Nov. 22-24: Energy & Ecosystems

This week we'll be discussing energy flow through ecosystems.

Monday - Energy in Ecosystems
Tuesday - Ecology Vocab & Model Notes
Wednesday - Animal Book Research

We will also be having rise and stretch on Wednesday, so students who got less than 75% on the chemistry final will need to retake that test on that day.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

I'm thankful for my job!
I'm thankful for the good days and the good students!
I'm thankful for the times when they make me laugh!
I'm thankful to go home at the end of the day!

Nov. 15-19 : Finishing Chemistry, Animal Research, and Energy!!!

We've done a lot this week!

Monday - Chemistry final review... properties, changes, phases, reactions...
Tuesday - Final Chemistry Exam (40 questions of pure terror!)
Wednesday - New Folder Pages (nope, not new folders, just new insides)
Thursday - Endangered Animal Research (beginning the research project for this term on an endangered species. Students will be working on this in conjunction with English to produce a persuasive essay about whether or not the species they researched is worth protecting.)
Friday - Categorizing Types of Energy (pg7)

Thanks for a fabulous week!

Nov. 8-12: State Testing, Wiki & Chemical Reactions

It's kind of a crazy week with some state testing we have going on... I'm sure the kids can tell you all about it.

Last Friday - (3rd Period) State testing survey and interest inventory. And chemical reaction notes (pg14).
Monday - (4th period) English and math state testing. And chemical reaction notes (pg14).
Tuesday - (5th period) Reading and science state testing. And chemical reaction notes (pg14).
Wednesday - Finish the Wiki day. This is it! The last chance to get this done!
Thursday - Chemical Reactions Review.
Friday - Chemistry Review (Big Test on all things chemistry on Monday)

There we have it. A fun, busy week ahead of us.

Nov. 1-5: Phase Change Graphs & Chemical Reactions

This week we're finishing talking about phase changes and moving on to some specific chemical reactions.

Monday - No school
Tuesday - Discuss phase change graph of water (pg 18)
Wednesday - Review matter notes and phase changes
Thursday - R&S quiz (matter & phase changes) & start chemical reactions

Friday, Monday, and Tuesday are going to be weird days since students will be doing some state testing (EXPLORE). On Friday students will take a survey as part of the test in 3rd period and then will spend the rest of the pod time in 3rd period. On Monday students will take another part of the test and stay in 4th period, and on Tuesday they will stay in 5th period. That way, all students get the testing done, and get about 55min. of class time in each core class (science, history, and English).

In science for those 3 days, students will be finishing the chemical reaction notes and we'll do ... something else... that's totally awesome...

Oct 18-22: Matter and Research

Here's what's on docket for this week!

Monday - R&S Quiz on Physical & Chemical Changes
Tuesday - Matter Notes (pg17)

Wednesday - Boiling and Melting Point Lab (pg18)
Thursday & Friday - Substance research in the library (computers)

We postponed our Rise and Stretch activity this week because of training for many of the teachers on Wednesday. So... instead we'll be having Rise and Stretch next Monday. I'm particularly excited about this one, because my husband who is an RN will be here with some other nurses to introduce the students to some cool medical stuff. They'll be demonstrating CPR, Hymlich, how to take a blood pressure, and how to wash your hands properly (which will definitely come in handy this flu season). I'm excited to have them come and share some useful skills with those who can come to the stretch activity.

Thanks for checking in!

EXTRA CREDIT: What molecule is in the bubbles formed at the bottom of the beaker in the picture of boiling water? Post your answer in a comment for extra credit.

Oct 11-13: Chemical Change Lab & Intro to Research

Another short week....

Monday - Chemical Change Lab
Tuesday & Wednesday - Book research in library about a substance
Thursday & Friday - FALL BREAK!!!

Oct 4-8: Physical and Chemical CHANGES

Now that students have mastered the physical and chemical property part of the curriculum, they get to move on to how those properties change.

EXTRA CREDIT - What is this a picture of? Post a comment!

Monday - Physical and Chemical change notes (back of pg 11)
Tuesday - Demonstrations pg15 (students looked at 5 different substances and how they behave when mixed and burned... which is why I did this, and they just watched)
Wednesday - Finish up lab and notes

Thursday - Matter HW
Friday - Grading stuff... yay...

