Welcome to Physical Science at VMMS! Parents and Students, We are so excited about this new year and hope you are ready to come to our school and learn! We have many wonderful things planned for this year and with the support of the parents and hard work of the students, we will have a successful year. To start off our year, we would like to ask that all parents read the handbook given to each student and discuss the rules of our school with your child. Students should understand that they are expected to follow all rules in the handbook in order to receive the best education possible. Students will not be able to learn all that is being taught if they are not paying attention at all times. Good behavior is very important and is a key to help students stay on task and work to their optimal ability. We want every student to be involved in the activities we have planned in order to help them master the material presented. Distractions due to be behavior will not be tolerated. We would also like to ask that parents and students get into the habit of checking this page for information about assignments and upcoming projects. Our goal is for every student to master the Georgia Performance Standards (GPS) set by the state. More information about the GPS at this website. http://www.georgiastandards.org/science.aspx
Textbooks:
I do require book covers. I tend to prefer the brown grocery bag variety, however if your child has another one that they would prefer to use I will allow it if appropriate.
Notebook
Each student keeps a 3-prong, pocket folder with current notebook assignments that are being worked on. Students should have 5 sections, 1 for daily warmups, 1 for Vocabulary, 1 for notes, 1 for the daily work kept in the order in which it is completed, & 1 for science fair info in the notebook and . A list of assignments will be posted on this page and in the classroom. Every Friday their assignment will be for them to take their notebook home for you to review what we have done that week and so that you may check your child's progress. Current warm-ups sheets are kept in their notebook. Every two weeks they are turned in & kept in class. They are added up over the course of the nine weeks; their warm-up grade is an important part of their overall grade. Being organized and responsible are two things that I stress throughout the school year.
Exams
Exams will be given in a variety of ways. We will have some exams in the classroom and others will be completed through the internet. There will be a vocabulary and a unit test given for each unit. Dates of exams are announced at least three days prior to the exam date.
Tutoring
As needed by appointment. Student will need to let me know in advance so I may make arangements if individual help is needed outside of enrichment time at the end of the day.
EXTRA CREDIT:
DUE EVERY MONDAY FROM NOW ON: Science current events will be due on Mondays and are worth 5 HW/CW extra credit points. Students may only do one a week. Print copy newspaper or internet news source are fine. sciencedaily.com or http://school.nettrekker.com are good sites. NOTE: These need to be done before students arrive in my classroom. They need to include the following:
1. Where you found it.
2. A copy of the article (if appropriate).
3. A summary of the article. Not cut & paste
4. Wordcount
CHAPTER PROJECTS: Each chapter has a project at the beginning of the chapter. Each project is worth 5 extra credit TEST points and must be done by the set due dates to count for credit.
FAILED TESTS
If your child makes below a 70% on a unit/chapter test they need to have their test signed & returned inorder to be allowed to take a retest.
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Sep 21
Content Standard: S8P1
Characteristics of Science Standards: S8CS1-S8CS9
Essntial Question: What is matter & how can its properties be described?
Mon-Finish discussion of M&M labs & start on metric system review. HW: Metric Mania Conversion Challenge WS is HW if not done & turned in in class.
Tue-Length Lab
Wed-Lab equipment station lab
Thu-Do Crayons float demo lab
Fri-Density lab ***SCIENCE FAIR*** Question, Hypothesis, & Log Book (composition book) are due today.
28 Sep
Content Standard: S8P1
Characteristics of Science Standards: S8CS1-S8CS9
Essential Question: How do scientists analyze data?
Mon-Process Skills Test
Tue-Go over the Process Skills Test; State of Matter simulation
Wed-"How dense are you? lab" (density of the human body) finish measurements & radius
Thu- Finish "How dense are you? lab" (density of the human body); Density problems DUE: Fri 2 Oct
Fri-Density problems DUE: Fri 2 Oct ***Re-Test Process Skills Test during activity time***
The kids have been working hard all week to find out how dense they are. Most of them have a lot of classwork to finish as homework due Monday.
