11/01/10 We are now carrying out our cumulative Sweet Science Lab.  This lab is a culmination of the first period.  The students must design and carry out a scientific investigation.  During this process the must identify a problem, write a hypothesis, identify variables, write procedures, collect and analyze data, and report the results.

11/08/10 We have been having a great time sharing the results of our sweet science labs with each other.  The sweet science labs are the final activity and grade of the first quarter.  We took time to reflect on the first quarter and the students were given the opportunity to provide me with some feedback on how I can help them learn better.  We also took the Texas State Science assessment to begin our preparation for the PSSA Science Exam.  Next we will move on to our study of physics.

11/15/10 We are continuing to investigate the relationship between speed and velocity.  We are carrying out a series of labs (speed walking, speed trap, and teacher scooter races) in order to investigate velocity and acceleration.  We will be utilizing speed and motion graphs as part of our study.  We will be using motion detectors in our study.

12/06/10 We just wrapped up our graph matching lab and our teacher scooter race lab.  In the first lab we utilized the study of kinematics to gain a better understanding of velocity and acceleration.  In the second lab the 8th grade science teachers raced one another on scooters and the students time us, calculated our velocity and acceleration, made motion graphs, and discussed forces affecting our motion.  We are moving into our study of Newtons First Law of Motion (The Law of Inertia).

12/13/10 We are finishing up our study of speed and motion.  We carried out a series of demonstrations to help illustrate inertia and Newton's First Law of Motion.  We looked at toy car crashes, a car that shoots marbles up in the air, and the old pull the tablecloth magic trick as part of our study.  We will be assessing our knowledge with a unit assessment on Wednesday.

12/20/10 We began our unit on Newton's Second Law of Motion and have been looking at how force effects motion.  We calculated the relationship among force, mass, and acceleration.  We carried out a lab that investigates how the shape and design of a falling object affects the rate at which it falls. 

1/03/11 We are diving into our study of Gravity.  We are looking at Newton's Law of gravity and how it compares to Einstein's view of gravity.  We are going to carry out a lab to investigate how shape and mass are related to the falling rate of an object.  We will carry out a series of calculations to determine velocity, time, and distance of falling objects.  We will then move on to investigate Newton's Third Law of Motion.

1/10/11 We will begin the week by carrying out our stomp rocket lab.  We will shoot rockets vertically into the air and time how long it takes them to land.  We will then calculate the height of the rockets and discuss the forces that affected their motion.  We will then take a look at centripetal force and projectile motion.  There are a number of interesting investigations to help illustrate these concepts.  We will conclude the week with our study of Newton's Third Law of Motion.

1/24/11 After a crazy week of snow and delays we will spend this week wrapping up our study of Newton's second and third laws of motion.  We will continue to work on our sports and physics projects.  We will have our chapter 3 assessment on forces on Thursday.  We will then move on to our unit on Energy.  We will be completing a technology project as part of our study on energy.

1/31/11 After another crazy week of delays we will be starting our unit on Energy.  We will be utilizing the desktop computers to create a photostory on Energy.  We will be looking at kinetic and potential energy, the seven forms of energy, energy transformations, and the law of conservation of energy.  We also will be wrapping up our sports and physics projects.

2/07/11 We will continue working on our energy photostorys.  The students will be inserting narration, music, text, and pictures into their photostorys.  The students will present their photostorys to the class on Thursday.  Students will take notes on the photostorys and then answer a series of questions based on the information presented in the photostories.  We will then begin our study of energy sources.

2/14/11 We viewed the last couple of photostories to satrt the week.  We then began our energy source activity.  Students are allowed to chose a partner or work alone on the project.  Students are able to choose their topic and they have some choice in the manner in which they would like to demonstrate their knowledge.  The projects will be due Tuesday 2/22.  I included a copy of the project in the homework area.