It seems like this has been our first full week of school in a really long time... I'm not sure I'm used to it.

Sept 27-30: Finishing Phys/Chem Properties

We're done with the properties part now, and will be going onto physical and chemical changes!

Monday - We finished pg 11 in their notebooks and talked some of the more "different" physical properties like; malleability, ductility, solubility, the phases of matter, mass, weight, & density, etc.

Tuesday - The day for the much anticipated cornstarch lab. Good times. Hopefully your student had a good time getting a little messy and learning about a very interesting substance with some pretty cool properties at the same time.

Wednesday - R&S Quiz on physical and chemical properties. Actually they only took the quiz for the last few minutes of class. Most of the class we played a review game involving bean bags, four square, and hot potato... it got a little crazy, but it seemed to work since most kids passed the test!

Thursday - Finish matter vocab pg 10. We'll get in a quick review of atoms and how they work before we get into physical and chemical changes so that when we talk about H2O they remember what we're talking about. Funny how they forget things like that. Do you remember when you learned what H2O was? I don't... it's one of those things that it seems like you've always known, but there must be some point where you learn it, right? Maybe it was 8th grade science.

Friday - NOOOOO SCHOOOOOL!!! Since it's student led conference week, you can thank your teachers for wanting a teacher comp day at the end of the week. Enjoy your time off!

Extra Credit: Post a comment describing the physical and chemical properties of YOU!

Sept 20-27: Physical & Chemical Properties

This week we will be looking at the physical and chemical properties of some common substances. We'll review some stuff from 7th grade about matter (p10) - then jump into physical and chemical properties and changes notes (p11). Then we'll do a fun activity with candy, and something with cornstarch, some easy chemical reactions.

On Wednesday, we'll have our first rise and stretch activity day. If your students didn't pass the 3 quizzes given in science, history, and English, with a 75% or higher, then they will be retaught and re-quizzed during Rise on Wednesday. If they passed all three classes, they will get the opportunity to go to a stretch activity... I'm thinking of doing more with bubbles, since our bubble lab was so fun!

Thanks for all your help and support so far. Please be keeping up on your student's grade with Skyward (I have completed the first grading of their notebooks, so you should be seeing more "stuff" in there than the safety contract now).

Sept 13-17 : R&S Quiz & Physical & Chemical Changes

We finished up our unit on the scientific method this week. We analyzed and discussed the famous experiment of Alexander Fleming who discovered the antibiotic effects of penicillin. Then we spent Tuesday reviewing for our rise and stretch quiz which we took on Wednesday. If your student was absent they will need to make it up ASAP (they need a score before next Wednesday when we do our rise & stretch activities).

Thursday and Friday we spent reading about the first state 8th grade science core standard - chemistry! They read about physical and chemical properties, and changes. Plus more about energy and how it changes in chemical reactions. This was just a quick overview of what we'll be discussing more in depth over the next few weeks (the rest of the quarter actually). They filled out pg9 for this assignment.

REMINDER - The first homework assignment (designing and performing an experiment), is due Tuesday, 9-21. This will be their portfolio item for this class during student led conferences.

Sept 7-10 : Scientific Method

This week we will be reviewing the scientific method! We will be doing our first lab, so if your child hasn't turned in their safety contract they will not be participating... please check Skyward.

Monday - No School - Labor Day!!!

Tuesday - Scientific Method Notes - pg5 (should be completed today).

Wednesday - Variables practice pg6 (should be done by Friday)

Thursday - Bubbles Lab

Friday - Discussion and finish things up.

Our essential questions this week (what they should be able to answer by the end) are:
1. What is science?
2. How am I a scientist? Who can be a scientist?
3. How do you set up a good experiment?

EXTRA CREDIT: Post a comment explaining why the figure in the picture is not representative of a scientist. Make sure you put your name and period.

First Days of 2010-2011 School Year

Calvin & Hobbes by Bill Watterson

Aug. 26-27

Welcome to 8th grade science!!!

I really really really really enjoyed teaching 8th grade last year, and I'm looking forward to another great year with a group of new students.

