun with hoola hoop rings and tops, and a lot of interesting material and fun obtained from the weekly Budh Bazar was utilised to better appreciate solar system orbits and interesting sky events related to these.