Nature Journals and the Garden

Our garden is really starting to take shape, with our transplanted plants really starting to take root!  We also officially started our biodiversity unit with some nature journaling.

water wells !!!

today we went outdoors to discover wells around the school and their water levels  shout out to Tyler who  found both wells enjoy those freezes

Yesterday we worked hard to clean up the outside garden. We also planted many plants. Today we got a handout for an up coming field trip, we also talked about the worlds population. It was a fun class.

Elements Project and our Outside Garden

Our elements projects are now done. We are starting our CPTs soon. The outside garden is going well.

Tp wanted

If you can, bring in a roll of toilet paper. Make sure you know the brand name and the cost if possible. We are going to be doing some product testing in the near future. 

First TOMATO

WOW!, Only about a month in, and we have our first tomato.  The green house is really coming along.  Special thanks to Ben and all the students who have helped bring this along.  Have a great weekend.  Don't forget to review the differences between plant and animal cells.

Geocaching!

Today we put into practice all our GPS knowledge and navigation skills.  We learned how to imput a waypoint and how to navigate towards it.  Great job, and special Kudos to Jamil for the FTF!!!

Pictures of our onion cell lab!

This picture below is under 10X resolution...





This picture below is under 4X resolution.  What is the difference?

Plant Cell Lab

Today we prepared our onion cell slides and made some plant cell observations.  Use the diagram below to help you label your diagram.  

Microscope Safety

As we start our next mini unit "Microscopes" here are some rules to keep in mind...

1.  Always carry the microscope with two hands - one on the arm and one underneath the base of the microscope. Hold it up that it does not hit tables or chairs. Never swing the microscope.



2. Do not touch the lenses. If they are dirty, please raise your hand and ask for the special lens paper to clean the lenses.



3. If using a microscope with a mirror, do not use direct sunlight as the light source - eye damage may result. If using a microscope with a light, turn off light when not in use.



4. Be cautious when handling glass slides and cover-slips. Please do not handle broken glass - notify teacher.



5. Always clean slides and microscope when finished. Store microscope set on the lowest objective with the nosepiece turned down to its lowest position (using the coarse adjustment knob). If using a lighted microscope, turn off light before pulling out the plug.

Some High Energy Presentations

The class presented their projects today.  Great job!

Electricity Project

Our electricity project is well underway.  Our goal is to continue research and compilation today, with some people hopefully ready to present tomorrow.

Here is an example of a simple video that helps explain Hydro Power.  We will try and review a few of these as we go!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvxUZF4lvGw

More Electricity

Today we began our Electricity Production Project.  Tonight, think about all the different types, and what one you want to be the expert on. Also, do you want to work with a partner or all by yourself?

Sens face three more must wins.  Notre Dame pray for us!!!

Permaculture

Tom, our guest speaker was in to share his insight into the world of Permaculture.  We learned a lot!  We now have many ideas to use in our garden project.  Thanks Tom.  We may see you again for our garden club.

Permaculture!

A fancy new term for our new mini unit.  We are focusing on agriculture, food and healthy living for the next few days.  Organic food, the 100 mile diet, and Permaculture is on the menu.  More to come...

Wrapping up Electricity.

It was a very good four days of electricity.  Over the four days we completed four labs and the students should have some basic records of their work in their journal.  Next week we are back to some horticulture.  Have a great weekend!

Electricity and Cosmos

We have gotten into a bit of a groove with the new science series Cosmos.  We watch and discuss some of the Sunday night episode during class on Monday.  It's a great show.

We also hummed along in our electricity unit today.  Tomorrow we commence a 4 day electricity lab where we will complete 4 stations (1 per day) all pertaining to electricity.  Major areas of study include static electricity, current electricity and circuits, solar cars and an Ipad webquest.

Have a great night!

Studying and Reviewing...

Just a reminder, that a great way to review and prepare for assessments is to follow the blog!

Welcome Back!

It's great to be back after the March Break.  We have been ramping back up in the area of Pinhole photography.  We had some really nice images today.  Kudos to Alyssa and Kate.  We just started our study of electricity as well.  Don't forget the first big trip of the course this Friday.

