Thursday, September 30, 2010

We reviewed the Chapter 1 test today so students understood why each questions was right or wrong.  I encouraged them to take my advice next time on how to properly prepare for the test.  Whereas most students only studied the night before or the day of the test, I recommended to them last week that they should study 15 minutes every night starting with a week before the test.
The students then watched Mythbusters while I called them to my desk one at a time to have their notebooks graded for 100 points.

No homework was assigned.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Students took their Chapter 1 test using Moodle today, which means they took it completely online.  They learned of their score as soon as they were done, so don't be afraid to ask them :-).  Afterwards, they were given time to print out the graphs that they created last Friday and Monday.  These will be part of tomorrow's notebook check, which is also worth 100 points.  Students are responsible for all of the worksheets (except pages 7, 14, 15 & celcius conversion) for tomorrow's check.

No homework is assigned other than to have the notebook complete.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Since I was not here yesterday, I gave back to students their news articles that Mr. Girardi had collected.  Each student was afforded the opportunity to summarize their article out loud for extra credit.  I then check their homework, which was worksheet 1-19 for 15 points.  We went page-by-page through the Chapter 1 packet so that they knew EXACTLY what for what they are responsible come Thursday's notebook check.  Students had the rest of the period to complete pages 17 & 18 on graphing, and we reviewed those pages at the end of the period.

The only homework is to study for tomorrow's Chapter 1 test.  Notebook check will be on Thursday.

Monday, September 27, 2010

Mr. Girardi was in for me today, as I was attending an inservice training down at the Rommelt building.  After collecting our 4th news article summary, students worked with their partner to complete pages 16-18 on creating and interpreting graphs.  Both of the graphs on page 16 were done online and saved to their documents folder.


Students were assigned page 19, a study guide, for homework, due tomorrow.

The chapter one test will be on Wednesday.

Friday, September 24, 2010

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. Each student was able to save their pie graph to a new "Science-8" folder in "My Documents" in their school account.  They will complete the other two graphs from worksheet 1-16 on Monday, also online.  It is NOT homework.


News article summary # 4 is due on Monday, and the Chapter 1 test is on Wednesday.

Thursday, 9/23/10

Students came into science class today to find a can of pepsi and a can of diet pepsi swimming in an otherwise empty fish tank. We discussed and demonstrated why the pepsi sank to the bottom, while the diet pepsi 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 pepsi has a mass that is 17 grams more than that of the diet pepsi. That makes the pepsi more dense than the diet pepsi, and more dense than the water, causing it to sink.


We then used the student responders to take an online practice quiz on density mass and volume.  Tomorrow we will cover graphing, our last topic of this chapter

There is no assigned homework, and the test is on Wednesday, September 29th.

Wednesday, 9/22/10

Today we began class by watching a movie from BrainPop.com on Mass, Volume & Density.  Students used their hand-held responders to answer the quiz questions.  We continued the density lab from yesterday, as students were given three solid cubes of unknown metals of which they had to determine the mass, volume and density.  They then compared their calculated densities to a reference chart of know densities to determine their identities.

No homework was assigned, and the Chapter 1 test is one week from today.  Students can go to my Moodle site to begin preparing for the test.

Tuesday, 9/21/10

We began class by reviewing the conclusion questions from the lab over the past two days.  We then introduced the term "DENSITY" and referred to section 1-3 notes.  I handed out a 4-page lab on finding density of unknown substances which then started.  They had about the remaining 20 minutes of class to work through finding the mass, volume and densities of three unknown liquids.  We will work on the unknown solids tomorrow.

No homework was assigned, and the chapter 1 test will be one week from tomorrow (Sept 29th).

Monday, 9/20/10

We began class by listening to volunteer summaries for our third week of science news articles.  Once the news articles were collected, students had an additional 20 minutes to complete the metric measurement lab on page 1-13 that we began on Friday.  We went over the results of the lab at the end of class, but we did not have time to go over the conclusion questions.  We'll do that tomorrow.

The only homework students have is to make sure that they have the conclusion questions completed from page 1-12.  The Chapter 1 test will be on Wednesday, September 29th.

Day 12

I checked students homework from last night (pages 8, 9, 10 & 11), worth 5 points each.  We reviewed the answers for each measurement on all pages using a magnified projection on the board.  We began the measurement lab from page 12 & 13.  Students worked alone or with a partner to take seven measurements from each of four stations:  Temperature, Mass, Length and Volume.  This is a 2-day lab, so I stressed to students to take their time and focus on accuracy.

