Intro. To Physics

Why would anyone want to learn physics?
Watch Travis Patrana fly a car to help you generate a few answers to that question!  
Here's the link to learn about some of the people who helped him and have mastered some physics to do so...the important part is the last 30 seconds.

Every object that moves in space, whether you are kicking a soccer ball, shooting a basketball, or taking a walk, can be described mathematically in physics.  We'll be using math as a tool to describe the motion of of objects.  We'll also be ooking at the patterns of these motions and using graphs to make predictions.  So, let's get started today by calculating the various speeds at which you walk!

Polymers of Life

Due Today: Carbon Compounds Chemistry Identification worksheets- Carbohydrates and Proteins

We have been using the structural formulas of carbohydrates and amino acids to write the molecular formulas, analyzing them and looking for patterns.  We connected this to our investigation of polymers, applying our understanding of chemistry to the polymers of life.

Check out the role of ribosomes, dna, and rna in  protein synthesis.
We will be running a simulation in class tomorrow.

Carbon Models

We have been building carbon compounds with modeling sets and analyzing the structure of various organic compounds. 

Organize your notebook as follows

•  Naming sheet on p.148
• Learning Objectives and Background notes on p.149

You will turn in your lab sheets and the conclusion as a stapled packet at the end of class on Monday.  
Bring your textbooks to class on Monday and Tuesday.  

You may start on the assignment in class:
Complete Workbook p. 141-144 and 146-148

Learning Objectives

Students will :

• use carbon as the basis for many types of compounds constructed with modelling sets.
• draw and interpret different representations of the carbon compounds they build (i.e. the molecular formula, structural formula, condensed formula, line formula)
• relate the 30-dimensional shapes and the types of bonds in a molecule
• recognize, draw, and build isomers of a given compound (butane)

Hopefully, this will help build your understanding of hydrocarbons before you read about them in your book!  The article summary on Hydrogen Fuels will be reviewed next week, when I return to the classroom.  Behave;)  If you finish early, try building carbon dioxide, glucose, or more isomers of butane.

Setting Goals

How does setting goals promote success?

We discussed our goals and made plans for a successful second semester.  

The second half of 8th grade science we will explore the chemistry of life, light and sound energy, forces and motion, especially Newton's Laws of Motion, and relate all of this to our understanding of the universe.  So, to get this semester started today, we watched part of COSMOS: a Space Odyssey  Episode 6 and took notes.  We'll finish it tomorrow.

Messing with Mixtures Labs

Due Today:
Cornell Notes on Solutions and Solubility
Lab: Messing with Mixtures

What Happened in Class Today:
We completed our Cornell notes on Solutions and Solubility from the text (p.256-267), and after some discussion, we applied our knowledge to the lab stations to explain how to identify colloids, suspensions, solutions, and mixtures.  

The Tasty Solutions activity resulted in a great discussion about two major factors that affect rate of solubility: particle size, and molecular motion! 

Happy New Year!

Today we are grading the Matter Unit Tests together.  No late work is accepted after Jan. 7, 2015 so come see me on Tuesday if you need to retake quizzes or turn in make-up work.

class work
Warm-up: On p.130 in your notebook, Separating Mixtures and Solutions, explain how you would separate each substance from the others in the jar.

1. Examine the mixture in the jar. Diagram it, using color in a meaningful way.
2. Make an organized list of the contents and their properties that would help you separate the items without touching the individual substances!
3. Write your step-bystep procedures for separating substances.

Chemical Reactions and Bonding unit

There have been a lot of lab. investigations (10) in this unit.  Make sure all your lab sheets, conclusions, and lab reviews are completed before you take the Matter Unit test.  
Check the daily folders for any extra copies of lab.s in class and the homework calendar for your assignments.
Be safe!