Day 155

We went over section 11-3 notes today on energy conversions and differentiated between internal and external combustion engines.  I demonstrated how a simple pendulum constantly converts between potential and kinetic energy.  We completed worksheet 11-13 together in class.  Students were then assigned pages 11-11 and 11-9 within their groups.  We went over all the answers in the last 8 minutes of class.

No homework was assigned, and the Chapter 11 test will be on Monday, May 5th.

Day 154

Students took the actual PSSA science exams today before and after lunch.  As a result, we had 27-minute classes.  During that time, students watched a brief episode of Mythbusters.

No homework was assigned, and the Chapter 11 test will be on Monday, May 5th.

Day 153

Mr. Deljanovan was in for me today as my wife and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary.  Students had the opportunity to present their 32nd week of science news articles for extra credit.  They were then given a laptop to gain access to Study Island and take the Monday, April 28th PSSA Practice Exam, using 60 questions.

No homework was assigned, and the real PSSA science exam will be tomorrow.

Day 152

We were in the computer lab again today to prepare for the science PSSA exam.  Today's topic was a review of Earth Science.  Students were asked to read through each of the nine lessons and take a 5-question quiz following each one.

News article #32 is due on Monday, and the PSSA exam will be on Tuesday, April 29th.

Day 151

We were in the computer lab today so that students could get on Study Island and complete the Biology Review Part 2.

No homework was assigned, and the PSSA science exam will be on Tuesday, April 29th.

Day 150

Students handed in their 31st week of science news articles to start the class.  They were asked to get on study island and complete the Biology Review Part 1 assignment before the end of class.

No homework was assigned, and the PSSA science exam will be on Tuesday, April 29th.

Day 149

Students were back on Study Island today to review the first assessment anchor, Nature of Science.  They were asked to read through each of the eight lessons and take a 5-question mini quiz after each one.

News article #31 is due next Wednesday, and the Chapter 11 test won't be until Monday, May 5th.

Day 148

Yesterday afternoon, I found out the PSSA science exam was being moved up a week, so instead of having three weeks to prepare, we now have only two.  To prepare, we were in the computer lab today to take a practice test on Study Island.  Students were given 60 random questions from among the four science topics.  If they completed the assignment with time remaining, they could get a news article for next week.

No homework was assigned, and the Chapter 11 test has been moved to Monday, May 5th.

Day 147

I collected the online labs for 50 points today.  Students then had the opportunity to present and hand in their 30th week of science news articles.  We then went outside to complete worksheet 11-7, identifying things with potential and kinetic energy.  We then completed page 11-5 together, identifying energy conversions.  I discussed section 11-4 notes on Law of Conservation of Energy and Einstein's Theory of Relativity.  We ended class by students working in their groups to complete worksheet 11-10.

No homework was assigned, and the Chapter 11 test will be on Monday, May 5th.

Day 146

We learned about kinetic energy from section 11-2 notes.  We watched a www.brainpop.com video on Kinetic Energy and took the quiz.  We completed worksheet 11-6 together, and students were assigned worksheet 11-4 in their groups.  We went over the answers before the end of class.

News article #30 and the online lab are due on Monday, and the Chapter 11 test will be on Thursday, April 24th.

Day 145

We took the first 10 minutes of class to go over worksheets 11-2 & 11-3 from Tuesday.  We discussed section 11-2 notes on Potential Energy.  We watched an 8 minute YouTube video of the Space Jump from two years ago to demonstrate how potential and kinetic energy are transformed.  We watched a www.brainpop.com video on Potential Energy and took the quiz.  We ended class by doing the mini-lab on page 11-12.

No homework was assigned, and the Chapter 11 test will be on Thursday, April 24th.

Day 144

Students took their final PSSA writing exam this morning.  In the afternoon, students watched "Book Thief", a Holocaust-based movie that students read in Mr. Molino's class.  We're back to regular classes tomorrow.

The online lab and news article #30 are due on Monday, and the Chapter 11 test will be on Thursday, April 24th.

Day 143

Students took their first two PSSA writing tests today before lunch.  We met with each of our five classes right after lunch for about 36 minutes each.  During that time, students were given their new Chapter 11 packet, and we went over section 11-1 notes on forms of energy.  We watched a www.brainpop.com video on Forms of Energy and took the quiz.  We ended class with students completing worksheets 11-2 and 11-3.  We will go over it during Thursday's class.

No homework was assigned, and the Chapter 11 test will be on Thursday, April 24th.

Day 142

After collecting the 29th week of science news articles, I demonstrated how to calculate and collect data for Activity 3 of the online energy lab.  Today is the last day that we will use class time to work on the lab.  It will be collected next Monday, so students can work on their own time to complete it.

No homework was assigned, and the Chapter 11 test will be on Thursday, April 24th.

Day 141

Students began Activity 2 of the online energy lab today.  This spanned pages 4-7, and included them creating and printing two graphs using the Create-a-graph website.

News article #29 is due on Monday, and the Chapter 11 test will be on Thursday, April 24th.

Day 140

Students began an online lab today using a link at the bottom of their Moodle page.  The lab explores the relationship between mass, speed and kinetic energy.  Students were to have pages 1-3 complete before the end of the period.

No homework was assigned, and the Chapter 11 test will be on Thursday, April 24th.

Day 139

Students had their Chapter 8 notebooks checked today for 90 points.  During that time, we watched a Mythbusters episode that explored the validity of Ben Franklin's "key on a kite" experiment.

No homework was assigned, and the Chapter 11 test will be on Thursday, April 24th.

Day 138

Students took their Chapter 8 test on Moodle today in the computer lab.

The notebook check will be tomorrow, and the next test (Chapter 11) will be on Thursday, April 24th.