This day was short, as we were dismissed at 12:40. I held on to my pipe dream of still teaching science until 7th period today, right after lunch, with the O section. I tried to teach science, my intention being to show an old superman cartoon and have everyone comment on the parts that obviously defied scientific law (with OWLSbucks rewards), but because the DVD was fautly, I resorted to a game. We were close to playing heads up seven up, but I borrowed a game from Mr. Wieand called Worst Case Scenario, and we played for the last 15 minutes. In the game a scenario is read (a car is trying to ambush you, what do you do?) and three answers are given. Students who got the right answer got an OWLSbuck.
The S section did a complete lab--the acid and base titration lab I described in Day 76. They did great, mostly got the graph done, and did not hurt themselves. Reed Fry brought in a panasonic camera for me to use in class--thank you very much, Mr. and Mrs. Fry for sharing with the science department. As I mentioned before, my camera at school is starting to go. I have asked for a webcam, which will allow my blogs to be even that much better, but for now, this is great to have.
The W section graphed their results from yesterday and found out that the base was stronger than the acid, as it took on average 18 mL of base to neutralize 20 mL of acid. I was impressed with their effort. We spent the next few minutes building molecular models--I was proud that they worked so hard on the last day before the longest break of the year. They are a fun group to teach.
Well, I'll miss you all for the next two weeks. I hope you enjoy the holidays. See you next year!
Sweet justice.
December 21, 2007
December 20, 2007
Day 76
I think this was the busiest day of the year for me. When I looked back on it, I realized I didn't even have time to check my email.
The reason was that I was preparing for the lab for this week, which is an acid/base titration. A titration is done to determine the relative strength of an acid or base. In our case, we slowly added NaOH to HCl and kept track of the pH through each 2 mL added. The W section did this today. The first halfgroup did well, but I tried explaining it all at once instead of doing it in steps. With the second group, and Mrs. Nolan's help, I succeeded in helping them get done early and done well. It is a great lab, but the setup is massive. I spent a total of three hours setting things up, and I still have to reset up the lab each time we do it--at least a 10 minute job itself. But for the students I teach at L-S, there is nothing I won't try to get my job done well.
The S, O, and L sections got to head back to the molecular model kits one last time, building some hydrocarbons this time, the hardest being C2H2. Many of them succeeded, and though it was noisy it was very productive. Students were helping each other, which always warms my heart. I handed out lots of OWLSbucks for students who were concentrating hard and getting the job done.
I also showed the students how liquid indicators worked for acids and bases, and physically showed them what neutralization is (mixing an acid with a base to reach a pH of 7). At the end I did a demo of elephant's toothpaste which involved a 30% solution of hydrogen peroxide, soap, and food coloring. Ask your son or daughter about it; I'm sure they will remember.
Here is a picture of the team teachers to brighten up your day, or sadden you, depending on your current state of mind.
Notice that we are spelling "OWLS" with our fingers.
Sweet justice.
The reason was that I was preparing for the lab for this week, which is an acid/base titration. A titration is done to determine the relative strength of an acid or base. In our case, we slowly added NaOH to HCl and kept track of the pH through each 2 mL added. The W section did this today. The first halfgroup did well, but I tried explaining it all at once instead of doing it in steps. With the second group, and Mrs. Nolan's help, I succeeded in helping them get done early and done well. It is a great lab, but the setup is massive. I spent a total of three hours setting things up, and I still have to reset up the lab each time we do it--at least a 10 minute job itself. But for the students I teach at L-S, there is nothing I won't try to get my job done well.
The S, O, and L sections got to head back to the molecular model kits one last time, building some hydrocarbons this time, the hardest being C2H2. Many of them succeeded, and though it was noisy it was very productive. Students were helping each other, which always warms my heart. I handed out lots of OWLSbucks for students who were concentrating hard and getting the job done.
I also showed the students how liquid indicators worked for acids and bases, and physically showed them what neutralization is (mixing an acid with a base to reach a pH of 7). At the end I did a demo of elephant's toothpaste which involved a 30% solution of hydrogen peroxide, soap, and food coloring. Ask your son or daughter about it; I'm sure they will remember.
Here is a picture of the team teachers to brighten up your day, or sadden you, depending on your current state of mind.
Notice that we are spelling "OWLS" with our fingers.
