The Bed of Nails

Here is an in-class demonstration of how a bed of nails works. I hope you learn something!

The Doctor Visits the L section

Here, finally, is the final footage of Doctor Monkeysare Awesome visiting the L section, his last stop on the Archimedes tour. It was a longer visit than the other sections got--I think he felt guilty they had to wait so long for his Awesomeness.

Here you go:

Day 102

Testing today--the W, L, and O sections took their unit 7 test on Pressure. All that I know so far is that the average for the multiple choice was 16 out of 25--not stellar, but it could be worse. The L section had homework from the next unit on simple machines, 8-1a,b and 8-2a.

The S section did the buoyancy lab today--I was impressed with their ability to show that Archimede's principle is true. And they cleaned up their mess very well. Kudos to the kiddos.

Sweet justice.

Day 100 - 101

I was out on Day 100 because my daughter Anna was sick. I came back in today and started off in the L section with a visit from Doctor Monkeysare Awesome. That video will be posted asap. I need an adapter cable so that I can do this from school, because by the time I get home my kids keep me too busy (I have four all 10 and under).

The L and O sections got ready for their test tomorrow on Pressure. I was impressed with the O section and their practice test taking with the clickers. We did a fun pressure activity using a large piece of plywood and several balloons. I think we got 5 people (about 500 pounds) to stand on about 15 balloons. Pretty amazing. I tried to pop a balloon while sitting on it and accomplished nothing.

The W section completed a buoyancy lab. Mr. K-rebs and I revamped it today and it is a winner, at least I think so. The students put marbles into sealed jars and using overflow cans measured how much mass the water that came out had. It should equal the weight of the can according to Archimedes principle. Usually, it does, as long as the students are careful when collecting the water.

The S section took their Unit 7 test. It will be a couple of days until these are graded. I am hopeful for great things.

Sweet justice!

Day 99

Pressure is wrapping up. Today, with the W, O, and S sections we went over the last of the homework, took the last of the notes, and saw just a couple of good demonstrations. The best from today is the bed of nails, where I took my hand and pressed it as hard as I could onto a small bed of nails. I took a video of this during the S section which I will post soon. By the end my hand was bleeding, but not too bad.

The L section is a day behind. They still have not seen the special visitor for his special song. I got a bit annoyed with them today as they complained about taking notes in class. I give notes when I think it will help students concentrate better and learn the material better. We'll see soon, as the test is Wed for the S sections and Thur for everyone else.

Sweet justice!