PAWS Testing, End of Quarter

This weeks focus is PAWS testing. The schedule this week changes day to day but on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, we will be spend time in team doing the PAWS reading test and review for the science test. On Thursday and Friday we will be taking the PAWS Science test during our regularly scheduled periods. A couple of notes:

- There will only be one homework assignment this week. It will be due on Wednesday or Thursday (class dependent) and it will be a PAWS Science Review Quiz.

-Students are welcome to bring snacks to sustain their energy during testing. We ask that they either bring snacks for just themselves or for the whole class.

Parent Teacher Conferences Recap: It was great to meet many of you at parent teacher conferences last week. If you were unable to attend last week than please feel free to contact me to schedule a meeting at a more convenient time. If you were unable to attend you child was given a folder with reports from all of their teachers.

Finally the end of Third Quarter is near!!! The last day of Third Quarter is Friday March 18th. This is next Friday. No late work will be accepted after the 18th! CHECK POWERSCHOOL and get any missing assignments turned in. You will earn half credit and this will help your grade!

Week of 2/23 - 2/25

We have a short but exciting week this week. On Thursday the last Space Shuttle Launch is scheduled to take place. This is the last of over 130 shuttle launch. In our class this week we will be focusing on Speed, Velocity and Acceleration. We will be taking a closer look using the Space Shuttle as an example.

-If you were absent on Friday the 18th: You missed a quiz. You will make that quiz up on Thursday during class. To review for it complete the quiz review sheet, reread and study pages

3 - 13 in our textbook and of course if you have any questions or need extra help than please don't hesitate to ask for it.

If you are missing school this week (2/23 - 2/25) than you need to read and complete the questions on pages 14 - 25 in our textbook. This should keep you fairly caught up and we will get you the rest of the way next week.

-Remember Parent Teacher Conferences are from 3pm - 7pm March 1st and 3rd. I=A letter will be going out this week as a reminder and with your meeting time.

Physics!!!

We have started Physics as of today. Physics will be very hands on and lab based. We will be focusing on the concepts of physics including motion, forces, Newton's laws, energy and electricity. We have changed our seating and added some new classroom resources such as a Vocabulary Corner where everyone can post vocabulary words and their definition.

Our schedule will be roughly as follows:

February 14 - 18th we will be focusing on Motion, Speed and Velocity

February 21 - 25th: Remember no school on the 21st and 22nd. The rest of the week we will be studying acceleration

February 28 - March 4th will be working on a roller coaster project.

March 7 - 25th will be studying Forces and Newton's Laws

After spring break we will move into studying Energy and Electricity.

Lab Week

This week we have been working in the lab. On Monday, we learned about Solutes, Solvents and Solutions. Tuesday and Wednesday we have been working in the lab and preparing lab reports examining the effects of temperature and surface area on reaction rates and dissolving. Thursday we will be back in the lab experimenting with "Tasty Solutions". Tasty Solutions is another lab which explores solutes, solvents and solutions and correlates reaction rates and the time to dissolve. Finally on Friday we will be having a big Chemistry Demo Day. It is a lot of fun and provides real world examples of Chemistry in Action!.

Next Week: We move on to Physics! We will be learning about Motion and Forces until Spring Break.

Homework: If you didn't finish your Lab Report with two graphs and your Jane Schowell write up than it will be homework that is DUE Thursday.

Quiz Tomorrow:Friday Feb 4th

Quiz tomorrow. It will cover material on the last quiz and Ionic and Covalent Bonding. Homework for tonight is to review your Atom Diagrams and Bonding Quiz Review Sheet (Green) from Class today in preparation for tomorrow's quiz.

Cartoon Chemistry Due Monday

Hi Everybody, I want to thank everyone for their hard work this week and great efforts on our quiz today. Great job! Remember that your Cartoon Chemistry is due at the start of class on Monday. This is homework if you didn't finish it in class today. Don't forget to finish and turn in both your drawings and the descriptions on the back of the cartoon chemistry handout. Have a fun and safe weekend, Mr. Howell and Mr. Deighton

Quiz Friday!

We have a Quiz this Friday the 21st. The quiz will cover Counting Atoms, Balancing Chemical Equations and Types of Chemical Reactions.

Counting Atoms: Al2O3 ---> Al + O2

On the reactant side we have 2 Al atoms and 3 O atoms. On the product side we have 1 Al atom and 2 O atoms. This reaction is not "balanced". Which means the number of Al and O atoms are equal on both sides of the reaction.

Steps to Balance:

1. Draw Line
2. Count Atoms
3. Add Prefix Numbers

The reaction is now balanced but the individual steps haven't been shown:

2Al2O3 ---> 4Al + 3O2

Types of Reactions:

1. Synthesis
2. Decomposition
3. Single Replacement
4. Double Replacement

Study hard, Ask if you have any questions and good luck!