Chapter 1 Test

The only thing that students did in class today was take their Chapter 1 test using the student responders.  Because graphs and charts were incorporated into the test, a paper version was also given to students.
Tomorrow, since we have shortened classes due to a PM assembly, we will only have enough time to go over the test in class.  Friday we will have our Chapter 1 notebook check.

Chapter 1 Review

We began class today by checking and reviewing the homework, activity 1-19, that was assigned yesterday.  Students were then directed to organize their notebooks for Friday's pending notebook check.  Using the laptops, I than asked students to go to my moodle site.  Within the site was a list of topics from this past month in chapter 1.  Each topic contained a collection of websites, tutorials and lesson that students engaged in independently to review for tomorrow's test.
The only homework assigned was for students to study and prepare for tomorrow's test.

Finished with Graphs

After reviewing and collecting our 4th news article summary, students worked with their partner to complete pages 16-18 on creating and interpreting graphs.
Students were assigned page 19, a study guide, for homework, due tomorrow.
The chapter one test will be on Wednesday.

A graph is worth a 1000 words

Our final topic of this chapter is about graphing.  We discussed section 1-6 notes which included the use of pie, bar and line graphs.  After viewing examples online, students went to a website that allowed them to create a graph online.  We used this website to create a pie graph using the data on worksheet 16.  This was a challenge because the website kept sending everyone each other's graph.  It obviously took much longer than expected to print out this first graph, so some classes did not get a chance to create their bar graph in time.  We will finish up this worksheet on Monday, as it is NOT homework.
News article summary # 4 is due on Monday, and the Chapter 1 test is on Wednesday.
Have a great weekend, and hope to see you at tonight's dance.

Coke vs Diet Coke

Students came into science class today to find a can of coke and a can of diet coke swimming in an otherwise empty fish tank.  We discussed and demonstrated why the coke sank to the bottom, while the diet coke floated to the surface.  It all has to do with their relative densities.  Since water has a density of 1 g/mL, any object with a density greater than 1 g/mL will sink in water.  All objects with a density less than 1 g/mL will sink in water.  Since both cans have the same volume (take up the same amount of space), the difference must be in their masses.  It turns out that coke has a mass that is 15 grams more than that of the diet coke.  That makes the coke more dense than the diet coke, and more dense than the water, causing it to sink.
We then used the student responders (in some classes) to take an online practice quiz on density mass and volume.  We ended class by doing an graphing exercise (all but 5th period) on plotting mass and volume.
Tomorrow we will cover graphing, our last topic of this chapter, more in depth.
There is no assigned homework, and the test is on Wednesday, September 30th.
Have fun at Ocean City, Maryland and Jamaica (you know who you are).

Complete the Density Lab

Today in class, we began by watching a http://www.brainpop.com/ video on density.  Students learned that density is a physical property that takes the mass of a substance and divides it by its volume.  After answered the video questions using the student responders, students were given a reference chart of densities of known liquids and metals to compare the results of their lab.  Students calculated the results of their three unknown liquids and three unknown solids from yesterday's lab and compared them to the chart to predict what the substances were. 
Overall, I believe it was a very successful lab.  Students got to practice their measuring skills again in a practical application.  Math skills were applied to determine volume and density.  Students had to compare, predict and evaluate their results.
There is no assigned homework, and the Chapter One Test is one week away.

Density Lab

Today we had shortened classes due to the assembly.  Our topic de jour was density.  I designed a hands-on lab exercise that reinforced the skills that students had learned over the past couple of days, those being measuring with metric tools and units.  Students needed to determine the mass and volume of three unknown liquids and another three unknown solids.  Tomorrow, students will finish the lab by calculating the densities of the unknown substances and use those densities to predict  what those substances are based on a reference chart of known densities.
There is no homework, and the chapter one test will be on Wednesday, September 30th.

Finished the Lab

Today, after reviewing our third week of news articles, students were given an additional 15 minutes to complete the lab on pages 12 & 13 that we began this past Friday.  We then spent the remainder of class comparing students' results to the my readings at that time.  We discussed the conclusion questions on page 12, which included sources of error, the easiest graduated cylinder to read, and the hardest part of the lab.
There is no assigned homework, and the Chapter 1 test is nine days away (September 30th).

