Thursday/Friday, 20/21 December, 2012

Students will be able to:determine the effect of exercise on the amount of carbon dioxide produced during cellular respiration.

Students took mini assessment 4.

Students also defended their science fair projects.

Students completed the cellular respiration and exercise lab.

There is no specific science home learning over the holidays.

Merry Christmas and may God bless and keep you. Come back for a new year of learning and success!

Wednesday, 19 December, 2012

This is HL 12. Answers only on your own paper.

Students will be able to:

-compete with other classes on questions relating to the nature of science.

Students competed with the students in Ms. Bredy's and Ms. Borges' science classes, using the clicker system. Teams were assigned to determine the right answer to FCAT like questions. The team with the best score will receive a wildcat dollar or home learning pass. The winning class will receive an incentive after the Christmas break.

Home learning 12 can be found at the top of this blog.

Monday/Tuesday, 17/18 December, 2012

This is HL 11. Answers on your own paper.

Students will be able to:

-identify the factors that are needed for cellular respiration to occur.

-describe the process of cellular respiration in the cell and its purpose..

-describe the hierarchical organization of living things.

Students answered the following for their do no: Explain why photosynthesis is important to humans.

The bell ringer was to answer questions from the slide show presentation on organization of living things. 






















Students completed presentations and notes on the cell theory and the hierarchical organization of living things.

Students also took notes on cellular respiration, adding handouts to their notes and completing a Cornell notes setup for cellular respiration. You can visit The hierarchical organization of life to learn more about the organization of living things.

Students also worked in small groups on either natural selection (periods 1, 5, and 6) or spheres of the earth (periods 2 and 4).

Home learning 11 can be found at the top of this blog.

Thursday/Friday, 13/14 December, 2012

 Students will be able to:

-determine how the intensity of light affects the rate of photosynthesis.

Students completed a lab on photosynthesis. Students counted the oxygen bubbles produced when elodea, a water plant, was placed at different distances from a light source. Students determined the effect of light intensity on the rate of photosynthesis, measured by the production of oxygen bubbles.

Students should be ready for a notebook check on the first of the week.

Wednesday, 12 December, 2012

This is HL 10. Answers only on your own paper.

Students will be able to:

-discover the reactants and products of the photosynthesis reaction. 

-discover the reactants and products of cellular respiration. 

-explain how cellular respiration and photosynthesis are related.

Students completed the prior knowledge questions as their bell ringer.

Students reviewed the GIZMO Cell Energy by working as a whole class to complete the warmup.

Students completed the remainder of the handout, with question 9 of Activity B serving as their exit slip.

Students are encouraged to do activity B, question 10 on their own for discussion in class for the next meeting.

Home learning 10 can be found at the top of this blog.

Monday/Tuesday, 10/11 December, 2012

This is HL 9. Answers only on your own paper.

Place this with today's notes.

Students will be able to:

-identify the factors (reactants) that are needed for photosynthesis to occur

-explain the role of light, CO₂, water, and chlorophyll in the process and products of photosynthesis.

Students answered the questions from the mini lesson on heat transfer (periods 2 and 4) or classification (periods 1, 5, and 6):

Heat transfer: Periods 2 and 4

1. What property of water is most important for living organisms? 

a. It is odorless.

b. It does not conduct electricity.

c. It is tasteless.

d. It is liquid at most temperatures on Earth.

2. Which of these statements is best illustrated by this diagram? 

a. Animals under water eat plants.

b. Land animals exhale oxygen into water.

c. Water-dwelling animals breathe carbon dioxide.

d. Plants can take in carbon dioxide from air and water.

Classification: Periods 1, 5, and 6
1. Three animals are shown in the diagram.

These three animals have adapted to which aspect of their environment?

A. sources of food      C. watery surroundings

B. presence of light    D. temperature variations

2. Why does binomial nomenclature help scientists communicate about an organism?

A .It represents an organism’s common name.

B. It can mean any organism in a kingdom.

C. An organism can have only one scientific name.

D. Scientists refer to a whole kingdom when using a scientific name.

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Students received HL 9, which can be found at the top of this blog. Read chapter 13, lesson 1 to find the answers.

Students completed the mini lesson on either heat transfer or classification, taking notes in their interactive notebook. Be sure to glue in the necessary handouts!

Students then watched a BrainPop movie on Photosynthesis. 

Students then did a two truths and a lie collaborative reading strategy. Students were assigned a particular section of the lesson to study. Each team or group had to come up with two factual statements and one false statements based on the reading. Teams recorded their statements on index cards, which WILL be used as a quiz on Thursday!

