Week 8 - September 20, 2018 Chemical/Physical Properties and Physical/Changes

This week we didn't watch an introductory video lesson, but we nevertheless had a jam-packed day! First we defined and discussed what physical and chemical properties were in general and I provided examples of each. I told student not to concern themselves with taking notes, but to listen and follow along because they would write the notes for homework as shown below:

Homework Notes Page 1

I am taking pictures of the notes rather than putting a powerpoint slide of the notes up because I want the kids to hand write their notes rather than printing and gluing them in. Studies have shown that writing helps kids to better retain information. After our class discussion on physical and chemical properties and physical and chemical changes, students broke into small groups and did a sorting activity where they had to distinguish between various physical and chemical changes. After a class discussion on which items showed chemical changes and which showed physical changes, we were able to establish a few things: 1. Life processes  and cooking typically involve chemical changes. 2. Physical changes alter the appearance of material, but not the identity of the material.

Next, we discussed how to tell that a chemical change (reaction) has occurred. I performed 4 demos that demonstrated the evidence we can use to determine that a chemical reaction has occurred. In the first demo, I placed Nerds candy into a balloon and then covered the mouth of a Pepsi with the balloon. When I added the Nerds candy to the soda, gas was produced and collected in the balloon. This led to our first piece of evidence that a chemical reaction had occurred--the production of a gas. This demo also helped us to understand the Law of Conservation of Mass. In a closed system, the amount of material we begin with is the same amount of material that will be present once a reaction has occurred. Next, I did a demo where Red Bull energy drink was combined with milk to produce a precipitate (solid). In the third demo, I added blue food coloring to bleach and after shaking vigorously for a minute there was a color change denoted by the absence of blue food coloring. There was a return to the original color of the bleach. The last demo was the activation of a hand warmer by shaking the contents in the hand warmer packet. Heat was given off because the interactions of the contents in the packet generated heat in an exothermic reaction.

Students were given a graphic organizer below, which they colored similar to the sample below:

A copy of the graphic organizer for students who were absent can be found at this link. Evidence a Chemical Reaction Foldable

The additional notes that should be written under each flap are shown below.

It was time to apply all that we learned to our lab "Determining the Identity of an Unknown Substance". Students were given 6 different "known" powders and one mystery powder. Using 4 different indicators (water, vinegar, iodine, and cabbage juice), they were to observe the reactions that occurred, document the evidence that a chemical reaction had occurred for each powder, and use the information they gained to identify the "mystery" powder. While each group worked at slightly different paces, I was pleased that they all determined the identity of their mystery powder correctly

Week 7 September 13,2018 - Classification of Matter

This week we began a new unit! Unit 2 Matter and its Properties has been our first venture into the wonderful world of chemistry. This past Thursday, students watched a short two-minute video covering What is Matter?, but I am posting a longer compilation of Matter videos below that includes the video we watched.

After watching the short video, students received a graphic organizer-Matter Diagram. We discussed how matter is a broad terms that breaks down into the more specific categories of Pure Substances and Mixtures. These categories break down into even more specific categories. During this class session, we specifically focused on Mixtures. The Composition of Matter Notes need to be entered into the interactive notebook across from the graphic organizer below.

Matter Diagram Graphic Organizer

Notes on Matter 

Next we distinguished between a homogenous mixture and a heterogenous mixture. We then used another graphic organizer sorting activity to distinguish between solutions (homogenous mixtures), colloids, and suspensions.

Solutions, Colloids, and Suspensions Sorting Activity

Here are the notes below that need to be entered into our interactive notebooks. 

Types of Mixtures Notes

Now that we'd discussed types of mixtures and distinguished between solutions, colloids, and suspensions, it was time to apply our knowledge in the lab. We made various mixtures by mixing 200ml of water with items such as milk, dirt, gelatin, and other common household items. We then made observations and used a flashlight to observe the Tyndall effect with our colloidal mixtures.

This week we will be looking at Chemical and Physical Properties, Physical and Chemical Changes, and Evidence of Chemical Reactions.

