Mr. Lang's World of Science

Table of Shapes

2012-02-19T14:58:00.000-08:00

This was a fun activity.
Each group got a bag of legos, and they arranged their legos by two properties... Shape and Color.

After they made their table, they visited the other groups, all of which had a different set of shapes and colors. Some new discoveries just filled in an expected spot in their table, others required adding a color or shape to their table.

After they checked out all the other groups, they had to make a final draft of their table, including all shapes and sized found. However this did NOT fill their table in.

Just like Mendeleev's original Table, there are spots empty, where we can determine the proprieties of the missing "elements."

Tehre are only 3 questions.

1- Describe how you set up your table.
An example table I used had Groups as different colors, going from light to dark, including White, Yellow, Red, Blue, Black. The Periods were different shapes, including 2x1, 2x2, 2x3, 2x4, 2x6, 2x8 2x10.
Students could organize it any way they wanted EXCEPT random. Almost everyone had shapes going from small to big, a few, big to small. Colors were harder to put "in order." A lot of kids did light to dark or dark to light. A few alphabetized them. Some tried "rainbow" but the black and white do not fit that very well. Whatever they decided was ok, as long as they had SOME way to sort them.

2- What did you have to add/change going from rough draft to final draft. New colors? Shapes? YES, list each brick that you found in other groups that were not in your set of legos.

3- What can you predict about "new" legos... BASED ON YOUR TABLE. Essentially, which spots in your table are empty? There should be at least a few.

TROUBLE!
Well, we had some issues in 1st hour. I asked everyone to share what colors and shaped everyone had so I could make a sample table. Turns out nobody mentioned the 2x10 lego. I even asked, as I thought there was one. Then in 2nd hour, 3rd hour, and 5th hour, NOBODY said, "Hey Mr. Lang, wasn't there a 2x10 also?" It was not until 6th hour someone mentioned it. So, my sample lacked a 2x10.

Week of 2/20

2012-02-19T14:34:00.000-08:00

We will have a short quiz on the first set of element names at the start of this week.
I am assigning the second set of element names (see last post) for a quiz next week. Each week I will add a set, until we have the first 20, plus a few metals.
This first quiz will cover just the first set of elements, but each quiz after covers ALL the elements we have gone over. I will have 10 each other quiz, so next week's quiz will cover #6-10, PLUS four random elements from this week. The third quiz will be 11-15, plus four from 1-10, etc.

This week I will be checking the second set of vocab, AND The first set of elements.
There is no new set of vocab words (just element names)

Last week I also assigned an element report. Not huge, but each student was assigned an element to look up some information on. The reports will all go together to make a giant class-made periodic table. (well, the first few rows anyways!)

Week of Feb 13

2012-02-13T12:44:00.000-08:00

Whoops, I did not get to the blog last week.

We are on the PERIODIC TABLE.
We are NOT doing notes from the book for a while, and most of our notes will be in class, and occasionally I will assign reading to supplement the day's discussion.

VOCAB SET 1
Proton
Neutron
Electron
Electron Shells
Atomic Number
Periodic Table notation (what info is in each sq.)

THIS WEEK
VOCAB SET 2
Period
Group
Valence electrons
metals (where on table & properties of)
nonmetals (where on table & properties of)
Noble Gasses (where on table & properties of)

We are starting TWO sets of vocab words each week now...
ONE set is vocabulary, just like always.
The OTHER set, is a list of elements.
For each card, on one side, put the ELEMENT NAME
the other side gets the ATOMIC SYMBOL.
We will do a handful of elements a week for 4 weeks.

First Set: H, He, Li, Be, B, Fe
Second Set: C, N, O, F, Ne, Cu
Third Set: Na, Mg, Al, Si, P, Ag
Fourth Set: S, Cl, Ar, K, Ca, Au, Hg

Do NOT try to learn the atomic mass of these!

THE POINT OF THE LAB BLOGS

2012-02-02T09:47:00.001-08:00

I want students to have access to all the information that I give in class, and if someone is absent, or perhaps have trouble getting all the details as I describe it in class, I want a record of what I told the kids about the lab.

IT IS NOT HERE TO COPY WORD FOR WORD.

That is called plagiarism, passing off someone else's work as your own.

It is here so you can read what it is I am looking for, and compare it to your work, to see if it is what I am looking for, or for you to read and clarify something you missed in class.

Don't make me stop doing these lab descriptions.

Mystery Powder

2012-02-02T09:44:00.000-08:00

This lab is a BIGGIE.
50 points Total

Data: 10 pts
Q 1-4: 20 pts
Q 5: 10 pts
Q 6 10 pts

Each of the 4 powders and 2 mixtures we did:
Looking at the powder, with our eyes, with magnifying glasses AND microscopes. Get a GOOD visual description.
We touched it and described the TEXTURE.
We put iodine on it, looking for a reaction (color change).
We put acid on it, looking for a reaction (fizzing).
We put water on it, looking for a reaction (dissolving).
We put it in heat, looking for lots of reactions.

#1, Sugar. It burned in a unique way, getting a nice caramel color before it burnt black and gave off LOTS of sweet, marshmallow smelling smoke.

#2, Baking soda. It fizzed like crazy in acid. It also did NOT burn, but left a white film on the tin foil.

#3, Corn Starch. It turned black with iodine. It did not dissolve, but left the water milky. It was also the smoothest powder by far. Over heat, the solution thickened to a goo, but when dried out, it got flaky and burnt, but very differently then the sugar.

#4. Salt. When over heat, it popped little pieces of salt all over the place, and left a crusty salt crystal, and did not burn.

They all looked different in the microscope, and YES, they should include details from each of the tests, I am just mentioning the most important details.

THE MIXTURES
There were 6 different mixtures:(A, B, C, D, E, F) Each student only had to test the 2 that were at their station. In testing the mixture, the student should be looking for the CHARACTERISTIC PROPERTIES of powder 1-4 to identify them. I am NOT telling what is in each mixture, but I will help students make sense of their data if they ask, and i DID tell them what to look for when looking at the mixtures.

It is NOT UNCOMMON that to answer #5 and 6 with ALL THE DETAILS that they can, it could take a WHOLE PAGE to describe EACH MIXTURE. There were 6 tests, for 4 powders, and each one will help prove the presence or absence of one of the powders. I DID tell them that the mixtures are a mix of ONLY TWO (no mixes of three or four powders... heh, that would be fun)

GRADES!!!

2012-01-25T15:42:00.001-08:00

At this time I have collected and entered into the grades

GRADE RECORD SHEET (Sem 1) 20 POINTS
ELEMENT COMPOUND MIXTURE LAB 20 POINTS.

If you are missing only ONE of these (since there are only TWO) the BEST you can get is a 50% F. I have a LOT of kids that did not turn in EITHER of these two assignments and have a ZERO PERCENT.

A LOT OF KIDS ARE STARTING OFF ON THE WRONG FOOT.

PLEASE CHECKS YOUR CHILD'S GRADE.

I will be entering in Cpt 2/3 Homework notes grades, and that should help some (assuming they DID the homework)

Jan 24 & 25

2012-01-25T15:12:00.000-08:00

We did a LOT of classwork today. Several handouts that we would have done as we covered the topics, all got done today, as a big day of review, and it all went in our Current Work Section.

Title Page (Most students did the front of this last week)
Changes in Matter (Review of Physical & Chemical Changes)
Changes in State (Review of Solids, Liquids, Gasses and the temperature graph)
Gas Laws (mostly a review of graphing- some periods did not get to the back)
Quiz (a review quiz on all of the above)

I just checked the Handouts section of my web page... Dang, the semester 2 handouts are not posted! I'll see if I can get all that done this weekend.

Changing States lab

2012-01-23T12:29:00.000-08:00

OoOoOo Melting an ice cube! But watch as the states change from a solid to a liquid to a gas.

While the ice was melting, the temperature should not change much. The starting temperature was low (somewhere in the -5C to 5C range usually) and the temperature stays fairly low, and gradually warms up as the ice melts. Ideally, we should see NO change in temperature but a few things make our ideal graph not happen.
Taking the temp of a solid ice cube with a solid thermometer is difficult, we tend to get a temperature somewhere between the temp of the ice and the temp of the air.
Also, we are using very hot Bunsen burners, which pump heat into the water faster then it can conduct into the ice, so the temp does go up some, but slowly.

Once the ice melts however, the temperature goes up QUICKLY, now that all the energy is going to increasing the temperature.

Once the water starts to steam, the temperature increase slows down, small bubbles start to appear, and it slows down more, and once it is in a full boil, the temperature stops climbing and stays about 100C

All the steam and bubbles were the water molecules turning from a liquid to a gas state, and leaving the beaker, so the mass at the end is lower. Please tell me how many grams of water you lost to evaporation.

The water started as a solid, ice, where the molecules are closely packed and locked in place.
As it melted from a solid to a liquid, the particles became no longer locked in place, so they can flow.
When it heats up enough to turn to a gas, not only are they no longer locked in place, but they are also not packed tightly together, so they are free to leave the beaker.
THERE WERE OTHER THINGS THAT HAPPENED TOO...

To review the best data we have of the temperature of a substance as it changes state (the boiling part of the lab), we know that the temperature STAYS THE SAME as it changes state.

Week of Jan 23

2012-01-23T12:11:00.000-08:00

This week there are no new vocab words - Study the ones you have!

I will check last weeks words on Tuesday and Wednesday, and then add the Cpt 2/3 notes into the gradebook.

I will collect the Changing States lab on Thursday/Friday

Homework:
Cpt assessments
Cpt 2 is on pg 81: # 1-4, 6-9, 11-13, 18-22
Pt 3 is on pg 115: # 1-3, 11, 12, 15, 20.
Do them in your notebook.
Write them in sentences.

Thursday, Friday, next Monday AND Tuesday we will be doing the MYSTERY POWDER LAB.
FIFTY POINTS (Over DOUBLE a regular lab!!) FIRE!! CHEMICALS!! BURNING STUFF!! REFERRALS!! More info to come!

BAND STUDENTS

2012-01-13T12:35:00.000-08:00

If you missed Thursday, you missed a lab.
Make ups are on TUESDAY at LUNCH, AS SOON AS LUNCH STARTS. Bring your food and eat it on the way. If you go to the cafeteria, eat and THEN come up, you will not have enough time to finish.

If you missed Friday, you missed notes on 2.2.
You missed lots of cool demos on physical and chemical changes.
You missed fire.

We finished reviewing the lab conclusions, and finished them in class.

I assigned notes from CHAPTER 3, sections 1 AND 2.
It is all review of info you already know (HOPEFULLY!)
Solid, liquid, gas, melting, freezing, boiling, evaporation and condensation.

Elements Compounds and Mixtures.

2012-01-12T08:53:00.001-08:00

This lab was all about seeing how properties change based on if it is an element, compound or mixture.

By reading the tags in the lab, we can see which are elements. Elements are listed with a CHEMICAL SYMBOL. There are all one or two letters, and they are all listed on the Periodic Table, like gold (AU). Compounds are listed with a CHEMICAL FORMULA which has several chemical symbols, and often numbers as well, such as sugar (C12H22O11). A Mixture will need to be described with a list of INGREDIENTS.

Iron, gold, magnesium, copper and zinc are all hard, shiny, rather dense solids that all conduct electricity. These properties classify these elements as METALS.

Alka-Seltzer is made of Aspirin, Citric Acid and Sodium Bicarbonate (Baking Soda). Comparing the physical properties of Akla-Seltzer with the properties of its ingredients is easy. All 3 are white powders, and when put together, make… GASP! A white powder.
The CHEMICAL properties are more interesting.
Asprin is a PAIN RELIEVER.
Baking soda tastes BITTER
Citric Acid tastes SOUR
When baking soda and acid, together, get wet, they FIZZ.
Alka-Seltzer’s chemical properties ARE a MIXTURE of the properties of the ingredients. There are no new properties!!!!!!
It is a pain reliever, that has a bitter & sour taste that fizzes when it gets wet.

Rubbing alcohol and sugar are both made of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. The SAME THREE ELEMENTS. But, they are put together differently, so they have DIFFERENT PROPERTIES.
Rubbing alcohol is a clear liquid that has a strong smell, evaporates quickly, and is very toxic if you drink it.
Sugar is a white solid that tastes good!
Even though they are both made with C, H and O, the properties of alcohol and sugar are VERY DIFFERENT!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pyrite is a COMPOUND of iron and sulfur. Since these elements are in a compound, I can expect the properties of pyrite to be different then Iron or sulfur.
Pyrite is shiny, almost gold color, and forms crystals. It is brittle, and will shatter like glass.
Iron can be shiny, but not when it is found in nature (it is always rusty) but pyrite IS shiny. Iron is hard, if you hit it, it will bend, and not shatter, but pyrite WILL SHATTER. Iron IS magnetic. Pyrite is not.
Sulfur is a lemony yellow color, and iron is black. Pyrite is a gold color (not little bits of black and yellow)
THE PROPERTIES OF PYRITE ARE NOT A COMBINATION OF THE PROPERTIES OF IRON AND SULFUR. THE PEOPERTIES OF PYRITE ARE NOTHING LIKE THE PROPERTIES OF THE ELEMENTS THAT MAKE PYRITE.

JANUARY!

2012-01-10T09:43:00.000-08:00

Wow, it is 2012 already.

Over the break there was homework, Chapter 2.1 notes.
If you child whines about not having their notebook over break (I had a sub on the first day of finals for 3rd and 6th hr) Ms. Chase (my Sub) told the students to come back and get their notebooks on Thursday or Friday, and I had the office make announcements at the start of lunch on Thursday and Friday, as well as Mr. Murphy and Ms. Wright making announcements in their class.

Of course students could have just started a new notebook.

We are going from chapter 11 to chapter TWO.
2.1 Notes due Jan 9 & 10
2.2 Notes due Jan 11 & 12
2.3 Notes will be due next week: TBA

This week vocab words:
Classify
Physical Property
Chemical Property
Characteristic Property
Element
Compound
Mixture
Atom

Wed & Thurs we will be doing a lab: ELEMENTS COMPOUNDS AND MIXTURES.
Students will be making observations on 16 different samples of matter, describing their properties and classifying them based on these properties. Due next week, TBA

Semester ending!

