Electromagnetic Waves

http://missionscience.nasa.gov/ems/index.html

Use the link above to access some really good written explanations of and videos on the EM spectrum.  To access the videos, click on the link on the right side of the page that says "Video Tour of the EM Spectrum".

The Physics of Sports

Soccer
Trick Shots
Amazing Goal
Top 5 goals

Curling
US Team

Bobsled
Jamaican Team '88

Ski Jump
Nick Fairall

Speed Skating
500m Short Track

Baseball
St Louis Cardinals Highlights

Football
99 yard Punt Return
Bears Highlights

Hockey
Stanley Cup 2013

Swimming
Michael Phelps 200m Butterfly



If you need help, check out some of these videos http://www.nbclearn.com/portal/site/learn/resources

Instructions for today's lab

Groups 1, 3, 5, and 7 instructions

Groups 2, 4, 6, and 8 instructions

CoM PIT-BC continued

We are now finished with the exploratory part of the week.  Now it's time to start designing our main experiment.

Some of you noticed that as the Alka Seltzer reaction occurred in the stoppered flask, pressure built up and the stopper sometimes popped off.  When that happened, all of the gases were able to escape, making the flask just as bad at conserving mass as the beaker. For our actual experiment, I will ask you to try to design a container that will definitely trap all of the gas so that we can measure it.  I will give some suggestions of materials to use during class.  The problem statement for our PIT-BC will be 'What is the affect of the type of container on the conservation of mass?'  where the experimental variable (the thing that we are changing) is the type of container, and the dependent variable (the thing we are going to measure) is the conservation of mass.  We will also be switching from the Alka Seltzer and water reaction to the well-known baking soda and vinegar reaction.

Today in class, we will be working on writing instructions for the lab and, if we have time, we will make our data tables and write our predictions.

Conservation of Mass PIT-BC

This entire week (and maybe next week) will be dedicated to completing our second PIT-BC of the semester.  This project will be set up exactly like your semester test.

First, we will complete an exploratory activity on Monday and Tuesday.  This lab will introduce you to the concept of the conservation of mass by looking at the reaction of Alka Seltzer and water.  The Law of Conservation of Mass says that the amount of reactants in a chemical reaction is equal to the amount of products;  matter cannot be created nor destroyed.  In other words, the mass of the stuff that you start out with has to be the same as the mass of the stuff you end up with.  We will discover that when the Alka Seltzer reaction takes place in an open beaker, much of the gas that is produced just escapes into the air.  Because of this, we cannot accurately measure the mass of all of the products, so it appears that mass is not conserved in the reaction.  However, when we complete the reaction inside of a flask with a rubber stopper in it, that gas is trapped and we can measure the mass of all of the products.

Here is a link the the exploratory activity

Element Families

Now that you've completed you Periodic Table books, check to make sure you included some of these main ideas on each of your pages.

Element Square - The four things included in the element square are atomic number, atomic mass, element symbol and the element name.  Remember, the atomic number comes from the number of protons in the nucleus.  The atomic mass is found by adding the protons and neutrons together.  When writing the element symbol, the first letter is always capitalized.  If there is a second letter, is is lower case.

Valence Electrons - These are the electrons in the outer most energy level of an atom.  The number of valence electrons in an element can be determined by its position on the periodic table.  Every element in group one has one valence electron, group two has two and so on.  The number of valence electrons is important because it determines the properties of that element and how it reacts with other atoms.

*Hydrogen - This element does not match the properties of any other group so it stands alone. It is placed above group 1 but it is not part of that group. It is a very reactive, colorless, odorless gas at room temperature. (1 valence electron)

Alkali Metals – These metals are extremely reactive and are never found in nature in their pure form. They are silver colored and shiny. Their density is extremely low so that they are soft enough to be cut with a knife. (1 valence electron)

Alkaline-earth Metals – Slightly less reactive than alkali metals. They are silver colored and more dense than alkali metals. (2 valence electrons)

*Transition Metals – These metals have a moderate range of reactivity and a wide range of properties. In general, they are shiny and good conductors of heat and electricity. They also have higher densities and melting points than groups 1 & 2. (1 or 2 valence electrons)

