Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Wed, Sep 30, 09 - APS-3A

HW: finish graph and hand in graph and data table on Friday.

Students took Material Science test. Took about 40 min including survey.

Talked about graphs. In this class we make line graphs to show the relationship between variables.

Divided students into groups of 3 and did round object lab. Students are to finish the graphs for HW and hand in on Friday.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Tuesday, Sept 29, 09 - APS 1B, 4B

HW: Check Quia for review questions
Test next time on Material Science

Reviewed previous class results
Quiz on previous class

Powerpoint on polymers

Recognizing patterns and making connections.

What is a polymer - many parts
polymer is a long chained molecule made of many repeating parts
Had students recite this until they could do it with gusto

Classifying polymers - natural vs synthetic
Went around room asking for examples of natural polymers

Told Nydam's joke about silk worms having race to see who could produce the most silk - ended in a tie

Examples of synthetic polymers - come from petroleum

Thermoplastics - recyclable (recycle numbers on products)
Thermosets - non-recyclable

Packing peanuts - how many peanuts can I fit in film canister?
Starch vs polystyrene peanuts. Do you thing that the different properties in what dissolves what could tell you something about the microscopic structure of the polymers? Would it be wise to pour gasoline in a styrofoam cup?

Synthetic polymers come from petroleum. Slides showed that as number of carbons increased, so did density, melting point temperature, and boiling point temperature.

Hand hold model of polymerization. Did in hall. Hands represent chemical bonds, bodies represent carbon atoms.

Chain model of polymer. Chain was 2500 beads long; a normal polyethylene molecule has 10,000 carbons. Had students visualize entanglement. Showed with steel wool.
Steel wool is held together by entanglement, but there are some holes. If you have a potato chip bag, it is polymer on the outside, but you don't want air to get in so you coat the inside with aluminum.

The coke can is made of aluminum. But it holds coca cola which is acidic. To protect the metal, the can is coated on the inside with a polymer layer - show can.

HDPE vs LDPE. Story of trucks with trees. Used heat gun to separate HDPE and make more transparent. As it cools, it goes back to being tighter packed with fewer spaces and less transparent. Heated again and blew bubble.

In some classes handed out strips of garbage bag and allowed students to stretch it to make the longest strip. As it stretched, it became more transparent.

Back to slide of chemical structures of various polymers. PVC replaces H with Cl.
Identified monomer units.

Finished with using torch on light bulb forming dimple (low pressure inside) and then pimple (high pressure inside from heating up atoms and molecules). Temperature is random wiggling and jiggling of particles. In some classes, plugged bulb in and it lit.

Monday, Sept 28, 2009 - 3A

HW: Check Quia for review questions
Test next time on Material Science

Reviewed previous class results
Quiz on previous class

Powerpoint on polymers

Recognizing patterns and making connections.

What is a polymer - many parts
polymer is a long chained molecule made of many repeating parts
Had students recite this until they could do it with gusto

Classifying polymers - natural vs synthetic
Went around room asking for examples of natural polymers

Told Nydam's joke about silk worms having race to see who could produce the most silk - ended in a tie

Examples of synthetic polymers - come from petroleum

Thermoplastics - recyclable (recycle numbers on products)
Thermosets - non-recyclable

Packing peanuts - how many peanuts can I fit in film canister?
Starch vs polystyrene peanuts. Do you thing that the different properties in what dissolves what could tell you something about the microscopic structure of the polymers? Would it be wise to pour gasoline in a styrofoam cup?

Synthetic polymers come from petroleum. Slides showed that as number of carbons increased, so did density, melting point temperature, and boiling point temperature.

Hand hold model of polymerization. Did in hall. Hands represent chemical bonds, bodies represent carbon atoms.

Chain model of polymer. Chain was 2500 beads long; a normal polyethylene molecule has 10,000 carbons. Had students visualize entanglement. Showed with steel wool.

HDPE vs LDPE. Story of trucks with trees. Used heat gun to separate HDPE and make more transparent. As it cools, it goes back to being tighter packed with fewer spaces and less transparent. Heated again and blew bubble.

Back to slide of chemical structures of various polymers. PVC replaces H with Cl.
Identified monomer units.

Finished with using torch on light bulb forming dimple (low pressure inside) and then pimple (high pressure inside from heating up atoms and molecules). Temperature is random wiggling and jiggling of particles. In some classes, plugged bulb in and it lit.

