Carbon and Hydrogen Marshmallow Fun-November 15th, Tuesday!
Hello Everyone!
We have been continuing our discussions about STRUCTURE by looking at building shapes, the design process (form follows function), the skeletal system and how it works for the human body, and chemical structures.
As we discuss each example of structure, I have asked students to think about what type of structure they are interested in the most. They will be doing more in-depth research on that area and producing a PowerPoint or Prezi presentation to share their expertise with us. I asked everyone to look for PowerPoint or Prezi tutorials online and to spend 15 minutes reviewing one this evening. Try to find one that suits your level of expertise. Challenge yourself to do something unique — step outside of your comfort zone and try something new! Here are only a few I found:
Prezi Tutorial: My First Prezi
Prezi Tutorial 2015 — More Complicated
How to Create a PowerPoint Presentation
PowerPoint Spice — Not all features are available on our version, but interesting tips!
And if anyone wants to try Google Slides, try a tutorial for that, as well. Each student will receive a google drive account to use. Any of the three presentation tools will do. Ms. D will show everyone how to access this tomorrow.
In Language Arts today, we discussed making more interesting sentences and how to take better notes. Ms. D gave some feedback from our first project, and we practiced taking some notes as a whole group. I encourage everyone to ensure their notes are neater, more detailed, and in proper format for this next project.
During Class Meeting, we formed a committee for our holiday party the week before winter break, discussed MACCadia (our cardboard arcade project, for those interested), and our plans for White Elephant. More information on our holiday plans soon!
Finally, during Science, we reviewed information about the skeleton, as yesterday we watched a movie from Eyewitness all about skeletons and their functions in the human and animal world. Then, we began talking about chemistry, focusing on the structure of the periodic table and discussing atoms and elements, the building blocks or structure found at the microscopic level. Everyone has a reading on the periodic table in their binders that was completed in class.
We watched two movies to further our understandings: How Can You See An Atom? and Atomic Structure. Afterwards, we focused in on Hydrogen and Carbon, looking at how the two atoms combine and share electrons to form more complex molecules. We used red gummies for Carbon and marshmallows for Hydrogen, then combined them into structures using toothpicks. Everyone checked their structures in the book Molecules by Theodore Gray, with Ms. D’s help, to see if they had made a more complex molecule such as methane, propane, or ethane. I think everyone was having a good time with this project, as no one wanted to stop and clean up!
For Math we will spend some time tomorrow reviewing for our Applied Math quiz on Thursday, so if you have any questions from packet two, come and ask. We will also finish marking the last packet, if you haven’t done that yet. When we do Independent Math, just a reminder that here are the steps for each unit you are doing:
- Read the lesson pages and ask me questions if you don’t understand.
- Do the homework practice problems, starting with number 4 (1-3 you can just read.)
- If any problem requires counters, please use something on your own or skip the counting part of the question. You can also draw pictures to represent the equations instead.
- If you need graph paper, please come see me, as I have the one used by the textbook.
- When all lesson homework is done, do the “Show What You Know” section, all questions.
- We will mark the homework and Show What You Know using the marks book.
- Review your material.
- I will give you the test for the unit. If it is not available the day you finish, you can continue with the next unit temporarily while waiting.
More tomorrow on Bunraku, chemistry, and maps! Science World on Friday!!
Have a good night!
Ms. D