Lesson 1 - Monday, Mar 24
Today in science: Dr. M returned students’ science notebooks to them so that they could find out not only what score they earned on Investigation #s 7 & 8 (the two 10-point scores are on Veracross!), but also so they could see why they earned the scores they did. We then shifted our attention to our still unfinished INV#9. By using our remaining molecule cut-outs, we added another page to INV#9 to show both the “reactants” and “products” of the reaction between the acid and the alkali. We will continue this work in Lesson 2.
Homework: There is no science homework tonight.
Lesson 2 - Tuesday, Mar 25
Today in science: Although they have known their scores since last Friday, students received their (graded) Digestive System unit test papers today for examination/reflection. After, articulating and recording our conclusions for INV#9 and our summarizing our “neutralization” reaction, students were asked to begin preparing their notebooks for Lesson 3’s INV#10 – Chemical Reaction: Combustion I.
At the end of the lesson, Dr. M informed students of the following homework assignment: Exploring Science 7 (7Fc), “Acidity & Alkalinity,” pp. 92-93, Questions 1-7. This assignment should be completed on a loose piece of lined writing paper (i.e., NOT in students’ science notebooks).
Homework: Exploring Science 7, “Acidity & Alkalinity” (7Fc), pp. 92-93, Questions 1-7. This assignment is due on FRIDAY, 26 MARCH for both D and E periods, but students can submit it before Friday if desired.
Lesson 3 - Wed, Mar 26 (D) & Thu, Mar 27 (E)
Today in science: Since we had already prepared our science notebooks for INV#10, at the start of today’s lesson we began performing a combustion (chemical) reaction by setting up our “candle system” (i.e., a birthday candle affixed to a square paper note card) and recording the mass of all of the candle system components. Students then burned the candle–recording the mass of the candle system every minute in their notebooks–until the candle burned all the way down to the note card. Dr. Merritt also recorded much of the D & E period measurements in his digital science notebook.
Homework: Exploring Science 7, “Acidity & Alkalinity” (7Fc), pp. 92-93, Questions 1-7. This assignment is due on FRIDAY, 26 MARCH for both D and E periods, but students can submit it before Friday if desired.
Lesson 4 - Friday, Mar 28
Today in science: After turning in their homework assignment, students were asked to illustrate the INV#10 combustion reaction performed in yesterday’s investigation in their science notebooks with the help of two handouts provided by Dr. M. These handouts contained cut-out images of the candle, the flame, and a number of different molecules (e.g., paraffin wax, oxygen gas, carbon dioxide gas, and water) showing the number and arrangement of the atoms within each molecule. With the teacher’s guidance, students created a series of visual representations of the combustion reaction, including both the “reactants” and the “products,” such as a molecular view, a chemical formula view, and an equation view. During the activity, students also used the MolyMod kits to create 3D models of each molecule. At the conclusion of the activity, we recorded an ‘official’ definition for chemical reactions. Students can see all of the work we did in our science notebook by visiting the INV#10 in Dr. M’s digital science notebook.
Homework: There is no science homework due on Monday.
Announcements...
The DRIVING QUESTION of our current unit is: What happens when we combine an acid and an alkali in our mouth?
D period homework collection days: Wednesday & Friday.
E period homework collection days: Tuesday & Thursday.
Other...