Nov. 16- 20: Food Webs Cont. and Organism Relationships

We will be finishing our discussion of Food webs this week using "Finding Nemo" as a jumping off spot. Then they will do research to draw a complete food web for an organism seen in the movie. Next we'll be doing a photosynthesis lab (if the supplies we've ordered finally come in). And then we'll start talking about how organisms interact with each other in predator/prey relationships, parasite/host, etc.

Wednesday or Thursday will be our rise & stretch quiz on the transfer of energy through ecosystems (sun->plant->animal....etc.). Students should study page 6 in their notebook and recall the activity on page 7.

I forgot to thank parents for helping the kids bring lab supplies for our ice cream lab and for the plate tectonics activity we will be doing next quarter. So... THANKS!

Nov. 9-13: Food Webs and Ice Cream

This week has flown by! We finished off the rust lab that we started last week (students brought substances to test the affects on rusting rate). Then we started talking about food chains and food webs. We did an activity where students were a part of a tropical rain forest ecosystem and they were connected to each other with string based on what they eat and what eat's them. Then on Thursday we made ice cream to demonstrate phase changes (and to have a little break from the daily grind). If you want the recipe, let me know.

Nov. 2-6: Rust Lab & Path of Energy

We're on to something new!!! Well, actually we're going to finish off talking about chemical reactions by doing the rusting lab on Wednesday. You'll need to bring your materials for the rusting lab by Wednesday. We're also finishing your substance pamphlets. Then we'll move on to looking at the path of energy as it goes from the sun, to plants, to animals (including you!). I'm excited to start talking about how living things interact with each other and about how we get our energy.

Oct. 26 - 29: Review and Test

This week students designed an experiment with rust (we will be doing it next week) and they reviewed for their end of quarter test. The test will be on Thursday and will cover physical and chemical properties, changes, and basic chemical reactions. We've done a lot of review, and I hope that they will perform as well as I know they can!

On Wednesday, the TAG Team will be having an end of quarter activity where we watch "The Incredibles" and we'll spend a little bit of time talking about good behavior characteristics and will recognize some students for their good work.

Oct. 19-23: Chemical Reactions

Last week students participated in a chemical reaction lab where we measured the energy given off in chemical reactions using a temperature probe. This week we will look at some of the most common chemical reactions: rusting, combustion, cellular respiration, and photosynthesis. We will also be finishing their favorite substance pamphlets. The Rise & Stretch quiz will be on Wednesday and will cover phase changes and chemical reactions.

Oct. 12-16: Melting & Boiling Point & Chemical Reactions

We will be finishing up the lab from last week where we measured the melting and boiling points of water. Students will be graphing their data and analyzing it for meaning.

Then we will move on to how energy changes in chemical reactions with some notes and another lab. They will also continue doing research on their chosen substance (next week we will actually start working on making the booklet).

Oct. 5-9: Phases of Matter

This week we're finishing up some phases of matter notes, the Standard I reading, and we're starting some research on a substance of your student's choosing. Each student will be making a pamphlet about a substance like... copper, carbon, nitrous oxide (laughing gas), lithium, etc. We will be doing most of our research during class in the library from books and the internet. However, if students use their time unwisely they will have to complete their research from home. Please encourage them to get it done at school - I'll do my best to do the same. The pamphlet will have 4 pictures total to help explain the ideas in the text which includes 4 questions, and 3 paragraphs (5 sentences that answer the each question). They will also be keeping track of where they got their information on a bibliography page. I'm excited to see what they discover.

We are also doing a lab on Wednesday to learn more about phase changes, melting point, and boiling point. If your student has a 0 under the Safety Contract assignment they will not be allowed to participate - if this applies to you, please get me a note signed saying you allow your student to be a part of labs and that you understand basic lab safety precautions.

This week's rise and stretch quiz will be held on Thursday and will contain the information on pg16 of their notebooks about the phases of matter (it will not be on phase changes, just the amount of energy in a solid, liquid, and gas and how tightly the atoms/molecules are packed together).

Sept 28-30: Intro to Matter

This week 8th grade students will be taking their school pictures during science on Monday. Then on Tuesday and Wednesday we will start talking more about matter with matter notes and the state core standard 1 reading with an accompanying worksheet.

Sept 21-24: IOWA Testing and Review

This week, 8th graders are completing their IOWA testing during their core classes. They are tested on Reading, Language, Math, Social Studies, and Science. These tests will be split over 2 days, Monday and Wednesday. On Tuesday students will be going through a special schedule for "Collection Day" for Student-Led Conferences.

When we aren't doing the IOWA testing, we will be reviewing for the physical and chemical properties and changes quiz for rise and stretch. Students should study pg10 in their notebook especially and should be able to distinguish between properties and changes, and between physical and chemical reactions. The quiz will be held on Thursday.