2011-12-09T09:21:00.000-08:00

Here is the rest of the semester...

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Mon Tues (12 & 13)
Due: Last set of Flashcards
Bernoulli's Principle
Pascal's Principle
Hydraulic System (how they work, not a def)
Due: Buoyancy Lab

In class we will do ANOTHER lab - again on density.

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Wed Thurs (14 & 15)
Due: Chapter 11 Review
Page 445- 446, Q 1-25
In sentences, in Notebook
Due: Chapter 11 Pack
Title Page
Pressure of Foot
Density and Mass
Hydraulics
Coke v Diet
Density Quiz
Footprint drawing

In Class: Chapter 11 test.

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Friday Monday (16, 19)
Due: Density Lab #2

In class: Semester review

----------------------------------------

Finals schedule
Tues Periods 3, 6
Wed Periods 4, 5
Thurs Periods 1, 2

Due: Notebook.
Final Test covering ... everything so far.
Scientific Method
Metrics
Motion
Forces
Density & Buoyancy
The test is about the same size as the other tests, so I am looking at large ideas, not nitpicking at tiny details.
Bonus: I will have this test be OPEN NOTES.
Don't be the person who forgets their notebook.

----------------------------------------
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Over break

Clean out your binder. All graded work, bundle it up, keep it safe at home. Don't throw it out! But get it out of your binder. Anything that is not graded? Too late.

Stock up. Need pencils? Notecards? Binder paper? Now is a good time.

Notebook: If it is trashed, get yourself a new one. If you are taking good car of it and think it will make it to the end of the year, keep the one you have. But if you think it MIGHT not make it, GET A NEW ONE.

Start off with Chapter TWO Section ONE AND TWO.

Density of Clay

2011-11-30T15:34:00.000-08:00

In this lab each group got a piece of clay, and they found the density of the clay. They cut it into smaller and smaller pieces, and found the density each time.

When we graph Mass against Volume, we get a linear graph, with the slope of the line equal to the density of the clay.

Each time we cut a piece of clay off, the mass got smaller AND the volume got smaller as well, but the RATIO of the mass to the volume WAS CONSTANT. It does not matter if it was a big piece of clay or a small piece, the density stayed the same.

If the density should stay the SAME, there must be a reason that we were able to calculate densities that were CLOSE but not exactly EQUAL. The reason of course is that there is a margin of error in our measurements. The balance is very accurate at finding mass. In this lab the errors are found in our volume. We had to make the clay as rectangular as possible and use the formula of Length x width x height to find the volume. If we are off in our measurements at all, the volume, and therefor density, would be incorrect. Even more important is that if the clay was NOT EXACTLY rectangular, it is impossible to get accurate measurements no matter HOW careful you are with the ruler.

WARNING: Students want to say that the reason they are not exactly equal is that that the sizes of their pieces are not exactly equal. THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH IT AT ALL. If we cut the clay into 8 random size pieces the density will STILL BE THE SAME (within our margin of error).

Week of Nov 28 - Dec 2

2011-11-30T15:23:00.001-08:00

Last week I got a bit ambitious, so this week's vocab list consists of the words we did not get to last week:

Density
Buoyancy
Archimedes' Principal
Density of water

11.3 notes due Wed/Thurs
11/4 notes due Fri/Next Monday

GRADES

2011-11-27T21:28:00.000-08:00

As of right now, EVERYTHING is graded and entered.
Online grades are CURRENT.

I STRONGLY recommend that you check your student's grades.

Last week I went through all the assignments that were missing for each kid.
I expect that they have them done if they plan on turning them in at all.

I am now firmly focused on Chapter 11 and the end of the semester.

Newton's Scooter

2011-11-14T10:10:00.000-08:00

This lab took information and formulas from the last 2 chapters and put them in one big application.

With a stopwatch, meter stick and balance, calculate the net force of a balloon acting on a car.

Students needed to find:
Mass of the car
Distance it will travel
time it takes to travel that distance.

Everything thing else is math (yay!)

• Find the average SPEED. (D/T)
• Find the final VELOCITY (average speed x 2)
• Find the average ACCELERATION. (Vf/T)
• Find the NET FORCE. (M x A)

Diagram:
We did this in class together on the overhead.

Conclusion:
The below is the bare minimum of detail students should show me. I game them all of this on the board. This is NOT going to get them an "A." For an "A" you need to give me MORE. SHOW ME that you UNDERSTAND what I am telling you in class. Spice it up with details! I get kids all the time that ask "what did I do wrong" and I tell them, "Nothing is WRONG... but could you give me more detail??"

1. What did you do in this lab?
You had better use the word FORCE in here.

2. What was the AVERAGE speed, AVERAGE acceleration and the AVERAGE NET FORCE for the car WITHOUT the weight and WITH the weight.
Just report the values you calculated. Make sure you use the correct units.

3. Explain HOW you found the values in question 2.
• Find the average SPEED. (D/T)
• Find the final VELOCITY (average speed x 2)
• Find the average ACCELERATION. (Vf/T)
• Find the NET FORCE. (M x A)

4. What forces helped the motion of your car and how did they help?
The reaction force of the air pusing back on the balloon (green)

5. What forces slowed down the motion of your car?
Rolling friction and air resistance (red)
NOT GRAVITY. DO NOT TELL ME GRAVITY.

6. Why is the net force NOT the same each time?
3 main reasons.
Differences in the balloon. Not blowing it up the same each time, or it stretching out.
An increase in friction as we added weight (weight was a factor of friction remember)
Margin of error in out measurements.

Last Week Before Thanksgiving.

2011-11-14T10:01:00.000-08:00

Monday: We will finish the Scooter lab as well as review the Cpt 10 practice test.

Tues/Wed:
11.1 notes due
Cpt 10 Pack (3 pages) due
Cpt 10 Test
No flashcards due this week.

Thurs/Fri
11.2 notes due
Scooter lab Due

AFTER BREAK
11.3 notes due
Cpt 11 Flashcards - Set 1 Due
Pressure
Pa
Fluid
10.13 N/cm2
Pressure & Depth
Density
Buoyancy
Archimedes' Principle.

Weekend of 111111

2011-11-14T09:58:00.000-08:00

Friday night I passed by brown belt test.
Only about a year to black!
Brody also passed his test, advancing him to purple belt, and now he joins the advanced class. This ought to be fun!

I also got caught up on ALL late work from Darth Vader's IN box, as well as added several assignments into the grades.

If you have not checked grades since the progress report, this is a good update. There will be another over Thanksgiving break as I add in Chapter 10 Test and the Scooter lab.

Week of Sept 7

2011-11-09T18:18:00.000-08:00

Sorry - it has been crazy in here!

Tues-Wed we started our Newton's Scooter lab - where kids make and run balloon powered cars, and then find the force of the balloon that is acting on the car. It is not a hard lab, but a lot of steps - each step we have already learned in a previous lab.

I had planned on the Cpt 10 test being Thursday-Monday, but I am going to have to put it off until Tuesday-Wednesday. We just did not get enough done on the Scooter lab.

SO...

Thurs-Mon we will finish the in-class portion of the Scooter lab, and go over the Chapter 10 review that I assigned last week, and then Tues-Wed we will take the test AND then start Chapter 11.1 (notes will still be due at that time).

Week of NOVEMBER 1st!

2011-11-01T13:01:00.000-07:00

Wow, NOVEMBER! Crazy.

We are nearing the end of chapter 10.
This week we will cover Newton's 1st and 2nd law (B day wont see N#3 until Monday)
This week we are turning in the lab on MASS and doing a lab on GRAVITY and WEIGHT.
Next week we will have a lab on Newton's 3rd law, putting together all the things we have been learning about this past few weeks.

Mon Tues :
The flashcards from last week's vocab are due.

Wed Thurs:
The Mass Lab is due
10.4 Notes Due

Due next week:
Flashcards for
Newton's 1st Law
Newton's 2nd Law
Newton's 3rd Law
Inertia

Mass Lab (Triple Beam Balance)

2011-11-01T12:46:00.000-07:00

1. When is the balance BALANCED? (Use vocab words!)
Pointer marker pointing to the zero-point center.

2. What is the smallest mass you can find accurately?
0.1g.

3. What is the largest mass you can find accurately?
610 g

4. What do you always need to check before using the balance?
The balance is balanced!
pan clean, riders set to zero and pointer marker & Zero pt center lined up

5. What do you do after finding the mass of an object?
Set all the riders back to zero

6. What types of situations would you need to find mass using “mass by
difference?”
For objects that wont stay on the pan.
7. What types of situations would you need to find mass using “massing
exact amounts?”
Following a recipe or chemical formula.

Friction Lab

2011-10-24T09:32:00.000-07:00

Parents.

In case you were wondering, YES I go over ALL the conclusions IN EXTREME DETAIL. I put a lot of this on the board - a shorter version with the main points. If I am standing in front of the room, and tell them, "YOU MUST INCLUDE THIS!" and have them write it down, highlight it in their answer, and go over and over it...

I expect it to be there.

So if you see a lab with a low grade on it, and it looks great to you, and wonder why I was so harsh on what may seem to you a small detail, I warned them over and over that they MUST include the points that I put on the board. Including the things that I say MUST be in there should get them an average grade: C+/B-
Adding more details to show thorough understanding... THAT gets the A grades.

Friction Lab Conclusions:

In this lab we tested the factors that affect friction, by measuring the friction with a spring scale between a wood block and the table, adding weights, changing surfaces and surface areas to see which changes changed the friction felt.

In Part 2 we tested to see if changing the surface area changes the friction. Side A was about 115 cm2, Side B was about 55 cm2. When you compare the friction from Side A to Side B, you find that the friction is almost identical.
When we do a large survey of the class, about 1/3 of the kids have Side A and Side B with identical frictions. About 1/3 of the kids have the frictions within 0.1N of each other, and most of the rest have the difference at 0.2N. (Anyone else had problems gathering data.) We can get SMALL (within 0.1N) variations in the friction due to slight variations in the table, specks of dirt, and the natural margin of error on the spring scales.
Surface area is NOT a factor of friction because when you changed the surface area the friction did NOT change.

In Part 3 we added weights to the block to test if pushing down on the block will change the friction. Weight IS a factor of friction, because when we added the weights, the friction went up, and not by a tiny amount either!

In Part 4 we changed the surfaces we tested against the block. I know that the surface IS a factor of friction because when we changed surfaces, the friction changed as well!

My first graph has 5 points (including 0,0) and they form a LINEAR graph. As we add weight to the block, the friction increases, at a CONSTANT RATIO of Friction (Y axis) to Weight (X axis) and the constant ratio gives me a straight line. This ratio is called the coefficient of friction.

On my second graph we compare different surfaces. Wood to sandpaper has higher coefficient of friction, a higher ratio of friction to weight then wood against plastic. Since these ratios are different, they make lines with different slopes.

If I look at my first graph, of wood against lab table, it can predict the friction of the wood block at any weight up to 5.2 N. If I put a container on top of the block and filled it until the total weight was 2.0 N, I could use this graph to predict the friction. I will find 2N of weight on my X axis, follow it up to the graph of the line, and then look to the left to see the expected friction. Your answer will vary depending on your graph.

Week of Oct 24

2011-10-24T09:24:00.000-07:00

Greetings,

We are continuing on FORCES, and the forces we eel on a day to day basis here on Earth that influence all motion. Friction, gravity, air resistance and more!

We are starting this week with the FRICTION LAB. (Details on the conclusion coming up soon)

We will follow with mass and weight, and what is the difference between them! Of course what will follow is a lab for each of them. (There are a lot of labs this chapter!)

Vocab assigned this week (due next)
Law of Gravity
mass
weight
free fall
air resistance
9.8m/s2 (get this from class notes- not in the book)
terminal velocity (get this from class notes- not in the book)
compression

Other Homework:
Finish the labs!
Notes 10.3 due 27/28
Notes 10.4 due Nov 2/3

tension

PROGRESS REPORTS II

2011-10-16T09:18:00.000-07:00

While the second Progress Reports are a week away, I do not foresee anything else being added to the grades before they are sent. I entered all of the Chapter 9 material to the grades, and they are ready to go!

Anyone that was absent at all this past week (especially Thurs & Fri) will have a few days to get things made up.

If you have not made a Parent Portal account yet, see my "grades" section of the webpage and get started! Now is a great time! I have a teenager myself, and I know that the verbal reports I get from him about how school is going, can be quite different then the grades I see when I look up HIS grades online.

Chapter 9 Included:
Walking Function Lab
Speedy Quiz
Coaster Speed Lab
Cpt 1 Pack (50 pts = 5 Pages)
-Displacement
-Speed
-Graphing Speeds
-Real Speeds
-Acceleration
Cpt 1 Homework (35 pts = 7 Stamps)
-Flashcards 10.1&2
-Flashcards 10.3
-9.1 notes
-9.2 notes
-9.2 notes
-Cpt 9 Review (2 stamps)
Cpt 1 Test

The Inclined to Roll Lab , while part of Cpt 9, won't be graded in time to get them on this progress report.

Inclined to Roll (acceleration lab)

2011-10-14T10:13:00.000-07:00

1) In this lab...
Please use the vocabulary word ACCELERATION in your answer!

2) Go back to Scientific Method notes if you need to:
Manipulated (Independent) Angle of the ramp.
Responding (Dependent) Time
Controlled Lots: Marble, Ramp, length, timer, releaser. More?

3) The higher the ramp was, the marble accelerated more.
PET PEEVE- Do NOT use "FASTER" in this answer. Faster referrers to speed, and while the marble WAS faster, the question is NOT asking about speed!