Friday, Sept 25, 2009 - APS 1B., 4B

HW: Check Quia for review and summary questions

5-min quiz on ideas from crystal structure of metals lab.
Went over Quiz

Content Objectives:
Students will be able to
1. Explain how the rate of cooling affects crystal growth
2. Describe with pictures, defects in metals
3. Explain how defects can affect properties of metals

BB Boards - 1 per 2 people
Showed defects: vacancies and line defects
Showed grains - regular groupings of BBs (models of atoms)
Had students sketch pictures of defects and grains in their notes.

BB board worked great on overhead

Handed out 6" pieces of metal wire, 1 per 4 students. Told students NOT to touch them.
Group nominated one student to bend the wire, and then bend back. It did not get straight showing that it was harder to bend, stronger.

Bending introduced defects. The slip planes could not move through the defects as well making the metal less ductile and stronger.

Showed intro to Conan the Barbarian - where they make the sword. Talked about the various scenes: heating to change crystal structure to make easier to shape, hammering to introduce carbon to make steel and also pound out impurities, bellows to add air to get a hotter flame, quenching to make hard, annealing to make strong and flexible.

Used BB boards to model rapid cooling (small or no grains) and slow cooling (large crystals). Showed pictures of Chihuahua Giant Crystals, Giant's Causeway basalt columns, basalt columns in Columbia River Gorge. Discussed rate of crystal formation and size.

Talked about cooling lava that contained different materials with different temperatures at which they solidity. Used analogy of room mates moving into a room. First to move in gets more space. First crystals to form are larger.

Students worked in groups of 4. One returned BB boards and wires. One got a microscope, showed how to handle it. One got goggles. Students set up microscopes at lowest setting. I handed out slides with Phenyl Salicylate. Student with goggles heated to melting with barbecue lighter. I went around and placed seed crystal on slide so students could watch crystal formation. I asked them to see what happened when grain boundaries ran into each other and also check the shape of the crystals (rhombic).

Thursday, Sept 24, 09 - APS-3A

HW: Check Quia for review and summary questions

5-min quiz on ideas from crystal structure of metals lab.
Went over Quiz

Content Objectives:
Students will be able to
1. Explain how the rate of cooling affects crystal growth
2. Describe with pictures, defects in metals
3. Explain how defects can affect properties of metals

BB Boards - 1 per 2 people
Showed defects: vacancies and line defects
Showed grains - regular groupings of BBs (models of atoms)
Had students sketch pictures of defects and grains in their notes.

BB board worked great on overhead

Handed out 6" pieces of metal wire, 1 per 4 students. Told students NOT to touch them.
Group nominated one student to bend the wire, and then bend back. It did not get straight showing that it was harder to bend, stronger.

Bending introduced defects. The slip planes could not move through the defects as well making the metal less ductile and stronger.

Showed intro to Conan the Barbarian - where they make the sword. Talked about the various scenes: heating to change crystal structure to make easier to shape, hammering to introduce carbon to make steel and also pound out impurities, bellows to add air to get a hotter flame, quenching to make hard, annealing to make strong and flexible.

Used BB boards to model rapid cooling (small or no grains) and slow cooling (large crystals). Showed pictures of Chihuahua Giant Crystals, Giant's Causeway basalt columns, basalt columns in Columbia River Gorge. Discussed rate of crystal formation and size.

Talked about cooling lava that contained different materials with different temperatures at which they solidity. Used analogy of room mates moving into a room. First to move in gets more space. First crystals to form are larger.

Students worked in groups of 4. One returned BB boards and wires. One got a microscope, showed how to handle it. One got goggles. Students set up microscopes at lowest setting. I handed out slides with Phenyl Salicylate. Student with goggles heated to melting with barbecue lighter. I went around and placed seed crystal on slide so students could watch crystal formation. I asked them to see what happened when grain boundaries ran into each other and also check the shape of the crystals (rhombic).

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Wed Sept 23, 2009 - APS 1B, APS 4B

I put the Conclusions Questions on Quia as well as a couple of other questions.
I didn't think of it until the 4B class so only they got told even though all of the APS students can now access this quiz.

Students took out Crystal Structure of Metals worksheet.

I had them do a warm up, asking how far they got, and if they did not finish, where did they get stuck.

In Block 1A Went over the packet in detail as a class. In Block 4A we tried the iron wire demo first before going over the packet since so many students were leaving early for sporting events.

