Used building blocks/Legos

If you happen to know that you have some old building blocks, legos, Tinker toys, or K'nex that are collecting dust, please consider donating them to 7/8 science.  It is amazing what we can use them for during class and homebase activities (I lost track of how many times I related elements to Legos!).  I also foresee them being useful when we begin our engineering unit.  Thanks!

Cheers!

Last call for project supplies!

Students should have their supplies by Monday (12/17) to build their molecules.  We will spend some time writing and some time building.  However, some students may decide to just keep doing their written parts before building the molecule.

Any donations would be appreciated.  Glue sticks are appreciated since we will need many of them during term 4 during our engineering curriculum (shhhh!).

All students have the grading criteria (see link below) and we have discussed thoroughly in class the expectations.  Any student who needs help should look in their notes (which are posted on this website), or use the chemistry links (on left side of this website), or ask Dr. Google!  Of course, I am available during class.

If a student knows they are going to be busy sitting on Santa's lap all next week and they want to get ahead by working on it this weekend, they have all that they need to help them!

As always, please let me know of any hardships, financial or otherwise, so that I can help problem solve and give your child the opportunity to be successful.

Click her for the atomic modeling grading and expectations


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Bonding notes

Use the following notes to fill in the blanks on your student copy.

If you need a student copy, click here to print one



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Materials students need for next rubric

The following is a link to the letter that was sent home with your child about the supplies they will need for the upcoming atomic modeling rubric.

Click here to access the letter that was sent home.

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Atoms notes

Talking animals?

Just for the fun of it...



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Mind blowing learning

Quick quiz:  What does Genghis Khan, stars, a really small speck, and dinosaur pee have to do with each other?  You'll have to ask your child this weekend.

Let's just say that I told students that if their brain didn't hurt today when they left my class, then I didn't do my job (my head still hurts thinking about these things!)

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Properties of matter and changes notes

Tonight's homework

Today, students were introduced to their first chemistry project:  "Elements survival guide."  All students were given the project guidelines and tonight's homework is the following:

• Create title page (collected first thing tomorrow)
• Write about the first 3 bullets of the introduction section (if notes are needed, you can see previous post for solids, liquids, and gases)

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Tonight's homework

1.  Finish the diagram of the 6 essential elements of life that we began in class.

2.  Use your student copy of the states of matter notes to fill in the blanks using the notes below.

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Tonight's homework

For homework tonight.  Use the slide presentation below to fill in the blanks of your student copy.

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Welcome homebases O'Connor and Brinker

Howdy!

Welcome to all my students starting chemistry with me today at the beginning of term 2.  Please subscribe to my website ramblings.  If I get enough people to subscribe then I will be awarded...absolutely nothing!  How cool is that?  Seriously this is where I get to send reminders and share cool stuff about what we are doing in chemistry with all one of you who will listen.

I was so excited today introducing chemistry and we had some great discussion going on.  In fact, I love science and chemistry so much that I had ostrichbumps (think goosebumps, now think bigger) about the cool stuff we were talking about.  One of the cool things we discussed is elements that are harmful separately, but when combined together make a totally edible substance.  Any guesses?  Sodium (Na) will violently react with water (think explosion in your mouth).  Chlorine is a gas that was used as a weapon in WWI.  Now take out your mixing bowls and combine a little sodium and a little chlorine and poof, lovely edible table salt (ostrichbumps).  How ridiculously awesome is that!

I love science

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Good bye for now Russell & Gates

It has been a pleasure working with a great bunch of students from homebases Gates and Russell during Term 1 and we will have new adventures again during term 3.  If you do not want to hear my ramblings about the same things, or are just tired of me, then feel free to unsubscribe for now.

Cheers!

Last extra help tomorrow afternoon

Tomorrow is the last extra help session for science in term 1.  I am willing to sit down with students during this time to help them revise their project that was due on Friday, however, I need to know ahead of time that the student is coming so that I can have their project graded with feedback ready to go otherwise I cannot give appropriate help.  This is mainly beneficial to those students that struggled with the project and would not be able to do revisions on their own outside of school.  The extra help is from 3-4.

