For Lesson 64, students learned about standard temperature and pressure (STP), the Mole, and Avogadro’s Number. We worked through slides 5-7 of the Lesson 64 PowerPoint and then watched the Crash Course video below:
Students then received the Lesson 64 Worksheet. Interested in how scientists calculated the number of particles in one Mole? Read about it at Wired Magazine.
Today marked the first of two days allocated to student presentations of their Mitosis Projects. Audience members were instructed to engage both by actively listening and also by taking the following notes in their lab notebooks:
A picture of one of the network diagrams constructed by one class period is shown below as an example of our work today:
Happy Pi Day! We began class with a SciShow video about Pi (below) and students received an additional 20 minutes to finish the Chapter 11 quiz from Friday. We then moved into Lesson 63, the first lesson of Chapter 12. Students received copies of the Lesson 63 Worksheet, a companion handout with information connecting air pressure and temperature, and a calendar detailing lessons, assignments, and tests through the end of March. Students are also welcome to review the Lesson 63 PowerPoint. A picture of the white board with notes about the lab are also provided below.
For the final lesson of Chapter 11, students conducted the”cloud in a bottle” lab. They added warm water to two-liter bottles and then filled the bottles with smoke. By squeezing and releasing the bottles, students observed cloud formation. They repeated the experiment with bottles filled with cold water and without water and made observations on the Lesson 62 Worksheet. The Lesson 62 PowerPoint is available here as a resource. In place of homework, students were encouraged to prepare a page of notes to use for the Chapter 11 Quiz tomorrow. Pictures of the whiteboard, including a list of key notes to take for the quiz tomorrow and some thinking about warm and cold front interactions.
For Lesson 61, students were introduced to the Combined Gas Law, k=PV/T. We worked through the Lesson 61 PowerPoint and then students received the Lesson 61 Worksheet. During class, we also watched a portion of a video showing the effect of atmospheric pressure on balloon volume. For homework, students were assigned three textbook problems of their choosing.
Today students launched in to the Mitosis Project. The project outline can be viewed here. Below are some resources for groups as they begin conducting research on their topic:
Additional information for each project topic can be found on the Mitosis Project Resources page. Remember to cite sources using APA format – Citation Machine can help simplify the process.
Class began with an example of why mitosis is important: a video showing how salamanders can regenerate lost limbs:
After the video, we worked through a PowerPoint providing students with important vocabulary related to mitosis, with images related to the vocabulary to help reinforce student learning. Students were encouraged to memorize “PMAT” – an acronym for Prophase, Metaphase, Anaphase, and Telophase which may prove useful on the Biology EOC. We also discussed the difference between the Washington State Science Standards and the Next Generation Science Standards governing mitosis. Although Washington State has adopted the NGSS, students are still tested on the WSSS and therefore must navigate between both worlds. The WSSS (9-11 LS1H) expects students to describe and model the process of mitosis, in which one cell divides, producing two cells, each with copies of both chromosomes from each pair in the original cell. The NGSS mitosis standard (HS-LS1-4) requires that students use a model to illustrate the role of cellular division (mitosis) and differentiation in producing and maintaining complex organisms. To help students achieve mastery of the content standards, students were introduced to the Mitosis Project. The final slide of the project includes a list of 12 different projects for students (working alone or in pairs) to chose from. Students learned a bit about each project and then had time to decide which project they would like to pursue. We will formally launch the project tomorrow.
We began class with the Meters, Liters, and Grams video:
After the video, we briefly reviewed the Metric System:
We worked through a few practice problems from Appendix A in the textbook (page A-0) which integrate the metric system and dimensional analysis. After the
We then transitioned to Lesson 60, providing students the opportunity to make connections between Charles’s Law, Boyle’s Law, and Gay-Lussac’s Law. Although we did not review it in class, the Lesson 60 PowerPoint is available for students to review. The Lesson 60 Worksheet called for students to use a University of Colorado PhET simulation. Because our Chromebooks are unable to run Java, students instead observed a teacher-led demonstration of the simulation software. For homework, students were assigned textbook problems 3-9 (odds). Students with access to a Windows-based computer are encouraged to try the simulation (embedded below):
| Click to Run |
After assembling into project groups of 3-4 students, groups were tasked with modeling the process of mitosis using modeling clay. Students documented their work by taking pictures (extra credit for stop-motion video) and emailing them to the teacher. The modeling activity served to reinforce the steps of mitosis and provided students with a creative way to share their learning.
For lesson 59, we learned about Gay-Lussac’s Law (P=kT), the third gas law needed to connect pressure, volume, and temperature. Gay-Lussac’s Law helps explain the egg-in-a-bottle trick, where boiled water displaces the air inside a bottle, and as the water condenses, an egg placed over the bottle will be pulled inside because of the change in pressure inside the bottle. The Lesson 59 worksheet and Lesson 59 PowerPoint are available for download.
Science with Swart 
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