News article #3 is due on Monday, and the Chapter 1 test is on Wednesday, September 29th.

Day 11

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, thermometer to measure temperature in Celcius degrees, 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 websites 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.

Day 10

Today students completed the bottom of activity 1-6.  To accomplish this, we used an online dimensional analysis calculator through a moodle link.  We went over the answers at the end of class.  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 29th.

Day 9

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.  We also watched a http://www.brainpop.com/ video on metric vs customary units. 

There was no homework, and the chapter  1 test date is Wednesday, September 29th.

Day 8

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. 
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 ended class by completing most of worksheet 1-5, which gave some meaning to metric units and appreviations.

There is no homework, and the Chapter 1 test is on Wednesday, September 29th.

Day 7

Students took their quiz on Metric Conversion.  An example problem would be 45 kilograms equals how many grams?  There were 15 problems, each one worth two points for a total of 30 points.  Once everyone finished, I passed back the science news article summaries that they had handed in earlier in the week.  Each one was graded, and the most common mistakes were discussed out loud so that those mistakes were not repeated.  We ended class be completing Activity 1-3 together in their groups.

News article #2 is due on Monday, and the Chapter 1 test is scheduled for Wednesday, September 29th.

Day 6

Today was a simple day.  We began class by watching a Brainpop.com video on the scientific method.  Just like yesterday, we took the 10-question quiz right after the video using the student responders.  Since our quiz on metric conversion is tomorrow, students got a sneak preview by way of a practice test.  After completing the 15-problem practice assessment, we reviewed the answers together in class.  I referred students to several sites on moodle that will be helpful to their quiz preparation tonight.

No homework was assigned, although news article #2 is due on Monday.  The metric quiz will be tomorrow.

Day 5

We began class by checking last night's homework, which was worksheet 1-4 (that's chapter 1, worksheet #4) for 10 points.  We reviewed the answers by using student responders so that everyone could give their answer without fear of failure.  We then watched a movie on metric units using a web service I subscribe to called BrainPop.  Following the video, students answers a 10-question quiz, again using the student responders. 

Finally, we reviewd the scientific method and vocabulary by working in groups to complete worksheet 1-1 in their packets.

No homework was assigned, and their metric conversion quiz is still scheduled for this Friday.

Day 4

Students turned in the first science news articles and summaries today.  They will get feedback from this assignment before the end of the week.  Chapter 1 packets were handed out today and students were asked to 3-hole punch them and place them into their 3-ring binders, a requirement for my class.  We discussed Section 1-2 notes on metric units.  We discussed the base units for measuring mass, length and volume (gram, meter and liter, respectively) and how to convert from one size unit to another, such as a kilometer to a centimeter.  Students were given some examples to work on during class before the homework was assigned.

Homework was worksheet #4 from the packet.  All 10 problems need to be completed.  The quiz on metric conversion is still scheduled for this Friday, September 10th.

Day 3

Today in class we discussed the three types of variables in an experiment:  control, independent and dependent.  I gave a few examples of each type of variable within different make-believe experiments.  Students looked at an online diagram of the scientific method.  Students then worked at their own pace to complete an online tutorial on using the scientific method.

News article #1 is due on Tuesday, and the metric conversion quiz is on Friday, September 10th.

Day 2

Two down, only 177 more to go.  Today in class we reviewed yesterday's news article so that everyone had a better understanding of the "why" and "vocab" sections.  Our topic today was "Theory vs Law".  We started with a online simulation that tested students' observation skills using a "Spot the Difference".  I then asked students to go to http://www.dictionary.com/ and define the terms "theory" and "law".  Working with their partner, students then had to identify the difference between a theory and a law and post that difference in the discussion forum.  All of this was done within the friendly confines of Moodle.

No homework was assigned.

Day 1

Today was the first day of 8th grade for the Class of 2015.  We began class with the alphabetical seating chart, followed by students filling out their book cards and agendas.
The focus of today's lesson was on the proper way to summarize their weekly science news articles.  Using the Moodle site, students were lead through a tutorial on the correct site for retrieving articles, the requirements for the summary, a link to the template, and a sample news article on sugary soft drinks.  The bell rang before we completely summarized the article, but students got a pretty good idea of what is required.  Plus, they also got to experiment with a cool new web 2.0 tool called "Wall Wisher". 

Their first news article is due on Tuesday, September 7th, and their first quiz will be Friday, September 10th.