4) I can use the A=(Vf-Vi)/t formula to solve for something OTHER than acceleration. If I have an acceleration, and know the starting speed, I can calculate how long it will take to accelerate to a desired speed. For example, if I wanted to know how long it will take the marble to accelerate to a speed of 10m/s at the acceleration you found for an angle of 9.09 degrees, I can plug in those numbers (knowing the starting speed is Zero m/s) and simplify the formula to get:
10m/s divided by my acceleration, to get the time it will take. You will need to do the math yourselves!

5)Our graph was linear. The RATIO of the SPEED to the TIME is constant, so an object with a constant acceleration will make a LINEAR acceleration graph.
(Each second that ticks by, my speed increases at the same rate)
HOWEVER. If we graphed this on a SPEED graph, the RATIO of Distance to time would NOT BE CONSTANT so i will NOT GET A STRAIGHT LINE. I would get a curve. In this case, a marble speeding up, I would get a curve that gets steeper and steeper as time goes on.
(Each second that goes by, the distance it covers is MORE than the distance it covered in the last second)
(See the "Acceleration" handout that we did in class, we did graphs just like this!)

Week of Oct 10

2011-10-12T10:18:00.000-07:00

This week we are finishing Chapter 9.
Tues-Wed we are going our acceleration lab (Inclined to Roll)
Thurs-Friday, Chapter 9 Test AND the Chapter 1 review is due.
Pg 365-366
Questions,
1-4
6-9
11-17
22-24

I will also collect all the Chapter 9 handouts that have been collected in their binder.

Next week, Monday and Tuesday, Chapter 10.1 notes will be due, and probably the Inclined to Roll lab!

The end of next week is the END OF THE SECOND GRADING PERIOD! Wow, that was fast!

It's OCTOBER!

2011-10-03T12:18:00.000-07:00

Wow, time is flying, and we are accelerating!

9.3 notes were due today (A) and tomorrow (B) as well as last weeks vocab cards.
9.4 notes is NOT assigned!

Homework this week:
Vocab flashcards:
Ratio
Acceleration.

For acceleration, make sure you include the formula in the form:

A= (Vf-Vi) / t

FINISH SPEED HANDOUTS.
Lots of kids are coming to class without finishing the previous days work- and it's slowing us down! If you can't calculate SPEED, then why would I spend time running a SPEED LAB?

GRADES

2011-09-28T14:17:00.001-07:00

Grades closed Monday, and expect progress reports mailed home this week.
Of course, science grades are posted online.
If you have not made a parent Portal Account yet... what are you waiting for?

Week of Sept 26

2011-09-28T14:16:00.000-07:00

We are starting Chapter 9, and wow, will this start to move FAST. Which is appropriate, as this chapter is about SPEED and ACCELERATION.

Homework notes:
9.1 27/28
9.2 29/30
9.3 3/4
9.4 (not assigned)

This week's vocab come from section 1 and 2
motion
reference point
displacement
vector
speed
velocity
speed graph (will come from class notes)

The Walking Function lab "F(w)" will be due 29/30.

F (w) Conclusions

2011-09-26T14:21:00.001-07:00

CONCLUSION

In this lab students were given a pink card with directions on how to move for 20 seconds. These directions included walking normally, walking heel to toe, walking in a side to side motion, and jogging in place. They can also be going forward or backwards. All this walking was along a 10 meter measuring tape, and every 5 seconds students recorded the distance they moved. Each student had a particular job, including, the walker, the data recorder and the timer.

When all the data is graphed we can use the graph to locate the walker at any particular time. On the X-axis, find the time you are looking for. Follow the time UP the graph until it intersects with your graphed line. Then follow the point to the left to the Y-axis to see the distance at that time. Another way to say this, is “If X=, what does Y equal?”

The direction of the line also tells us the direction of the walker. If the line is sloping UP to the right, the walker is moving forward, if it is sloping DOWN, it is moving backwards, and if the line is horizontal, the walker is not moving at all.

The steepness of the line (the slope) also tells me how fast the walker was moving. The steeper the line is, the faster the walker was moving. We had 4 different walks, and they should all be different speeds, meaning they should all be different slopes.

Using the graph, and the information you needed to include in questions 2-4, you should be able to look at the graph, and decide what the directions must be to create the graph. To describe your reasoning for each segment, include the steepness and direction of each line, and how the slopes of the lines can be used to identify the different walks – just like we described in the last few questions.

PROGRESS REPORTS

2011-09-24T16:18:00.000-07:00

"Wow, what happened to my child's grade? It was looking much better last week! How could it change so much so fast?"

Great question.

Last week we had a total of 110 points available in the class, in the last week, we added 160 points, over DOUBLING the point value of the class.

"Woah! 160 points in a WEEK??"

Well not really. Two of those assignments are really a bunch of smaller assignments, bundeled together.

#13: Chapter 1 Pack: 80 Pts. This is a collection of 9 in-class assignments that they have collected in their binder since the first week of school. Each "side" was worth 5 points. (three of them are one sided) and another 5 points for them being in the correct order.

Title Page (and State Standards)
Memory (demo of how your brain works)
Tracking Your Grade (Practicing w/Grade Recors Sheet)
Scientific Method (Examples of experiemnts, w/vocab words)
Metric System (metric stairway & converting)
Practicing Metrics (measuring using cm and mm)
Measuring Metrics (measuring using cm & m)
Drawing Graphs (linear & nonlinear)
Reaction (activity measuring reaction times)

#14: Chapter 1 Homework:30 pts. This assignmnet is a collection of 5 homework assignments from the text that have been assigned in the last month or so. Each assignment is "Stamped" in their notebook upon completion. You can verify their score by looking for stamps in their notebook. "Mailbox" is worth 5 points, an on-time and reasonably completed assignmnet." "Hello Kitty" is worth 2 points, and is either for partially done work, or work turned in late."

Scientific Methdod Vocabulary Cards (5 pts)
Metric System Vocabulary Cards (5 pts)
Notes- 1.4 (5 pts)
Notes 1.5 (5 pts)
Chapter review (10pts)

Chapter 1 Test: 50 pts. Yep, just what it sounds like! The test was 25 questions, 20 of them multiple choice, 5 of them were measuring with a metric ruler. Two points each. One extra credit question (for a total possible of 54/50). The questions covered all the topics in the above assignments - metrics, scientific method and graphing.

YES- you may retake the test. But there are conditions. ONE- you must come in at lumch WITH your original test, and look up all the answers you got wrong the first time. TWO- Retakes can only get you up to a middle C (75%) grade.

SUPER SECRET BONUS QUESTION

2011-09-19T18:45:00.000-07:00

For the readers of the blog, there is a "Super Secret Bonus Question" on the test.
The answer is filling in BOTH A and D together.

Week of Sept 19th

2011-09-16T09:35:00.000-07:00

The end of chapter 1 is coming up fast.

Monday/Tuesday we will do our first REAL lab, F(w) The Walking Function lab. This lab is focused on data collection, averaging, and GRAPHING data. More to come on this later.

Wednesday/Thursday we will FINISH chapter 1 information, and the Chapter 1 Assessment will be due.
Page 49-50 # 2-5, 12-17, 20-21, 24-26.
This should be done in the NOTEBOOK in COMPLETE SENTENCES.

Students have a "current work section" where they have been collecting class assignments- it should look like this:

Memory
Tracking Your Grade
Scientific Method
Metric System
Practicing Metrics
Measuring Metrics
Reaction
Drawing Graphs

Everything should be finished (Except for the "reaction" conclusion questions - don't worry about those) by the 23rd. I would like to get these into the grades ASAP.

NOTES on CHAPTER NINE (Yes Cpt 9) section 1, will be due early the Week of the 26th.

Week of Sept 12

2011-09-10T12:04:00.000-07:00

Last weeks vocab words- well, B day did not get to them all, in fact they they only got to the first. (A day got to them all on Friday, B day will get them Monday)

Metric System
Meter
Liter
Gram
Kilo
Hecto
Deca
Deci
Centi
Milli

For these metric units and prefixes, I need them to know what it represents, the abbreviation for each, and an example. (B day will get to these Monday, so they are NOT due for them yet)

Also this week, read and TAKE NOTES (In notebook, after the Metric System notes, so B day-ers, wait until after Monday's class!!) on Chapter 1 section 4. I need to double check the book, but likely section 5 as well.

IN TAKING NOTES FROM THE BOOK:
Write BIG
leave lots of ROOM to add notes, details and diagrams that we will cover in CLASS.
What to take notes on?
It's pretty easy in this book, 90% of the important stuff is either on BOLD or HIGHLIGHTED.
Don't forget, TITLES are on the TOP LINE, and HIGHLIGHTED as well.

I think we will be starting our first REAL lab, the WALKING FUNCTION lab. This one is FUN. More on this later!

Thanks for everyone who came out to BTS night.

I got an email from the District Office about the letters that will be sent home- expect those soon.

PENDULUMS

2011-09-01T10:55:00.000-07:00

Our Pendulum lab is due Fri for A day, Tues for B days.
While the lab was on the period of a pendulum, what it was REALLY about was "How the Scientific Method works" and "How to do a lab-write-up." Starting with it is on binder paper.

Pendulum Conclusion (Put the Title on Top Line)
(SKIP FIRST LINE)

**NEVER write the question
**ALWAYS rephrase question as part of your answer
I am posting the MAIN IDEAS that I am looking for- I expect students to write in complete sentences!

1. What was the independent (manipulated) variable in test 1? In test 2?
Rephrased: What was the one thing we changed?
T1: mass
T2: Length of string

(SKIP LINES BETWEEN QUESTIONS)

2. What variables were controlled in ALL tests?
REPHRASED: WHAT STAYED THE SAME?

mr lang releasing
string
weights
angle of release
stopwatch
same person using stopwatch?
more???

What was our Dependent (responding) variable in ALL tests?
REPHRASED: WHAT WERE WE WRITING DOWN??

time in seconds.

Why do we do each test several times and find an average?

bigger SAMPLE SIZE = better
helps to identify mistakes

What will change the time of a pendulum’s swing time?
Length of string, not mass.

Week of Aug 29th

2011-08-30T12:39:00.000-07:00

This week we will be learning about the Scientific Method!

Homework:
Due Wed/Thurs: Safety Posters turned in, and then take the Safety Test.
Dont forget that pulling your hair back is only when we use fire and/or chemicals! (one of the most gotten wrong questions)

Due at the start of next week: Flashcards. We will go over HOW and WHAT to put on them.
WORD on one side.
On the back, the DEFINITION AND EXAMPLES.

Vocab this week (Scientific Method Vocab)
hypothesis
variable
controlled variable
independent Variable (manipulated)
dependent variable (Responding)
control group
test group

Other vocab related news- these are the words I PLAN on covering. If for some reason I do not cover them, they are NOT due. I want to discuss in class BEFORE students make cards for them! (I DO usually cover what I plan!)
Also, there is almost ALWAYS a new list each week.

As a preview of the Scientific Method, we are doing the PENDULUM LAB. Mon/Tues we did the experiment and reviewed a LOT of "how to do a lab" information. Wed/Thurs we will cover the Scientific Method and then answer the CONCLUSION QUESTIONS at the end of the Pendulum Lab. I expect that they will be due Fri/Mon, unless I push it back later. Depends on how tomorrow goes!

WEEK of Aug 22

2011-08-22T12:58:00.000-07:00

HOMEWORK:

Contact Info sheets returned this week. Most students brought them in early, but is you still have it, turn it in (A) Tuesday, (B) Wednesday.

We will finish the class rules today, and there will be a 10 question quiz on these rules on (A) Thursday (B) Friday.

We will cover LAB SAFETY and after we are done, students will pick ONE safety rule, and create a 8.5 x 11 inch poster that will include
The Rule - Big enough to read from a distance (this IS a poster)
An illustration of the rule
Safety Icon (if applicable)
Name on the BACK of the poster.
Due date TBA - it depends on how things go- The poster will be due on the date of the LAB SAFETY TEST. Next week sometime!

WELCOME TO 2011-2012

2011-08-16T13:11:00.000-07:00

Greetings,

This first week students will be getting a letter home to get signed and returned to me.
They will need to get their school supplies, and will get a list sent home.
We will be reviewing class rules and Lab Safety.

Homework:
STANDING HOMEWORK
Spend 10-15 minutes DAILY on studying for science class.
Coming up-
Quiz on class rules
Test on lab safety

Palm Desert 2011

2011-06-19T12:55:00.000-07:00

Just got home from a week in Palm Desert.
One word: Hot.
And apparently, it was a cool streak. One day it got up to 108F, with the low that morning being 79F. Summer highs of One Hundred & Teens is not uncommon (ugh!)
We spent a lot of time by the pool, enjoying the misters, reading, jumping in to cool off, and a lot of relaxing.
In the evenings, the wind would come in, and the valley is full of windmills.
We stayed at a Marriott resort with lots of pools, a small water-slide, a clubhouse with games, and arcade, a pool table, a movie theater (free) playing DVDs, a giant chess set, and lots and lots of golf. The back porch of our apartment was right on the golf course, so there was lots of grass, bunnies, ducks, and most of the time, a peaceful quiet.

Chemical Reactions

2011-03-15T11:38:00.000-07:00

We are moving on to chemical reactions, having studied chemical bonds for the last month or so.

We did the "Sticky Situations" lab where we made glue, looking for the physical and chemical changes that happened.

We are doing a lab this week on endothermic and exothermic reactions, classifying the reactions on what happens to the temperature of the chemicals.

There has not been any notes for homework for a while now, as we have been doing the notes in class, but there have been lots of practice sheets and flashcards. All the handouts should be DONE. The flashcards should be.. um... FLASHED! Use them! Make sure you know what everything means! Make sure you can do the problems in the pack!

This week's cards, due after break:
Evidence for chemical change
reactant
product
conservation of mass
endothermic reaction
exothermic reaction
synthesis reaction
decomposition reaction
replacement reaction

Changing States Lab

2011-01-23T14:16:00.001-08:00

This one's an easy one.
The graph we get of Temp/time gives us the following:
The ice cube starts off with a pretty flat line as the ice melts, at about 0C.
Your line may be going up, but it is does, it should be going up SLOWLY as the ice melts.
Once the ice melts, the temp goes up QUICKLY.
Once it starts to bubble, the temp increase slows down, until a nice boil keeps the temp CONSTANT, at about 100C.