Did a conclusions section that highlighted the main points of the lab:
Conclusions:
1. Rank the different crystal structures of metals, FCC (face centered cubic), BCC (body-centered cubic), and HCP (Hexagonal Close Packed) in terms of their ductility, most ductile to least ductile:

Most ductile: ________________ ________________ ________________ Least ductile

2. Is it possible to predict crystal structure of a metal based on the physical property of ductility, the ability to be shaped by hammering? ____________

3. Gold has a __________ crystal structure. Iron has a ____________ crystal structure. Which is more easily shaped by hammering? ____________

4. Comparing FCC and BCC, which crystal structure is more tightly packed (has the higher packing factor): ____________

5. Suppose a metal could change its crystal structure from FCC to BCC. For the same number of atoms, would the volume increase, decrease, or stay the same? ____________

6. Suppose you had a thin wire metal, and the metal in the wire changed its crystal structure from FCC to BCC. Would the length of the wire increase, decrease, or stay the same? __________


Showed setup for Iron Wire Demo.
In class 1B we did the demo twice, once showing the change in length as the wire underwent the phase change while cooling and the second time showing the loss of magnetism at high temperatures.

In class 4B we did the demo but the phase change effect was not very noticeable. The second time I tried it, there were problems with the variac so I shut it down early and just went over the packet.

Did the demo. Students made observations.
Students noted the expansion of the wire as it got heated up.
The wire heated to glowing showing that it was hot enough to emit light.

Students were asked to observe what happened to the wire when I shut off the power.
It was a bit subtle, but the wire did shrink a bit, and then expand - showing the phase change from FCC to BCC as it cooled.

Finished with discussion of the Twin Towers on 9/11 and how the phase change in the steel girders could have caused them to become more ductile, along with ~9% uneven shrinkage, adding to the collapse.

I really like this demo because there are just so many ideas shown.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Tuesday, Sept 22, 2009 - APS 3A

Students took out Crystal Structure of Metals worksheet.

I had them do a warm up, asking how far they got, and if they did not finish, where did they get stuck.

Went over the packet in detail as a class.

Did a conclusions section that highlighted the main points of the lab:
Conclusions:
1. Rank the different crystal structures of metals, FCC (face centered cubic), BCC (body-centered cubic), and HCP (Hexagonal Close Packed) in terms of their ductility, most ductile to least ductile:

Most ductile: ________________ ________________ ________________ Least ductile

2. Is it possible to predict crystal structure of a metal based on the physical property of ductility, the ability to be shaped by hammering? ____________

3. Gold has a __________ crystal structure. Iron has a ____________ crystal structure. Which is more easily shaped by hammering? ____________

4. Comparing FCC and BCC, which crystal structure is more tightly packed (has the higher packing factor): ____________

5. Suppose a metal could change its crystal structure from FCC to BCC. For the same number of atoms, would the volume increase, decrease, or stay the same? ____________

6. Suppose you had a thin wire metal, and the metal in the wire changed its crystal structure from FCC to BCC. Would the length of the wire increase, decrease, or stay the same? __________


Showed setup for Iron Wire Demo.
In class 3A we didn't have too much time for the demo so I skimped on having students look for the "physics" in the set-up.

Did the demo. Students made observations.
Students noted the expansion of the wire as it got heated up.
The wire heated to glowing showing that it was hot enough to emit light.

Students were asked to observe what happened to the wire when I shut off the power.
It was a bit subtle, but the wire did shrink a bit, and then expand - showing the phase change from FCC to BCC as it cooled.

Finished with discussion of the Twin Towers on 9/11 and how the phase change in the steel girders could have caused them to become more ductile, along with ~9% uneven shrinkage, adding to the collapse.

I really like this demo because there are just so many ideas shown.

No homework.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Monday, Sept 21, 2009 - Blocks 1B, 4B

Handed back Quiz on Sig Figs, Rounding, Pythagorean Theorem.
Asked if there were any questions on the Quiz - there were no questions in Block 1B

There is an optional quiz on Quiz with more practice problems. It is optional but if students do it and get 100%, then it is a 5/5 in the gradebook.

Warm-up Quiz on the material of the last class.

Went over Quiz.

Described the 4 classes of solids: polymers, metals, glass, composites. Showed overhead of relative importance through history and discussed briefly.

Handed out lab packet for Crystal Structure of Metals.
Handed out Periodic Table.
Introduced and explained lab.
Described what was meant by "most densely packed plane" and how to choose the most densely packed plane from the layers you would make.

Handed out lab kits.

