Tag Archives: science education

Day 15: Chemistry and Algebra

Looks like this week’s theme is: ALGEBRA We were working on finding the average atomic mass of elements’ isotopes. This involved percentages, solving for one unknown…and solving for two unknowns. Most students were comfortable with percentages and solving for one unknown. Once we got to solving for two unknowns, we kind of gave up. ThereContinue reading “Day 15: Chemistry and Algebra”

Chem Day 11: Periodic Table continued

I had big plans for Day 11. We spent most of the class completing the Periodic Table instead. We had to take some time to review the Lesson 8: What Comes Around, Goes Around that was assigned for homework. Student feedback was that it was repetitive. I said that it was supposed to be repetitive.Continue reading “Chem Day 11: Periodic Table continued”

Physics Day 10: Buggy Lab

The beginning of the velocity unit has always been a bit hairy. This is when the “true” modeling part of teaching comes out. I ask: “is the buggy moving?” In the past, it has become a controversial question and students leave the room wondering if it really is or isn’t. This year, the students wereContinue reading “Physics Day 10: Buggy Lab”

Chemistry Day 3: Safety & Equipment Quiz + Matter

We had the General Chemistry students take a Safety & Equipment Quiz. They must pass it in order to participate in the labs. Students generally thought this was a fair deal. The quiz had a portion where they identified some lab equipment. We all switched it up for each of the blocks so that noContinue reading “Chemistry Day 3: Safety & Equipment Quiz + Matter”

Day 30: Quiz and turning our motion maps

We’re about 10 days out from taking the final, and we’re just now taking the first quiz for velocity. During the next-x discussion, a lot of the students LOOKED like they were paying attention. There were lots of copying down whatever was being written down on the board. However, today, after looking at the quizzesContinue reading “Day 30: Quiz and turning our motion maps”

Day 6: Station Observations Part 2 #cmpfb

For Part 2 stations, I picked the more exciting three stations: Airzooka, Mass on a Spring, and Ball Drop. I gave the groups 3 minutes and 6 seconds at each station. After the rotation, we gathered back together to complete our whiteboards (which I did on Jamboards again). I told them about how Mrs. FContinue reading “Day 6: Station Observations Part 2 #cmpfb”

Day 5: Observation Stations Part 1 #cmpfb

Started the class with having students reflect on their Pyret homework assignment. They came up with some great reflections about what they noticed about Pyret. There are still a lot of students calling the feedback messages errors, so that just means I’ll have to be way more intentional about calling them FEEDBACK instead of errors.Continue reading “Day 5: Observation Stations Part 1 #cmpfb”

#cmpfb Day 11: Conditionals and Conventions

Birds in Space– We started our day off with discussing the forces acting on a bird sitting on a perch. Then someone asked if the bird was on Earth, which lead to a nice comment about a bird not wearing a helmet so that it could breathe. Someone else sent a link to a shutterstockContinue reading “#cmpfb Day 11: Conditionals and Conventions”

Week 2: Uniform Acceleration

After writing Brain Mush, I felt like I was on fire and ready to write. Not sure what happened Tuesday through Friday, but it did feel like a whirlwind. I might say that the pace was constantly accelerating, and when the weekend hit, I needed to gather myself. I ended up writing an initial planContinue reading “Week 2: Uniform Acceleration”