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.

Cheers!

Chemical Reaction notes