Students completed Cornell notes on photosynthesis, including gluing in the index card with the statements and the handout of photosynthesis, which you can find at the top of this blog.

Students concluded the lesson by completing an exit slip to check the understanding of how the photosynthesis equation demonstrates elements and compounds.

Thursday/Friday, 6/7 December, 2012

Students will be able to:

-determine the physical means necessary to separate a variety of mixtures.

Students took  mini-assessment 3 as their bell ringer.

Students then worked on the lab on mixtures. This was an inquiry lab, so students had to, as a group, determine their own procedures and the way to record their observations. The objective was to separate a heterogeneous mixture of sand, salt, and iron filings into its separate components.

Home learning 8 is to do the Cooking With Chemistry questions found on page 406-407 on your own paper. Use complete sentences to answer the questions.

Wednesday, 5 December, 2012

Students will be able to:

-determine the physical means necessary to separate a variety of mixtures.

For the bell ringer, students wrote to justify their position on the following:

All solutions are mixtures, but not all mixtures are solutions.

Students did the separation of mixtures virtual lab. You can find the activities by visiting Dr. Gayden's Science Zone for Wednesday, 5 December, 2012. Click the first link to complete the handout, which you can find at the top of this blog. You will place the completed handout in your notebook with the other notes on mixtures.

Click the second link to continue learning about separation techniques. Be sure to read all the information there and complete the short quiz.

Home learning 7 is to read pages 396 through 401, completing all activities in the book, and placing on a separate sheet of paper, the answers for p 398 figure 1 and p 401 do the math.

Monday/Tuesday, 3/4 December, 2012

These four handouts accompany the notes for Mixtures. Be sure to complete the Venn diagram and the 3 column notes. Make sure your first page is a Cornell Notes page, complete with the 3 Costa's leveled questions, and a summary of the notes. Make sure you use highlighters to coordinate the questions and answers.

Students will be able to:
-classify and/or compare substances on the basis of their physical properties and/or explain that these properties are independent of the amount of the sample.
-differentiate among pure substances, mixtures, and solutions, including components in different sates of matter.

Students did a formative assessment probe on sugar water for their bell ringer. Students had to explain why certain statements were true about a solution of sugar and water.

Students completed the notes form last week on acids and bases. 

Students then did this week's notes on mixtures. The benchmark is SC.8.P.8.4. The topic is mixtures. You can find the handouts that were included at the top of this blog.

Students began remediation on the topics heat transfer and classification.

Science Fair Projects are due in class tomorrow!

Thursday/Friday, 29/30 November, 2012

Students will be able to:

-use pH paper to find the pH of a variety of substances.

-describe some of the qualities of acids and bases.

Students completed the problem and hypothesis for the lab as their bell ringer.

Students watched a BrainPop video on pH to prepare for the lab.

Students then completed the lab on pH.

Science fair projects are due in class on Wednesday.

Wednesday, 28 November, 2012

This is HL 6. Answers only on your own paper. Be sure to write true if true, but the correct word and NOT false if the statement is false.

Students will be able to:

-use pH/four-color paper to find the pH of a variety of substances.

-describe some of the qualities of acids and bases.

Students viewed photos of Dallol volcano and answered the following, as both the bell ringer and the exit question:

In a remote desert of Northeast Africa, in the country of Ethiopia, the Dallol volcano has created an area of hot springs, miniature geysers, large salt deposits, and yellow and green colored lakes. Scientists who explore this area are very cautious not to come in contact with the water, salt deposits, or hot springs. If they do, the metals they carry will corrode instantly. How would you describe this area?

We completed the prior knowledge questions and warm up as an entire class.

We also completed the first two substances under Activity A as a we do.

Students then completed the remainder of the GIZMO on their own. If you did not complete the GIZMO, sign in with your user name and password. Go to the lesson materials under the lesson info tab to find the PDF document for the GIZMO. Be sure to complete the entire handout.

Home learning 6 can be found at the top of this blog.

Monday/Tuesday, 26/27 November, 2012

This is HL 5. Answers only on your own loose leaf, correctly headed paper.

This is the exit slip for the lesson on acids and bases. It will be pasted in the notebook and serve as the written notes section.

This is the foldable for the acids and bases information. Write the definitions on the flaps under the words. In the center section, draw a picture to illustrate the word. Use color. For pH, write about the pH scale. For Neutrals, write about neutralization.

