Class Update

Wednesday, Feb 24th. We had our big Chemistry Exam last week on Wednesday and it went pretty well for everyone. One more way for everyone to show what they know. On Thursday we introduced the experiment/research poster project. Everyone is going to either do a research project or an experiment and then create a poster. These will be shared on Science Day, March 12th. It is optional if they want to hang them up around the school for everyone to see. We are revisiting the scientific process and looking at how we ask questions and then whether these questions can be answered with either an experiment or through research. We continued working on these Tuesday, February 23rd. (Monday all the 4th years joined the Upper School Symposium for workshops on sustainable businesses). It is exciting to see all the different directions that people are taking in their projects. We will work on these projects a few times a week in class, as we start our new unit on energy.

Class Update

Tuesday, February 16th. Today we got a study guide and went over the questions to prepare for the exam tomorrow. Here is a link to the Study Guide with answers:
https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AdhuIVYXUmADZGQ2NThianJfMTBkamZyOGpnZw&hl=en
Students will need their periodic tables for the exam.

Class Update

Monday, Feb 15th. Today we did a calorimetry activity. We measured the food energy in Cheetos (puffs) and Lay's classic potato chips. We burned small pieces of chips under cans of water and measured the temperature change of the water. With some basic math and the knowledge that one calorie of energy will raise the temperature of one gram of water one degree Celsius, we were able to get an approximate measurement of the heat energy released from a burning snack food. Tomorrow we will review for the Chemistry Exam on Wednesday, February 17th.

Class Update

Thursday, Feb 11th. Today we had our Chemistry Review Quiz. It was about how to draw a model of different types of atoms showing the number of neutrons, protons, and electrons and practice drawing electron dot diagrams to show valence electrons. We finished working on our cartoons to explain Ionic and Covalent bonding and shared them with the group. Tomorrow we will continue our nutrition and energy investigations with calorimetry of food.

Class Update

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. We have been looking at food labels and nutritional values. How to decipher a food label and learned about fats, saturated fats, and trans fats. We reviewed some chemistry for the review quiz on Thursday, Feb 11. Next week we will review for the Chemistry Exam on Wednesday, Feb 17th.

Class Update

Last week was a little different, with snow days and late starts. I forgot to post my usual updates. We did a lab activity to investigate chemical changes. We mixed several substances with either water or vinegar and measured the temperatures before and after to see if heat was being absorbed or released during a chemical reaction. We used Calcium chloride, baking soda, and Plaster of Paris. The next day we examined the differences between temperature and heat; in particular how the former is an indirect measurement of kinetic energy and the other involves the movement of energy from a hotter object to a colder object. Monday we will begin looking at the chemistry of nutrition.