Sweet justice.
December 19, 2007
Day 75
The O section got to complete the pH lab, testing 20 different substances to see if they were acids and bases. They did a great job, finished in plenty of time, and had time to relax the last five minutes. Their favorite activity at that time was drawing on the smartboard, which I allow occasionally. The smartboard is a wonderful thing.
Speaking of the smartboard, here is a video clip from the W section, as we went over how neutralization happens when you mix an acid and a base.
The S and L sections also covered this today, but I didn't record the discussion. You can hear some of the students in the background if you listen carefully.
All of the sections spent 20 minutes today finishing "It's a Wonderful Life". We started the movie Monday in LGI, but ran out of time today (and any LGI's later this week), so I volunteered to not show my acid/base video today for the WLS sections and Mrs. K-ershner let the O section watch it in their half group today. This is a holiday tradition for the OWLS team. Since the start of the team 14 years ago, we have shown it every year. It almost brings a tear to my eye to think of all those students and those years we watched it together.
Sweet justice.
Speaking of the smartboard, here is a video clip from the W section, as we went over how neutralization happens when you mix an acid and a base.
The S and L sections also covered this today, but I didn't record the discussion. You can hear some of the students in the background if you listen carefully.
All of the sections spent 20 minutes today finishing "It's a Wonderful Life". We started the movie Monday in LGI, but ran out of time today (and any LGI's later this week), so I volunteered to not show my acid/base video today for the WLS sections and Mrs. K-ershner let the O section watch it in their half group today. This is a holiday tradition for the OWLS team. Since the start of the team 14 years ago, we have shown it every year. It almost brings a tear to my eye to think of all those students and those years we watched it together.
Sweet justice.
December 18, 2007
Day 74
Today, the S section finally got their wish, and mine. I showed them the amazing hydrogen ballon demo, as well as the potassium dichromate demo, and now all is right with the world. When I show these, it isn't just a show; it is education at its best. I write the chemical formulas on the smartboard, show which type of reactions they are, comment on balancing the formulas, then I let it rip.
So the S section today also learned how to balance equations and to differentiate between the four different types of basic chemical reactions. I have a video of this to post, but left it at school. Tomorrow morning it will show up right here:
The W and L sections also learned about the types of reactions. They had time to take a quiz, which demonstrated they knew what they were doing, and that I was a good teacher. I had over 75% of them get a perfect, and offered those that scored low the chance to retake before I record scores. I also offered the chance to balance equations for extra credit. I gave them a sheet and offered 1 pt for each correctly balanced equation (balanced equations obey the law of conservation of mass). There are 15 equations, but some are very tricky. Encourage your son or daughter to take advantage of this opportunity.
The O section learned about acids and bases. We discussed the pH scale (0 - 6 = acid; 7 = neutral; 8 - 14 = base) and watched a short video with a pre-test and post-test. Tomorrow in class we will practice using our knowledge of pH testing. We learned that mixing an acid and a base gives you salt water. An acid provides an H+ ion, or more correctly, is a proton donor. A base is a proton acceptor. Many bases have an OH- ion in solution, which is what accepts the proton. Our hydrogen bark lab dealt with HCl, a strong acid, reacting with a metal (Ca and Mg) to produce H2 gas.
Three school days to the holiday break.
The best part about today was taking our donations over to the Clare House on Chestnut Street in downtown Lancaster. Kate Hurd organized this for us, coming up with the idea and accompanying us today along with her mother and young sister. The people at Clare House were very nice and appreciative. I estimated our contribution at over $500 worth of household supplies. Thanks to everyone for helping with this. I had sent a call out on Friday night through the automated calling system. It doubled our collections. Perhaps this will become an annual event for the OWLS team.
Sweet justice.
So the S section today also learned how to balance equations and to differentiate between the four different types of basic chemical reactions. I have a video of this to post, but left it at school. Tomorrow morning it will show up right here:
The W and L sections also learned about the types of reactions. They had time to take a quiz, which demonstrated they knew what they were doing, and that I was a good teacher. I had over 75% of them get a perfect, and offered those that scored low the chance to retake before I record scores. I also offered the chance to balance equations for extra credit. I gave them a sheet and offered 1 pt for each correctly balanced equation (balanced equations obey the law of conservation of mass). There are 15 equations, but some are very tricky. Encourage your son or daughter to take advantage of this opportunity.