THE POINT OF THE LAB is that as the states change, the temperature is NOT changing.

ECM Lab

2011-01-20T16:38:00.000-08:00

Well, sorry guys, I never got to posting notes on this lab.

It is all about how when ELEMENTS form COMPOUNDS the properties of the elements do NOT carry over into the properties of the compound. The three examples we saw in the lab:

Alka-seltzer is a MIXTURE of baking soda, aspirin and citric acid.
Since alka-seltzer is a MIXTURE the properties of alka-seltzer must shop up in the properties if the things that make up the mixture!
Alka-Seltzer is a white crumbly powder because the three ingredients are all white crumbly powders!
Alka-Seltzer helps with headaches because the asprin IN the Alka-Seltzer helps with headaches.
Alka-Seltzer helps with stomach aches becase the baking soda IN the Alka-Seltzer helps with stomach aches.
Alka-Seltzer fizzes in water because when citric acid and baking soda dissolve in water, THEY fizz!
No new properties show up when these are mixed into an Alka-Seltzer tablet!!

Rubbing alcohol and sugar are both COMPOUNDS made with hydrogen, oxygen and carbon.
But even though they are made with the same elements, they are nothing like each other.
Alcohol was a clear, smelly liquid, while sugar is a tasty, white solid.

Pyrite is a COMPOUND made from sulfur and iron.
While iron is hard and sulfur is crumbly, pyrite is brittle.
While iron is black and sulfur is yellow, pyrite is gold.
Iron is magnetic, but pyrite is not.
Sulfur is stinky, but pyrite is not.
We do NOT see bits of the pyrite are black and magnetic while other bits are yellow and stinky - because when they form a compound, the PROPERTIES CHANGE.

Density Lab

2010-12-09T10:39:00.000-08:00

This is the THIRD lab that has to do with density.
I hope you get it by now.

1.
The Cylinders came from a EQUAL MASS SET. This means they are all the SAME MASS, specifically, 100 g. You should see that they all have different VOLUMES, and this shows us that the bigger the mass, the less volume it takes to make the same mass.

2.
Describe the set of spheres (masses, volumes and densities). What did they have in common? How did the masses relate to the densities?
The spheres came from an EQUAL VOLUME SET. All the spheres had a volume of 8.14g/cm3. As the density of the objects increases, the mass increases.

3.
Even though the Al cylinder was quite big, over 36 cm3, and the Al sphere was just over 8 cm3, the density came out just about the same, because the ratio of MASS TO VOLUME is CONSTANT for a particular material.

4.
Even thogh the ratio of mass to volume is constant, the densitiy of Al sphere and the Al cylinder are not exactly the same, and do not exactly match the expected density of 2.64 g/cm3. There are 2 mainreasons they may not match.
First, measurment errors in finding the volumes.
Second, slight impurities of the samples may make the density slightly off.
Either way though, we should find a density that is very close to the expected value.

5.
Volume by displacement is a useful way to find the volume of an irregularly shaped object, but it is not as accurate as we would like, and if there is a more accurate way of finding the volume (like l*w*h for a rectangular prism) then we use the more accurate method!

6.
If you were to put the four liquids together in a graduated cylinder and dropped in the plastic cube, from top to bottom, how would they layer?
Make a drawing and label the fluids with their densities and include the cube and its density.

I expect that the rubbing alcohol should show up as the least dense, and would float on TOP. Then the water, salt water and glycerin. Some kids got salt water as more dense, and if they is what they got, that's fine, as long as they have the date to back it up.
The cube should float at the bottom of the green water, above the salt water.

Buoyancy Lab

2010-12-02T15:18:00.000-08:00

1.In this lab we put a film canister in water and measured how much water it displaced. Then we added more and more mass and continued to track the water displacement. Eventually the canister sinks, and we can compare the buoyant force of a floating object against an object that sinks.

2. As we add pennies, the mass increases, but the volume stays the same, so the density increased. The empty canister was about 0.12g/cm3, while the canister with 21 pennies was about 1.6 g.cm3.

3. While the canister was floating the mass of the canister was about equal to the mass of the water it displaced, and our graph shows this, as the blue and red lines are nearly identical, while it was floating. The volume of the canister is 40 cm3. Once the mass became greater then 40g, the canister was no longer able to push out of the way enough water (and make a buoyant force big enough) to float. So once the mass was over 40g, the canister sinks, and that is also the point where the density of the canister becomes greater then the density of water, 1.0g/cm3

4. Like our last few labs, things turned out not exactly what we would expect. The mass of the canister and the mass of the water displaced should be identical, but while the triple beam balance is great at finding masses, the overflow containers are not quite accurate enough for those two values to be identical. Every drip missed, drop on the pan, or drips on the bottom of the beaker all create a margin of error.

5. You will need to look at your graph to find the number of pennies where the density is closest to 1g/cm3. You better know by now HOW to read a GRAPH!

Density of Clay

2010-11-22T18:58:00.000-08:00

In this lab we started with 175g of clay.
We had to shape it into a rectangular prism to be able to find its volume using the formula l*w*h (in cm3 of course). We found the mass and volume of progressively smaller pieces of the clay, and calculated the density at each step.

Report out the average density of your clay, and make sure you use the correct units of g/cm3. Every station's clay was different from each other, but they were between 1.5 and 2.5 g/cm3.

When we graph mass against volume we get a linear graph, and that tells me that the ratio of mass to volume is CONSTANT.

What this constant ratio means to us is that regardless of if the piece of clay is small, the mass will be small, and if the piece is large, the mass will be large, at the constant ratio of mass to volume. If I have 2x the volume, the mass goes up 2x as well.

The reason that the densities are NOT all exactly the same, even thought they SHOULD be, is that while our measurements with the triple beam balance are very accurate, our measurement of VOLUME is much less so. There are a few things that make our measurement of volume less accurate.
First, while we did our best to have rectangular shaped pieces of clay, they are not exactly rectangular. Corners are rounded, fingerprints and dents are in the clay, other imperfections exist, and the blocks are often NOT EVEN THICKNESSES all make those volumes off a bit, or a lot, depending.
Also, just plain errors in measuring (was that 2.2 or 2.3 cm?) and there was a lot of "rounding to the nearest half cemtimeter" going on.
All of these possibilities change the recorded volume of the clay,and therefor the density they they calculated. The more careful the lab group was, the closer their densities will all be to each other.
(DO NOT TELL ME IT IS BECAUSE THE MASSES AND VOLUMES CHANGE AS WE CUT PIECES OFF- THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH IT!!!!!)

Inclined to Roll

2010-10-04T15:15:00.000-07:00

In this lab we found the time it takes for a marble to roll down a 1m long ramp. We used the time to figure out the speed and the acceleration of the marble.

The manipulated variable is the height of the ramp, which also changes the angle of the ramp. The responding variable is the time it takes for the marble to travel the distance of 1 m down the ramp. There were many things that were controlled: the marble, the ramp, the k’nex scaffolding holding the ramp, the timer, the releaser and how the ramp was set up on the k’nex.

The acceleration increases as the angle of the ramp increases. There is of course a maximum acceleration, when the ramp is vertical, and the marble is now falling instead of rolling.

If the ramp was long enough and at an angle of 9.09 degrees, it would take_____ seconds for the marble to accelerate from 0 m/s to 10 m/s.
To find the time, I put the values into the formula a= Vf-Vi/t. Since Vf is 10 m/s and Vi is 0, 10 divided by my acceleration gives me my answer. (answers differ depending on the acceleration your team got at the angle of 9.09 degrees.

On an acceleration graph of Speed vs Time, a marble would create a linear graph (straight line) The reason it is linear is that when I divide the speed by the time of any point on the graph, I get the same answer, showing me that the RATIO of SPEED TO TIME IS CONSTANT. A straight line on a graph always means that SOMETHING is staying constant.
If I graphed the marble on a Speed graph, when I plot distance against time, it would make a CURVED line getting steeper and steeper. Since the marble is speeding up, the slope of the line would continue to get bigger and bigger. The reason the slope is getting bigger and bigger is the RATIO of DISTANCE vs TIME is getting bigger! If I get a curved line on a graph, I always know that SOMETHING is CHANGING!

COASTER SPEED

2010-09-25T16:55:00.000-07:00

Reminders:

Your conclusion should be read aloud to someone, preferably a parent at home.
Parents: If you have to ask ANY QUESTIONS, then they need to work on their conclusion more. It should be a finished work, such as an adult would turn into their boss, hoping to get that raise. Details, details, details! Average times and average speeds are given to TWO decimal places.

*Use binder paper, and not "ripped out of a spiral notebook" paper.
*At the top of the binder paper should be a title: "Coaster Lab Conclusion."
*Skip the first line.
*Start writing on the second line.
*Follow the right and left margin, and KEEP A ONE INCH bottom margin.
*Skip lines between questions.
*When you get to the bottom of the page, get another sheet of paper.

The below information is very similar to what I go over in class. There is nothing below that they have not heard before. I do this so students can also read the information they need, and as an example of a good conclusion. There are some questions that I cannot answer here the way students need to answer them (in giving the results to calculations based on data they collect).
DO NOT PRINT THIS OFF AND TRY TURNING IT IN or include chunks of this text. That is plagiarism, and not acceptable. If you do not know what plagiarism is, go to the school web page, find the page dedicated to the library. Mrs. Andresen has a good page on plagiarism there.

1- Question #1 is almost always the same... explain what happened in the lab. We used a battery powered K'nex roller coaster and used a stopwatch to time how long it took the coaster to do laps around the 8 m track. Three different times, we timed 1, 3, 5, and 10 laps, recorded the times, found the average time for each # of laps. We used the s=d/t formula to find the speed of the coaster.

2- We found the average speed in this lab. There are several ways that we can determine that this is an average speed and not a constant speed. One way is that we used the formula for average speed, total distance divided by total time. The second way we can tell is just by looking at the coaster. When it hits the orange accelerators, it speeds up, and by the time it is nearing the end of the track, it is going rather slowly. And since I can see that the speed does in fact change over the 8 meter track, and speed we find would be an average speed.

3- The 5 points (don't forget the point (0,0)!) should make a fairly straight line, which makes this a linear trend.
WARNING- the answer to this is not "because it makes a straight line." The question is asking "WHY THEY MAKE A STRAIGHT LINE?"
The reason these points make a straight line is that the RATIO of DISTANCE to TIME is CONSTANT. Yes, every lap is another 8 m of distance, but it takes another 4 seconds of time. And yes, I am telling every class that that phrase "RATIO of DISTANCE to TIME is CONSTANT," must be in their answer.

4- To find the slope of the Line of Best Fit, use 2 points on the line and find the slope. I would think that the point (0,0) would be the easiest point to start with, and then one other, preferably as far to the right on the graph as possible. Pick a point that is clearly on a whole-number coordinate. Find the total rise, total run, and divide. This MAY OR MAY NOT give you the slope to one or more of the average speeds you found. There may be a point that is considerably different then the other points, and this may have many different reasons for being so. Dying batteries can make the last point further off, as well as measuring errors.

5- When drawing the graph, I instructed the students to draw the line of best fit to the END OF THE GRAPH. Find where your graph croses the distance of 64 m. Find the X coordinate that matches by following the graph straight down to the X and see the time.

6- Similar to question #5, we are finding a time, but instead of using a graph, we will use the formula s=d/t (or from math, the d=rt formula, which is the exact same thing). Since the question asks to find the time to travel 1km, the first thing you need to do is convert that to meters. Plug in your distance and plug in the speed you found in Q#4 and solve for "t." Again, everyone's answer will be different depending on the speed you calculated, but since they will all be about 2 m/s, the travel time of 1 km should be near 500s.

Parents and students- If the above was written out by hand, how long do you think it would be? One sheet of binder paper? Two? more?

Walking Function Lab

2010-09-16T11:54:00.001-07:00

Students followed directions on how to move, walking, heel-to-toe, a side to side step, or jogging in place, and each could be either forward or backwards. They walked 4 different ways for 5 seconds each, and partners recorded the distance traveled at times of 1s, 5s, 10s, 15s and 20s.
Each set of directions was numbered, 1 through 8, and each group followed two different sets of directions.
Groups graphed their data, and these graphs are the basis for the conclusion of the lab.

Lab papers should be representations of your VERY BEST WORK.

1- explain what we did in this lab.

2- tell me which directions you had, and tell me which graph you pick top answer the next 2 questions. (for example: "Our group had Functions #3 and #6, and for the next two questions I will be using the graph of Function #3.")

3- tell me, at what distance was your walker at the time of 7s and 18s, and EXPLAIN HOW you can use the graph to estimate this distance.
To find the distance at a specific time, find that time on the X-axis. Follow the grid lines up to the point where it intersects with the LINE YOU GRAPHED. Follow the grid line over to the left to the Y-axis, and read the number you find there.
(Essentially, this question could read in a math class, what is the y-coordinate when the x-coordinate is 7 and when the x-coordinate is 18)

4- Tell me, at the time of 7s and 18s, if your walker was going forwards, backwards, or not moving, and EXPLAIN HOW you can tell.
If you are moving forward the graph is going UP, if backwards, the graph is going DOWN, and if not moving, the graph is FLAT.
(In math talk, a positive slope is forward, a negative slope is backwards and a slope of zero is not moving.)

THEN STUDENTS WILL NEED TO LOOK AT A DIFFERENT GRAPH. They will find a graph of one of the six functions that they did not do themselves.

5- tell me who's paper and which function # graph you will use for the next questions. (I looked at Mike's paper and I will use his Function #8 to answer the rest of the questions.)

6- Describe their graph, including the direction (forward or backwards) and how their speed changes (faster or slower).
(They started off walking fast, then they slowed down, then they went backwards slow, then they did a jog in place for the last 5 seconds)

7- Explain how the graph shows you changes in speed.
The steeper the line, the faster the walk.

