Science: This week in science we will continue our unit on Electricity, State of Matter, and Heat by measuring the mass of objects using a triple beam balance on Monday, then we will be looking into measuring the volume of liquids using graduated cylinders and calculating the volume of irregular objects using water displacement on Tuesday. On Wednesday and Thursday we will explore the concept of density by exploring whether objects sink or float when placed in different liquids and calculate the density of both liquids and solids using the formula D=m/v. We will end the week with a quiz on Friday over these concepts.
Homeroom: I also posted a virtual online lab in my "Current Unit" sidebar that any student can use to brush up on their skills at home if they feel they need the extra practice. I passed out the accompanying sheets for the lab so everyone could have this wonderful opportunity!
Monday: Today we finished up our discussion on comparing mass and volume and completed a card-sort titled "A Weighty Problem". We then began to look at the triple-beam balances as a tool to measure mass and will continue our work with them in class tomorrow.
Tuesday: Today we continued to look at triple-beam balances and how to use them properly to measure mass. We completed a measurement practice activity using the triple-beam balances on page 19 of our notebooks and then talked about looking at volume and density tomorrow.
Wednesday: Today we finished looking at triple-beam balances and how to use them properly to measure mass. We then talked about looking at volume and how to properly read a graduated cylinder before allowing them 5-10 minutes to catch up on their Science notebooks for the notebook check tomorrow.
Thursday: Today we had our first notebook check of the year which went very well I am so proud of how hard the students have been working! We continued our talk on volume by reading graduated cylinders and then looking at the story of Archimedes and the Golden Crown. Students were allowed to assume the role of Archimedes and write a letter to King Hiero of Syracuse or to send the King a detailed instruction manual of the displacement tests he performed on the King's crown to test if he had been cheated out of his gold. We also decided to push the quiz back to Monday the 16th to allow for more time in class to review and to avoid the math test on Friday the 13th.
Friday: Today we worked on identifying the concept of density as the amount of matter that fits into a certain volume through our notes and then practiced the calculations until we were confident we had it down. We spent the last 15 minutes preparing for our quiz on Monday the 16th by allowing students time to measure with each of the instruments again and make sure they were confident in their abilities. I also posted a virtual online lab in my "Current Unit" sidebar that students can use to brush up on their skills at home if they feel they need the extra practice. I passed out the accompanying sheets for the lab so everyone could have this wonderful opportunity!
