Response Journal Entry 1

Remember to complete the prompts from the "Am I Freezing" project on your blog in complete sentences and to copy the questions there too.  These questions are designed to get you thinking about the Kinetic Theory of Matter and how it relates to changes in state.

Part I:  Complete the Melting/Freezing Matrix and answer the following:

1.    Why do the substances melt? (Hint: you need more information than just saying they got hotter.)

2.    Why do the substances freeze?

3.   Why doesn’t the water refreeze? (Hint: you need more than saying it didn’t get cold enough)

Density Column

Today's lesson involved creating a density column.  This column is created with various concentrations of sugar water.  Each color represents another layer.  By changing the concentration I am changing the density. 

The Passing of a Former Student

The young man on the right touched my life only briefly.  I will remember his constant smile and his attitude toward life.  He is amazing in that he was fighting a battle that not many knew about. He had a form of cancer that was attacking his spinal cord.  While he often aggravated me with his pranks and the fact that he often wouldn't do his homework, he was a good kid.  You will be missed Will.

Gummi Bears

This lab never ceases to fascinate the students.  We soak a Gummi Bear overnight in cold tap water and then observe the results.  I use this lab to teach the difference between qualitative vs. quantitative data. 
Someday, I hope to have a group of students who will investigate the reactions in other liquids.  I would love to know how they react in Kool-aid, salt-water, etc.

Drops on a Coin

One of the labs I am using to teach scientific method with this year is called "Drops on a Coin."  In this lab students design their own experiment to compare the number of drops of water that can be contained on a penny to the number on a nickle.  I allowed the students to come up with their own procedures which proved interesting, as some students didn't elaborate much at all on how to get the drops on the coins nor did they allow for repetition.  How do you teach scientific method?

Week One: What Does a Scientist Look Like and What Do They Do?

I want to share with you some very nice drawings from an activity I did the third day of school.  I called it, "What does a scientist look like and what do they do?"  Yes, I know there is a bit of a grammar issue with that question but I didn't want to cause any additional bias among my students by say "and what does he/she do?"  After the students posted their drawings, we did a "Gallery Walk" looking for similarities and differences among the drawings.  Out of 132 completed drawings roughly 90% were drawn as men with crazy wild hair blowing things up as they wore a lab coat.  I teach 9th graders I expected them to have a better  perception of scientists than they have.  Do you do anything to dispel the stereotypical scientist in your students minds?

  We discussed many nature of science concepts during the week and will continue these next week.  "Drops on a Penny, Apple Observations, Candle Observations, Ghost Crystals and Gummi Bears", gonna be a hugely busy week.

Welcome Back!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am excited to be back at school.  I have that same nervous, anxious feeling that I had on the 1st day of my 1st year as a teacher. I continue to learn new things and get very excited to share what I have learned with others.  I hope that my students are able to see and feel how much I love what I do.
This "picture" was created using Wordle.  If you haven't seen it check it out, play around with it, learn something new.