Boron Group – Contains one metalloid and 4 metals. Reactive. Aluminum is in this group. It is also the most abundant metal in the earth’s crust. (3 valence electrons)

Carbon Group – Contains on nonmetal, two metalloids, and two metals. Varied reactivity. (4 valence electrons)

Nitrogen Group – Contains two nonmetals, two metalloids, and one metal. Varied reactivity. (5 valence electrons)

Oxygen Group – Contains three nonmetals, one metalloid, and one metal. Reactive group. (6 valence electrons)

Halogens – All nonmetals. Very reactive. Poor conductors of heat and electricity. Tend to form salts with metals. Ex. NaCl: sodium chloride also known as “table salt”. (7 valence electrons)

Noble Gases – Unreactive nonmetals. All are colorless, odorless gases at room temperature. All found in earth’s atmosphere in small amounts. (8 valence electrons)

*Hydrogen and Transition Metals were not pages in your books, but you should still understand the important characteristics of those two groups.

Finally, here is a link to today's activity; Martian Periodic Table

Periodic Table Booklets

I hope you all enjoyed your 4-day weekend!

Last Wednesday, we started making a booklet (foldable) that will be all about the Periodic Table.  Today, we completed the first three pages as a class; a general Overview, Trends in a Period, and Trends in a Family.  As a table group, you will be responsible for completing the remaining 10 pages by the beginning of class this Wednesday (Nov. 13).  Hopefully, you decided today how you are going to split things up or if you want to work all together.

Here's what we completed as a class, for those of you who need to catch up.

Front Cover

Table of Contents

Page 1

Pages 2 and 3

Don't forget that retakes for the Chemistry I quiz are this week!  Come in and review with me anytime except for Wednesday after school (we have a faculty meeting).

Enjoy the first "s-word" of the year! :-(

More about atoms

This week, we are getting more practice with building atoms.  Here are some rules we defined to help figure out how many of each particle we would need:

 protons = atomic number
 neutrons = mass - atomic number
 electrons = atomic number - charge

*on a neutral atom, the charge is zero

We also started talking about the Periodic Table and we will be learning a lot more about this next week.  Here is the video we watched in class about the development of the Periodic Table:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RRVV4Diomg

Then, we wrote a few more definitions:
 element = a substance that cannot be broken down into simpler substances
 atom = the smallest particle of an element
 ion = an atom with a positive or negative charge

Remember that substances like water (H2) and carbon dioxide (CO2) are not elements because they can be broken up into difference substances.

Finally, here is the link for the demonstration on size, which shows how small atoms and molecules really are.

http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/begin/cells/scale/

Don't forget, quiz retakes for the first chemistry quiz will start next week.  Please come in and review with me anytime before or after school!

Activity Today: Build-an-Atom

http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/build-an-atom

Quiz Tuesday

We will be having our first quiz of the Chemistry Unit on Tuesday.  The topics covered will be:
 - physical vs. chemical changes
 - states of mater (solid, liquid, gas)
 - phase changes (melting, freezing, etc.)
 - atomic theory (history of the study of the structure of atoms)

Please use all of your close reading packets and worksheets to study.  There are also links to all of the readings on the blog.  Use the calendar on the right side of the page to navigate back to the posts for the last 2 weeks.

Here's two of the reading packets to get you started:
Chemical vs. Physical Changes
Phase Changes

Atomic Theory Hall of Fame

Here is a sample of some of the exceptional posters you all made for this project:

Dalton

Dalton

Thomson

Thomson

Nagaoka

Rutherford

Rutherford

Rutherford

Bohr

Chadwick

Chadwick

Chadwick

Atomic Theory

Our next big idea in the chemistry unit is the structure of an atom.  We know that atoms are teeny tiny things that make up all matter, but what makes up an atom?