8-Use their graph to recreate the directions they used to make the graph. Can you tell where they walked, where they did a side-to-side step? A Heel to Toe? Jog in place? Where did they start?

IRON MAN

2010-05-08T08:12:00.000-07:00

Greetings!

Ok, not school related, but Iron Man II opened, and it was pretty good! I'll need to watch it a few more times. First impressions though - there could be more action, but the action there was ... NICE. The trailers show IM and WM surrounded with other armors... GOOD scene.

Lots of stuff you would need to be a Marvel Zombie to catch. Hint drops on future movies,Captain America, Thor and the Avenger's movie.

And like IM 1, don't leave until AFTER the credits... there is an "after the credits" scene not to miss.

WARNING! DANGER! READ!

2010-04-01T20:32:00.000-07:00

Check out this link!
Very important info!

http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/content/science-video/dangers-of-dihydrogen-monoxide?utm_source=100331&utm_medium=email&utm_content=video&utm_campaign=eow

Mystery Powder Revisited

2010-02-22T19:52:00.000-08:00

If your MP Lab grade is not to your liking, there is an opportunity.

Question # 5 & 6 were 10 points each.
If you were not able to correctly identify the ingredients in the mixture, you got ZERO points for it.

Rewrite your #5 and/or 6# and CORRECTLY identify the 2 powders in the mixture and give me AT LEAST THREE REASONS for EACH of the powders in the mixture (that's SIX reasons!!!)

Mystery Powder Labs

2010-02-08T11:46:00.000-08:00

This is a very different lab for several reasons.

1- It's a lot longer.
2- It's a lot of points (50)
3- I am not giving all the answers to the conclusions.

BUT I am giving a lot of hints:

I put sentence starters on the board similar to the ones below:

#1-4: Describe the powders.
Mystery Powder #__ was ____.
The unique characteristic property for this powder is___________.
Other properties for this powder include_____.

Describe the information you found in all of the tests! The color, shape, and size of the particles. How it dissolves in water, if it reacts or not to vinegar and iodine, and most importantly, how it reacts to heat.

#5-6: Identify the mixture.
We tested Mystery Mixture letter ___.
I think it is a mixture of ____ and ___.
I think ____ is in this mixture because_____ and _____.
I think ____ is in this mixture because_____ and _____.

For 5-6 students must include AT LEAST TWO reasons for their decisions. One of those reasons MUST be the unique characteristic properties described in questions 1-4. Students had 6 tests for each powder, and SHOULD have 6 reasons for EACH of the 2 ingredients in their mixture.

Each of the mixtures are a mix of ONLY 2 of the 4 powders.
I did NOT tell anyone of the contents of the mixtures. THAT is something THEY need to figure out. We DID go over the unique characteristic properties of the 4 powders.

In no particular order...

Sugar made a VERY distinctive smell when it burns, it smells like burnt marshmallows.

Salt had 2: When the salt solution dried over heat it POPPED, and shot salt particles all over the place. Also if students were careful in their observations, the salt particles were distinctive square shaped crystals.

Corn Starch had a reaction with iodine that turned the iodine from a light yellow to a dark purple.

Baking Soda (a base) had a reaction with vinegar (an acid) which produces lots of bubbles.

SO If your mixture fizzed in vinegar you know there is baking soda, and if it smells sweet when burnt, you know there is sugar, etc. However you MUST include MORE evidence of your decision.

I EXPECT THIS CONCLUSION TO BE LONG!!!!!

FATAL FLAWS (things that get your paper returned to you ungraded)
Not finishing all 6 questions.
Not starting the conclusion page with a title, and skipping the first line.
Not using a black pen or pencil or typing it.
Not starting sentences with CAPITAL LETTERS.
Not ending sentences with PERIODS.
Using the back sides of binder paper.

Changing State

2010-01-30T20:39:00.000-08:00

This lab is pretty easy, we are meting ice cubes! The fun part comes in graphing the temp v time data we collected.

While going over the conclusion questions, I was VERY SPECIFIC about #6.
When collecting the lab, I had the students use their highlighters to find the information that I told them they MUST include. I then told them that if they did not have the following information, to FIX IT before they turned it in, because without it, I would not give them a grade.

In a solid, the particles are close together and locked in place.
As a liquid, the particles are not locked in place but still close together.
As a gas, the particles are not locked in place and not locked together.

There is certainly more information that should be in there, like the temperatures of 0C and 100C, and that the speed of the particles' vibration increases as the temperature goes up, but the above is 100% required.

I told them it was 100% required.

A lot of them did not believe me.

I also told them that there are a handful of things that since I have said them OVER AND OVER AND OVER, I would give it back to them and they would need to fix the errors at lunch.

Include a title at the top of the page
Skip the line under the title and start writing on the NEXT line.
No blue pen. Pencil or black pen only.
Rephrase the question as part of your answer so your answer MAKES SENSE.

LISTEN TO AND FOLLOW MR. LANG'S DIRECTIONS.

Elements Compounds & Mixtures

2010-01-08T13:36:00.000-08:00

In this lab, students examined 16 different types of matter.

By looking at the information card, students can tell which ones are elements. They have a 1 or 2 letter chemical symbol, and these symbols can be found on the Periodic Table of Elements. The compounds can be identified because they will have several symbols combined onto a formula. Mixtures are identified because they have a list of ingredients, which can be mixture of elements and/or compounds.

There were several metals, including gold, copper, zinc, magnesium and iron. They share properties that classify them as metals. They are all shiny, hard, dense solids that are good conductors of heat.

Alka-Seltzer is a mixture of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) citric acid and aspirin. Since Alka-Seltzer is a mixture, its properties should be the same as the properties of the ingredients that make it up. For example, aspirin, baking soda and citric acid all all white powders, and when mixed into Alka-Seltzer, it remains a white powder, with no new physical properties.
The chemical properties of Alka Seltzer are also the same as the properties of the ingredients. Aspirin is a pain reliever which helps headaches. Baking soda is used for upset stomachs, makes bubbles in an acid & tastes bitter. Citric acid is tastes sour. When mixed, you get a medicine that helps headaches, stomachaches, tastes sour& bitter and the acid and baking soda react to make bubbles.
The mixture of Alka-Seltzer has properties that is a MIXTURE OF THE PROPERTIES OF THE INGREDIENTS!

Hydrogen, Carbon and Oxygen are elements that make up both sugar and rubbing alcohol. Even though the compounds sugar and rubbing alcohol are made with the same elements, they have VERY DIFFERENT PROPERTIES. Sugar is white, solid and sweet. Rubbing alcohol is clear, liquid, and poisonous, with a strong smell.

Pyrite is a compound as well, and it is made of iron and sulfur. Pyrite has properties different then iron and sulfur. Iron is a hard solid, black and magnetic metal. Sulfur is a crumbly, yellow and smelly. Pyrite is a gold color, a crystal with 90 degree angles, and very shiny. Pyrite is very different then iron and sulfur.

Mass v Weight

2009-11-23T12:17:00.000-08:00

In this lab we found the relationship between the mass and the weight of an object by finding a lot of masses, weights, and then using Newton's second law to find the accelerations.

After using Newton's Second law to calculate FORCE divided by MASS to find the ACCELERATION, we should get a number very close to 9.8 m/s2. Answers between 8.5 m/s2 to about 11 m/s2 are not uncommon.

Since the acceleration IS 9.8 m/s2, there must be some reason that we can not get 9.8 m/s2 for each of the 8 accelerations. Our triple beam balances are accurate to +/- 0.1g, which is about 0.00098 N. Our spring scales are accurate to +/- 0.01 N. That means our scales are MUCH less precise then our balances, and even without any human error and if we did everything perfect, it is likely that we won't get 9.8 every time, the scales are just not good enough!

Taken to another planet, this lab would function almost the same.
The masses would all come out exactly the same, because the mass of the objects won't change depending on where they were. The weights however, WOULD change depending on where they were. Planets larger then Earth would have more gravity, and the objects' weights would be higher. Planets smaller then Earth would have less gravity and the objects' weights would be smaller.

#5- Don't worry about it!

Mass Lab

2009-11-17T12:43:00.000-08:00

This lab is all about learning the skills involved with a triple beam balance:
Massing directly
Massing by difference
Massing exact amounts.

The balance is balanced when the POINTER MARKER is pointing at ZERO POINT CENTER.

The smallest mass that is possible to find with these balances is one tenth of a gram, 0.1g. The first mark on the 1g rider is 0.1g, anything smaller then that, we can not find accurately. Be warned, the question is NOT asking you to look at your data and find the object you measured that had the smallest mass.

The largest mass you can find with these balances is 610g, when the 100g rider is on 500g, the 10g rider is at 100g, and the 1g rider is at 10g.

Before using the balance, make sure that it is calibrated correctly, that it is balanced. To do this, the riders must be set to zero, the pan is clean and dry and the balance reads 0g.

When you are done finding the mass of an object, you must set the riders all back to zero.

Mass by Difference is used when you are trying to find the mass of an object that will not stay on the pan by itself, or it will just be too messy, such as a bird that will fly away if it is not in a small cage, a glass of water that needs to stay in the glass, or a scoop of sand in a small cup.

Massing Exact Amounts is a skill you use when you are trying to get a particular amount of something to be used in a recipe in cooking, or when following a chemical formula for an experiment. If you needed to find exactly 50g of water to mix with exactly 12g of salt, you would use Massing Exact amounts to get the correct masses.

Friction lab

2009-11-09T15:21:00.000-08:00

Greetings!

In the friction lab we used wood blocks and spring scales to measure the friction between the block and the table. We then tested to see if changing the surface area changed the friction, as well as adding weights to the block and putting it on different surfaces, such as sand paper, to see what changed the friction.

When we turned the block from the large side, of about 115 cm2, to the small side, of about 56 cm2, the friction DID NOT CHANGE. Mr. Lang also got results from a large sample size, the whole class. When we look at that data, some of the groups got the same friction, some group's had their friction go UP and some even had their friction went DOWN! There is no consistent answer, and that is because any change we see with moving from the large to the small surface area has to do with the large margin of error on the spring scales. THERE WAS NO REAL CHANGE IN FRICTION.

However, when we added weights in Part 3, it is easy to see that the weight pushing down (weight) IS a factor of friction. The more weight pushing down on the block, the larger the friction will be.

Also, when we move the block onto different surfaces, we get different frictions, showing that the type of surfaces involved ARE factors of friction.

On my first graph, we graphed all the data that we got for wood to table. All the points made a liner data trend. For a pair of surfaces, the ratio of Friction to Weight (the coefficient of friction) is constant. NO matter what the weight we add to the block, that ratio will be the same, making a linear graph.

However, when we put the block on different surfaces, we get different lines with different slopes. The ratio of Weight to Friction is DIFFERENT for different surfaces, so the line for sandpaper and for plastic are DIFFERENT.

Since the ratio of F/W is constant, if I look at my first graph, showing the relationship of F/W for wood to table, I can predict the friction for any total weight from 0.1 to 5.2 N (and more if I made a bigger graph). All I need to do is find the weight of 2N on the X-axis and then follow the graph straight up to where 2N intersects with the line we drew. I can then trace that to the left, onto the Y axis, and that number will tell me the friction I should expect if the block + any weights had a total of 2N.

DON"T FORGET THE CORRECT UNITS.
The surface areas are in cm2.
All the rest of the lab is in N,
EXCEPT for the ratio of F/W which has NO unit!!!

Why does it have NO unit? Well in "speed" we had meters/seconds. There is no common unit there, and both m and s are left behind in the answer.
When we did acceleration and had "m/s" divided by "s" there was a common unit.. the "s" and in that formula those "s" were in a improper fraction, and they ended up being squared (m/s2).

In finding the coefficient of friction I have force (in N) and weight (in N) and just like in math class, an N in the numerator and denominator CANCEL EACH OTHER OUT, and we are left with no unit.

On our graphs, each surface made a different line, so in the First graph, I have one Line of Best Fit, but on the second graph, I get 4 lines.

Inclined To Roll

2009-10-27T14:27:00.001-07:00

In this lab we found the time it takes for a marble to roll down a 1m long ramp. We used the time to figure out the speed and the acceleration of the marble.

The manipulated variable is the height of the ramp, which also changes the angle of the ramp. The responding variable is the time it takes for the marble to travel the distance of 1 m down the ramp. There were many things that were controlled: the marble, the ramp, the k’nex scaffolding holding the ramp, the timer, the releaser and how the ramp was set up on the k’nex.

If the ramp was long enough and at an angle of 9.09 degrees, it would take_____ seconds for the marble to accelerate from 0 m/s to 10 m/s.
To find the time, I put the values into the formula a= Vf-Vi/t. Since Vf is 10 m/s and Vi is 0, 10 divided by my acceleration gives me my answer. (answers differ depending on the acceleration your team got at the angle of 9.09 degrees.

On an acceleration graph of Speed vs Time, a marble would create a linear graph (straight line) The reason it is linear is that when I divide the speed by the time of any point on the graph, I get the same answer, showing me that the RATIO of SPEED TO TIME IS CONSTANT. A straight line on a graph always means that SOMETHING is staying constant.
If I graphed the marble on a Speed graph, when I plot distance against time, it would make a CURVED line getting steeper and steeper. Since the marble is speeding up, the slope of the line would continue to get bigger and bigger. The reason the slope is getting bigger and bigger is the RATIO of DISTANCE vs TIME is getting bigger! If I get a curved line on a graph, I always know that SOMETHING is CHANGING!

There are a LOT OF DIFFERENT UNITS TO KEEP TRACK OF IN THIS LAB!!!!

Coaster Speed Lab

2009-10-12T18:04:00.000-07:00

Reminders:

Your conclusion should be read aloud to someone, preferably a parent at home.
Parents: If you have to ask ANY QUESTIONS, then they need to work on their conclusion more. It should be a finished work, such as an adult would turn into their boss, hoping to get that raise. Details, details, details! Average times and average speeds are given to TWO decimal places.