2/21/11 We will be sharing our energy source projects on Tuesday.  We will then conduct a lab on potential and kinetic energy.  Next, we will have a movie assessment on Friday.  Students will watch a film that covers energy and energy sources and then students will answer a series of questions on the film.  Students will also be able to use their energy photostory notes while taking the assessment.

3/07/11 We are currently working on our animated simple machine PowerPoint presentations.  We will be looking at work, power, machines, mechanical advantage, and the six simple machines.  We will also be designing a Rube Goldberg like machine that utilizes all six simple machines in order to raise a flag.  We will be utilizing the animation features in PowerPoint to create the slide.  The project will be due next Tuesday (3/15).  We will also be starting our PSSA preparation mini-lessons.

3/14/11 Due to PSSA testing we will be running a 2-hour delay schedule all week.  We will have shortened periods and will not be giving any major assessments.  We will be completing and presenting our Simple Machine PowerPoints.  The highlight of these presentations are the animated Rube Goldberg PowerPoint slides.  We will conclude our study of simple machines by investigating a variety of examples and carrying out two labs.

3/21/11 We will continue our study of work and simple machines.  We will be calculating the mechanical advantage of a variety of simple machines.  We will conduct a lab to determine the mechanical advantage and efficiency of a ramp.  We will look at a wide array of simple machines.  We will have our chapter 5 assessment on work, power, and simple machines on Friday.

4/03/11 We are wrapping up the PSSA's this week by taking our PSSA Science assessment.  We have been working on reviewing key concepts that are eligible content on the test.  We are continuing our study of temperature, thermal energy, heat, and energy transfer.  We will carry out two labs and a number of demos to help the students gain a basic understanding of these topics.  We will also conduct a jigsaw activity which will provide the students the opportunity to become experts on a specific part of energy transfer.  We will have our unit assessment on Wednesday, 4/13.

4/18/11 We are continuing our study of thermal energy and the relationship to states of matter.  We are learning about the kinetic theory of matter, the base theory of Chemistry.  This unit covers the four states of matter and the changes of state.  We will be learning about the heat of fusion and the heat of vaporization needed for matter to move from one state to another.  We will be making slime to investigate the the interesting properties of matter.  We will also be conducting a heating curve investigation.  Vocabulary (pds 1,2,3,4) and Venn Diagram (pds. 7) are due on Wednesday.

4/25/11 We are currently studying the heating curve of water.  We are looking specifically at what happens to matter as it reaches the heat of fusion and the heat of vaporization.  We will be using the vernier twmperature probes to investigate the heating curve of an unknown substance.  We will conlude our study of kinetic theory this week.

5/02/11 We are going to be investigating the interesting properties of gases and fluids this week.  We will be looking at Boyles' Law, Charles' Law, Archimedes' Principle, Bernoullis' Principle, and Pascals' Principle and how they help us understand the world around us.  We will explain how boats float, how airplanes fly, how submarines control their depth, and the interesting properties of air pressure.  We will carry out a series of vacuum demonstrations as part of our study.

5/09/11 We are working on classification of matter.  We are learning on how to classify matter according to a series of criteria.  We completed our classification lab.

5/16/11 We are continuing our study of classification of matter.  We are moving on to our investigation of physical and chemical changes.  We will carry out a series of demonstrations such as sugar snake, the purple Gennie, money separation, exploding head, etc...  The object of these demonstrations is to give a visual demonstration of chemical changes.  WE WILL HAVE A COMPREHENSIVE FINAL EXAM THAT COUNTS FOR 10% OF THE GRADE FOR THE YEAR.  You will be given two separate studyguides to help you prepare.

5/23/11 Civil War Week- On Thursday and Friday we will be wrapping up our discussion of the classification of matter and classifying reactions (physical or chemical).  We will also be introducing our element projects.  The element projects are due Friday, June 3rd.

5/30/11 We will start the week by working on our element projects.  Students will be carrying out an in depth study of an element.  The students will construct an electronic poster that will contain the information that they gathered.  A number of students will be constructing an element print in art class as part of their project.