Beautiful Friday Feb 3rd

What a difference a little sun makes on everybody's well-being :)

We had a day that just sailed by and before we knew it it was time to pack up for another week.

Homework (stuff for home)
nothing new
Eric, Keanan and Ajay- I am not going away and there is the little matter of a socials project you all need to deal with this weekend!!!!
Reminders
Feb 13th (not this coming but next Monday) is a Pro-D day

General Day
Daily French

New seating Plan went over well but as usual there is no pleasing everyone (a couple of weeks and there'll be another)

Science Experiment #1 Three phases of Matter
solid-liquid-gas
Question: Can the temperature of water create a different reaction when gas is trapped?
Using an Efferdent tablet (baking soda) dissolved in water, we timed the reaction when the gas given off is trapped in a small container. We had half the class use cold water and the other half use warm (not boiling hot but definitely warmer).
In the under cover area we timed our reactionary gas 'explosions' the first one blew at 44 seconds- the last one at 7 minutes. So, why the time difference and were the reactions different?

Results: cold water took longer to react (up to 7 minutes) but had 'explosions' that ranged from 6-10 feet (except one that fizzled twice probably due to an ill fitting lid) on the other hand warm water explosions went off as soon as 44 seconds but did not have such spectacular height ranges (from 2-5 feet)

Back in class we discussed how we could adjust the experiment by controlling the variables like the amount of water and the space left at the top of the container to allow the gas to build pressure. We discussed the need to be accurate with quantitative methods. Was timing really accurate? How did we measure the height of the 'explosion"?
LO to determine the importance of independent, dependent and controlled variables in the outcomes of designed experiments

[ Hey, is it just me or does this sound like math?]

How much water?
How much space was left at the top of the container?
Were the containers all the same size?
Were the tablets all the same size?
How long did we shake the container?
How high did the cap of the container go? How do you know?
What difference will these varaibles have on the experiment?

I love science it is never finished or complete - it's kind of like a dissertation or research paper that you can always find weakenesses in but can never really 'perfect'.


We have decided we would like to redo the experiment. Students were also interested in the old Mentos and pop explosion which we will definitely have to be outside to do. Today's new word for scientific purposes was: effervescence

The students were excited and seemed to be engaged throughout even if it was difficult to get their attention so we all added the water and shook the containers at the same time. Simultaneously isn't in my studnets vocabulary  but clean up went smoothly and everyone wore their safety glasses :)
They looked like pro's.

It took us most of our morning before recess and we haven't even written it up yet. We were supposed to do that at our computer session at 10-10:30am but we were too busy with the discussion about what we could change and control and redo next time.

That's a first- my students forgot we were booked for a computer session. LOL

Math 7
more problem solving using various methods to recognize the patterns and the math skills involved in finding reasonable solutions. We managed to get through three different styles today. One was a visual pattern, the second was a perimeter problem and the third was a description of geometric dimensions. It is so funny that sometimes when students are asked to 'explain' or describe what they would do in a math problem instead of actually doing arithmetic, it throws them for a loop!

Silent Reading/ Honour band

Friday catch up- any student behind on work can use the time in class to get finished and up to date
Organization for the organizationally-challenged also happens here (thanks for playing, Teresa) :)

Art
Logo Letters
You might be surprised to see how many logos and corporate symbols our children are 'affected' by. This project has been a big eye opener for me.

Novel vote for Lit Circle groups
From a selection of 7 different novels the winners are
7 Surviving the Applewhites, Stephanie S. Tolan
7 The Giver, Lois Lowry
6 Milkweed, Jerry Spinelli
5 Woodsong, Gary Paulsen
There will be four lit circles instead of three (I just couldn't force the 5 boys interested in Gary Paulsen's true account of his experience in the Ididerod, Woodsong, to read one of the other novels)

Clean up, pack up and have a great weekend. See you all for more fun and excitement on Monday.
Mrs. J.