*Use binder paper, and not "ripped out of a spiral notebook" paper.
*At the top of the binder paper should be a title: "Coaster Lab Conclusion."
*Skip the first line.
*Start writing on the second line.
*Follow the right and left margin, and KEEP A ONE INCH bottom margin.
*Skip lines between questions.
*When you get to the bottom of the page, get another sheet of paper.

The below information is very similar to what I go over in class. There is nothing below that they have not heard before. I do this so students can also read the information they need, and as an example of a good conclusion. There are some questions that I can not answer here the way students need to answer them (in giving the results to calculations based on data they collect).
DO NOT PRINT THIS OFF AND TRY TURNING IT IN or include chunks of this text. That is plagiarism, and not acceptable. If you do not know what plagiarism is, go to the school web page, find the page dedicated to the library. Mrs. Andresen has a good page on plagiarism there.

1- Question #1 is almost always the same... explain what happened in the lab. We used a battery powered K'nex roller coaster and used a stopwatch to time how long it took the coaster to do laps around the 8 m track. Three different times, we timed 1, 3, 5, and 10 laps, recorded the times, found the average time for each # of laps. We used the s=d/t formula to find the speed of the coaster.

2- We found the average speed in this lab. There are several ways that we can determine that this is an average speed and not a constant speed. One way is that we used the formula for average speed, total distance divided by total time. The second way we can tell is just by looking at the coaster. When it hits the orange accelerators, it speeds up, and by the time it is nearing the end of the track, it is going rather slowly. And since I can see that the speed does in fact change over the 8 meter track, and speed we find would be an average speed.

3- This answer will vary depending on the times you got and the speeds you calculated. However there are three important things that you must remember while answering this question. 1-The answer must be in a SENTENCE. Do not just list them. 2- Do not forget the correct units on the speeds in this answer, it is in m/s. 3-The speeds that we get are very close to the value of 2 m/s. If you get much lower then 1.90m/s or much higher then 2.25 m/s there is probably a problem somewhere.

4- The 5 points (don't forget the point (0,0)!) should make a fairly straight line, which makes this a linear trend.
WARNING- the answer to this is not "because it makes a straight line." The question is asking "WHY THEY MAKE A STRAIGHT LINE?"
The reason these points make a straight line is that the RATIO of DISTANCE to TIME is CONSTANT. Yes, every lap is another 8 m of distance, but it takes another 4 seconds of time. And yes, I am telling every class that that phrase "RATIO of DISTANCE to TIME is CONSTANT," must be in their answer.

5- When drawing the graph, I instructed the students to draw the line of best fit to the END OF THE GRAPH. IF your speed is higher then or equal to 2.00 m/s this question has an easy answer. Wherever your line hits the top of the graph (which is labeled 100m), follow the vertical line down to the time on the X axis. If your speed is lower then 2.00 m/s, your line does not hit the 100 m mark! (I should make the graph longer!) IF this is the case, do your best to estimate the time. Regardless, since the speeds are all about 2 m/s, the time needed to travel should be somewhere around 50 s.

6- Similar to question #5, we are finding a time, but instead of using a graph, we will use the formula s=d/t (or from math, the d=rt formula, which is the exact same thing). Since the question asks to find the time to travel 1km, the first thing you need to do is convert that to meters. Plug in your distance and plug in the speed you found for "1 lap" and solve for "t." Again, everyone's answer will be different depending on the speed you calculated, but since they will all be about 2 m/s, the travel time of 1 km should be near 500s.

An alternate reasoning for #6 could include finding the number of laps around the track it would take to travel 1 km, and then multiplying the time of one lap by the number of laps. While this would result in the correct answer, the question specifically requires the use of the s=d/t formula to solve the problem. I would have no problem if students ALSO used this method to confirm their results that they found with the s=d/t formula.

Parents and students- If the above was written out by hand, how long do you think it would be? One sheet of binder paper? Two? more?

F(w)

2009-09-24T14:06:00.000-07:00

That's mathspeek for "Walking Function" lab.

(Q1) In this activity (not really a lab experiemnt) students got a set of directions on different ways to move, walking, walking heel-to-toe, walking with a side-to-side step and jogging in place. They could also be doing those steps backwards. While doing the directed walking for 20 seconds, the distance they walked was recorded, and later graphed.

(Q2) Since each group had a different set of directions, in order for Mr. Lang to grade their conclusion, he needs to know which Function card you had (A, B , C, D, etc) and which of the two functions your group recorded that you will answer the next two questions on. "We chad card "X" and I will describe function "15."

(Q3&4) To determine where the walker would be at any particular time (from 0s to 20s) find the time on the X axis, follow the vertical line until it intersects with your line. At that point, follow the horizontal line to the y-axis on the left, and determine the y value. If the line is going up to the right, the Y value is getting bigger, and the walker is increasing the distance from the start line. The walker must be walking forward. This line has a positive slope. If the line in doing down to the right, the Y value is getting smaller and the walker is getting closer to the start line, meaning the walker must be walking backwards. This line has a negative slope. If the line is horizontal, the Y value is not changing, and the walker is jogging in place. This line has a slope of zero.

(Q5) Find a person who has a F(w) that you did not do, and you must tell me who's paper you used, and which F(w) of theirs that you used.

(Q6) In the same manner as Q3&4, tell me what you can about where theri walker was at the time 13s.

(Q7) Looking at their graph, explain what the graph looks like, including direction and speed changes. Ex: F(3) starts out horizontal, not moving. At 5s they start moving, at 10 seconds they start going faster. At 15 seconds they move even faster. They do not change directions at all. While F(8) they start moving backwards, then forwards at 5s, backwards again at 10s and then at 15 s, forward again. The speeds are all about the same.

(Q8) After looking at their graph, do your best to determine WHAT kind of walk they were doing, Can you figure out what THEIR directions looked like?
Don't forget the walks we did (from slowest to fastest) were:
jog in place
side to side
heel-to-toe
walking
the steeper the line, the faster they were moving, and the direction of the line will tell you if they were traveling forwards or backwards.

This lab was all about MAKING AND READING graphs. It will also be a STRONG foundation for Position Graphs which will be a big part of the next chapter.

Related to the graphing issues we will go this year, that also has to do with the 1.5 notes- a FUNCTION is a graph that has the restriction, for every X there is ONLY ONE Y value. For example, this graph was a function... For any time on the graph, you can only be ONE place at a time. (ex: At a time of 13 seconds you cant be 100cm AND 700 cm away at the same time!) A LOT of the graphs we will draw will be functions.

Pendulum Lab

2009-09-16T12:33:00.000-07:00

I STRONGLY recommend kids reading their lab conclusion OUT LOUD to someone. If you happen to read this, PLEASE ask to see their labs (this one and every other one as well). I will usually try to get descriptions of the lab here in the blog, so parents know what is going on.

The Pendulum lab was all about using the scientific method to solve the question, "what determine the time it takes a pendulum to swing back and forth?"

We started by timing 5 swings, 3 times. Then changed the mass at the end of the pendulum as well as the length of the string, and then repeating the test. A poll after that showed the class, that we could not tell what made the period change. Was it the mass? The length? Who knows!?!

We then tried it again, being much more careful about our measurements, and only changing one variable at a time.

Our control group was a 1m pendulum with a 13g mass bob at the end. When we added mass, the time did not change. All of these tests had a time of about 10s. I pointed out over and over, that even if the time did go up both times, (10.01s, 10.05s, 10.11s) that some of the tests in other groups went DOWN, and some went UP and then DOWN and some went DOWN and then UP... BUT all of these differences are SMALL, withing the margin of error on our use of the stopwatches.

When we changed the length of the pendulum, we got BIG changes in time, showing us that it is the length of the pendulum, not the mass of the pendulum that will change the period of the swing. (1.5m --> 12s, 0.5m--> 7s)

In the conclusion, students should give me AS MUCH DETAIL AS POSSIBLE. You can give me all correct answers and get a "C" on the paper. C IS AVERAGE. If you want a better grade, your answers have to include more detail!!

Papers must be formatted correctly, with the title on the top line, skipping the next line, and then starting to write on the line after that. The numbers should be to the left of the margin, and lines between questions should be skipped. Spelling and grammar count. Using the vocabulary words, and using them correctly, counts too!

Lab Safety

2009-08-28T14:25:00.000-07:00

For Tuesday/Wednesday (Sept 1 & 2) there is a
"Lab Safety Poster" due.

On regular 8.5 x 11 inch white paper, students will pick ONE rule from their lab safety notes and create a poster.

Include the RULE
If you pick one from the ICONS, include the name of the icon, and the icon itself.
Illustrate either the rule being followed, or NOT followed (and the dire consequences of breaking that rule)
Since it is a POSTER, things like visibility is important.

They may illustrate it by drawing, collage pictures from magazines, downloading pics from the computer, photoshoping them, whatever works!

Name date period on the BACK please.

We will also have a TEST on the lab safety rules, and after they take the test, it will come bak to be signed by the parents, so there is NO QUESTION about what I expect from kids in the labs, and the consequences for breaking the rules.

Week of Aug 24

2009-08-25T12:31:00.001-07:00

This Week:

ABABA

Homework:
Return the "Contact Sheet" signed- due 24th 25th
Bring a large paper bag - Due 26-27th
Quiz on class rules - 26th 27th
Safety Test - Sept 1 & 2

Class rules and safety rules can be found under the "documents" section of the web page.

Welcome to the 2009-2010 School Year

2009-08-17T14:17:00.000-07:00

Welcome new students!

This week:
- - C A B

A "C" day had you going to all of your classes. Since Wednesday is a "double first period" AND a short Wednesday, it should be a whirlwind day!

Homework:

Get class materials:
Several pencils & erasers
Black Pens & white out.
Binder paper (8.5 x 11 if you can find it)
3 x 5 Index cards
3 ring binder
Calculator(recommended)
metric ruler (cm)(recommended)
color pencils (recommended)

Parent Contact Information- get it filled out, signed and return ONLY the bottom portion!

DC TRIP 2009

2009-07-05T16:12:00.001-07:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Mythbusters

2008-10-12T12:07:00.000-07:00

Every year I show a TV program called "Moon Conspiracy."

It is about the "controversy" over the moon landings. I am a firm beliver in the Apollo missions, and go over the arguments, one by one, that the video portrays, and debunk them.

However, I heard that Mythbusters did a show on just that topic. If anyone has a copy, I would LOVE to see it (can we say extra credit?)

There is a website, badastronomy.com that does a GREAT job at debunking the arguments against the Moon landings, and the book the site offers, "Bad Astronomy." Great book.

IRON MAN

2008-05-02T19:48:00.000-07:00

WOO HOO

Ok, ok, not science, but science FICTION.

Iron Man is out in the theaters. As a LONG time Iron Man fan, THUMBS UP.

Like your grade? NO? Then read this.

2007-12-26T15:48:00.000-08:00

Check out this old post.

http://mrlangpjhs.blogspot.com/2005/12/mr-langs-12-step-program.html

Post BTSN

2007-09-20T15:03:00.000-07:00

Wow, I am SO tired today1 Last night took a lot out of me!

I don't usually assign homework in the middle of the week but here is some...

SAFETY TEST: Tests are corrected and handed back. Student's will need to do TWO things with them.
1) Correct any errors onto a piece of binder paper. Copy the correct rule from your notes onto binder paper for each one you got wrong. Example "always tie your hair back" was false- the correct rule is "always tie your hair back when using fire or chemicals."
2) Get it signed. I want all kids and parents to know thatviolation of lab safety rules can get you a ZERO on a lab. DON'T break any safety rules.

REACTION TIME LAB
I decided against the graphs- don't worry about it.
Students DO need answer the 4 questions at the end of the lab. These whould be done on binder paper, with the title "Conclusion" at the top of the page.All answers should be in full complete sentences with CAPS at the start and PERIODS at the end of each sentence. The first 3 questions are very straightforward. The fourth, asks how could we use this lab to calculate a TIME instead of a distance? You would need to figure out the SPEED of the falling meter stick. I am not asking them to figure it out! I just need them to know that they would be looking for the speed.
All measurements are in cm. Make sure they are all labled "cm."

We are in the middle of looking at CHAPTER 1 SECTION1 and I think the pace will pick up quite a bit now that we are on the textbook. I will assign section 2 and 3 as homework soon.

Changing States

2007-01-29T09:14:00.000-08:00

First you need to figure the mass of the ice, the mass of the water, and the mass of the water that evaporated away.

Mass of ice * 335= energy to melt (Now you have 0C water)
Mass of ice * 4.18* Delta K = energy to heat (Delta K should be around 100)
Mass of evaporated water * 2260 = energy to boil that much water away.

Add all three of those numbers to get the TOTAL energy put into the water.

1) Describe what the lab was about.
2) Describe what happened to the contenets of the beaker - USE AS MANY CPT 6 VOCAB WORDS AS POSSIBLE.
3) How much energy did went into the water - basically describe the math problems you did above.
4) What happens to the temp, as a substance changes stated (hint look at the tail end of your graph)

Below is a BARE MINIMUM type answer. I want the students to be able to add to and embellish the answer with as much personal knowledge as possible. When I give example answers I am NOT giving them an "A" answer. I am giving them enough information so they know what I am looking for!

This lab was about melting ice to see what happened. We used a thermometer to record the temperature changes, watched the ice chage states twice and graphed our data.
During this lab the ice went trhough many changes. It melted, it heated up and it boiled. (oh there is a LOT LOT LOT more you can put into this answer, including temperatures, names of the different states you saw, and maybe something about adding energy)
To see these changes happen, it took energy to melt the ice, heat the water and boil some mass into steam. You will need to use YOUR data to calcualte the energy needed.
When a substance is changing states, the temperature of it stays the same - see my graph of the water boiling? The graph flattens out at 100C.

My Vacation!

2007-01-13T18:36:00.001-08:00

2 weeks off? I dont think so!

We have my neice 4 days a week - shes 1. Bottles, diapers, naps. baby gates all over the place. Neighbor kids two days a week, so then we have 5 kids in here. INsane. They slept over one night. from 5pm thurs to 5 pm friday. HERE TAKE THEM HOME. Nice kids, but 24 hrs is too much.