It includes
1. "Density of the Human Body" Everything except the avg. density of the human body
2. Their "Mini-Me-Density" pictures which need to include a drawing of themselves and all of the measurements that they took (circumference, radius, length, volume, mass, density, etc. WITH labels) & a catchy title.
3. I have created a spreadsheet to calculate their measurements to see how they compare & add it to their picture, but it needs to be accessed at school at the moment
4. Finally, on the back side are 18 density problems. #1 is set up in the T-format on the left. The formulas are at the top of the paper. When I say "show your work it means that I want it set up in the T-chart. They are highly encouraged to use a calculator & must label their answers using what they have been learning in math & science about scientific notation (powers) & decimel.
5 Oct
S8P1. Students will examine the scientific view of the nature of matter.
S8P1c: Describe the movement of particles in solids, liquids, gases, & plasma states
S8P1d: Distinguish between physical and chemical properties of matter as physical (i.e. density, melting point, boiling point) or chemical (i.e. reactivity, combustibility)
S8P1e: Distinguish between changes in matter as physical (i.e. physical change) or chemical (development of a gas, formation of precipitate, and change in color)
Essntial Question: How does the movement of particles in solids, liquids, gases, and plasma differ?
Mon-Check check density problems & start Ch 3. Assign Ch 3 HW due Mon 12 Oct (All vocab; Secion Assessment: All, p.75, 81, 89, 93; Chapter Reciew: p. 97-98, #1-19, & either the Thinking Critically OR Applying Skills.
Tue-Ch 3, Sec 1-3 "Be the Teacher" banner
Wed-Finish, present & hang "BeT" banners; States of matter simulation if time
Thu-Popcorn notes
Fri-Video on Matter
12 Oct
S8P1. Students will examine the scientific view of the nature of matter.
S8P1c: Describe the movement of particles in solids, liquids, gases, & plasma states
S8P1d: Distinguish between physical and chemical properties of matter as physical (i.e. density, melting point, boiling point) or chemical (i.e. reactivity, combustibility)
S8P1e: Distinguish between changes in matter as physical (i.e. physical change) or chemical (development of a gas, formation of precipitate, and change in color)
Essntial Question: How does the movement of particles in solids, liquids, gases, and plasma differ?
Mon-Ch 3 HW due; Video-phase changes
Tue-Check Ch 3 HW
Wed- Space Case Lab
Thu-Review for the test
1.Describe the characteristics of a solid.
2.Describe the characteristics of a liquid.
3.Describe the characteristics of a gas.
4.List the types of measurements used when working with gases.
5.Explain how the volume, temperature, and pressure of a gas are related.
6.Explain what happens to a substance during changes between solid and liquid.
7.Explain what happens to a substance during changes between liquid and gas.
8.Identify the type of relationship shown by the graph for Charles’s law.
9.Identify the type of relationship shown by the graph for Boyle’s law.
Fri-TEST Ch 3
Oct 19
Mon-Edison Video
Tue-Ch 3 tests returned; Atoms Family; Assign Ch 4 HW: Due Mon 26 Oct (All vocab; Secion Assessment: All, p.108, 117, 125, 135, 143; Chapter Reciew: p. 145-146, #1-12, & either the Thinking Critically OR Applying Skills.
Wed: Ch 4, Sec 1
Assign: "Our Class element;" DUE: Wed 28 Oct
Assign: Science Fair letter/ time line rubric: DUE BACK SIGNED: Mon 26 Oct. (The students have been working on the topic & project selection for over a month. They should already know what they want to do.)
IMPORTANT DUE DATE CHANGES FOR SCIENCE FAIR:
Research: due 11/13/09
Abstract: due 11/20/09
Final Project: PREFERRED due 11/20/09.*(Final project will not be counted late until after 11/30/09.)
Interactive Science Simulations Fun, interactive, research-based simulations of physical phenomena from the PhET project at the University of Colorado
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