Final

Study guide for the Science Final was given to the kids yesterday. If you don't have a copy of it, you can download it from my webpage.

I think I figured out a way to post it. You can click on this link and see the document in google docs.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eGEnV3vgLnikl14cHl9FKoGz45DZFiV9VdFiW0KUd6Y/edit?hl=en_US&authkey=CLvWsKEK

Perseverance

Protists

Today and yesterday in class we focused on the question "What are protists?" The protists we have been studying are (mostly) single celled organisms. Students should now be able to answer the above question on p. 164 of their notebook discussing characteristics of protists, how they acquire food/energy, and how they reproduce.

Originally, their green warm up sheets were going to be due on Wednesday, but I had to change my approach to the week and they will be due on Friday.

Homework tonight

Tonight, students should prepare for their quiz. Also, a worksheet called "The Big M--Mitosis and Meiosis" should be completed for homework.

A quiz and some links.

For the past week we have been studying cells. We will have a quiz on Thursday. Students were given the questions in class.
This includes:

• parts of a cell (NB p. 155).
  
• what do cells need to survive?
• how do cells get what they need? (diffusion, osmosis, passive transport, and active transport)
• how do cells get energy? (p. 160-161--photosynthesis and cellular respiration)
• how do cells reproduce themselves? (p. 162-163)

Here is a link to site to help students get more information. http://www.cellsalive.com/
Mitosis videos from class.
http://www.hybridmedicalanimation.com/work/animation/the-stages-of-mitosis/


Coming up, we will be studying other microbes, such as bacteria and protists, as well as fungi.

• http://bacteriamuseum.org/cms/
• 
  

Coming in the next couple of days.

How do cells create other cells? Maybe this will help!

Monday's class.

Today we went to the computer lab and we learned about plate tectonics. Here is a link to the website we used. http://www.learner.org/interactives/dynamicearth/index.html There will be a quiz about this material using questions pulled from the "Test Skills" portion of the interactive site.

Test Tomorrow

Tomorrow there will be a test about our current unit of geology, paleontology, and studying the earth's history. This is Ch. 15 in the textbook (http://my.hrw.com username: student9490 password: j9m7j) and p. 140-150 in students' notebooks.

As part of our review, students worked on "Chapter Review" sheets which we went over the last 20 minutes of class. However, we did not get a chance to go over the last 5 questions and will discuss them before the test tomorrow. We will also be able to take about 15 minutes for questions and clarifications about the material.

In addition, students received a vocabulary skills sheet to help them prepare for the test. I am not requiring this to be completed, but the answers will be posted on my bulletin board for students to check when they come into class.

Interactive website for radioactive decay and dating.

Click to Run

http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/radioactive-dating-game

Tuesday, April 5 homework.

Tonight's homework is a concept map about Geologic Time. Although the guided reading has much of the information, students may find it useful to look at the on-line book. There is a table where information is much better organized.

http://my.hrw.com

username: student9490 password: j9m7j

OBX trip photos

OBX 2011 NCMS

This is a link to a bunch of the pics that I took of our trip. I haven't really gone through and edited out blurry or poor quality photos, but here they are anyway.

Kitty Hawk--Wright Brothers Memorial

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More from Somerset Place

Cleaning cotton, making brooms, listening to the stories of Somerset Place.

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Cape Hatteras

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Somerset Place

First stop, a plantation. http://www.nchistoricsites.org/somerset/somerset.htm

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Benchmark coming up

Next Monday will be the benchmark test for 8th grade Science. Students should be reviewing their notes for the entire year as well as our EOG warm-ups (on mint green paper).

replacement lab/bonus assignment.

Today, I will be giving students a sheet titled "How do you stack up?" This can be used as a replacement for a missed lab or for bonus, if all labs have been completed. It will be due on Tuesday, April 29.

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edit: I have been told that some students have been having problems understanding the directions for the lab. I am wondering if this stems from the fact that steps 1-4 are somewhat incorporated into the second sheet titled "Color + cutout". They don't need to worry about redrawing the outcrops, they only need to color them and cut them out.

Students did not complete homework and 3rd quarter coming to a close.

Second period--10/24 students did not attempt the assignment.
Third period--12/24 students did not attempt the assignment.
Fourth period-- only 6 students did the assignment.

This assignment had only 5 questions on it. I hope this is not a sign of what is to come for the rest of the year.

The quarter is coming to a close. I will be trying to have my grades done before we go to the outerbanks next Wednesday, March 30. This means I need all work from absences by this Friday. Any work not not turned in becomes a zero in the grade book.

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homework.

Unconformities worksheet. I know, it is tough. Make your best attempt...

Test corrections due by end of week.

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How Earthquakes Trigger Tsunamis - Bang Goes The Theory, Preview - BBC One

This is a test to see if my youtube account connects to my blogger account. (And it is a good video to introduce something we will be discussing in class soon and very related to current world events.)

Monday, February 21

Today I handed back the tests students took last week on bonding. Corrections are due by Friday!