Sat before school started again, i hit the store for about $80 of meat and veggies and cooked all day. 4 huge pots of spaghetti sause (great grandmothers recipe from Sicily)

Over the course of the week, I also painted a mural on Brody's wall. We play Neopets a lot here and he wanted Neopets on the wall. (Couple years ago I did Pokemon for Aric and it was Brody's turn) Pics of the wall posted
http://petpages.neopets.com/~Juby32506 . Any Neopet playes this year?

On I-tunes I found a great podcaster- Richard Pogge, Astronomy 161 teacher & Ohio St. He has GREAT lectures on Newton, gravity, and other topics we have covered... that reminds me I need to download a few more of them! I listened to them while cooking and painting.

Straight Outta Lynwood

2006-09-29T10:10:00.000-07:00

Ok, Yes I went to Best Buy on the 26th - the day of Weird Al's new release. With songs like, "White and Nerdy," "Weasle Stomping Day" and, "Canadian Idiot," I had to get it ASAP. Listened to it twice in a row, burned it to my hard drive at home, put it on my Ipod, have the CD in the car and a copy on my computer at work... Now I can listen to Weird Al's new tunes wherever I am!!!

Funny.

The "White and Nerdy" song & video can be had at various sites, including weirdal.com, youtube.com and Weird Al's myspace page.

Summer Vacation Pt II

2006-07-11T22:40:00.000-07:00

Camp Masonite Navarro

CMN is a camp in the redwood forest of Navarro. It is a former mining and logging camp and has been a Scout camp for 50 years.

Sunday:

Check-in was 1PM, but we got an early start. We met the other campers from our pack at 10AM and drove up together. The drive was nice, not bad at all. There was a store just about a mile from the camp and we got there at noon, so we had lunch and still got to the parking lot at the camp about 15 minutes early. I was able to grab a camp wagon and loaded it up with our stuff. Pack 1 (MIke, Tony, Nick & Aric) was first in line when it was time to check in.

We got a tour of the camp, saw our campsite and then we went back to the car and hauled our stuff up The Hill. While the hill was not really that bad, in the heat, pulling a huge pile of stuff, and on an empty stomach (Aric had lunch, but I did not eat) I barely made it up the hill. We spent the afternoon setting camp and relaxing until dinner. There were 8 of us, which was perfect, since the Adirondack slept 8. Aric and I were the only one in Pack 1 with a tent, but we used our bunks for storage.

Our campsite was the largest. We had five Adirondacks and about 25 kids. We were Camp Rough N Ready. We had two huge tree stumps. One was at least 10 feet tall. There were hand & foot holds cut into it, perfect for climbing. Aric had earned his Whittling Chip, and for an award, I have him a pocketknife. He spent a lot of time whittling a marshmallow stick.

At 5:45 we med for the Flag ceremony. We me the staff and had dinner of Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes and salad. We had a while to relax and then we met at the Fire Bowl for skits and songs.

Out air mattress had a hole. Fun. Even though the day was over 100F, at night it got quite cold!

Monday:

What a long day!

Flag ceremony was at 7:45. It was nice watching it done well. Breakfast was biscuits and gravy. Yum!

This morning we started with fire starting & safety. We practiced several ways of stacking the kindling for a fire. We also made cinnamon rolls in a dutch oven. They got a bit burnt.

We went on a nature walk and learned about plants in the area.

Trees: Bay, Tan Oak, Redwood, Nutmeg

Plants: Poison Oak, Sword Fern, Huckleberry

We had our turn on the firing range with BBs. Aric did great!!

Lunch was Mac & cheese w/hotdog bits.

After lunch we went to forestry and learned about the parts of a tree & their uses. Leatherworking followed with some practice and then they made a bracelet.

Our activites were in small groups, and our group name was the Cougars. In addition to our Pack, we also had: Jared , Austin (who in on the SR swim team!) Brandon (who is Janessa’s cousin!), Jack , Steve , and Jacob .

By then it was quite hot again and we had free time so we were first in line for the swimming hole. The water was cold, but felt good. Aric had to take the swimming test (ha). We only stayed about half and hour. There was a line to get in and we let someone else have a turn. Aric and I caught pollywogs in the river on the way back.

Just about the time we were getting ready for dinner, we heard the fire alarm and ran down to the assembly area. It was a fire drill. Dinner was a huge chicken thigh with stuffing.

After dinner we had signed up for the archery pin. We will get to shoot later. We learned about the equipment, the rules and the whistle signals.

That evening we had s’mores and then relaxed. The counselors came to each campsite to sing and then lights out!

Tuesday:

For breakfast, some type of imitation scrambled egg (I can’t imagine what they could have done to real eggs to make them like that). We started the day with horseshoes which turned into a kids vs adults game. Then we had bouldering. We learned the commands for bouldering.

Kid: “Spotters ready?” Spotter: “Spotters ready.”

Kid: Bouldering?” Spotter: “Boulder on!”

As we are getting the information, I am looking at this counselor and then read his nametag. I know that name.

Matthew Van Tassell.

I look at him and ask, “Matthew Vas Tassell?” and he is like, “yeah?” with a “who-the-heck-are-you” look on his face.

I have him a description, “Cinnabar school. Long hair, no beard. Day care.”

He looked at me, smiled and said, “Mc Hammer pants! Tom!?!” It was funny. Yep, the 21 year old guy that was working the bouldering wall went to the day care I worked at years ago. He remembered me getting married, and this year will be 12 yrs. One of our group made it the furthest of all the kids so far.

We made our own lunch today in the fire pit. We had to select food and wrap it up in tin foil. We were to put the foil onto the coals in the fire. We made a dutch oven out of our fire brigade bucket. Things cooked slower in there. The meat was good, but the veggies were… raw. We had a lot of time to relax around camp until our afternoon classes.

Aric and I spent a lot of our free time playing Skip-bo, the other kids played War and the other dads played cards as well.

We had metalwork after lunch, and the kids hammered out sheet metal into pans for panning for gold in the river. It quickly became panning for polliwogs, crayfish and whatever they could catch. Since this took way less then an hour for each station, we had time for a fun game of volleyball!

Our afternoon free time was spent at the BB range again and Aric did great! He had 2 more turns, and one was on the “official” USA Junior Shooter Team target, so he earned a special patch with a 49 out of 50! We also had enough time to make our gold pouch in crafts.

Aric and I took our turn to be “hoppers” at dinner and got our table ready and cleaned it up afterwards. We had chicken pot pie.

Our evening time was again at the BB range earning our BB pin. Austin’s mom had offered me her spare air mattress (self inflating no less!) and I made a trip to her car to get them! (yes!)

Wednesday:

This morning looked like yesterday, slightly overcast, which was welcome after 2 days of scorching heat (water water water). When we left out pancake breakfast it was raining out! Not hard, just making everything damp.

We had crafts, where we made treasure boxes. They were pretty cool! Then we went to Andrea (she’s a Rancho Jr) and we did ropes. The kids fused one end and whipped the other. We practiced double half hitch and square. It was a short walk to Archery, our last activity. We had enough time for the dads to take a turn at something! Aric and I could use more practice!

After lunch was spent getting ready for the afternoon water balloon fight. James brought tons of balloons. It was kids vs. counselors, who were hopelessly outnumbered. Then there was a carnival. The kids “spent” their gold pieces on crafts, including branding leather, making butter, throwing beanbags, and I even won a watermelon-eating contest. (I just wanted a cool piece of watermelon!)

We had some quiet time until dinner and we spent a lot of the time beginning to break down the camp, and I made a few trips to the car and back. After dinner we had some more camp time until the end-of-camp campfire.

The kids had to put together skits. Aric taught “The Candy Store” to the rest of Rough N Ready, and they preformed it in front of everyone. They had a lot of funny skits that night.

The next morning was quick. Flags, food and check out. We were out of there before 9 and Aric fell asleep in the car right away and slept till we got home.

Lots of fun!

My Summer Vacation

2006-07-09T09:30:00.000-07:00

Part One: The Jury Is Out

I knew I was going to get jury duty this summer. I got a summons last summer and I put it off till this summer, so it was not a surprise. Out of 75 people, I was #13 chosen for the jury of Slikas V Schlangen, making me “Alternate #1.”

Plaintiff Witness #1: Gayla “Freberhouzer” Slikas

Author: “Making the Right Decision”

Lived in house for many years, moved out upon divorce moved back into home w/kids when ex moved out. When the rains dried up, she noticed the deck was in bad shape and in March ’03 phoned Schlangen to tell him to check it out. She recommended that the whole structure be replaced. He checked out the deck and agreed to replace it with a cement patio.

She continued to remind him to work on the deck with each rent check. Her June check included a note that she was “very concerned,” and noticed boards bending under her weight.

On July 3, ’03 she had started a BBQ which was on the right side of the door (facing out the door) and had exited the door slightly to the left, to open and secure the screen door. When she came out to check on the BBQ, she steps on the right side of the step (now that the screen is out of the way) and feels the board begin to give beneath her. She attempts to catch herself, but falls, landing on her right leg, breaking it.

The shoes in question are thick sandals, which, while new (less then 6 weeks) they replaced similar shoes, so she believes that the accident was not due to unfamiliar footwear.

She said that she had strategically placed potted plants over the weak spots in the deck so she could avoid them.

When she fell, her daughter called the ambulance sho giver her an IV of morphene and takes her to the Kaiser hospital. She has a compound fraction and goes into surgery.

The ER report states that she had said that she “ twisted on sandal, as cause of the accident. A metal plate was screwed into her leg. She wore a cast for 16 weeks, even though the Dr thought it would only take 8 weeks. She had to wear a boot for another month and then still needed a cane for a long time.

She still has problems with her leg. She has stiffness in her ankle and pen in the leg over the plate. Her foot has numbness.

She was a business consultant, and now is a Toyota salesperson at freeman in santa Rosa and makes about $9,000 a month in commissions. The Dr says it should only take her 6-8 weeks recovery time if she has the plate removed, but believes that since the Drs estimate was low for her initial recovery, the 8 week estimate for surgery recovery will likely be longer. She will not be able to do her job while recovering since the job requires lots of walking on the lot & getting in and out of cars.

She tells us of all the fun things she can no longer do. Tells us how long he was at making repairs in general.

Cross by Limberg:

Brings up some minor wording differences between her initial deposition and later statements.

She did not use prescription medication and had no physical therapy. She has been eligible to have the plate removed for over 2 years but has not yet had it removed. The surgery in question is an outpatient procedure.

While she says that she now needs shoes with more support, and needs to wear things like laced up boots, she also had stated that she wore the sandals many times AFTER the accident, before her attorney asked for them.

She admits that she is not sure of the angle of her foot as she came out the door.

Plaintiff Witness #2 William Matheson Schlangen.

Bought the property in ’75 and put a mobile hom there in ’84. The deck was built in ’86. Hired 2 carpenders. The thought they were licensed because they were able to get building permits.

After the complaint, he inspected the deck the next day. He walks over the entire deck a d landing by walking and bouncing. He agrees that one spot needed boards replaced. She told him that she fixed the trouble spot by placing a masonite board over the area and screwing it down. He did not check under the deck, sionce there was no large deflection of boards. He did decide to replace the deck, but did not get any bids until after the accident.

Slikas called him after the accident and told him that she was carrying files and was wearing sling backs.

He had replaced boards on the deck in the past and had treated it with sealer several times over the life of the deck.

Plaintiff Witness #3 Dr Henry Moskowitz by Taped video deposition.

It is common for patients with the plate and screws to have pain over the plate. The injury was not at the joint. She may have mild arthritis. The surgery to have it removed is minor, with the largest risk being infection. The leg should be weight bearing when she leaves with a few weeks to heal the incision and a few more for the bone to fill in the screw holes.

He does not remember the cause of the injury. He vaguely remembers something about falling through a deck.

In June ’04 she had scheduled the surgery to have plate removed, but she cancelled but was not told why.

Plaintiff Witness #4: Terry Gene Nathanson, Licensed General Contractor

On July 28 ’04 he visited the deck and went under to check the structure. The 30”x96” landing was built right on the deck. There used to be a 2x4 mounted to the side of the house, but I had since rotted away, along with the vertical support in the middle of the landing. He noticed the boards bending, depenind ion if his foot was on 1 board, or straddling 2 boards. He thinks that it was not redwood, but cheaper sapwood.

He has lots of photos of rotten wood and a garbage can full of dry-rot. There were also lots of fresh termite castings.

Cross:

Agrees that his inspection was over a year after the accident. And that the wood brought to court was wood from under the deck and is not wood that anyone was walking on.

Redirect:

Takes 8-10 years for the dry-rot to get that bad.

Defense Witness #1 Paul Elgin Millar, Construction Consultant

He visited property 2 times within a month of each other, on 4/’04 and 5/’04.

Measured rider difference of 8 inches.

Measured the deflections of each of the 5 boards on the deck and the wood appears to be con-heart redwood. The construction is within codes of mid ‘80s.

Deflection of boards compared to formula L/240. Of the 5 boards, the one closest to the wall was not to code with a deflection of almost 1 inch (ovrer a span of over 70"), but the rest of the boards are all small, and within code. He did not go under deck or look for rot; he looked only at the board deflections, since that was the disputed cause of the injury.

Cross:

His home inspector certification is now expired and is almost 100% paid court witness for almost 17 years, with almost 85% in favor of the defense. He actually hasn’t built anything since ’88, and only a few decks. Trying to make him NOT an expert on decks.

He believes the deck is up to code, certainly the deflections are up to code. Lawyer hints that Millar had said previously that the deck was not to code. Apparently the width of the landing was in question. The landing (30”) needs to be at least as wide as the door (36”), but looking closer that only applies if the door is opening out.

Lawyer questions HOW he had her step on the boards, 1 foot or 2? Where exactly along the board was she standing? She was standing, not stepping down onto board.

Defense Witness #2: Schlangen.

