Day 76

Students were dismissed at 11am today.  Before then, each grade participated in the Winter Olympics.

No homework was assigned, and the Chapter 5 test will be on Thursday, January 12th.

Day 75

We had 28 minute classes today due to the scheduled PM assembly to watch "A Christmas Carol".  During class, we played Holiday Carol Pictionary using the IWB.

No homework was assigned, and the Chapter 5 test will be on Thursday, January 12th.

Day 74

I previewed tomorrow's compressed assembly schedule to each of the classes.  We completed the rest of yesterday's lab, which basically we "crunched" the data that we gathered in order to make sense of it.  Students labeled these pages 5-25 & 5-26.  We ended class by doing problems #1-4 on worksheet 5-3.

No homework was assigned, and the Chapter 5 test will be on Thursday, January 12th.

Day 73

Today was our last news article of the year.....well, calendar year, anyway.  After the week #16 news articles, the kids collected data for a lab I had just found online last night.  I split them into four groups, and each group had to time how long it took each member to hop, walk, speed walk and walk backwards a distance of 10 meters.  The also recorded a split time at the 5-meter mark.  After all of the data was collected, we returned to the room to review the speed quiz from Friday.

No homework was assigned, and the Chapter 5 test will be on Thursday, January 12th.

Day 72

Students took the Speed Quiz today and got back their scores by the end of the period.  Afterwards, students watched a Mythbusters Holiday episode.

News article #16 is due on Monday, and the Chapter 5 test is on Wednesday, January 11th.

Day 71

Students used worksheet 5-16 to take a practice quiz for relating speed, distance and time.  After everyone was done with those five problems, I put the solutions on the IWB.  Students were then given their last practice problems on page 3-16 (#1-8).  We reviewed the answers with five minutes left in class.

No homework was assigned, and the Speed quiz will be tomorrow.

Day 70

I began class by explaining problems 9 & 10 from page 5-2 in great detail.  Students then had 10 minutes to complete those two problems, along with any others on that page that were not done yesterday.  We put the answers to those problems on the IWB and dry erase board.  I then assigned worksheet 5-5, which explored average speed through a graphing exercise.  I went over those five problems before the end of class.

No homework was assigned, and the Speed & Velocity quiz was moved up to Friday, December 16th.

Day 69

We finished worksheet 5-1 today, which included differentiating between speed and velocity.  I used an IWB flipchart to demonstrate the correct 4-step method to solving word problems.  We did problem #1 on page 5-2 together, and students were assigned #2-8 on page 5-2 during class.  We will go over these problems tomorrow.

No homework was assigned, and the speed and velocity quiz will be on Monday, December 19th.

Day 68

We went over the week #15 science news articles, and students received their new Chapter 5 packets on Motion.  Using and IWB flipchart, we discussed how motion is determined through frames of reference and learned the formulas for speed.  We watched a homemade video on frames of reference, and then watched a http://www.brainpop.com/ video on distance, rate and time.  After students took the brainpop quiz, we had just enough time to complete the top half of worksheet 5-1.

No homework was assigned, and the Speed & Velocity quiz will be on Monday, December 19th.

Day 67

We reviewed Wednesday's chapter 3 test, and students had their notebook check today for 100 points.  During that time, we watched a Mythbusters' Christmas special.

News article #15 is due on Monday, and the speed & velocity quiz is on Monday, December 19th.

Day 66

I had whiteboard training today, so Mr. Girardi was in for me.  Each class got to watch "iGenius", a Discovery Channel documentary on Steve Jobs, the late CEO of Apple, Inc.

The chapter 3 notebook check will be tomorrow, and the next quiz will be the speed and velocity quiz on Monday, December 19th.

Day 65

Students took their Chapter 3 test using moodle today.  They had about 25 minutes after completing the test to work on a science news article for next week or to work on their notebooks.

The notebook check will be this Friday, and the next quiz will be the Speed & Velocity quiz on Monday, December 19th.

Day 64

We finished the Chapter 3 packet today by completing worksheet 3-18 (using an IWB flipchart).  We then reviewed for tomorrow's test by playing Classroom Jeopardy.

No homework was assigned, and the Chapter 3 test is tomorrow, and the notebook check will be on Friday.

Day 63

After listening to the summaries of our 14th week of science news articles, students had their final opportunity to take the periodic table quiz.  We reviewed subatomic particles, ions and isotopes by doing worksheets 3-16 and 17.  I used IWB flipcharts to review the answers.

The only homework is to study for Wednesday's chapter 3 test.

Day 62

We had a guest speaker today- Carol Kirol, the district's dental hygienist.

News article #14 is due on Monday,and the Chapter 3 test will be on Wednesday, December 7th.

Day 61

For periods 3, 6 & 7, we completed worksheet 3-15 to begin class.  Afterwards, along with the other two classes, we practiced the periodic table quiz.  I instructed students to disregard the four atomic forces (electromagnetic, strong, weak and gravity) at the end of their notes.  That being said, we covered the remaining material in section 3-4 notes, which included ions, electron clouds and energy levels.  I used this link to demonstrate electron arrangement within an atom.  I revealed how the number in the left-hand corner of the element's block on the periodic table identies its electron distribution among the energy levels.  I also discussed how ions were created, which led to today's http://www.brainpop.com/ video on Ions.  Students did not take the quiz following the video.  Instead, students did worksheet 3-20 while I used an IWB flipchart to demonstrate the same page.  We ended class by doing worksheet 3-19 before the bell rang.

No homework was assigned, and the Chapter 3 test will be on Tuesday, December 6th.