First a few announcements:
1. Back to School Night is next Wed. (Sept. 1) at 5:45. Everyone will start in the auditorium then you will go through each of your student's classrooms to meet with each teacher. We ask that you stick to the schedule which you wll be given.
2. Students will be bringing home a letter for you that describes what we're doing in class.
3. Probably the most important part of this letter will be the description of the folder (YOU DO NOT NEED TO BUY ONE - IT WILL BE PROVIDED). This folder will contain ALL of their work for the quarter, so it is imperitive that they don't lose it, and that they treat it well.

And I think that's it on announcements - yay!

On the first day students made up -ology definitions. We discussed how biology, geology, psychology, etc. all simply mean "the study of..." life, rocks, the mind, etc. So they were assigned to make up their own -ology word and definition that describes something that they think is awesome. I've seen quite a few musicology, footballology, danceology, and many more (even more creative). I think it's a fun way to bring science terminology to something they already enjoy.

On Friday Aug 27th we'll finish our -ology papers, and we will be voting for our team name for the Superhero Pod. We'll see which superhero we'll end up with... (I hope it's Spiderman)

June 1: LAST WEEK OF SCHOOL!!!!

Believe it or not, teachers are probably more excited for the summer break than the students are. I can't believe we've made it through a whole year of school! Here's what we're doing this last week:

Monday - Memorial Day (No school)
Tuesday - Test complex machines (should be completed and will be graded)
Wednesday - Cleaning, softball game, memory books
Thursday - Activities, more memory book signing
Friday - I won't be here, so don't even think about coming

All grades will be in by Tuesday after school.

Thanks for a fabulous year!!!

May 24: Physics Exam & Building Machines

We had a block schedule for testing on Monday and Tuesday. We finished talking about our CSI unit, and then spent a lot of time reviewing for the physics final. Before CRTs we took 3 small quizzes on our physics unit, but ran out of time to take the final before taking the CRTs. Therefore - we're took the test either Monday or Tuesday depending on what period I have your student. During the last half of the week, students will be building complex machines that have 3 different simple machines. The goal is to move 20 marbles from one container to another (they can only touch the machine once). This will be the last thing we put into the grade book for the year (yay!).

May 17-21: Machine Design & CSI

Unfortunately, the most important part of this week is kind of taking a place on the back burner - we're building complex machines. Students will be planning this week, building next week, and then testing their machines on the last full day of school. The machine needs to have at least 3 simple machines (I have pulleys - they need to bring everything else they might use as levers, inclined planes, wheels, etc.). The machine must move 20 marbles from one container to another over a distance of at least 12 inches. These need to be built in class - so they will be made of very simple materials - nothing should be bought from the store.

Dun Dun Dun.... we are hosting a murder in the G100 pod! We're doing a unit on CSI (Crime Scene Investigation). All the 8th graders in the building are "on the case." Students will be looking at evidence, analyzing interviews, "the crime scene", and doing some simple laboratory tests to help determine "who dunnit." This year, our victim was Leslie Allen (a 7th grade science teacher who has gone to a different district), and our main suspects are (Principal Shaw, Mindy - the hall monitor, Mrs. Dowdle (science), Ms. Davis (English), and Mrs. Thackeray (foreign languages). Our story centers around a baby shower for Mrs. Nelson (history/geography) gone wrong. We hope the kids enjoy being detectives this week (while we're trying to make it as "real" as possible, please remember this is just for fun, and Mrs. Allen is just fine:))

May 10-14: Energy Posters & Lagoon Day

This week students are finishing the small research project that we've been working on about energy sensing technology. They will be making a small poster in class and then they will grade each other's work.

Friday is Physics Lagoon Day for those students who are eligible. Students had to have C- or above, and H or S for citizenship in all their classes through first, second, and third quarters. Students who are not coming are still expected to be at school on Friday - they will be doing a small assignment about roller coaster physics in my class, and will be doing regular work in all their other classes (do not let them assume that they don't need to be there). Lagoon will be closed to the public on Friday, so please don't take them on your own expecting to get in to the park (if they're not on my list, they're not coming... sorry).

