Measurement Quiz

Overall, I was pretty happy with the results of this quiz.  It turned out much better than the first one for sure.  The only thing that almost everybody struggled with was the last question on the page - calculating the volume of that L-shaped block.  We went over this in class today, but I had a request to add a little more of an explanation on here.  I hope this video helps you!  He uses a slightly different method than the ones we talked about in class today, but maybe seeing yet another approach will make it click.

For those of you wanting to retake this quiz, leave a comment on this post and plan on coming to my room either before school or during advisory next Tuesday, September 17.  Come see me anytime if you need help!

Metric System and Conversions

Our major topic the last two days of class has been the metric system and why we use it in science.  We read from our textbooks yesterday about how important it is for scientists all over the world to use the same system of measurement.  Following the universal standards for measurements allows us to replicate experiments and obtain more consistent results across the globe.

The metric system is also much easier to use than English measurements.  12 inches in a foot, 3 feet in a yard, and 5,280 feet in a mile are all difficult conversions that require memorization and the use of a calculator.  In the metric system, we can easily convert between milliliters and kiloliters by simply moving decimal points around.  This is because the metric system is formed around powers of ten.  (This is a cool video demonstrating Powers of Ten.)

We practiced doing some conversions in class together today.  It seemed like most of you remembered quite a bit from middle school.  We will do more independent practice on Friday.  If you would like to see another explanation of how to do conversions, watch this video.

At this point, you should be comfortable with the terms base unit and prefix as well as being able to identify a majority of them.  If not, come talk to me and we'll figure it out together.

I have a feeling we will move through this next little bit of content pretty quickly, so be ready for a bigger quiz next Monday.

Journal Question #1: What is displacement?  How do you use it?  Draw a picture of the procedure.

Journal Question #2: How many centimeters are in a meter?

Measurement Olympics - Last day

Thursday and Friday were pretty busy - we didn't take much time to talk about the measurements we were making, we were just trying to fit them all in.  Today, we took a step back to see if everybody was making accurate measurements and using the correct units.  We went through the practice portion of that yellow packet and wrote the "correct" measurements on the board.  Below are links to the results that each class came up with:

Measurement Practice - 4th Period

Measurement Practice - 5th Period

Measurement Practice - 6th Period

Measurement Practice - 7th Period

I will be collecting these packets tomorrow in class, so if for some reason you didn't get it done in class, please take the time to go through our class results and get the right numbers written down.

The last three events of our Measurement Olympics took place today as well; the cotton-ball shot put, the temperature challenge, and the breath holding competition.  These were supposed to be fun events, but at the same time give you more practice measuring distance, time, and temperature.

Be ready for a quick quiz (easier than the last one!) on Wednesday about the different types of measurement.  We will then spend a couple of days talking about the metric system and have a bigger quiz early next week combining everything we've done so far.