Measurement Lab - Day 2

Today, we continued with our measurement lab.  We defined and practiced measuring distance, temperature, and time.

Distance is the length of a path between two points.  We can measure it using a meter stick or a ruler.  In science, we will make all of our distance measurements in meters (m) or centimeters (cm) - not inches!

Temperature is a measure of how hot or cold something is.  We measure temperature using a thermometer.  We are most familiar with using the Fahrenheit temperature scale, however in science we use degrees Celsius.

We defined time as how long it takes for an event to occur.  We can measure this using a stopwatch, and our unit could be anything from seconds (s) to minutes (min) to hours (h) to days (d).

Click here to see a slide show of all of the measurements we practiced today.

We also finished up our gummy bear measurements today.

They grew a ton!

Every single class did an awesome job of working in the lab today - thank you!

Journal Question #1: What quantity do we measure using a meter stick?  Sketch a picture of a meter stick.

Journal Question #2: What quantity do we measure using a thermometer?  Sketch a picture of a thermometer.

Journal Question #3: What quantity do we measure using a stopwatch?  Sketch a picture of a stopwatch.

Have a great weekend!

Measurement Lab - Day 1

We focused on measuring two quantities today; mass and volume.

Mass is defined as the amount of matter something has.  We practiced measuring the mass of various objects using a digital balance.  Mass is measured in grams (g).

We defined volume as the amount of space something takes up.  We practiced measuring volume in two different ways.  First, we measured the length, width, and height of an object and multiplied them together to get the volume in cubic centimeters (cm^3).  Second, we used a method called displacement which gave us the volume in milliliters (mL).

Finally, we started an activity called Measurement Olympics.  Our first event was Gummy Bear Expansion.   We measured the mass and volume of our gummy bears and left them to sit in a cup of water over night.  Tomorrow, we will measure them again to see how much they change.

Click here to see a slideshow of all of the measurements we made today.

Journal Question #1: What quantity do we measure using a balance?  Sketch a picture of a digital balance.

Journal Question #2: What quantity do we measure using a graduated cylinder?  Sketch a picture of a graduated cylinder.

Measurement Intro

Today, we started our next unit; measurement.  This was a basic introduction to some of the measurement tools we will be using throughout the year.  We identified the following tools along with the quantities they measure and the units we will be using with them;

Tool                              Quantity                Unit
Meter Stick                    Distance               Meters (m) or Centimeters (cm)
Graduated Cylinder        Volume                 Milliliters (mL)
Balance                          Mass                    Grams (g)
Thermometer                 Temperature          Degrees Celsius (C)
Stopwatch                     Time                      Seconds (s)

Make sure you have these written down accurately in your handouts; these are the terms I would expect to see on an assessment.

Tomorrow, we will begin using these tools to practice making measurements.  We may even blow up a gummy bear...

CONPTT Quiz

We took our first quiz yesterday over the requirements of science.  These are graded and in PowerSchool as of this morning.  I handed the quizzes back in class today, and we went through them together question by question.  I also shared some of the exceptional responses I saw on the quizzes; those responses can be viewed again in this Power Point.

I know many of you are interested in retaking this quiz.  You need to let me know by Friday if this is the case.  Please be aware that the retake will not be the exact same assessment.  There will be new questions over the same content.  You will have to come in and review with me before you will be allowed to take the new quiz.

Keep in mind that we will have quizzes like this at least once every other week.  If you didn't do as well as you would have liked, you might need to adjust your study habits or how you spend your time in class.  Let me know if you need help or if something isn't making sense to you.  I want to see each and everyone of you succeed!