Students made crystals. Went over questions as a class. Got through #6.

Asked students to finish lab packet for homework.

Friday, September 18, 2009

Friday, Sept 18, 2009 - APS 3A

Handed back Room Scavenger Hunt sheets.
Handed back Quiz on Sig Figs, Rounding, Pythagorean Theorem.

Went over any questions on the Quiz.

I will try to put more practice problems on Quia.

Warm-up Quiz on the material of the last class.

Went over Quiz.

Described the 4 classes of solids: polymers, metals, glass, composites. Showed overhead of relative importance through history and discussed briefly.

Handed out lab packet for Crystal Structure of Metals.
Handed out Periodic Table.
Introduced and explained lab.
Described what was meant by "most densely packed plane" and how to choose the most densely packed plane from the layers you would make.

Handed out lab kits.

Students worked on lab.

Most students needed individual attention - several times - to understand what was being asked.

Asked students to finish lab packet for homework.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Thursday, Sept 17, 2009 - Blocks 1B, 4B

Collect RA Prologue

Quiz on sig figs, rounding, Pythagorean Theorem

Review scientific method:
Question
Hypothesis
Experiment
Conclusion - Model

Intro to Material Science
Humans used fire 500,000 years ago
Learned to make it 15,000 years ago

Why so long?
Imagine all "processed" materials disappeared. What are your basic needs? How would you meet them?

You need to use materials to match the function.
Class discussion.

Theme for Material Science Mini-Unit: What can the physical properties of a material tell us about the structure of the material?

Stiffness of Paper Lab
Question: Does the orientation of the rectangle cut from the paper depend on its orientation?
Hypothesis + reasoning based on background info:

Do the experiment.
Data Table.

Make a conclusion. Try to explain results with a model.

Discussed results.
Model of pasta bridges.

Paper is made of long fibers.
Balloons also made of long chains. Demo of balloon skewers. (Didn't have time in 4B for balloon demo)

All of these involve long chain molecules called polymers (many + parts)

Other examples of polymers are wood, animal skins, people, plastics, rubber.
Posted by Mr. Holmes at 9:47 AM 0 comments

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Wednesday, Sept 16, 2009 - 3A

Collect RA Prologue

Quiz on sig figs, rounding, Pythagorean Theorem

Review scientific method:
Question
Hypothesis
Experiment
Conclusion - Model

Intro to Material Science
Humans used fire 500,000 years ago
Learned to make it 15,000 years ago

Why so long?
Imagine all "processed" materials disappeared. What are your basic needs? How would you meet them?

You need to use materials to match the function.
Class discussion.

Theme for Material Science Mini-Unit: What can the physical properties of a material tell us about the structure of the material?

Stiffness of Paper Lab
Question: Does the orientation of the rectangle cut from the paper depend on its orientation?
Hypothesis + reasoning based on background info:

Do the experiment.
Data Table.

Make a conclusion. Try to explain results with a model.

Discussed results.
Model of pasta bridges.

Paper is made of long fibers.
Balloons also made of long chains. Demo of balloon skewers.
Another example is polarizers. Demonstrate on overhead and with picket fence model.

All of these involve long chain molecules called polymers (many + parts)

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Tuesday, Sept 15, 2009 - Blocks 1B, 4B

Homework:
Redo Quia exercises to get 100%
Quiz next time on Significant Figures, Rounding, Pythagorean Theorem
Reading Assignment for prologue in Textbook

Content Objectives;
Student will be able to:
1. Identify significant figures in a number and correctly round a given number to the given number of sig figs or decimal places.
2. Recognize that the more digits you write down for an answer from your calculator does not necessarily give a better answer. Sometimes more digits can make a correct answer incorrect.
3. Use the Pythagorean Theorem to solve for an unknown side of a right triangle.
4. Identify and use the elements of attentive listening

In these classes we did not get to the classroom scavenger hunt and we did not get to #5 and #6
5. Recognize the steps and use the scientific method to answer a question:
General question-->hypothesis-->experiment(variables and procedure)-->model and generalization
6. Describe an example in which the properties of a material can be used to understand the structure of the material.
7. Locate tools and safety equipment in the lab and execute the emergency evacuation procedure.

Check Attendance

Collect:
Parent Notification Forms
Course Expectation Forms

Check for Covers on Books

Quiz on Class Policies

Exercise in attentive listening.
What does attentive listening look like, sound like, how does it make you feel

Check for any email problems (I couldn't send a message)
Handout on Significant Figures, Rounding, Pythagorean Theorem
Go over Quia homework using projector

Show Mr. Holmes' favorite proof of the Pythagorean Theorem and favorite use of Pythagorean Theorem (How slow does your moving clock tick?)

