Mysteries of the Periodic Table

All the stores in Chapel Hill were out of Dry Ice this morning. So we finished planning the details for our investigations, came up with materials lists and made sure that we knew what we were doing. Got some Dry Ice on the way home today so we can conduct our experiments tomorrow. We took notes on how the Periodic Table can help us figure out the structures of different elements. Here are the notes on Googledocs: Mysteries of the Periodic Table.

Dry Ice Investigation

We started brainstorming questions about Dry Ice that we can answer with investigations. We reviewed systematic observations and experiments. We revisited controls, variables, and quantifiable results. Students broke into small groups to generate and share ideas and to start planning possible investigations. We will continue this process on Friday and conduct our investigations on Monday. We collected homework and new homework was assigned.
Read Chapter 3.2 Introduction to the Periodic Table, pp. 77-85. Answer questions 3, 4, and 5 on page 85. This due Wednesday, February 2nd.

Chemical & Physical Changes

Monday we reviewed the differences between Chemical and Physical changes. We reminded ourselves about the Laws of Conservation of Matter and Conservation of Energy. We went over a list of different types of changes and identified what type of change took place. Here is the Googledoc link to the worksheet on Chemical and Physical Change. We reviewed how Photosynthesis is a chemical change and identified the reactants and the products of the reaction. Homework assigned: Read Chapter 3.1 "Atomic Structure," pp.70-76. Answer questions 4 and 5. For number 4 also explain HOW you got your answer. Due Thursday, January 27.
This is Block Week, so 1st and 3rd period had class today and 2nd period will have it tomorrow. We investigated Water Ice and Dry Ice. We experimented with the two substances and made comparisons. We added energy to each of them, in the form of hot water and made observations. It raised lots of good questions. We will continue experimenting with Dry Ice on Thursday and Friday of this week.

Density

We have been digging into density lately. We have reviewed the formumla: Density = Mass divided by volume (How many grams per cubic centimeter, or milliliter?). The homework introduced the concept and we did some practice math problems in class. Today we measured the density of pennies from before 1982 and after 1982. In 1982 they switched from making pennies out of mostly copper (95% copper and 5% zinc) to making them mostly out of zinc with a copper coating (2.5% copper and 97.5% zinc). Zinc is less dense than copper and we were able to show that by measuring the mass and volume of pennies from before and after 1982. No homework this week, Adolescent Issues and MLK Day have taken up most of our week.

Hot and Cold and Temperature

Today we compared the relative nature of hot and cold and reviewed how temperature is measured. We looked at how average kinetic energy of molecules determines the temperature of a substance, but how hot and cold are relative descriptions. Homework was assigned today, Read Chapter 2.3 Properties of Matter, pp. 53-60 and answer questions 3, 5, 6. These are due on Thursday, January 20th.

Snow Days and US Visits

Between the Snow/Ice Days and all the students visiting Upper School, we haven't had a normal week so far. We started reviewing what we know about temperature and how we measure it. We compared Celsius, Fahrenheit, and Kelvin and did some simple conversion problems. This week we should get into more phase changes and energy investigations.

Oil and Water

Friday, we collected homework and went over the answers. All about energy of molecules and states of matter. We then mixed oil and water with drops of food coloring and table salt and observed what then happened. We tried to use terms like density, immiscibile liquids, dissolving and surface tension to describe the results. We will return to these experiments on Monday.

Chemistry & Phase Changes

We have been spending the last three days looking at how molecules behave when energy (heat) is either added or removed. We have looked at the three main states of matter (solid, liquid, gas) and how phase changes take place at specific temperatures. Most of the students got text books for reading assignments. Our first homework is due on Friday, January 7th. To read Chapter 2.2 and answer questions 4, 6, and 8 (for fun). We had a sub on Weds. when I had to go home with a sick child and they looked at how different elements are used in everyday objects.