Students will be able to
-compare, contrast, and classify the properties of compounds, including acids and bases.
-identify common examples of acids and bases.
-*review Fall IA (periods 2, 4, 6).
-*review classification (periods 1, 5, 6).
-*review heat transfer (periods, 2, 4).

Some classes completed the review of the Fall interim assessment. Students should know that they are graded on their group presentation of the information to the class.

Students participated in a team collaborative activity, using the CPS clicker system. Students were given questions on the topic of acids and bases to answer. The members of the winning team received Wildcat dollars!

Students received HL 5, which can be found at the top of this blog. It is due on Wednesday.

Students watched a BrainPop movie on Acids and Bases.

Students then read for understanding, underlining key words and passages from their text, pages 378-381.

Students made a foldable of the information from the text. You can find the handout for the foldable at the top of this blog.

Mini lessons were began, but not completed on the review of information on classification or heat transfer.

Wednesday, 21/28 November, 2012

Students will be able to:

-use pH paper to find the pH of a variety of substances.

-describe some of the qualities of acids and bases.

Students completed the prior knowledge questions of the pH Analysis GIZMO as their bell ringer.

We completed the warm up as an entire class.

We also completed the first two substances under Activity A as a we do.

Students then completed the remainder of the GIZMO on their own. If you did not complete the GIZMO, sign in with your user name and password. Go to the lesson materials under the lesson info tab to find the PDF document for the GIZMO. Be sure to complete the entire handout.

There was no nightly home learning, as students should continue to work on their science fair project.

Monday/Tuesday, 19/20. 2012

Students will be able to:

-review the Fall IA exam.

Students worked in groups to review the Fall IA. Each team was assigned specific questions to complete. Teams will review their questions with the class, explaining distractors and stating why an answer was chose. Students used 6th, 7th, and 8th grade texts to accomplish this.

Continue to work on your science fair project as your home learning.

Notebooks were collected.

Thursday/Friday, 15/16 November, 2012

These are the handouts for the periodic table notes.

Handouts for the virtual lab on the periodic table.

Students will be able to:

-review the components of the atomic theory.

-describe the periodic table of elements and use it to find information about elements.

Students completed a formal assessment probe: Is it Matter? as their bell ringer.

Students submitted HL 3 and are responsible for HL 4. HL 4 is to read (and do) all pages 375-381 in the text, and on a separate sheet, copy the Apply It! from page 377 and complete all questions.

Students then completed the notes for atomic theory and for the periodic table.

For the atomic theory: the benchmark is SC.8.P.8.7. FIrst, make a Cornell notes page for the topic. We made a booklet on the development of the atomic theory. The book had 6 pages: Democritis, John Dalton, J. J. Thomson, Ernest Rutherford, Niels Bohr, and the Electron Cloud Model. For each page, students should list the time the discoveries were made and the important information about each model. A drawing should be made for each model. Paste this booklet in the center portion of the Cornell notes page. Be sure to paste the printed notes on the next page. Also, write your Costa's leveled questions for the topic, using highlighters to identify the questions and answers. Be sure to summarize the notes on the bottom of the page.

Visit the site Atoms to review the six major contributors to the modern theory.

For periodic table: the benchmark is SC.8.P.8.6. First, make a Cornell notes page for the topic. Using the vocabulary word, periodic table, make your own Wordle art of the vocabulary words found at the top of page 315 of your text. This should go in the center portion of the Cornell notes page. We color coded a periodic table and correlated this with our notes. You can find a copy at the top of this blog for the periodic table and the notes. Paste the color coded periodic table on the page after the Cornell notes page. 

To complete the table, click the link for Periodic Table. You can use this to color code your own table. For our table, use the SAME color to color ALL the TRANSITION METALS,which include all the elements in groups 3-12, THE ACTINIDES AND LANTHANIDES the same color! 

On the next page, place all three of the following documents: the printed notes for the periodic table, HL 3 on the periodic table, and the quiz (the one we took using the clickers) on the atom/periodic table.

Please tape in the virtual lab we did on the periodic table. Don't forget to write the date/benchmark/topic/page in your table of contents. Actually, don't forget to write ALL the topics in your table of contents! You can find the handouts at the top of this blog. The link for the site to do the lab is from The Periodic Table.

For the virtual lab, the date was November 7, benchmark SC.8.P.8.7. 

Notebooks will be collected on Monday or Tuesday of next week.

Don't forget your science fair project is due on December 5th!

Wednesday, 14 November, 2012

Students will be able to:

-review latest data from fall interim assessment.