Did not get to Classroom Scavenger Hunt.
Did not get to Material Science intro.

Introduction to Material Science

What can we learn about the structure of a material from its physical properties?
Paper Lab

Pasta bridge model

Students classify various objects based on what they are made of.
Posted by Mr. Holmes at 9:33 AM 0 comments

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Monday, Sept 14, 2009 Block 3A

Homework:
Redo Quia exercises to get 100%
Quiz next time on Significant Figures, Rounding, Pythagorean Theorem
Reading Assignment in Textbook

Content Objectives;
Student will be able to:
1. Identify significant figures in a number and correctly round a given number to the given number of sig figs or decimal places.
2. Recognize that the more digits you write down for an answer from your calculator does not necessarily give a better answer. Sometimes more digits can make a correct answer incorrect.
3. Use the Pythagorean Theorem to solve for an unknown side of a right triangle.
4. Identify and use the elements of attentive listening

Students did classroom scavenger hunt but we did not get to #5 and #6
5. Recognize the steps and use the scientific method to answer a question:
General question-->hypothesis-->experiment(variables and procedure)-->model and generalization
6. Describe an example in which the properties of a material can be used to understand the structure of the material.
7. Locate tools and safety equipment in the lab and execute the emergency evacuation procedure.

Assign Seats with Seating Chart
Check Attendance

Collect:
Parent Notification Forms
Course Expectation Forms

Check for Covers on Books

Quiz on Class Policies

Exercise in attentive listening.
What does attentive listening look like, sound like, how does it make you feel

Check for any email problems (I couldn't send a message)
Handout on Significant Figures, Rounding, Pythagorean Theorem
Go over Quia homework using projector

Show Mr. Holmes' favorite proof of the Pythagorean Theorem and favorite use of Pythagorean Theorem (How slow does your moving clock tick?)

Room Scavenger Hunt - Only had 10 minutes for this so some students did not finish.

Did not get to Material Science intro.

Introduction to Material Science

What can we learn about the structure of a material from its physical properties?
Paper Lab

Pasta bridge model

Students classify various objects based on what they are made of.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Friday, September 11, 2009 - Blocks 1B, 4B

Homework due next class (Tuesday Sept 15)
. Return Parent Notification Form (10 Points)
. Return Course Expectation From (5 Points)
. Bring covered textbook (10 Points) (good "structural" cover, not taped to book)
. Quia exercises on significant figures, rounding, Pythagorean Theorem

Quiz next class on Class Policies

I assigned seats with seating chart.

Introduction
Student Profiles
Teacher intro
Get Textbooks - need to be covered


Go over Course Expectation Form

Give out Quia user names and passwords.
Quickly review significant digits, rounding, and the Pythagorean Theorem.
Students have homework doing these Quia exercises.

Magic Jar Demo
In 4B showed "wrist breaking" using plastic up

Talked about seismic lines, salt domes, in 1B showed how to determine water depth using time and speed of sound in water.

In 4B, showed demos of diamagnetism of grapes, penny in balloon, hex nut in balloon.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Thursday, Sept 10, 2009 Block 3A

Homework due next class (Monday Sept 14)
. Return Parent Notification Form (10 Points)
. Return Course Expectation From (5 Points)
. Bring covered textbook (10 Points) (good "structural" cover, not taped to book)
. Quia exercises on significant figures, rounding, Pythagorean Theorem

Quiz next class on Class Policies

Students signed in seating chart
Student Profiles
Get Textbooks - need to be covered

Give out Quia user names and passwords.
Quickly review significant digits, rounding, and the Pythagorean Theorem

Go over Course Expectation Form
Magic Jar Demo

Students searched cover of textbook for science.
Asked for examples.
Talked about rainbows. Mentioned ROYGBIV
Yellow flame is hotter than red so in ROYGBIV, energy increases towards violet.
Went outside. Had students stand in circle around hose and then walk around until they could see the rainbow caused by the spray. Note that when you face the rainbow, the Sun is directly behind you.

Showed fire drill location and procedure.

Brief Teacher Introduction

Friday, September 4, 2009

Introduction

This is the blog of daily summaries for Mr. Holmes' Advanced Physical Science Class at Tigard High School

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