Reminds us he went out that next day to check the deck, and when he was told of the repairs she made, he thought that the immediate threat was resolved. His wife was dying of cancer at the time. After the accident was asked that he not make any repairs so lawyers could inspect deck.

Defense Witness #3: Dr Sean Shimada, Biomechanical consultant.

Mostly testifies for defense.

He did not go to the location, only looked at the medical records.

To get the injury Slikas had was to get a torque on the leg, a twisting. She had a spiral fracture. That fracture is consistent with foot slipping while sidestepping and not consistent with the plaintiff’s assertion that she was walking forward down the step. If she were walking forward she would fall forward onto the deck, not straight down onto leg. It takes les then half a second to hit the ground, and over three quarters of a second reaction time to even notice there is a problem. Basically you hit the ground before you even know you are falling, and her assertion that she tried to catch herself and missteped is unlikely.

Cross:
In sidestep motion, velocity is primarily down, while in forward step, the velocity has more forward motion.

Has looked at photos of deflection and he estimated deflections (close but no cigar) He tells us that his job was to work back from the injury to determine the forces needed to cause the injury. Visiting the site was not required. Deflection or no deflection was not the point, that fact that the injury could not have happened like she now says – that’s the point!

End of Testimony:

Jury Directions:

Plaintiff must prove that:
Defendant was negligent
Plaintiff was harmed
Defendant’s negligence was the primary cause of the injury.
Did each act reasonably?

Closing Arguments Plaintiff:

Argues against shoes as a cause.
She had justifiable fear she would fall through deck
Defendant did not look under deck.
Millar measured deflection while static, not in motion
Called defense witnesses “hired guns.”
Damages: $80,000 for medical.
Argue about wording: slingback v flipflops (pointless)
Says she was allergic to medication – why she stopped.
No idea what formula L/240 means. (idiot)
Now he says that the cause of the accident was the FEAR of going through the deck, not if the deck actually defelcted. Ah, now thats a different argument isn't it!?

Closing Arguments Defense:

She tells several versions – how well does she remember the accident?
Says she always wears boots, also claims that she wore sandals summer after the accident.
Did they meet burden of proof?

My questions:

Great diagram of the leg, why no diagram of the structure of the deck? Where exactly did the display wood come from in the deck?
Nathanson mentions that the termite castings were fresh and the inspection was over a year after the accident. No proof of termites at time of accident.
Nathanson does not mention any deflection in the step. Why not, eh?
If he did not fix the deck for at least a year after the accident, how did she get in and out of the house all that time? Did the deck hold??
If she had not fixed the deck herself, what would Schlangen have done? Would he then find the dryrot in repairing the deck? Did her repair prevent him from finding the dryrot?
When she fell and the EMTs got there, did they find the BBQ on? Did the daughter turn it off? Was she in a pile of file folders? I would have vey much liked to hear what the EMTs have to say.
Could the plaintiff find no one that claims injury could be caused by her description of events?
In closing arguments he says that she was allergic to medication, but did she say that in her testimony?

When I left the courtroom and left the rest of the jury to deliberate, I was sure of a quick verdict in favor of the defense. The plaintiff proved nothing, and certainly did not prove the deck was the cause of her injury. It took until Friday afternoon for a $200,000 verdict came in. I can’t believe it!

Mr. Lang's 12 Step Program

2005-12-08T12:21:00.000-08:00

"Mr. Lang, what can I (or my son, my daughter) do to raise my grade?"

Ah, progress reports! When that second progress report comes out and the specter of the end of the semester draws ever closer, that low 12 week grade is now close to becoming a low final grade. This is when I start getting parents who are trying to stay on top of things and kids who are starting to get grounded wanting to do something about it.

Instead of retyping this over and over, I will now post it here and just refer parents & students alike to this page!

PART ONE: THE KIDS

Step One: Missing Work:
Check the online grades and see if anything is missing. If anything is missing - finish it and turn it in!!! "But Mr Lang you don't take late work!" Not for credit, no. But if you have all your work in (even if it is for zero points) you can do extra credit assignments as they are offered. Also, finishing it and turning it in SHOWS ME something about your desire for improvement. Besides, that information will be on the test, and the work is to prepare you for the test at the end of the chapter, so you still need to know it, credit or not.

Step Two: Turning Assignments In On Time:
The past is past. Focus on the future now. Make sure assignments are DONE. Make sure that when they are collected that you TURN THEM IN. It really can be as simple as that. USE the planner! "What, we had homework???" is NOT impressing the teacher.

Step Three: Checking Grades & Graded Work:
When I return papers to the class, and I point out the point values on the board (I keep a running list) RECORD your scores on your Grade Record Sheet. Did you get it back with no grade on the paper? See me. Did you not get it back at all?? Check your binder and make sure that you REALLY DID turn it in. OFTEN I get kids who SWEAR that they turnin in the work, and then find it stuffed in their backpack later. Oops. Check the posted grades against what you record in your binder. Make sure that thost grades match! If they don't it's a warning to you to figure out the problem!

Step Four: Your Binder:
Keep it clean! As we do work and you collect assignments, I post on the wall what you should have in there and in the order you should keep them! There is a reason I do that people! If there is something in there that shouldn't be you have a problem! Did I collect it already (see step 2)? Keep your graded work seperate from the things that still need to be turned in. The current work should be ON TOP (in yoour face) so you see it all the time and it is not lost burried under old tests, graded labs, and scatterd notes. Keep your science work all in the same binder! You certainly do not want work lost in with your math or history work.

Step Five: Preparing For The Test:
DAILY HOMEWORK: STUDY FOR AT LEAST 15 MINUTES A DAY. How do you study BEST? I don't know! You probably do not know yet. It takes time for you to learn HOW YOU LEARN BEST. Some kids can read a text and know it. MOST KIDS (and adults) CAN NOT. I need to take notes as I go, it helps me to remember. Some people need to read it OUT LOUD (and hear it as they read it) for them to remember it. The MORE times you use a word, the more you remember it. Studies show that you need to hear a word used correctly at least 7 times for it to be remembered well. Why do you think I have your READ the text, WRITE notes, WRITE answers to questions, READ and WRITE flashcards, DO labs AND LISTEN to the examples and demonstrations??? I try to present material in MANY ways.
On your own you can rewrite your notes or type them into a word document, have a friend help you with your flashcards, or use them yourself. Matching games with the cards are good if you have 2 sets (a friend with a set). Write questions about the material. Can you answer them? Can you FIND the answers? Review the handouts, worksheets and labwork we have done- cover the answers - can you do the work again quickly & correctly (you can download coppies of most of the skill builder handouts at my homepage). Make an outline of the chapter (the purple headings) and see if you can fill in the important information.
SIMPLY REREADING THE TEXT OR YOUR NOTES WILL NOT WORK. To many kids (and adults) "studying" means looking at the book some more. That is usually a WASTE OF YOUR TIME. It may be ONE of the MANY things that you do, but if that's the only thing you are doing to prepare for the test you are not doing yourself any favors! Last and certainly NOT LEAST is if you are unsure about something.... ASK ME!

Step Six: Listening:
Come on guys, I spend way to much time trying to get you to pay attention. All that stuff I mentioned in parts 1-5? most of it is wasted if you are not listening to the explanitions I give. You can't solve the problems if you do not know the directions, and when I tell you and answers to questions you can't gain from them if you are not listening. When I say "Turn it in now" and you do not get that direction, you just wasted all your effort by not getting it turned in. There are times that you are allowed and expected to work together, but most of time I am explaining things that are hard for you to understand by just reading the text. Heck, remember that Lexile test we took? The Textbooks are lexiled as well. Our text was lexiled at 1100. If your reading score is less than that (an many of your scores are lower that that) you are going to have a TOUGH time understanding the text. THATS WHY I SPEND SO MUCH TIME TALKING TO YOU GUYS ABOUT IT. I know it's a tough read.

Step Seven: Absences:
Yep, kids get sick. They need to go to the dentist. Life happens.
"Mr. Lang, I was gone Monday, did we do anything?"
Whatever you missed that day WILL need to be made up. Period.
If you wait a week to figure out what you missed, I'm likly to not even remember everything your period did on that day. I try to keep a record of it, and I keep extras of the handouts, but I spent 90 minutes doing something with the class - and I did it for 5 different periods - I REALLY don't want to do it again because you were not in class - and then again tomorrow for someone else... and someone else... Ask a friend, check my daily log in the class - get as much as you can from others before you get to me, and do NOT ask me what you missed while I am teaching the rest of the class the next lesson. By the time you are in my room you should already have an idea about what you missed, "Jimmy said we took some class notes, he showed me his and I have a question about THIS..."
If you have any questions you should ask them AS SOON AS POSSIBLE! Don't wait for a week to pass, and then realize that you did not get the item I am collecting. I am in my room at lunch and after school on most days. If I am not in my room I probably just went to the office and will be right back.

PART TWO: THE PARENTS:

Step Eight: Nosy Parents.
At this age, kids want less and less of their parents help. They want and need some independance. HOWEVER many 8th graders are not ready to be totally independant! They push mom & dad away when they really need them. If you are here you are at a computer and probably have an email address. If you are not on my email list go to my homepage (link on the right) and sign up. Get email updates of what your kids are doing in my class. Homework hotline numbers can be had for the other teachers (go to the PJHS page - also run by yours truly). Find out what is going on and ASK YOUR KIDS ABOUT IT!

Step Nine: Asking Questions.
Ahh, the question! The trick is asking the CORRECT questions! "Do you have any homework?" is the WRONG QUESTION! "No." Come on, that was too easy for them to get out of! "Mr. Lang said you did a lab on balloon powered cars!! Wow, thats cool! I'd love to see what you did!" The excited parent, while still a pain to the average 8th grader is better then the "YOU ARE GROUNDED FOREVER!!!" parent. You may get rolling eyeballs and deep sighs, but then they have to get out that paper and show you. Hint hint - I don't take work early so don't fall for the "I already turned it in," line. They always have some homework (see step 5) so ask to see it or have them EXPLAIN IT TO YOU!!! Teaching someone is a GREAT way to LEARN it! Ask to see their NOTEBOOK with their text notes and the class notes, ask them to explain all those drawings in the margins of the pages (if there are no drawings, someone is not doing their work!)

Step Ten: Checking the Grades:
Remember what I told the kids back in step 1-3? parents can do this from the computer as well. I have had several students so far just this year find typos on their grades (me entering 14 intead of entering a 41 for example). Look for missing work or very low scores.

Step Eleven: The Planner:
Review your kid's planner with them. Are they using it? They should! They should write down assignments when they are assigned AND on the night before they are due (so they dont "forget" them at home). Of course, the tech-savy parent that you are, you have already signed up for my emails and already KNOW what is due and when it is due! You cn also use the planner to send notes to the teachers, ask that the teachers initial their planner or request grade checks. The weekly progress reports work OK, but writing that info in the planner is better - One: its harder to lose then a scrap of paper and Two: you can see an ongoing record of the grade at a glance. Of course you are already check ing the science grade online!

Step Twelve : Consequences:
It is sad, but there are kids wo simply will NOT do as they are asked. They never do homework, they never return their planner, etc. What is a parent to do? Well when worse comes to worse you make their life as miserable as you have to to get them to do what you need them to do. They can sit in their rooms with no TV, no cell phone, no video games, no music, no skateboard, no bikes, no makeup, no designmer clothes, no parties, no movies, no friends.
Kids learn that they have "rights" early on, but they also have RESPONSIBILITIES and they NEED to get that into their heads. If they do not live up to their responsibilities, they start losing privileges. No progress report? No fun this weekend! Did not turn in the assignment? No TV until it is turned in. You get the idea. You have got to encourage the mule with both the carrot and the stick. As much carrot as possible, as little stick as possible. Praise and rewards work well, but occasionally you need to punish. (Please do not take the "stick" analogy literally)

Well, how was that?
I hope that this little rant will help both the kid wih is trying to raise their grade as well as the parents trying to get their kids to raise their grades.

Quilting Arts - Dec '05

2005-11-25T22:23:00.000-08:00

The quilt is 8.5 x 11 inches. The faces are fused on with webbing and then appliqued on to the background. There is some beadwork on the background and as the pupils of the eyes.

Published Artist

2005-11-22T12:44:00.000-08:00

What news!

My Wife's aunt called from Washington.
Remember how I mentioned that I sent in a quilt to Quilting Arts Magazine?
Well, not only was it one of 75 out of the 500 entries selected to go on tour...

IT IS ONE OF ONLY 17 TO ACTUALLY BE PRINTED IN THE MAGAZINE!

Totally sweet.

It is in the Dec issue of Quilting Arts which has been mailed to subscribers (such as my aunt-in-law) but has not hit the stores quite yet!

Ok ok... I promise to add a picture of it soon.

Sweet.....

2005-11-18T12:54:00.000-08:00

Greetings! I got some cool news.

Over the summer I entered a self-portrait quilt into a quilting contest. It was the first quilt I ever finished (I have stared a few others). Out of over 500 world wide entries, my quilt was selected as one of only 75 to go on a NATIONAL TOUR. The quilt will also (most likely) be used in a POSTER! It MAY be one in 50 to appearr in the Quilting Arts magazine!

Swwweeeeetttttttt.

I'll post a pic of it soon (it WAS on my web page until recently).

Have a good weekend!

Trying to post a Photo

2005-11-10T14:52:00.000-08:00

Greetings ,

I am just trying to insert photos into the blog to see if I can get ti to work. I thought that I would add one of my favorite photos from this past summer. Mr. Lang hitting Satan's Cesspool.

If you remember this past June we had a lot of rain and the rivers were full from it all. We had a fast wet ride.

There I am in the rear port seat. About all you can see of me is my arm (the blue & red sleeve) and the top of my hat.

Trying it out

2005-11-10T14:10:00.000-08:00

Greetings, and welcome to my new blog.

I will be keeping a journal of what is going on in my 8th grade science classs at Petaluma Junior High.

You can check here for updates on material we are covering, upcoming due dates and tests, and probably homework assignments.