Rubric update/data graph

Due to the cancellation of extra help this week due to the weather I changed classroom plans to include a solid one hour and twenty minutes of work time on the rubric report which should have been enough time to finish most of the 50% that needed to still be done (if students were self-directed).

I offered students the option of doing their data graph on Google spreadsheet with assistance from me, however, if they did not ask for help I would go to plan B which is good old graph paper (can be found online).

The rubric is due at the beginning of class tomorrow (11/2) unless accompanied by a parent/guardian note explaining problem-solving/hardship (this is what I refer to the students as their "only get-out-of-jail-free card."

Use the following picture to help you create your rubric data graph.  Everything in red are notes.  All words should be exactly as I have them (except your data will change).

Science update due to cancellation

I was supposed to have extra help tomorrow afternoon from 3-4.  I will be able to move this back one day due to the closing tomorrow (Monday).  So extra help will be held on Tuesday from 3-4 this week only.

Due Tuesday at beginning of class:

• finished rubric intro
• materials and methods
• data table started

Due Wednesday morning at the beginning of class

• Atomic modeling revisions

Cheers!

A whale of a tale

This is a great story of a humpback whale rescue.  Enjoy.

Cheers!

http://youtu.be/EBYPlcSD490

What should I be working on?

Extra help is on Mondays from 3-4pm

The following is an update of what students should be working on.  Keep in mind that the term ends next Friday and the Sargent Center took away a lot of time so students may have to do work over the weekend to keep from getting behind.

1.  Atomic modeling revisions are due next Tuesday at the beginning of class (this deadline takes into consideration the missed work time while at Sargent Center because the deadline should have been today).

A revision coversheet is required

2.  Students should have done their "chemical reaction elevator lab" title page and paragraph 1 last night.

3.  By Monday, students should:

• Finish introduction (we had a long lesson about acids and bases and teacher notes were given to everyone; see below)
• Type materials and methods (this was done together as a class in written form)
• Start a data table in their typed document that looks exactly like the data table from their rubric paper.

This should not be a lot of work if students were being self directed by paying attention and asking questions (ask them about "ostrich bumps")

Important documents:

• Rubric report outline
• Rubric Data sheet
• Acid/base notes

Zip line "fun"

So.  I had an interesting experience at the Sargent Center.  After battling my way up a ropes course to get about 40ish feet off the ground, I did the zip-line back down to the ground.  As an individual challenge I wanted to try and step off the platform and resist the urge to grab ahold of my harness rope (no hands drop).  Well, I got more than I bargained for.

To protect students, I used the blur option which did my face too; oh well.

I am on the platform with my hands behind my head.

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Chemical Reaction notes

Check this cool stuff out!!!

If anyone works with Sulfur hexaflouride and is willing to donate some it does some awesome stuff that I would love to demonstrate to my students.  It ties in to a lot of concepts we have been discussing this year and last year.  By the way it is non-toxic.

Check out #4 on this list to see two cool videos of what it can do.

http://listverse.com/2008/03/04/top-10-amazing-chemical-reactions/

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Something to practice doing this weekend

Warm up the vocal cords!

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Crushing cans

Ask your child about crushing cans in science today.  Fun!

Tonight's homework is to complete the "States of Matter" notes (previous post) if they were not finished during class.

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States of matter notes

distinguished student lend me your ear

HERE YE, HERE YE!

To me, distinguished work requires a significant level of self direction and effective communication to relate ideas and problems.

If you are in the process of doing the D work option for a follow up to the first rubric, I would suggest you come talk to me soon to get approval and/or update me on your findings by the end of the week.  I will not be chasing you down.

Don't let that ship sail!

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Changes in matter notes

electrons can pack a "punch"

For your fun Friday amusement.  The power of subatomic particles (electrons) on the human body!

Enjoy your long weekend.

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Distinguished work

I don't like to give distinguished work to students until I am satisfied that the basic criteria has been taken care of.  We are at a point that if a student wants to attempt to earn a D grade for this project they can choose one of the options listed below.  Just remember to get approval from Mr. Edwards BEFORE starting any D work.  If a student has a great idea or curiosity about another D option not listed then I am willing to listen.  Just remember that D work in science is designed to enhance your knowledge, not just give you busy work to do.

Cheers!

