End of Quarter!

Whew!  We are 1/4 the way done.  This will be your first report card from middle school.  I hope it's a good one.

But in the mean time, school marches on!

Tuesday, we have stuff DUE!  Your folders and starters from last week (week #8).  Don't forget!

Mass Nerdiness

Sorry I didn't upload this when we did it.  We did this last Thursday and I in all my nerdiness forgot to make sure it posted.  These are some pictures that Mrs. LeSeuer took of me on the day we measured the mass of liquids - just the liquid - no test tube included. :)

Hide Your Kids, Hide Your Wife!!

The aliens have come!

They left us with eight different stations - each with triple beam balance.  We followed the aliens instructions with the hopes of getting our families returned safely to us.  Good thing they didn't ask very much.  They just wanted to know the mass of a few odds and ends they found in their exploration of Earth: scissors, a shoe, a penny, etc.  The measurements continue tomorrow.  Hopefully that is all they need.

Mass amounts of Mass at Catholic Mass

Mini-Quiz!!  It isn't worth a lot of points but it is a lot of useful information!  Hopefully it give you a good idea of what will be on the test.

We also started learning about Mass (aka - the measurement of the amount of matter in an object).  Mass is measured in grams (g) and we will use a triple beam balance in class to measure it.

Hopefully you didn't come home from school today to find your family tied up with alien in your living room.  In case they are, we will rescue them tomorrow with our mass skills!  Come prepared!!

Science Fair Planning Assignment

On this green worksheet, we are creating hypotheses, listing our materials and writing out our procedure.  We will have some time to work on it in class. 

IT IS DUE THIS FRIDAY!

We will be watching a movie in the auditorium with all the seventh graders on friday.  The perfect time to finish this if you are lazy this week or if your partner is in another class.  Happy Planning!

Making Models of Molecules

Why is alliteration so much fun?

Why is tracing pennies and coloring in circles so much fun?

The world may never fully know why, but it sure does lead to a fun day at school.  We learned how to go from molecular formulas to pictures of atoms joined together.  For example:

Bill Nye

I have a new Halloween costume idea.  I hope I can find a Bill Nye costume in the next week. :)

We watched his segment on Atoms.  Nice day to review and relax.

Here is a link.  I don't think it is complete but it should have a link to the rest of it. :)

Mr. Ripplinger's Serious Concern

I had to give out my first referral today.  The very next period, Ms. Dunn had to give one out as well.  Two in the same day!!  I have never given one out before but now it seems like the popular thing to do! 

It is important to learn science.  It is more important to learn to get along with others.

I hope you learn that.

Poster Presentation!

We present our scientist posters today.  You should now have the timeline filled in with the scientists, the dates of their discovery and their ideas.  If you were absent or daydreaming, then feel free to get the information from a friend. :)

Time after Time

Today we started our Atomic Theory Timeline Project.  Each student (or group of students) was assigned a scientist that contributed to our current knowledge of atoms.  This is the information they needed:

-scientist name
-approximate year they lived
-his theory (idea) about the atom
-which parts of his theory were correct/wrong
-a poster

New Unit!

The Important Things
- We emptied our folders.  Everything we've done since the beginning of school (excluding science fair) should no longer be in our folders.  It doesn't need to come to school again until April.  Yes - you need to keep it.  Store it somewhere safe.
- We got a new cover page, started a new table of contents and have our first assignment - Notes: Atoms and Molecules.
- If you need the old table of contents for the Scientific Method Unit, it is copied down below. 

Table of Contents - Scientific Method Unit

Table of Contents

• 1. Cover Page
• 2. Table of Contents
• 3. Notes: Scientific Method
• 4. Mythbusters
• 5. Inferring Skullz!
• 6. Writing a Hypothesis
• 7. Helicopter Lab
• 8. Design an Experiment
• 9. Bubble Gum Lab
• 10. Control and Variables
• 11. Data Tables Notes
• 11b. Chart page
• 12. Bar Graph Notes
• 12b. Graph Page
• 13. Practice with Line Graphs

Science Fair Research

Search and Research were in a boat - Search fell out - What's left?

Today we started our research for the science fair project.  We will be doing that for the rest of this week and all week next week.  Don't expect a post until next Wednesday. :)

Moment of Truth!

We took our test today.  The time for preparation has passed.

We turned in our folders today.  Hope you've been keeping things organized!  If you didn't turn it in today, you need a late pass for full credit. :)

Jeopardy Review!

I should think about having the theme music in class.  I especially love this music from when the game show first started. :)

From the game, I'd suggest reviewing independent and dependent variables.  It still seems to be giving most students trouble!

TEST!!!

We have a test on Wednesday!!
Your folders are due on Wednesday!!
The unit ends on Wednesday!!

Best ways to study
-Use the review sheet that we completed in class.
-Pay attention tomorrow during our review game.
-Go through your folder.

Library Research

"Having fun isn't hard,
When you've got a library card!"
-Arthur

Today we went to the library to learn how to do scientific research through the Pioneer Website. This has a link to EBSCO which has a lot scientific journals - good source of research.

p.s. - When I say "Today" I mean "Thursday." I thought I posted this but it only saved it as a draft. Sorry it wasn't up sooner!

p.s.s. - I enjoyed seeing you all at student-led conferences! Hope you felt the same way.