Day One Hundred Eleven Overview

Day One Hundred Eleven Overview

Last Day Of School!
- we watched Apollo 13 and ate snacks
- I told the students how much of a pleasure it was to teach them this year
- I also wished all of the students luck on their final exams

Homework

- study study study for final exams

- have a great summer!

Science News

Atomic Bomb Helps Solve Brain Mystery

Day One Hundred Ten Overview

Day One Hundred Ten Overview

- with the first half of class we ran a question and answer session based on questions that the students developed from their year in review packets
     - each student in the class asked at least one question each until everybody in the class had asked a question
- with the rest of class we played review jeopardy
     - the winning teams in class received points for a free hw assignment

Homework

- study study study for final exams

- have a great summer!

Science News

A Momentous Crossing On Mars

Day One Hundred Nine Overview

Day One Hundred Nine Overview

- we began class with a warm up that asked the students to list as many forms of energy as they could
     - our list included potential energy, kinetic energy, mechanical energy, thermal energy, sound energy, light energy, chemical energy, nuclear energy, and electrical energy
- after our warm up we finished our notes about kinetic and potential energy
     - kinetic energy is the energy of motion
     - potential energy is stored energy
- we also talked about the law of conservation of energy
     - no energy is created or destroyed, it just changes from one form to another or moves from object to object
     - the amount of energy in the universe is the same now and it always was
- with the last twenty minutes of class we played a review game using questions that the students had generated
     - the winning teams received candy

Homework
- write a news article based on our Physical Science: Year in Review packet

News Article Assignment

Science News
Jim Morrison Finally Gets His Lizard

Day One Hundred Eight Overview

Day One Hundred Eight Overview

- today the students took the written portion of the NYS Grade 8 Intermediate Level Science Test

Homework
- study for your Physical Science final!

Science News
Iron From the Sky

Day One Hundred Seven Overview

Day One Hundred Seven Overview

- we began class by working on an Ecology review packet to refresh the student's memories on a topic from last year
     - most students were able to remember the difference between producer and consumer, what a food web is, how to interpret a food web, and what an energy pyramid looks like
- after having the students work on the packet for 10 - 15 minutes I went over the answers to a few of the problems on the Smartboard

Ecology Review Packet

- after going over some ecology, I gave the students a quick lesson on genetics
     - we reviewed the terms heterozygous and homozygous
     - we also reviewed the terms genotype and phenotype
     - lastly, we worked through some Punnet Square examples on a genetics worksheet

Genetics Worksheet

- to finish class I asked the students what they remembered about the parts of a cell
     - most of the students remembered more than they thought they would
     - we worked through the parts of the cell as a class

Cells Review Packet

Homework
- study for written portion of NYS Science 8 test

Science News
A Spider (Web) Of Knowledge

Day One Hundred Six Overview

Day One Hundred Six Overview

- the students took the lab portion of their NYS Science 8 assessment

Homework

- study old tests and quizzes

Science News

Minerals From Beyond

Day One Hundred Five Overview

Day One Hundred Five Overview

- we began class by going over whatever we did not get to after our previous practice test session
- after going over the last test portion I gave the students a mini lesson on microscopes
     - we went over the main parts of a microscope
     - we also went over how to determine how much magnification the microscope has
- the students filled out a corresponding worksheet

Microscope Basics Powerpoint
Microscope Basics Worksheet

- after going over the microscope basics we went upstairs to the 7th grade lab room and worked through the last station in our practice lab exam
     - the students were given 15 minutes to complete this station
- after the station the students came back downstairs and watched a 20 minute movie titled "Roller Coaster Physics"

Roller Coaster Physics Questions

Homework

- finish the Roller Coaster Physics Questions

Science News

Trouble With Math? Maybe You Should Get Your Brain Zapped!

Day One Hundred Four Overview

Day One Hundred Four Overview

- I asked the students to hand in their Energy Resources Packets that they had completed for homework
- I then explained to the students that the end of the year is upon us and things are about to get a little crazy!
- next week the students have the Lab portion of their NYS Science 8 assessment, where they are tested on what they have learned in Science from 5th grade through 8th grade
- this class we worked on practicing Physics concepts that they may have to demonstrate on their Lab assessment
     - it was run as a practice test, and will be very similar to what they see for their actual Lab assessment
     - the students were given 15 minutes each to finish two stations ... the ball and ramp, and density of soaps
- after the practice I brought the students back into the classroom to review some key features of the assessment and stress to them how important reading directions is

Homework
- make up any late work

Science News
Why Most Snails Coil To The Right

Day One Hundred Three Overview

Day One Hundred Three Overview

- the students took their Forces in Motion test
- after the test the students had an opportunity to start their homework
     - the homework was a reading along with corresponding questions that had to do with forms of Energy

Homework
- Energy Resources Packet

Energy Resources Packet

Science News
Easy Hiking, and Biking, on Titan

Day One Hundred Two Overview

Day One Hundred Two Overview

- as a warm up I had the students work on some momentum calculation problems
     - they were asked to solve for momentum, mass, and velocity
     - for extra credit on their test the students were asked to correctly solve the conservation of momentum problem on the back of the worksheet

Momentum Warm up Worksheet

- we began class by going over the review packets that the students were to do for homework
     - I asked the students if they had any specific questions about the packet, or things that they are still having difficulty with
- after going over the review packet we played a review game on the Smartboard ... Forces in Motion BATTLESHIP!