Thank you for being patient with us while we do the state testing - I know it's not particularly fun for the students (and not really for me either).

Sept 14-18 : Physical & Chemical Changes

Students recently took their first quiz for Rise and Stretch based on the notes we took for the scientific method. I was very happy with their results, the vast majority passed with a 70% or better! The students who didn't pass will get the opportunity to be retaught and retested, so that they can better display their understanding. Remember that for students to attend the Stretch activity, they must pass all 3 of their core class quizzes (science, history, and English).

This upcoming week we will hopefully be making the student folders which we've been talking about since school began, but which haven't actually arrived yet (yes... I'm getting a little bit anxious to get them going).

To start off the week we'll be finishing the labs focused on the physical properties of matter (the candy lab and cornstarch lab - I'll try to get a video on the blog with visual instructions for playing with cornstarch at home if you want). Then we'll be working on some matter vocabulary, to help remind students about what they learned in 7th grade about atoms, states of matter, etc.

Building on last week when we talked about physical and chemical properties, this week we'll be looking at physical and chemical changes using some more notes and by watching chemical reaction demonstrations that I'll be performing for the class. Near the end of the week we will do a lab about mass (a physical property of matter) using pennies. If we have time we will work on a lab about the chemical reactions in combustion (I guess all scientists are really pyromaniacs at heart - we'll be very safe pyromaniacs, of course).

Sept 8 - 11 : Physical & Chemical Properties

This week we will be finishing up learning about variables and the scientific method. This is what the Rise and Stretch quiz will be on sometime later in the week (either on Wed. or Thurs.). Students will need to pass the quiz in order to participate in the "Stretch" activity. If they don't pass, they will be retaught in the "Rise" class and then retake the quiz.

Hopefully we will be making our class notebooks (folders) this week with all the assignments, labs, and notes for the quarter.

During the rest of our time students will start learning about the physical and chemical properties of different substances. We will be doing a candy classification activity and a cornstarch lab. That is, if we can get everything else done!

Parents - a special note to you. If you have not yet signed the Safety Contract (see link to the right), please do so ASAP so that your student can participate in our labs coming up. Secondly, please help your student remember to have a 10-15min. chat with you about their grades and about what we're doing in science class each week. They will have a blue sheet for you to sign each week (also to the right in the "Useful Links" section, if you need it). I hope that by checking in with your student each week, you'll have a better feel for where they are at and for what we've been doing in my class.

If you have any questions, please email me at:

katie.groneman@fortherriman.org

Thanks!

Aug 31- Sept 4 : Scientific Method

This week we have been reviewing and applying the scientific method. First, they identified the logical order for how to think through problems using an activity based on the famous work of Alexander Flemming who accidentally discovered penicillin. Although there are a lot of different steps taught for the scientific method, these are the ones we'll be using this year:

Purpose (question, observation, problem)
Research
Hypothesis (If...,then...)
Experiment (Materials & Procedures)
Analysis
Conclusion

The students applied the scientific method with a bubbles lab and took some more formal notes on the scientific method, controls, and variables.

8th graders also spent a day working with the TAG Team Pod (Together Achieving Greatness) looking specifically at appropriate behaviors in different areas in the school.

Students were also informed that they will have the opportunity to go to Physics Day at Lagoon sometime in the 4th Quarter - ONLY if they can maintain a C- or above in ALL their classes, and an S or higher in ALL their citizenship grades. We hope that every 8th grader can keep up their good work so that they can earn the privilege of coming with us.

First Few Days

During these first few days, students have been learning about me, about each other, and about how the school and my classroom will run. They've reviewed the RATTLE rules (you should test them and see if they can recite what each letter stands for). By the end of the week they will have been to a "Code of Conduct" assembly explaining some of the basics of what we expect for their behavior.

We also talked a little about the class description, the calendar, and the letters that are all linked to this page on the right.

Welcome!!!

Hello parents and students!

I'm very excited to start a new year of school. The first week or so of class will be spent talking about the Utah Behavior Initiative and classroom procedures. Then we get to start doing the fun stuff - doing science!

I hope you'll all come to Back to School night on Thursday, Aug. 27 starting at 6:00pm in the auditorium. I would love the opportunity to meet one-on-one with you and your parents (and I know your other teachers would like to meet you too). I'm in room G106.

I hope you find this blog useful. I will put weekly updates here so that parents can see what we're studying and for students to know what to study for the Rise and Stretch Quizzes. Linked to this page is a calendar of events and useful documents for your reference.

Please feel free to use the comments section for each post for questions or comments (good or bad). Or you may wish to email me at katie.groneman@fortherriman.org.

Thank you in advance for a great school year!

Katie Groneman