Measurement Lab

After checking last night's homework (Pages 8-11), we began the Measurement Lab on pages 12 & 13.  Students went around to each of the four stations- triple beam balances, graduated cylinders, thermometers and metric rulers.  Each station had seven items that students needed to measure using the provided metric tools.  As there were 28 total items, I told students that they would have more time to finish on Monday.
News article summary # 3 is due on Monday.

Do you know your lab tools?

Today in class we introduced the tools that we will be using in the science lab this year.  They include the metric ruler to measure length, the triple-beam balance to measure mass, the graduated cylinder to measure temperature, and the graduated cylinder to measure volume.  Students got to practice using each of these tools at their tables.  We then used a website from the Moodle to practice reading the triple beam balances and graduated cylinders.
For homework, students were assigned worksheets 1-8, 1-9, 1-10 & 1-11.  Each page is worth 5 points and the assignment is due tomorrow (Friday).
News article #3 is due on Monday.

Finished Activity 1-6

Today in class we had to go to plan B.  I had the greatest intentions of having students use the laptop computers to access a website that has an amazing interactive calculator for converting metric and English units.  Unfortunately, our school's web securtiy has not initially identified this website as secure yet, so we had to improvise.  Instead, students did their work on page 1-6 the old fashion way- at their desks with a pencil, paper and calculator.  When students completed the 10 problems, there were asked to go on my moodle site and work through the tutorials on converting metric and English units.  We used the student responders to go over the problems at the end of class, and I think now that after three days of hard work, most students have a great understanding of how to convert back and forth between metric and English units.
There was no homework assigned and the chapter 1 test will be Wednesday, September 30th.

Hope to see everyone at the band exhibition tonight.

Converting English to Metric units

Today in class we practiced converting from English units to metric units.  To this end, students used the reference chart on worksheet 1-2 to complete the first 10 problems on worksheet 1-6.  Students got to use the student responders to display their answers anonymously on the white board.
There was no homework, and the chapter test date has been tentatively set for Wednesday, September 30th.

Converting Metric to English Units

Students had the opportunity to summarize their news articles out loud for extra credit, as they will every week. After collecting the news articles, students got back their quizzes that they took last Friday.
We then completed worksheet 1-5, which we started on Friday.
The topic of today's discussion was giving meaning to all those metric terms we learned last week. It's fine and dandy to say that 1000 grams equals one kilogram, but what does a kilogram feel like in your hand compared to a gram? What is it close to in our English units? A pound? An ounce? A ton? This is what we are going to discover. We learned today the process of converting from metric to English units, like kilometers to miles.
There is no homework, and the next test is more than two weeks away.

First Quiz

Students took their first quiz in science class today.  Although they also received a paper copy of the quiz, the questions and answers were served via the student responders.  They did amazingly well on the quiz.  Not that I didn't think they would, but it was the first quiz and sometimes students don't know how to prepare for a new teacher's first assessment.  Not so in this case obviously.
After the quiz, students were allowed to take out a laptop computer to find a news article for next week or the week after.  We also reviewed the article summaries that they turned in earlier this week, noting what mistakes were common among many 8th graders.
We ended the class by collaboratively working on Activity 1-5.
Homework for Monday is the 2nd news article summary.

Last metric practice

Today we opened class with a http://www.brainpop.com/ video on the scientific method.  Students used the responders to vote on 10 multiple choice questions following the video.  I explained to students exactly how the format  would be for tomorrow's metrics quiz, how many problems there would be and how much it was worth.  Students were given 15-20 minutes of class time to complete worksheet 1.3 as a final preparation for tomorrow's first quiz.  We reviewed each of the 10 problems on the board before the bell rang.  Finally, I encouraged students one final time to go to my moodle site and work through the tutorials on the metric system to prepare for tomorrow's quiz.
Don't forget that news articles are due this Monday.

Metric homework explained

We went over yesterday's homework by using the student responders.  Instead of students volunteering their answers our loud, they simply typed in their answers anonymously on the keypad.  The five most popular answers were projected onto the whiteboard so that students could see how their classmates answered (again, no names used).
We then watched the Metrics video from http://www.brainpop.com/ and took the short quiz that followed.  We finished the class by doing worksheet 1-1 together.  No homework was assigned, but I reminded students that the quiz on converting metric units will be this Friday.