Homework
- study study study study for your TEST

Science News
Zipping Around Uranus and Neptune

Day One Hundred One Overview

Day One Hundred One Overview

- we began class by going over the Which Law is it? worksheet
     - students showed a strong grasp of Newton's three laws of motion
- after going over the worksheet I had the students watch a short flash animation clip that further reviewed the three laws of motion along with Newton's life and contributions to society

Newton's Laws Interactive

- at the end of the interactive clip there was a short 10 question that I had the students take
     - the first 9 questions I counted and question 10 was a bonus question
- we went over the quiz and the class noticed that they all did very very well!
- after the quiz we began to talk about the last new material of this unit ... momentum
     - I asked the students if anybody in the class had heard the word momentum before
     - I then asked the class if anybody was willing to try and define the word momentum, or explain the concept
          - some of the boys brought up that they hear the word momentum when they are watching sports games
          - we then had a short discussion that involved relating momentum in a sports setting to what momentum means in physics
- I provided the students with the formula ... momentum = mass x velocity
     - something that is not moving has no momentum
     - faster moving objects have more momentum than slower moving objects
     - larger objects with more mass have more momentum than smaller objects with little mass

- I then used tennis balls and billiard balls to explain to the students that momentum is conserved before and after a collision

     - if there are two balls about to collide and ball A has a momentum of 10 kg m/s and ball B is stationary with a momentum of 0 kg m/s they will swap their momentum's after the collision because momentum has to be conserved

Homework

- finish the Review Packet

Forces in Motion Review Packet

Science News

The Big Unknown in Sea Level Rise

Day One Hundred Overview

Day One Hundred Overview

- we began class by reviewing the first two Newton's Laws
     - Law #1 - objects in motion stay in motion and objects at rest stay at rest
     - Law #2 - force, mass, and acceleration are all related
- we then did some practice calculation work using the F = ma formula
     - the students worked in groups and were given approximately 15 minutes to complete a list of problems that asked the students to solve for mass, acceleration, and force
          - after the students were done working we went over the answers as a class

F = ma worksheet

- we then went over Newton's Third Law
     - objects that exert a force on something have an equal and opposite force exerted on them
     - with every action there is an equal and opposite reaction

Homework

- Which Law Is It? worksheet

Which Law is it? worksheet

Science News

Rocky Planets in the Nearest Star Cluster?

Day Ninety Nine Overview

Day Ninety Nine Overview

- we began class by discussing our homework
     - I asked the students if anybody would like to share what they wrote for their paragraph on Newton's First Law
     - one of the best examples that I heard was a student that used an air hockey table as an example of Newton's First Law
          - if the table was infinitely large, one would assume that the puck would move for quite a long time if it was motion ... almost forever
          - the only reason that the puck would come to a stop would be that it was acted upon by an outside force
          - that force could be friction, a paddle, the air hockey goal ... a number of things
- after discussing our homework paragraph we began to take notes through Newton's Second Law
     - Newton's Second Law states that force, mass, and acceleration are all related to one another
          - F = ma
          - I demonstrated to the students how if a tennis ball with a certain mass can have more force if you increase it's acceleration
     - we watched a couple video clips to help cement the concept

- after watching the clips we went through some examples of Newton's First Law 

     - dominoes

     - pulling out a table cloth

     - barbie car crash

First Law Stations

Homework

- finish the online portion of the Newton's First Law station worksheet

Science News

Bizarre 6-Inch Skeleton Show To Be Human

Day Ninety Eight Overview

Day Ninety Eight Overview

- we began class by answering three questions for a warm up
     1.  What part of your egg drop design worked well?  explain
     2.  What part of your egg drop design worked poorly?  explain
     3.  Suggest a way to improve your design if you were to perform this activity again.  Be specific
- after the warm up we watched a Bill Nye movie about gravity
     - the clip does a great job explaining to the students that all matter experiences gravity
     - the clip also shows footage from the Apollo 15 mission where an astronaut drops a hammer and a feather and they fall at the same rate, proving that everything accelerates due to gravity at the same rate

Bill Nye Gravity Worksheet

- this is a short video clip of one part of the video I showed the students

- after Bill Nye we began discussion of Newton's first law of motion

     - Newton's first law of motion states that an object in motion will stay in motion and an object at rest will stay at rest unless acted upon by an outside force

- I used a tennis ball to demonstrate to the students some key parts of Newton's first law 

- after the in class demonstration the students watched two short video clips to reinforce the first law

Homework

- write a paragraph of at least 4 sentences explaining a real world example of Newtons First Law

Science News

Do Cosmic Rays Grease Lightning?