The O section learned about acids and bases. We discussed the pH scale (0 - 6 = acid; 7 = neutral; 8 - 14 = base) and watched a short video with a pre-test and post-test. Tomorrow in class we will practice using our knowledge of pH testing. We learned that mixing an acid and a base gives you salt water. An acid provides an H+ ion, or more correctly, is a proton donor. A base is a proton acceptor. Many bases have an OH- ion in solution, which is what accepts the proton. Our hydrogen bark lab dealt with HCl, a strong acid, reacting with a metal (Ca and Mg) to produce H2 gas.
Three school days to the holiday break.
The best part about today was taking our donations over to the Clare House on Chestnut Street in downtown Lancaster. Kate Hurd organized this for us, coming up with the idea and accompanying us today along with her mother and young sister. The people at Clare House were very nice and appreciative. I estimated our contribution at over $500 worth of household supplies. Thanks to everyone for helping with this. I had sent a call out on Friday night through the automated calling system. It doubled our collections. Perhaps this will become an annual event for the OWLS team.
Sweet justice.
December 17, 2007
Day 73
I was frustrated today in the S section. Just as we got to the end of the lesson, my camera failed to work and I ran out of time trying to fix it. Consequently, they did not get to see the potassium dichlorate decomposition reaction, nor the hydrogen and oxygen synthesis reaction with the balloon full of hydrogen. I was already working from behind with them because I lost one period with them last week. Oh well! We'll do it tomorrow. If you have an old video camera at home that you don't use anymore, but it still shows an image, and you'd be willing to donate it to the school, please let me know. I think this one is close to being done.
The S section made it through two lessons in one day, more or less. We took our counting atoms quiz first (they did awesome) and then watched the United Streaming video on chemical reactions with a worksheet quiz they filled out. After this, I planned on showing the demonstrations, but alas no time.
The W section went over the rest of the homework for Unit 5.2, which covered ways to speed up reactions (increase surface area, heat up the substance, and increase the concentration of any liquids) as well as what activation energy is (the minimum amount of energy required to start a chemical reaction). I showed them the two demos mentioned above that the S section did not see. The balloon exploding was awesome, as always.
The L section completed the pH lab. They tested 20 different substances to determine their pH and whether they were an acid or a base (or neutral). They did very well. There is an excellent tutorial in this on explorelearning.com (the link is to the right on this page). Go to your homepage there and click on pH analysis. It is self-explanatory.
The O section learned to tell the difference between three reaction types: synthesis (A + B --> AB), decomposition (AB --> A + B) and replacement (AB + C --> BC + A). We mastered it in class then took a quiz to make sure we had it. They did excellent. The couple of students who did not do as well will retake the quiz to make sure they understand. I will give them their better score. At the end of class I showed a short demonstration of a decomposition reaction with ammonium dichlorate. It looks like a small volcano. We talked about the various evidence to support the conclusion that this was a chemical change.
Sweet justice!
The S section made it through two lessons in one day, more or less. We took our counting atoms quiz first (they did awesome) and then watched the United Streaming video on chemical reactions with a worksheet quiz they filled out. After this, I planned on showing the demonstrations, but alas no time.
The W section went over the rest of the homework for Unit 5.2, which covered ways to speed up reactions (increase surface area, heat up the substance, and increase the concentration of any liquids) as well as what activation energy is (the minimum amount of energy required to start a chemical reaction). I showed them the two demos mentioned above that the S section did not see. The balloon exploding was awesome, as always.
The L section completed the pH lab. They tested 20 different substances to determine their pH and whether they were an acid or a base (or neutral). They did very well. There is an excellent tutorial in this on explorelearning.com (the link is to the right on this page). Go to your homepage there and click on pH analysis. It is self-explanatory.
The O section learned to tell the difference between three reaction types: synthesis (A + B --> AB), decomposition (AB --> A + B) and replacement (AB + C --> BC + A). We mastered it in class then took a quiz to make sure we had it. They did excellent. The couple of students who did not do as well will retake the quiz to make sure they understand. I will give them their better score. At the end of class I showed a short demonstration of a decomposition reaction with ammonium dichlorate. It looks like a small volcano. We talked about the various evidence to support the conclusion that this was a chemical change.
Sweet justice!
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