Week 5 September 6, 2018 Density

In a whirlwind of activity, we finished Unit 1- The Nature of Science. We opened this class with an introductory video to density shown below:

We followed this introductory video with a real-world application of density concepts. We layered juices with varying sugar contents one on top of the other. The "heaviest" juice was cran-apple juice with a sugar content of 32g. The next heaviest juice was blue Hawaiian punch with a sugar content of 15g. The least dense juice, white cherry Gatorade was layered at the top. Although it was harder to see the Gatorade top layer, the blue punch and cran-apple layers were very pronounced. This demo proved to be a tasty treat for the students.

Next, the class divided into groups and rotated to lab stations they had to make measurements that would allow them to calculate the density of liquid water, the density of a regular solid (rectangular block of wood), and the density of an irregularly shaped object (5 marbles). We then calculated the density of the objects as a class. This lab was glued into the students' interactive notebook as a basic reference.

Finally, students were given additional density problems in which they calculated the density of three liquids and have to color a graduated cylinder based on their density calculations. We worked three of the density problems during the class using the GUESS method, a procedure I've found to be extremely helpful in working through word problems. Students were introduced to the Density Triangle, a non-algebraic method of rearranging the density equation to solve for mass and/or volume. The rest of the problems were given as this week's homework assignment (worksheet available at the link below).

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Xz5dMdre7YKso1fuCFy-MmofvcG4ODcJ

The notes that go into the interactive notebook for this week are shown below:

Next week, we will begin Unit 2 Matter and its Properties

Week 4 August 30 - Basic Measurements Lab and Intro to SI Unit Conversion

This week was a fun week of mini-labs! I wanted everyone to have a basic understanding of how to take basic lab measurements. It may be surprising to some, but knowing the proper way to measure volume using a graduated cylinder or measure the mass of an object with a digital balance is not intuitive. It's one thing to read a procedure, but there's nothing like hands-on experience!

In this week's mini-lab, students rotated to 6 different stations and took basic measurements. They practiced reading a thermometer by recording the initial temperature of water and the final temperature once citric acid was added. They recorded the number of drops of water that would sit on the face of a penny using a pipette. They measured the length of a chain using a meter stick. They measured the mass of a block using digital scale. They recorded the time it took for a marble to travel through vegetable oil (viscosity) using a stopwatch and they recorded the mass of an empty graduated cylinder and a cylinder with 100 ml of water as preparation for using water displacement to determine the density of an irregularly shaped object. In summary, everyone should now know how to measure volume, length, mass, and time.

After each group rotated to each lab station, we sat down and used the lab measurements made to practice converting within the metric system. I also passed back the quiz that was given the previous week.. Many did well, but there were a few that didn't do as well as I would've liked. Considering this is the first quiz of the year and I am more interested in the kids learning and retaining information rather than a letter grade, I promised them another opportunity to redeem their grade. 

For those who did not do well on their quiz, they can take a few additional notes on the Scientific Method that will be written within the flaps of the graphic organizer they glued into their interactive notebook covering the steps of the scientific method. The aforementioned graphic organizer is shown below along with the additional notes.

Graphic Organizer-Students will write the additional notes on the flaps.

Additional Scientific Method Notes

Additional Scientific Method Notes

Once students have written the notes on the flaps of their graphic organizer, they can then print out and complete the makeup quiz below. On Thursday, they will only be allowed to turn in their makeup quiz once I've checked their interactive notebook to see that they have the additional notes written. The link below is the makeup quiz:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=16kaa8Dh8ZfaQXCxzMcWBs74fJHePJgWy

While I am not a fan of heavy testing, I do think quizzes/tests are helpful to encourage students to study and keep up with assignments. It also helps me as a teacher to gauge retention and understanding of material. 

This week, we will be going over the Metric Conversion worksheet that we didn't get to. We will practice with converting within the Metric System with a class activity and we will begin an introductory lesson on Density and calculating the density of liquids and irregularly shaped objects in order to prepare them for a density lab exercise. This will complete Unit 1 Nature of Science. We will then begin our first Unit on Chemistry where we learn about Matter and Its Properties.