Day Ninety Seven Overview

Day Ninety Seven Overview

- on this day in class the students were given the first ten minutes to finalize their egg drop devices
- after finalizing their egg drop designs the students were given their eggs
- the class then went outside to test their egg drop designs
     - only one egg out of 18 drops broke!
- after doing our egg drop tests we came back inside and worked on our lab packets in groups
     - the vast majority of the students were able to finish their labs by the end of the period!
          - students were promised that if they finished their lab ahead of time they would be given feedback on possible incorrect questions

Homework
- finish the egg drop lab in one week

Science News
Your Tounge, Inside Out

Day Ninety Six Overview

Day Ninety Six Overview

- today the students were tasked with the challenge of building a contraption that will make it so a raw egg will not break if dropped from the top of the football bleachers
- students were broken up into groups of three and given a limited set of materials
     - students had been asked the class prior to bring in any extra materials if they would like
     - if the students did not bring anything else in they could only use what they were given
- students were told to first develop a sketch of what they were going to build and were then given the period to build their contraption
- we will test them with actual eggs next class!

Amazing Egg Drop Challenge

Homework

- make up any late work

Science News

New Camera Inspired By Insect Eyes

Day Ninety Five Overview

Day Ninety Five Overview

- to begin class I checked/went over the half page of questions that went along with the gravity news article
     - without gravity we would float away from the earth
     - gravity is a function of mass and distance
     - another name for the force of gravity pulling on an object is weight
     - Einstein thought gravity was a ripple in space time
     - everything falls at the same rate because it has the same pull from gravity
- we then did a 15 minute binder clean out
     - I asked the students to keep any tests/quizzes, note packets, review sheets, and anything to do with the current unit
- we then got into taking some more notes about forces in motion
     - the acceleration due to gravity is 9.8 m/s/s for any object
          - that means that EVERYTHING with matter should fall towards earth at the same rate, and almost everything does
          - feathers and paper don't ... but why?
     - air resistance!
     - things are slowed down by air resistance so we cannot see the true effect of gravity
     - when air resistance catches up to gravity an object reaches its terminal velocity
- we then discussed how something orbits along with projectile motion
     - for things to move in a curved path there is an average of two forces
          - things can fall while also moving horizontally
- to test out the theory of projectile motion I had the students watch a clip from Mythbusters

Homework
- bring in extra materials from home to use during our amazing egg drop challenge

Science News
Survival of the Fittest, Inside a Shark's Womb

Gravity Comics!

Day Ninety Four Overview

Day Ninety Four Overview

- we began class with two short warmup questions related to gravity
     - one question asked ... What do you think would happen if you rang out a soaked towel while on a spaceship?
     - the other question asked ... Do you think it is possible to grow a plant on a spaceship?

Gravity Warmup

- I then showed the class the answer to both of their questions

What Happens When You Wring a Washcloth In Orbit

Plants Grow Fine Without Gravity

- before getting into notes I showed the students a MinutePhysics clip

- we then began to take our first set of notes for the unit Forces in Motion

Forces in Motion Notes

- gravity as a force of attraction was explained to the students
     - it is not just the Earth pulling you towards the center of the Earth, you also pull the center of the Earth towards you!
- as mass increases gravity increases
     - think of a weightlifter
          - the more plates that are added, the more pull downwards from gravity
- as distance increases gravity decreases
     - think of a long distance relationship
          - the more distance the less attraction (for the most part :) )
- we also talked about the difference between mass and weight
- with the last few minutes of class the students were handed a reading and a half sheet of questions to complete for homework

How Does Gravity Work Article

Gravity Homework

Homework
- complete the half sheet of questions that were assigned with the How Does Gravity Work Article

Science News
Solving The Mystery of Supercharged Lightning

Day Ninety Three Overview

Day Ninety Three Overview

- the concept of gravity was introduced through some very interesting video clips that caught the student's attention
     - clip #1 - Stephen Hawking explaining how imperfections in the early universe allowed gravity to organize all the matter created in the big bang

     - clip #2 - BBC broadcaster explaining what he is experiencing while on board the "Vomit Comet"

- while watching the clips the students were asked to write down 6 things that they learned from watching the clips

Homework
- use the 6 things that you learned to make up a 6 panel comic book page about gravity

Science News
Suicide Bombing Bacteria Could Fight Infections