The Week of 2/1-2/5

• Monday 2/1: No school
• Tuesday 2/2: Start of the semester. Ms. Anheier will begin the energy unit with an intro to energy and short notes. Start reading chapter 15 in your textbook.
  
• Wednesday 2/3: Group work and notes on forms of energy, notes on kinetic and potential energy formulas. Hand out worksheet to be due Monday 2/8.
• Friday 2/5: Renewable and non-renewable sources of energy. Preview energy debate for next week, groups are assigned. Homework is to review the expectations for your research and the debate.

Finals Week!!! (1/25-1/29)

I have just put answers to the Review Packet over in the document section. Check them out and then ask questions in class this week.



Monday 1/25: Go over Finals Review. Late work/extra credit deadline today by the end of lunch.

Tuesday 1/26: Go over final grades and how to calculate what you need on the final to keep or change your grade. Last-minute questions?? Lunch time FLEX in my room.

Wednesday 1/27: Final Exams 2, 4, 6.  2nd is 8:15-10:15, 4th is 10:25-12:25

Thursday 1/28: Finals 1 and 5

Friday 1/29: Finals 3 and 7


Instructions for Finals!



1) You may use a 5" x 7" notecard hand-written on both sides. No typed or word-processed cards allowed. The card will be collected when you turn in your test.


2) Bring a scientific calculator that you know how to use.




3) Bring #2 pencils and a few sheets of notebook paper.





4) Bring something to do QUIETLY when you are done. It is essential that we preserve a non-distracting testing environment for all students. 





5) I will provide a clean Periodic Table, a clean Naming sheet, and basic equations on the test. Anything else that you want needs to go on your notecard.

Newton's 3rd Law Video

Symara in Period 2 found this cool video!

The Week of 1/18-1/22

• Monday 1/18:  Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.  No School.
• Tuesday 1/19:  Preassessment for Energy Unit.  Newton's Laws Labs.  Turn in observations, explanation of law most clearly shown, and explanation of other laws involved.
• Wednesday 1/20:  Review motion and Newton's Laws.  Take Chapter 11+12 Test.  Review for Final Exam, starting with significant figures and going through matter.   2-Hour Late Opening with FLEX from 9:00-10:00.
• Thursday 1/21:  Lunch FLEX.
• Friday 1/22:   11+12 Test Corrections.  Multiple Choice Question Writing.

Absolute Deadline for Late work and Extra Credit is Monday 1/25 by the end of lunch!!!!!

Next week we will review for the final on Monday and Tuesday and go over Final Grades.

Final Exams for this class will occur on Wednesday 1/27!!

The Week of 1/11-1/15

Make use of FLEX this week!!  The semester will be over soon!

• Monday 1/11:  Questions on Acceleration and Momentum Probs, which are due tomorrow?  Go over Skateboard Lab Conclusion.  Skateboard Lab due tomorrow (include worksheet with 2 hypotheses, background information, completed data table, 2 graphs, and conclusion written on a separate sheet of paper).  Introduce forces, including types of forces, free-body diagrams, and balanced versus unbalanced forces.
• Tuesday 1/12:  Turn in Skateboard Lab.  Check off Acc and Momentum problems and go over.  Notes on Newton's first 2 laws.  Start Newton's 2nd Law worksheet, due Friday.
• Wednesday 1/13:  Motion Detector Lab.  Half of the class will do the lab while the other half works on Newton's 2nd Law problems, then we will switch.   Mid-day FLEX today!
• Thursday 1/14:  FLEX during lunch in my classroom.
• Friday 1/15:  Turn in Motion Detector Lab and Newton's 2nd Law worksheet.  Newton's 3rd Law and examples.  Newton's Laws mini-labs.  Hand out Semester Review packet.

Next week we will be taking a test on Chapters 11+12, doing a Notebook Check, and starting to review for the Final Exam.  Absolute Deadline for late work and extra credit will be Monday 1/25, but I would plan on completing your work sooner rather than later!!

The Week of 1/4/10-1/8/10

The new year has snuck up on us!!  May it be your best one yet!

• Monday 1/4/10:  Questions on Velocity Probs?  Due tomorrow.  Get in groups and do Wheelchair Races activity (sorry, you don't actually get to ride in them). 
• Tuesday 1/5/10:  Check off velocity problems.  Finish Wheelchair Races posters and learn about acceleration.  Hand out acceleration and momentum problems, due Monday due Tuesday.
• Wednesday 1/6/10:  Introduce Skateboard Lab and make predictions.  Go out in hall to take skateboard data.  Back in the classroom, process the data.   Do graphs for Friday.  Mid-day FLEX between 2nd and 4th periods.
• Thursday 1/7/10:  Lunch time FLEX in my classroom.
• Friday 1/8/10:  3 Question Quiz.  Questions on acceleration/momentum problems?   Write conclusion for Skateboard Lab.  Skateboard Lab due Tuesday.

If you are interested in getting ahead and studying for the final exam (to take place the last week of January), check out the Semester 1 Review in the documents section.

Need Something to Do?

I hope you have been enjoying your break!  If you are looking for something to do, revisit the Extra Credit document for this class and see if anything appeals to you.  I have been reading a number of books that were recommended to me by students.   I have enjoyed them all, although each is quite different.

1. The Radioactive Boy Scout, by Ken Silverstein, 2004 (recommended by Elliot in period 2).  This is the true story of a teen-ager who built a nuclear reactor in his backyard.  No, I do not recommend this activity to my students, but the science is well-explained and it may pique the interest of a future nuclear engineer!
2. The Canon:  A Whirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science, by Natalie Angier, 2007 (recommended by Maggie in period 4).  Angier, a science writer for the NY Times, explains topics of science in very witty and colorful terms.  She begins with an excellent chapter on thinking scientifically.
3. The Physics of the Impossible by Michio Kaku, 2008 (recommended by Corey in period 4).  Have you ever wondered if force fields, teleportation, time travel, and many of the other things you read about in science fiction are possible?  Kaku discusses the real science behind these topics and speculates as to when or if some of these far-flung ideas might come to fruition in the future.
4. The Velocity of Honey and More Science of Everyday Life by Jay Ingram, 2003 (recommended by Austin M-S in period 4).  This book is made up of quick and quirky discussions of everyday topics such as toast falling, baby-holding, the effects of staring at people, skipping stones, and curling (the sport, get ready to view the Winter Olympics with science in mind!). 

I'm always looking for new recommendations, so if you have read any good science books, send the titles my way and I will add them to my list.   I have been able to obtain all of them fairly quickly from the Multnomah County Library, so you might want to start there and see what you can find.   The Lincoln library has copies of a number of books from the list as well.  Check with the librarian and/or look for the Raczek book cart in the library. 

If you are curious about grades, I uploaded them on the Thursday before break.  These grades do not include your latest test, Critical Reader, or the Reaction Rates Lab.   Check for any missing assignments.