My Science Homework

Today we tackled the second Chemistry Test as we closed this unit.  Grades will be compiled over the weekend and powerschool will be updated, as I’ve recently acquired a temporary replacement computer that will allow me to keep grades updated through the remainder of the semester.
No homework was assigned following the test - just have […]

Today was spent organizing resources and completing the questions on the study guide in preparation for tomorrow’s chemistry test.
A large percentage of students (and parents!) were not pleased with the performance on the last chemistry test. I have fielded dozens of questions from parents and students alike asking “what can be done to raise […]

Today we tied up many loose ends before next week’s test:

Reviewed the quiz from Tuesday by going through each question and correcting mistakes.  This material will be on next week’s test
Completed the Chemistry K-W-L that we began back in October
Worked on the 5-W’s write-up on the “Science in the News” article about the murder of […]

After turning in the Fireworks article response questions, today we discussed plasma. We started by discussing its definition as the fourth state of matter. We then talked about several examples of plasma both here on Earth (fluorescent lights, lightning, the Northern Lights, etc…) and in other parts of the universe (stars).
Following the discussion on Plasma, […]

By demonstrating the flame tests of six common elements (Calcium, sodium, barium, copper, strontium, and potassium) we were able to observe the color that is characteristic of each element (Red/orange, orange/yellow, yellow/green, green, deep red, and purple, respectively). It is different chemical compounds such as these that are used in fireworks to give them their […]

The priority for today’s class was to tackle the Radioactive Decay quiz. This quiz consisted of four multiple-choice and three word problems for a total of 13 points. These will be graded by the end of the week and returned to students so that they may continue preparing for next week’s chemistry test.
The […]

Today’s class started with the viewing and follow-up discussion about a short 3.5-minute video clip on the life of the famous French chemist Marie Curie. You can see the video yourself here at youtube or view it below. Why did she face such an uphill struggle with her work on radioactivity? Don’t forget that her […]

Image showing a radium watch dial on the right and a second image on the left showing the areas of the watch that are the most radioactive (dark shading). Image source
Today we began the “Radium Dials” project. This project started with research from the Radium Dials Reading handout that focused on the Radium […]

Yesterday was a frenzied day of data collection and analysis.  Students were assigned to complete the data analysis and graph from the data collected in class.  This graph was discussed in class today.  Students gained a better understanding of why pooling the class data offers a more robust analysis of the half-life decay equation.
After completing […]

After discussing the radioactive decay pre-lab from yesterday, students spent today tackling the lab: Sweet Simulation of a Half Life Radioactive Decay Lab.  The primary goal of today’s class was to collect the data, add it to the class list, and then record the pooled class data.
Students were then to graph the class data on […]