For students going to Lagoon:

• Check in with your first period teacher (we will be called down after they take roll).
• Choose a bus and check in with the adult at the door - if you're not on the list, you're not coming.
• If you are going home with a parent, give your written permission slip to the adult you check in with on the bus.
• Bring $26 to get into the park (it is not free, just reduced price).
• Bring money to buy expensive Lagoon food, or a packed lunch.
• Bring money to get a small locker if needed for your food/belongings.
• Bring money for the rides that cost money - if you want to do them... the slingshot, free fall, etc.
• Wear school appropriate clothing - no swimming suits, tank tops, or short shorts. (If you change at the park and we find you - you will be sitting on the bus for the rest of the day).
• The park closes at 5:00pm - the bus is leaving at 5:15pm (if you are not on the bus, we are leaving you - and a parent will have to come to pick you up).
• We should be back at the school around 6:30pm.

May 3: Humpty Dumpty & Sensing Changes in Energy Research

We're making sure that gravity is still in effect on Earth by doing an egg drop. Students will design a container to protect Humpty Dumpty as he falls off the main stairs of the school. They will be practicing their engineering as well as observing forces in action. I love these kinds of projects because it demonstrates the amazing creativity of the students. They come up with the most amazing ideas! I'm excited to see how the parachute made with facecards, the twinkie filled box, and the corn syrup pool hold up. It should be pretty fun! 

They will also spend the week doing a research project in the library on technologies that sense changes in energy. We've already discussed how our own bodies detect and react to changes in light energy (eyes), sound kinetic energy (ears), and other forms of kinetic energy (skin). Now we'll look in to how technology has made it possible for us to detect changes in energy that we can't easily detect with our own senses. Students will learn about hearing aids, ultrasounds, Doppler radar, etc. Each student will have one technology to research and will share what they've learned in small groups after the research is complete. This week will be an introduction, while next week they will really get to get into the books and to do computer research on their topic.

April 25: CRT Week

This week students will be taking their science CRT (Criterion Referenced Test). This is a state test written by a committee of teachers to test how well students have grasped the state core curriculum.

We reviewed like crazy, and I'm very hopeful that they did great on the test! We probably won't get scores back until summer time.

For the first few days post CRT we will wind down with a movie (I'm hoping to get one about roller coasters, in preparation for physics day at Lagoon).

That reminds me, all eligible students (C- or above, and S&H for citizenship) need to bring in their $5 bus fee receipt stapled to their purple permission slip by next Friday (May 7). They will need an additional $26 on May 14 for the entrance fee. The students staying here will be working on some research in the library.

Earth Day

Happy Earth Day (yesterday) to everyone!

We looked at these cool photos of the Iceland volcano as a reminder that the Earth is pretty powerful, but still needs protection: Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano.

April 19: CRT Review

We've come to the end!!! It's time to take that big end of year, state required test - the CRT. We will be taking our test during class time on April 28th and 29th (the 30th is the make-up day). Please do everything that you can to ensure that your student is at school for those days.

In order to help the students do their absolute best on this exam we will be review this week. Reviewing an entire year's worth of information is a daunting task, but I'm already impressed with how much they remember. We'll be playing review games, working on a few worksheets, and taking some practice tests.

Please stress to them how important these CRT tests are because their scores will be on their permenant records and will help determine where they go from here.

Simple Machines Link

Click here to go to a website about simple machines:

End of March

The end of the quarter finally came!!! As you can tell, I'm very excited to be in the final stages of the school year... as is your student, I'm sure.

Over the last 8 days or so we've been discussing 2 general topics. First, about how mass, weight, gravity, and motion are interconnected and how they relate to each other. We took some notes,  I showed a few video clips (hammer and feather dropping on the moon), and I did a few demonstrations. The most notable demo showed how inertia affects objects at rest. (Inertia is the resistance matter has to change in speed and direction... an object at rest/motion will stay that way unless acted upon by an unbalanced force). To see a more professional demonstration of what I did in class, go to Steve Spangler's website.

The other topic we've discussed is how we use our senses to detect changes in energy. We took notes on how the eyes and ears work. They also found their blind spots and observed the other function of ears - balance. We did a short lab as well that demonstrated how the nerves in the skin are distributed unevenly for feeling pressure, hot, and cold (you could do the same experiment to find pain sensors, but I didn't think poking each other with pins would be appropriate for this particular age group... but you're welcome to try it at home!). If your student came home with a 6x6 grid on the back of their hand, it was because of this lab. I usually don't encourage them to draw on themselves, but this was for the sake of science.

We will be quizzing today on mass, weight, gravity, & motion.

