Completing Chapter 8 on Electricity

Today in class, students worked with their partner or small groups to complete their Chapter 8 packet.  We went over the remaining pages in class.
News article # 31 is due on Monday, and the Chapter 8 test will be that same day.  Notebook check will be on Tuesday.

Electric Circuits, Day 2

Today we completed Chapter 8 notes on electric safety, including fuses and circuit breakers.  Students then completed our circuits lab on pages 8-21 & 8-22, which integrated Ohm's Law into their experiment.  We concluded class by completing activity 8-14 in groups.
No homework was assigned, and the chapter 8 test is on Monday.

Electric Circuits Lab

Today students worked in small groups in exploring the difference between series and parallel circuits.  This was from the lab on pages 8-19 and 8-20.  Students then stayed in their small groups to complete worksheets 8-12 and 8-13.
No homework was assigned, and the Chapter 8 test will be on Monday.

PSSA Science Exam

Students took the PSSA Science exams today, the final installment of this year's PSSA exams.  Because the tests were broken down into a morning and afternoon session, class time greatly reduced.  In that time, we watched two segments of mythbusters on the legitimacy of a giant lego ball and whether or not "double-dipping" a chip actually is as disgusting as putting your mouth in the dip.
No homework was assigned.

Electric Circuits

After reveiwing the summaries of our 30th week of news articles.  Only four more to go.  In class we watched a http://www.brainpop.com/ video to introduce our lesson on electric circuits.  After discussing section 8-6 notes, students were given graphing paper to create schematic drawings of circuit configurations.

No homework was assigned, and PSSA science exams are tomorrow. 

The chapter 8 test will be on Monday, May 3rd.

Wet Cells & Dry Cells

We began class today by reviewing the problems from page 8-11, which were done in class yesterday.  We then discussed section 8-5 notes on electrochemical cells (commonly called batteries).  We watched a http://www.brainpop.com/ video on the same topic.  We ended class by completing problem #6 on page 8-2 and problem #6 on page 8-4.
News article #30 is due on Monday, and the Chapter 8 test will on Monday, May 3rd.

Energy = power x time

Students got back their quiz on Ohm's Law and we reviewed the answers.  We finished section 8-4 notes on calculating electrical energy (E=P t), and students worked with their partner on worksheet 8-11.
No homework was assigned.

PSSA Writing and Dental Hygiene

In the morning, students took their second day of PSSA Writing assessments, this one being an open ended response to a writing prompt.  After lunch in science class, students were engaged in a presentation on oral piercings and hygiene from Mrs. Carol Kirol, the school district's dental hygienist.
No homework is assigned.

PSSA Writing & Ohm's Law Quiz

Students today had their first taste of the PSSA Writing exam.  They needed to answer 20 multiple-choice questions in the morning session and respond to one writing prompt in the lone afternoon session.  During science class, students took the quiz on Ohm's Law (I = V/R).
No homework was assigned.  Tomorrow's class will bring a guest speaker, school dental hygienist Carol Kirol, to discuss her annual dental topics.

Ohm's Law quiz prep

Back to regular school days again!  After four consecutive half days filled with PSSA exams, today brought us back some sense of normalcy, however short-lived. We began class by listening to some oral summaries of our 29th week of news articles.  Students then worked with their partners to complete pages 8-9 & 8-10, which served to reviewed the formulas and variables associated with Ohm's Law and power.  After putting the solutions to these problems on the board, we ended class by watching a Bill Nye video on Static Electricity.
The quiz on Ohm's Law is tomorrow.

PSSA & Lightning Video- Day 5

Today was the 5th and final day of our PSSA Math & Reading week. Students were given their third reading assessment in the morning. We only met with our period 2 class today, but during that time we listened to the oral summaries of our 28th week of science news articles. Students then watched a National Geographic video on the dangers and myths of lightning.

News articles are due on Monday, April 19th.

PSSA and Lightning Video, Day 4

Today was Day 4 of our PSSA Math & Reading week. Students were given their second reading assessment in the morning. We only got to meet with our period 3 class today, but during that time we listened to the oral summaries of our 28th week of science news articles. Students then watched a National Geographic video on the dangers and myths of lightning.


Students in period 2 have a news article due tomorrow, and all students will have a news article due on Monday, April 19th.

PSSA & Lightning Video

Today was Day 3 of our PSSA Math & Reading week. Students were given their second reading assessment in the morning. We only got to meet with our period 5 class today, but during that time we listened to the oral summaries of our 28th week of science news articles. Students then watched a National Geographic video on the dangers and myths of lightning.
Students have a news article due this week on whatever day they have their science class.

PSSA & Lightning Video

Today was Day 2 of our PSSA Math & Reading week. Students were given their second math assessment in the morning. We only got to meet with our period 6 class today, but during that time we listened to the oral summaries of our 28th week of science news articles. Students then watched a National Geographic video on the dangers and myths of lightning.

Students have a news article due this week on whatever day they have their science class.

PSSA & Lightning Video

Today began our PSSA Math & Reading week.  Students were given their first math assessment in the morning and then their first reading assessment in the afternoon.  We only got to meet with our period 7 class today, but during that time we listened to the oral summaries of our 28th week of science news articles.  Students then watched a National Geographic video on the dangers and myths of lightning.  We ended the day with an assembly in the auxiliary gym to draw gold medals for prizes.
Students have a news article due this week on whatever day they have their science class.

Practicing Ohm's Law

Students were given 10 more problems to practice Ohm's Law- five problems solved for resistance, while the other five solved for voltage.  Students volunteered to write the solutions to those problems on the board for extra credit.  We then ended class with a 20-minute clip from Mythbusters that explored the validity of Ben Franklin's famous key-on-a-kite experiment.
News article #28 is due next week.
PSSA reading and math exams are all next week.
Next Tuesday through Friday are Act 80 half-days.

Electric Power

We discussed how to calculate electric power, given current and voltage (Section 8-4 notes).  Students completed page 8-2 (# 1-5 only) and 8-3 with their partners and we reviewed the solutions on the board.  We ended class with a Mythbusters clip that explored the dangers or talking on the phone or showering during a lightning storm.
No homework was assigned.

Ohm's Law

Today we began class by reviewing one of yesterday's topics, subatomic particles, on worksheet 8-1.  We then discussed the formation of lightning and the design and purpose of lightning rods before beginning our analysis of Ohm's Law.  Ohm's law relates current, voltage and resistance, and students learned how to calculate each one of those three when given the other two.  Students completed pages 8-5 & 8-6 with their partner, and the solutions to those problems were placed on the board.
No homework was assigned.

Static Electricity

Today we began our short post-Easter-break week by reviewing our 27th week of news articles.  Students then received their chapter 8 packets on electricity.  We reviewed section 8-1 and 8-2 notes on subatomic particles and static electricity.  I demonstrated the conductivity of different materials using a Van de Graff generator, a machine that produces a constant static electric charge.  In periods 2 & 3, we had enough time to watch the http://www.brainpop.com/ video on static electricity, but we ran out of time in periods 5, 6 & 7.
No homework was assigned.

Review PSSA Science exam

Today in class I collected the lab reports for the online energy lab.  Students had one week to complete the report.  Students were then given their graded PSSA practice exams for the purpose of reviewing the testing format and content.
News article #27 is due on Tuesday, April 6th.