Pinhole Photography!

Today we made the camera's!  Tomorrow we will try and load them and maybe take a picture or two!  A little more greenhouse maintenance and a good news story by Kody!  Go Sens Go!

Pinhole Photography Unit

Pinhole Camera Unit

Pinhole photography is a hobby still practiced by many even in the age of digital photography. We will take some old fashioned pinhole pictures after we make our cameras. To help us get started...

1. What is a pinhole camera?
2. How does a pinhole camera work?
3. In 5 steps or less, outline how to construct a pinhole camera.
4. How do you actually take a picture with a pinhole camera?
5. How do you develop the picture from the pinhole camera?

Hovercraft Science!

WOW! What a class, it was uplifting and competitive.  Kudos to all competitors!  Next week we will look at pinhole photography.  Have a great weekend.

 

Tomatosphere Video...

Our day 1 tomatosphere video

Tomatosphere and Hovercrafts!

For homework, please think about how you will build a winning hovercraft.  Do you remember the code for the tomatoes?  V = clear and T= black

Tomatosphere and the Coffee lab!

Today we moved forward in our data collection for the coffee lab.  We now have 3 sets of good data to graph.  We also heard about the tomatosphere project which we will start on Wednesday.  Great class guys.

Graphing and Growing

We are smack dab in the middle of a couple of major projects; the greenhouse and the coffee lab!  Keep up the great work!

HS Planning

Today we visited Ms. Orianna in the library to learn what we have to do for our course selections for next year.  We had just enough time do do some real science and collect our data for our second coffee cup experiment.

Science of Coffee Lab #1

Great work today guys in your coffee lab #1.  Careful and precise data measurements are firsts steps in good science.  Tomorrow we will continue making our way in answering our question!

We are starting spring planting!

Today we started planting.  We learned the 7 essential conditions for plant growth:
- Light
- Water
- Nutrients
- Suitable pH
- Suitable Atmosphere
- Soil or other growing medium
- Suitable Temperature

We started off some seeds in peat pellets for day one of our planting.  Tomorrow we will be doing some directly in soil.  Should be a neat comparison.

The Burning Candle Lab!

Well, it wasn't a birthday party party, but we did burn some candles.  Actually it is Mr. Capobianco's birthday...Happy Birthday to our VP.

Today we worked with dependent and independent variables as we measured the ongoing height of a burning candle.  Safety was discussed, and graphs were produced.

First Science Challenge!

Today we completed our first science challenge. Congratulations to our Gold, Silver and Bronze Medalists.  Ghafran, Muschi and Tyler.  We also wrapped up our penny lab. 

Drops on a Penny Lab

Today we completed the world famous Drops on a Penny Lab!  The focus was on variables and having fun.  Have a great weekend!

Getting our Blog On...

Great job on mini-blog assignment.  Tomorrow its drops on a penny!

Safety is Important!

It is hard to have fun if you are injured!  Today we discussed safety in the lab.  Respond to this post, with your top 5 safety rules!

Visiting Ms. Mantle...our Teacher Librarian!

It was another excellent trip to the learning commons today!  Ms. Mantle showed us the ropes of Google, and got us all ready to work in our online environment!  Thanks Ms. Mantle!  Tomorrow we are back to get our Blog on!

Observations Lab

Today we completed our Observations Lab.  Great job working on your qualitative and quantitative observations.  The teamwork on display was also very good!  Tomorrow we are off to see Ms. Mantle in the Library!

We start our science in the news presentations on Thursday!  Here is a link to a really interesting story that has some science angles to it.  I will use it today as an example for the presentations...


Survival at sea for a really long time!!!

First Class

Great first day.  For review you need to know the two main types of Observations!

Parent Letter

Please don't forget to bring the parent letter home. 

Science is Cool Video!

Science is all about asking questions...

Nature has so many questions....

Why is science important?

Hey guys, welcome again to our Blog!

To practice using our Blog, please answer the following...

Why is science important?

Welcome!

Hi Students and Parents!

This is our class blog.  This is a place where we can interact and keep informed about our course.  This is not a place for anything else.  I look forward to your posts and questions, and sharing with you what we are doing in the course.