Welcome to the class website for Wise Owl's Middle School Physical Science Class! Here you'll find the latest information on what we've covered, video links, and homework assignments.
In our final unit for this year, we will be covering the topic of waves. Last Thursday, we began our introduction by watching the following video below:
Below are the two pages of notes (to be done at home) and the two graphic organizers we did in class
Graphic Organizer 1
Wave Notes page 1
Graphic Organizer page 2
Wave Notes Page 2
We will also be covering the electromagnetic spectrum, the refraction of light, and sound waves to complete the unit. We have two additional sets of notes that will complete our unit.
Behavior of Wave Notes p. 1
Behavior of Wave Notes p. 2
Electromagnetic Spectrum Notes
Though it seems like a lot of notes this week, they will come in handy as we will do a rotation of mini-labs which incorporate concepts from the notes. Below are some videos to help introduce kids to wave behavior and the electromagnetic spectrum.
This week we watched two videos that explained how Archimede's Screw was used in ancient times, namely in the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, and how it is used in our modern day to generate electricity.
Next, I brought our completed Archimedes' Screw model made with K'NEX.
We discussed as a class which variable --force or distance-- was multiplied when we used the screw. We established that force was increased. We also discussed how we could increase the number of balls moved to the top of the ramp by increasing the threads of the screw.
After our class discussion we removed the screw portion of our model and used the inclined plane portion along with a spring scale and a 295g mass to calculate the Ideal Mechanical Advantage and the Actual Mechanical Advantage of our inclined plane.
While we were able to perform our calculations, we determined that we had a number of sources for error, including the calibration of our spring scale (which we corrected), human error in reading the change in force, and the lack of steadiness of moving up the plane.
Our next discussion was an introduction to our final unit for the year covering waves. I will place all the notes in the next post as well as the graphic organizers and videos we covered in class.
This week we will be studying simple and compound machines and how these machines make doing work easier. Below are the notes:
In class we will use KINECTS to build simple and compound machines. We will then use calculate the mechanical advantage of our machines in a lab exercise. Below are some introductory videos to familiarize students with simple and compound machines.
Update: Prior to Spring Break, students worked together to build our compound machine, Archimedes' Screw using our Kinex set.
While it took longer than expected (the entire class period), students diligently worked and were able to put together the inclined plane and most of the screw portion. The only hiccup we had was difficulty in getting the correct orientation of the screw to connect to the inclined plane. I promised to take the structure home over the break and have my husband make the connections (which he did at midnight in 5 minutes)!