Click here for Atomic Modeling Distinguished options

Project due tomorrow

Tomorrow is the due date for the atomic modeling project.  The deadline was extended from its original due date by one day with the deal that project quality would increase for both the models and the written molecule analysis.  Students have had 2 peer edits if their work was passed in on time.  The project is due as soon as students walk in the classroom door so there will be no last minute details allowed to be finished.  This is something students struggle with so please make sure they are checking their rubrics and getting their questions answered by peers and/or project sheets.

General reminders:

• Molecule name must be on projects and posters
• A key should be attached and no abbreviations should be used on the key (e.g. "O" instead of "Oxygen").
• Molecules should be ready to be hung with string attached or mounted so that displaying is less time consuming for teacher.
• The written analysis should have a title and be at least 1.5 spacing.
• A hard copy of the written molecule analysis should be passed in to Mr. Edwards (attaching a copy to the molecule is an option, but a copy needs to be given to Mr. Edwards)
• Students should keep all peer edits for portfolio

Please help your child make sure they are ready.

Cheers!

Atomic modeling Project update

The atomic modeling project is coming along well.  Due to the great work students have been doing on both the written part and on their models, we struck at teacher/student deal that if I gave them an additional day to work on their projects students promised to improve the quality of their work.  This was a binding deal that we shook on (picture me and 25 students in a class all shaking our arms and hands at once; nah, just ask your child).  Based on how well they did, some students may have received an additional organizer checklist to help them sort through the written material.  The 2nd drafts of their projects must be turned in Monday morning so that we can do a 2nd peer review before the due date.  Please make sure students keep all of their peer edits for portfolio.

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Atomic modeling rubric report rough draft due tomorrow

Students have been given over 2 hours to work on their rubric reports.  Tomorrow a printout of the report needs to be turned in so that we can work on peer editing to increase the quality of student work.

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Tonight's homework: Molecules research

The purpose of tonight's homework is to get you thinking about a molecule that you may be interested in using for your first project of explaining and building a molecule.

1.  Use the "Chemistry links" on the left menu
2.  Scroll down to find the "molecule websites."
3.  Find 10 molecules that you find interesting and fill in the information on the worksheet provided to you.
4.  If your website does not have the "ball and stick" diagram then try a Google image search for your molecule's name.

You should be gathering your materials that you are thinking about using since you will have to have them on Monday.

The homework is due Monday (10/24).

Cheers!

Tonight's homework

Use the notes below to fill in your student copy of the notes.



Cheers!

Build a molecule simulation

Below is the link to the simulation for today's activity about building a molecule.

http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/build-a-molecule

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Electron configuration Periodic Table

As we start getting into the complex world of how to draw individual atoms it is helpful to have a visual.  The following link is a Periodic Table that has diagrams of one atom of each element drawn with all of its electrons in the electron shells.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/Periodic_Table_of_Elements_showing_Electron_Shells.svg

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It's all fun and games until someone learns something

So, when your child says we "played with play-dough" in science class today, please ignore the word "play" and ask for more details.  Anyway, we started diving into the atomic theory today as students used play-dough to create protons, neutrons, and electrons to build atoms.  We did have fun (shhh, don't say that too loud) and it was a good ice breaker for a complex topic.  Below is the link for the awesome homemade play-dough recipe that I used.  Thank you to the "sowing3seeds" website and Mrs. Jones who directed me to it (you didn't think I would be finding this on my own right?)

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http://sowing3seeds.blogspot.com/search?q=play+dough

WOW!!!

First, make sure to check out the two new posts below.

Have you heard?  We are mostly empty space!  What?!  Ask your child about our excursion outside, our story time, and oh, don't forget about the yellow ball and the itsy bitsy dot!

I had fun today poking and prodding your child's brain with really cool, mind-boggling stuff about atoms.

Science is awesome!

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Automatic communication

Automatic email updates:  You can sign up (top left) to get automatic email updates whenever new information is posted.  There is no spam involved and you can always unsubscribe if you get sick of my internet banter.

Cheers!

Atoms notes

Tonight for homework (due 9/7):  Use the teacher notes in the slideshow below to fill in the blanks in your student copy of the notes.  You only need to go up to and including slide #16.  If you don't have your copy of the notes with blanks, click here.

Cheers!