Wild about Metrics

Today was the first day for news articles. I was EXTREMELY pleased with how many students volunteered to summarize out loud for extra credit. After collecting the news articles students took a brief 10-question quiz on variables and hypotheses. It won't count for a grade, but it gave myself and students more practice in using the student responders as an assessment tool. Following the quiz, students were given this chapter's activity packet. We openly discussed section 1-2 notes on metric abbreviations and conversion. We practiced converting from one metric unit to another, like from kilograms to grams.

Students were assigned worksheet 1.4 (#1-10) for homework. If you have any questions, please email me at kcremer@mounties.k12.pa.us.

First Friday

Today in the computer lab I stressed first and foremost that the first news article summary is due this coming Tuesday.

Our class the went to the Moodle site where we discussed the difference between and importance of independent and dependent variables in an experiment.  Students have a direct link on the Moodle if they need some more clarification.  We spent the rest of the period working through a tutorial on the scientific method online.  If students finished early, they were allowed to begin a virtual "Who Dunnit", trying to solve a crime mystery using the scientific method.  A pep rally ended the day in the gym.

All links and activities are still available here at the Moodle site.

Don't forget, news article summaries are due on Tuesday.

PS- Good luck PSU vs Akron

EVERYBODY MOODLE'S

Today was my first attempt at incorporating Moodle for an interactive lesson during class.  It worked flawlessly during 2nd period, but came to a crashing hault during Period 3.  We then figured out after lunch that if we limit the number of simultaneous logins, we lower the chance of having it freeze up on us.  Students logged in just a few at a time during periods 6 & 7, and that seemed to work without incident.
Here's what we covered:

• Log into the moodle site at http://cff.iu17.org/s/southwilliamsport/
• Once on my site, scroll down to Scientific Method & Inquiry
• Start with "How Observant Are You" and work your way down to "Steps to the Scientific Method"

There is no homework assignment.  However, your first news article summary is due on Tuesday.

PS- Let's Go Phillies!

How to Summarize Your News Articles

Today's class lesson focused on what to do for your news article summaries.  These are due the first day of every week, starting with Tuesday, September 8th.  Students need to find an article that interests them from http://www.sciencedaily.com/.  Once they decide on an article, they should click the "PRINT" icon near the upper right of the page.  This will get rid of all the extra ads, pictures and hyperlinks and leave them only with their article to print.  If a printer is not working or not available, they should click "EMAIL" and send the article to kcremer@mounties.k12.pa.us, my school email address.  Not being able to print should never be an excuse for not having this assignment complete.
After selecting the article, students must now summarize it using a standard template, which is available on my Moodle site. They can also pick up a paper copy of this in my room at anytime.  The depth of the summary is also available on the moodle site, titled "News Article Descriptor"  They have to say in a complete sentence what the article is about, another complete sentence that says where the research took place, and then one or two sentences that says why they feel the research is important to science.  The final step is to provide two vocab. words and define them.  These words should be challenging enough that the student needed to look them up in a dictionary, or online using http://www.dictionary.com/. 
We also discussed how students can get extra credit.  Students that have a complete written summary on time can volunteer to give an oral 30-second summary that is worth five extra credit points.  I showed mathematically how much this has the potential to help their grade.
Students were given a practice news article to read and summarize in class.  We reviewed their summaries together, and it seemed as though everyone walked out of class with a firm grasp on what is expected from this weekly assignment.
No homework was collected or assigned.

PS- Go EAGLES!

1st Day of School

No matter how hard we try, we can never be 100% prepared for opening day (students AND teachers).  Today each student was given a healthy dose of technology in science class.  We started class by using the student responders to take a quick technology survey.  The students seemed to really enjoy it, as they had never used one before.  We then got into my Moodle site, and saw some of the features it had to offer.  Some students even got to log in during class.  I then gave students the tour of my blog site (this page) and demonstrated its usefulness.  We ended class with a look at the science curriculum and my grading policy.

I collected the email request forms that were mailed home back in early August and were due today.  Some students either forgot or lost their form, so they were given a second copy that is due on Wednesday.

Their homework assignment is, if possible, log into the Moodle site and comment on one of my two blog entries.  They will not be graded for this assignment, but I would like to know what difficulites they have along the way, if any.  See you tomorrow.

PS- Go PENN STATE!!!