First, we will be investigating the history of atomic structure.  Each of you has been assigned to learn about a particular theory that has been used to explain the structure of an atom at some point in time.  Once you have become the 'expert' on this theory, you will make a poster and then present it to your class mates.  The key points you need to include in your presentation are
:
     1.  Background information - Who developed this theory?  Where and when did they do their research?  What was their specialty, field of interest, or profession?  Any other interesting facts, accomplishments, etc.
     2.  The actual model - What did this theory say the atom looked like?  Be able to draw a detailed diagram of the model.  How was it different from previous models?
     3.  Supporting evidence (this is the most important part) - Why did they think the atom looked that way?  What test or experiment did they do to back up their theory?  What observations or measurements did they make?

Example - This is a poster I made for the Ancient Greek Philosopher's theory about atoms

Here is the information for each of the theories we will study:

Dalton

Bohr

Nagaoka

Chadwick

Rutherford

Thomson

Phase Changes Gizmo

Instructions for getting started on Monday's class activity.

1.  Use the following link to get to the correct website http://www.explorelearning.com
2.  Click on the green button at the top right side of the page that says 'log-in'
3.  Select the option on the right half of the page that says 'I'm a student, and I have a class code'
4.  Enter the class code for your section.  You should be able to just copy and paste from this page:

     4th : FRZWQKJVVX
     5th : MHDZ9JBH9G
     6th : XRXUBM7HBQ
     7th : GNFFETWBR5

5.  Choose the option 'Register Now to Enroll'
6.  Enter your first and last name, then create a username and password
     *Please make your username something as similar to your given name as possible.
7.  Click on the gizmo called 'Phase Changes'
8.  Click on the picture that says 'Launch Gizmo'
     *When your browser says 'Adobe Shockwave needs your permission to run', click 'Always run on this site'.
     *If it asks you to update Adobe Shockwave Player, click on 'Remind Later'.
9.  Follow the instructions on the hand-out to complete the activity

Link for hand-out

Exploring Phase Changes

Today, we expanded our knowledge of the states of matter by exploring how a substance can change from one state to another.  We call these phase changes.  Phase changes are very familiar to you, though you have probably not called them that.  Here is one example of a phase change:

Icicles

This video shows icicles forming over a period of 24 hours.  In this example, we see liquid water changing into solid ice as the temperature decreases over night.  This is a phase change.  When a liquid changes into a solid, it is called 'freezing'.  You can understand why I chose to show a video as an example of freezing rather than doing a demonstration.  (However, if someone can come up with an easy, inexpensive way to demonstrate freezing in the classroom, I may be able to offer some extra credit...)

The other examples of phase changes we showed were:
    Ice cubes sitting out a room temperature
    Steam  coming off of boiling water
    A tin can filled with cold water that had sweat on the outside of it
    Dry ice (the only non-water example and really fun to play with)

For each example, we analyzed the change we were seeing by collecting both qualitative and quantitative data.

Data Table

Over the weekend, I challenged everyone to find out what it is called when a solid changes directly into a gas without going through the liquid state.  Also, I asked if you thought it was possible for a substances to go the other way, directly from a gas into a solid.  If so, what is that called?

Chemical vs Physical Changes

Today, we learned about the difference between chemical and physical changes.  Here is a link to the close reading we did in class with the first page done for you as an example.

Bill Nye

Today in class, we started our chemistry unit by watching a video by Bill Nye (the Science Guy) about states of matter and phase changes.  If you weren't in class, here is the link to the video and the hand-out that goes along with it.  The questions come up pretty fast, so you have to really pay attention.

Writing assignment for class today

Hi everyone.  Here is the link to the writing assignment we will be completing in class today.  More instructions will follow.

Writing Assignment

7th Period Class

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4th Period Class

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Concept Mapping

This week, we started learning how to make concept maps.  A concept map is an easy way to organize and visualize your thoughts.  It also allows you to show the connections or relationship between different key points within a larger idea.  Here are some examples of concept maps I showed in class on Monday.  We also created a concept map together on the board.  Then, I set you off on your own to create your own concept map based on any topic of your choosing.  I really enjoyed looking through these maps, and I learned a lot from some of them.

Today, we worked in groups to complete some concept maps I gave you covering the three major topics we have learned about so far; requirements of science, measurement, and PIT-BC's.  We will continue working on these maps tomorrow.  Our final product should be one big concept map that combines all of the ideas from each of the three topics.