Physics!!!

We've started our physics unit. We started with waves and the electromagnetic spectrum. We've talked a lot about the energy transferred in different types of waves. Test your student with this question, "What will you hear if you are floating in space and you see an exploding star?"

Now we're talking about gravity, mass, weight, and motion. The tough terms for this part of the unit are inertia and acceleration.

March 8-12: Waves Continued

This week we'll be studying more about waves. Students will be doing a lab where they will be at different stations learning about how waves work in different situations (water, sound, light, etc.). That lab will take up most of our time this week - it will take a day just to explain what to do at each station, and a couple days to do the work. But it's a great hands-on lab, so they should be getting some good experience with a rather abstract idea like waves.

For rise and stretch this week, I'll be demonstrating a cow heart dissection. Students are not required to come, and I would suggest that if your student gets upset by stuff like that, to go to a different stretch activity.

We will also be having a quiz either this week or next. Since we are not going to have much compeleted on waves, it will probably be a quiz based on some old material to help them review for the CRT end of year state science test which is coming up soon at the end of April.

March 1-5: Intro to Waves

Students will start off this week with a fabulously fun test! The DWA!!! This is an untimed writing test given by the state. The students will be expected to plan, write rough drafts, and finally to type out their response to a prompt. They will complete the test on computers in the school - this is a little different than we've done in the past, so hopefully it will go well.

After the DWA on Monday, the students will be cleaning out their folders and putting in the new stuff for our next unit on physics. We'll be starting with waves. So if you have a pool membership, now might be the time to get your suits and have your 8th grader teach you about waves. We will be working on page 6 and 7 of their new notebook pages this week.

Last week they took a unit test on geology. All 3 of my 8th grade classes got into the upper 80's as an average. That's great for a end-of-unit test! I'm very proud of all of their hard work.

Since we just finished with our geology section, I'm hoping to take a few moments over the next few days to talk about the recent earthquakes that have occurred in Haiti and Chile. Please ask your student about it - have them teach you about why earthquakes occur and why they often occur in certain places.

Thank you to those parents who were able to come to student-led conferences last week. Your support is greatly appreciated. Often students get into a 3rd quarter slump - please keep driving them to excel.

Feb. 1-19: Rock Cycle, Relative Dating, Fossils

Over the last few weeks we've been finishing the rock cycle and moved in to looking at the geologic column. From the column we can tell how old rock layers are (relatively). Rock layers near the bottom of the column are older than those on top of it because they were deposited first. We can use this idea to determine the age of fossils as well. See this website for a brief and simple overview for how fossiliztion occurs.

Jan. 22-29: Rocks!

The students were given their report cards this week, so you should be seeing that at home. Also, they were given new weekly check-in logs for this quarter (this is Week 2, Week 1 should be crossed out, I was too slow).

We finished learning about minerals this week. Students took their rise and stretch quiz, and they did remarkably well. They also did a lab where they were given a bag of unknown minerals and rocks. First they had to separate the rocks from the minerals, then they had to determine which mineral was which using the tests that they've learned about. They used a magnet to find magnetite, they classified minerals by luster (metalic or non-metallic), and they found the hardness of the minerals by trying to scratch a glass slide. They must have been successful at the lab, because they aced the quiz.

For the rest of the week we will be discussing rock types (igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary) and the rock cycle (weathering, erosion, etc.). They will be expert geologists before long.

Jan. 18-22: Minerals!

We're jumping into geology this quarter. This week students learned about the differences between rocks, minerals, and crystals. They also learned about the various tests used to determine which mineral is which (color/streak, crystal shape, how they break - this is unfortunately called cleavage and fracture... you can imagine how fun that was to teach 8th graders, texture, hardness, luster, etc.). Students were able to see some rocks with the special property of fluorescence also - there are some very cool rocks that glow under a blacklight! Students practiced performing the streak test and hardness test in preparation for next week's "Discover a Mineral Lab" where they will have to identify several unknown minerals using only the tests that we have been learning about.

The students will also be doing a little research about a particular mineral and then they will create a superhero persona based on the minerals properties. Expect to hear about "Pyrite the Pirate," "Galena the Glittery," and other such hero names as your child creates. I'm excited to see what mineral superpowers they come up with, and what their arch enemy will be.