-work on their science fair plan and get necessary research done.

The bell ringer is to complete the science fair problem and hypothesis. The handout will be posted at a later date.

Students reviewed data from the Fall interim assessment exam and from Mini-assessment 2.

Students spent the remainder of the class period researching their science fair project.

HL 3 read, which is due next class period, is to read pages 365-373 and complete all pages in book: copy and complete the Apply It! pg 368 on a separate sheet of paper.

Thursday/Friday, 8/9 November, 2012

Students will be able to:

-determine the ability of metals to conduct electricity.

-group objects based on similarities.

Students completed a lab dealing with the conductivity of metals. Students used an electric circuit consisting of a battery and a light bulb to test various materials to determine which conducted electricity.

The lab report was completed in class and submitted. Absent students should be sure to bring in an admit in order NOT to get a zero for this lab.

Home learning one was collected and HL 2 was distributed. You can find the handout at the top of this blog. Be sure to write the answers on your own paper for submission. You will need to use the periodic table found on pages 320 and 321 of your work text.

Wednesday, 7 November, 2012

Students will be able to:

-determine the properties that affect wavelength.

-measure the frequency of a pulse or oscillating wave in a system and explain how it can be changed.

Students did the warm up and prior knowledge questions as their bell ringer.

Students then worked as shoulder buddy teams to complete the activity. The lab warm up/post lab activity can be found below. Complete the lab handout to be placed in your folder until we paste it into the interactive notebook.

Home learning 1 is to do page 353 from the text, answers only.

Monday, 5 November, and Tuesday, 13 November, 2012

Students will be able to:

-distinguish between protons, neutrons, and electrons.

-explain that atoms are the smallest unit of an element and are composed of subatomic particles.

-describe how the atomic theory was developed.

-describe the arrangement of the periodic table.

-review waves.

Students completed a set of questions on the atom as their bell ringer using the clickers: 

1. In an atom, the number of protons equals the number of

a. nuclei. c. neutrons.

b. electrons. d. isotopes.

2. The atomic number of an element is based on the

a. mass of its nucleus.

b. number of electrons around its core.

c. number of protons in its nucleus.

d. number of neutrons in its nucleus.

3. From an element’s location in the periodic table, you can predict

a. its properties. c. its chemical symbol.

b. its chemical name. d. when it was discovered.

4. Which group contains the most elements?

a. metalloids c. metals

b. nonmetals d. transition elements

5. Which group of metals is so reactive that the metals are never found as
uncombined elements in nature?

a. alkaline earth metals c. alkali metals

b. lanthanides d. transition metals

6. At room temperature, more than half of the nonmetal elements are

a. powders. c. liquids.

b. gases. d. solids.

7. Which of the following groups contains an element especially important to the chemistry of life?

a. the halogens c. the noble gases

b. the metalloids d. the carbon family

8. Which of these phrases best describes the general properties of metals?

a. highly reactive

b. malleable, ductile, good conductors

c. not easily corroded

d. dull and brittle

9. The elements that do not ordinarily form compounds are

a. elements in the carbon family.

b. metals.

c. halogens.

d. noble gases.

10 . In Ernest Rutherford’s gold foil experiment, most positively charged particles passed through the foil, but a few particles were deflected strongly. This result caused Rutherford to infer

a. that electrons move in orbits around the nucleus of an atom.

b. that an atom’s positive charge must be clustered in a tiny region in its center.

c. that electrons have almost no mass.

                 d. that an atom consists of negative charges scattered in a ball of positive charge.

Students then reviewed waves using a power point lesson. 

Students took notes on the atomic model, creating a booklet with the information of the development of the atomic model from Democritus to the current electron cloud model.

There was no nightly home learning.

Wednesday, 31 October, 2012

These handouts are for the virtual lab on the periodic table.

Students will be able to:

-describe the periodic table of elements and use it to find information about elements.

-compare selected elements from the periodic table.

-explore families and periods on the periodic table.

Students completed the prior knowledge questions as their bell ringer today. 

Students visited Dr. Gayden's Science Zone to find the link to today's lab. Students are to complete the handout. You can find a copy of the handout at the top of this blog.

Once the handout is completed, students should sign in to the Pearson site (www.pearsonsuccess.net) and complete all activities linked with their name. Students must click the 8th grade tab to find the assignments.

There was no home learning assignment made, but students should continue to research and work on their science fair projects.

Monday, 29 October through Friday, 2 November, 2012

Because of the fall interim assessment testing, classes will not meet on their regular schedule. Therefore, the information covered in this blog may be adjusted to accommodate all of the affected classes.