Today we started balancing chemical equations. This can be very challenging and is very much like math. Tomorrow we will continue to work on this concept and there will be a homework assignment for reinforcement. If students need additional practice, here are some websites that offer some help:

http://www.files.chem.vt.edu/RVGS/ACT/notes/Types_of_Equations.html#Top
http://www.files.chem.vt.edu/RVGS/ACT/notes/scripts/bal_eq1.html (this program requires you to put a number in for all response areas. Instead of leaving a space blank if it has one molecule, put in the 1 !!
http://sciencespot.net/Pages/classchem.html#Anchor8 (go to "balancing act" section about half way down.

for those who are ready for the next step, you can go to this link:
http://www.glencoe.com/sites/common_assets/science/virtual_labs/PS16/PS16.html

• this site also asks you to calculate the molecular weight of the reactants and products to check for a balance of your equation.
  
• Just click on the "elements on" button to see each element from the periodic table. Use the atomic mass multiplied by each atom in your equation.
• Example: for water, H2O, each hydrogen has an atomic mass unit (amu) of 1 and the oxygen is 16 amus. Therefore, 2 (one for each hydrogen) + 16 = 18 amus for each molecule of H2O.
  

Test on Bonding

Today, students finished reading the section in the book about covalent bonding and metallic bonding. They also completed a guided reading handout as they read. We have gone over them in class with all but my 4th period, so they should be complete and can be attached to page 107 in their notebooks.

On page 106, should be the essential question: How are covalent bonds formed? Describe the properties of metals and how metallic bonds form. They should also do a Venn diagram that compares ionic bonding and covalent bonding. Items that are characteristic of covalent bonds should go in the green circle. Items that are characteristic of ionic bonding should go in the black circle. (Their diagrams do not have to be color coded) Items that are characteristic of both should be written where the two circles overlap. This can be done on a separate piece of paper then attached to p. 106 or it can be drawn directly into the notebook.

As the title of this entry indicates, we will be having a test on bonding next week. Most likely on Wednesday, but I am still working out the details of next week. This test will cover notebook p. 100-103, 106 and 107. I passed out a "vocabulary activity" today to help them begin to review. I am not requiring this as homework, it is a study guide of the important terms we have encountered this Chapter. I will have the answers posted on my bulletin board on Monday. Also, it is Chapter 9 if you would like your student to review the book on-line.

Have a great weekend!

Tonight's homework

Today in class we discussed last weeks lab and the questions that went along with it. We also started working on a practice sheet to help students recognize the atomic number tells us the number of electrons and protons in an atom. The number of valence electrons is indicated by the group (sometimes called family) number by looking at the last digit of the group number (ie. group 13 has 3 valence electrons. This method only works for groups 1, 2, and 13-18!!!! These valence electrons are responsible for bonding.

Also, on the opposite side (Titled: "Reinforcement--Is It an Ion?") of the homework sheet, is an activity to help students calculate if an atom is a neutral atom or an ion. This assignment is due tomorrow, February 9.

Last week and today!

On Monday of last week, we began learning about valence electrons and chemical bonding. On Tuesday, we had a quiz, and students began reading about ionic bonds. I realized that students were having difficulty with a concept, so I retaught a different method of counting valence electrons and drawing a diagram of the electrons in an atom on Wednesday and did not count that part of the quiz. Also on Wednesday, students had time to complete the reading and guided reading worksheet on ionic bonds. On Thursday, we did a lab that demonstrated a chemical reaction. They put there data table on p. 104-105 of their notebooks.

This week, we have started off by going through what we read on ionic bonds, and we checked our guided reading sheets and glued them into our notebooks on p. 103. Homework that is due Tuesday are 4 questions about the lab. I put them on a half sheet of paper that we glued/taped into our notebooks on p. 104 or 105.

Just in case, I will post the questions on my school web page. Tomorrow we will be doing some reinforcement to help students further understand ions and ionic bonding. I have included a summary from the book to the top left that summarizes what we discussed in class today. Let me know if I need to make it bigger. I will also include it as a file on the web page.

Google Science Fair: How to enter

I will be willing to give extra credit to students who wish to participate in the Google Science Fair. If interested, please discuss this option with me. The credit will be given to 4th quarter because the entry deadline falls within that time period.

It's been a crazy three weeks.

I apologize for the lack of updates during these crazy three weeks since the holiday break.

We finished the glogsters and I am in the process of finishing grading them. We took a test on Friday about Elements, Compounds, and Mixtures as well as our introduction to the periodic table.

Our midterms will occur on Tuesday (odd periods) and Wednesday (even periods). Approximately 80 percent of the questions will come from past tests and quizzes so students should focus their study on those old tests. Also, students can use the on-line book to study. This site is listed on my webpage on the school webpage under "Useful Links."

Today we started a review session. Each group was given a section/chapter that we studied and they were given 35-40 minutes to put together a brief poster/presentation about what they felt the most important ideas were from that chapter. On Monday, each group will have approximately 7 minutes to go through the chapter to help refresh each others memories.

Good Luck to all students on their semester exams!!!!

One additional piece of information...
Final payments for the Outer Banks trip are due on Feburary 4th. You should be getting a notice of amount due on Wednesday.