Friday, October 8, 2010

Oct. 8, 2010

I apologize for not having a post yesterday, but with parent-teacher conferences, things were a little hectic. Below is a recap of the last two days, and the homework that was assigned for Monday.

Physics: We took a quiz yesterday on position-time graphs, which went very well. Then we had a reading assignment about motion mapping. Motion maps are another model that we can use to describe the motion of an object. This tool, along with graphical representations, and algebraic representations, allows the students view or explain the motion of objects in different ways. Today in class, I assigned a small group worksheet which had students building on our already established models of motion, and developing new models for velocity, motion maps, and also displacement. We white boarded this assignment, and will be discussing it on Monday.

AP Chemistry: We finished with our lecture on gas behaviors today. Monday we will be doing the "Molar Mass of a Volatile Liquid Lab," so the pre-lab is due. Tuesday we will have our Chapter 5 quiz, but homework for that chapter is not due. I will collect chapter 5 homework on Thursday when we have our Unit 2 Exam. The "Analysis of Alum Lab" is due on Wednesday of next week as well.

Chemistry: Today we began by reviewing everything we learned from the diffusion of gases and liquids demonstrations. Then we watched 3 Eureka! videos on YouTube to get some more background on the structure of solids, liquids, and gases. We then created a table that defined the three states of matter based upon density, fluidity, and rigidity. We also defined them based upon their volume and how they would fill a container.

Building on what we have discussed up to this point, I then did a demonstration which involved two liquids in a capillary tube being heated. We observed that they both expanded upward through the capillary, but not at the same rate. The homework assignment for Monday was to draw 2 particle diagrams, one for each tube, and then explain the differences in behavior between them.

Physical Science: we are finally wrapping up our Scientific Skills Unit. We took a quiz today to wrap up the graphing methods portion, and then students were given the Unit Review assignment. This is due on Monday. We will then spend the entire day Monday reviewing material on the review, plus addressing concerns about the topics, which students informed me of in a quick write. the Unit Exam will then be on Tuesday.

After that, we will begin a 2-3 unit discussion on the basic behaviors of matter. this comprises the Chemistry portion of the year. After those units, we will look at Wave behaviors for a few units, before heading into classical motion. this last unit focuses on motion, forces, and energy.