Students will be able to:

-distinguish between protons, neutrons, and electrons.

-explain that atoms are the smallest unit of an element and are composed of subatomic particles.

-describe how the atomic theory was developed.

-review forces and changes in motion.

Students answered bell ringer questions using the paddles during a showdown.

Students also received the handout to record their television viewing of a closed caption science show. It is not due until Monday.

Students reviewed the ETO lesson on force and motion. 

Basically, they reviewed the following information:
-A force is a push or pull on an object that causes the object to move by speeding up, slowing down, or changing direction.
-Forces can be balanced or unbalanced. 
 -when two unbalanced forces act in the same direction, the net forces is the sum of the two individual forces.
 -when two unbalanced forces act in opposite directions, the net force is the difference between the two individual forces.
 -when two equal or balanced forces act in opposite directions, they cancel each other out, and the object does not move. 

Forces may be contact forces, such as friction, or non-contact forces, such as gravity, electric force, and magnetic force.

Students watched a BrainPop movie on the Periodic Table and some classes also watched the Atoms movie (from last week).

Students were given marshmallows and a periodic table and asked to make three dimensional models of atoms.

Students had no nightly home learning, but should continue to research and work on their science fair project.

Thursday, 25 October, 2012

Students will be able to:

-describe how the atomic theory was developed.

-review scientific knowledge.

Period 1 was the only class that met, because of the early release. Also, class was shortened due to the trial run for the fall assessments that begin on Monday. Because of this, we did a minimum of notes in the interactive notebook.

Students made a booklet of the atomic theory. They used the information from their texts, pages 343-349. They also used the information from a handout they were given on Monday. Since we did not have time to paste the booklet in the notebook, we will continue it on Monday.

There was no home learning except to being the search for the science fair project.

Wednesday, 24 October, 2012

Students today had no bell ringer.

Because I was out of the building, students worked on their current topics, completing individual remediations from the Pearson site.

Students used their user name and password to log on and complete the assignments.

Students should visit both Grade 6 and Grade 8 To Do and do ALL assignments listed.

Once you complete the tests that are there, Pearson will assign you additional remediation activities to help you master the information you missed. Be sure to do all the assignments, and check them in before you leave the site.

If you don't know your username and password, email me at DrGCDMS@dadeschools.net, and I will send it to you.

ALL projects and assignments should be in by now, because the first marking period is officially over!

Monday/Tuesday, 22/23 October, 2012

This is HL 18. Answers only on your own paper. Follow the directions printed on the page.

Students will be able to:

-distinguish between protons, neutrons, and electrons.

-explain that atoms are the smallest unit of an element and are composed of subatomic particles.

-describe how the atomic theory was developed.

Students used the collaborative structure Showdown to answer the following bell ringer questions:

Scientific knowledge may change as new evidence or information is discovered. Which of the following would NOT be a result of new scientific research and information?

A. Binomial nomenclature is assigned to a recently identified plant species.

B. An endangered monkey species is put in a reserve for protection from extinction.


C. A newly discovered chemical element will be added to the periodic table of the elements.

D. A nonnative plant species will begin to reproduce rapidly after being introduced into a swamp ecosystem.

Keesha did an experiment to study the rate of photosynthesis in the water plant Elodea.
She placed a piece of Elodea in a beaker of water and set the beaker 10 centimeters (cm)
from a light source. Keesha counted the bubbles released from the plant every minute for
five minutes (min). She repeated the process two more times. First, she moved the light to
20 cm from the beaker, and then she moved the light to 30 cm from the beaker. Keesha’s setup and data are shown below.

                

What is the outcome variable (dependent variable) in this experiment?

A. the number of bubbles produced


B. the type of plant placed in the beaker

C. the distance of the light source from the plant

D. the amount of time the bubbles were counted

Students submitted HL 17 and their reading assignment. They also received HL 18, which can be found at the top of this blog.

Students submitted their atomic model projects.

Students completed the Have A Ball lab and submitted it.

Students watched a BrainPop movie on atoms. 

Students then worked in their interactive notebooks, pasting in past work such as the mini-assessment 2, the GIZMOs on Phases of Water and Element Builder, and today's notes on Atoms. Students should also include all home learnings in their notebook. 

Students should complete the notes at home by drawing something to represent the atomic model, writing the 3 Costa leveled questions, and finding the corresponding answers with their highlighters (3 questions, 3 colors). Students should write their summary at the bottom of the page.