sept 28

I posted the grades for anyone that finished my test. These grades were scaled.

the test is tomorrow (Friday)

I hope you haven't waited until tonight to start studying for the test! Other than everything for Mr. Hennessy, there are many things covered on my portion of the test: Definitions for...Science and technology, hypothesis, theory and law, each part of the Scientific method, outlier, independent or manipulated variable, dependent or responding variable, control and variable group, controlled experiment, bar/pie/line graphs, smoothed lines or line of best fit, Requirements for each step of the Scientific method, how to interpret data tables and select the best sets of data within one, how to set up a graph measurements in the metric system and SI units when to use each type of graph ...line, bar or pie How to write a hypothesis how to write a conclusion, including the appropriate language If you have been doing the work for the project and homework, then if you study tonight you should do well. Good Luck

We will review the sheet that we did not finish today so make sure it is done. then we will go over some more on the physics portion in preparation for the test Friday.

sept 18

Good job on the technology quiz on steps in the engineering design. Be prepared to present the next time we meet, if you have not presented yet. Send in all your corrected presentations to Mr. Worden, by Friday morning if you want a higher grade.

leaf lab

Much better job on your presentations. Remember that you must make the changes that were suggested or that you suggested in order to get credit. Your final copy is what I am grading, if you already sent it to me, just send the new copy.
Remember, it is how much you are willing to improve your work that will determine how you do in the class. Each time try a little harder to get it right, and you will see your grades skyrocket, not just in my class, but in your other classes as well.
It is important that you try to do the math. If you are having trouble finding the slope of a line, I am available nearly every day after school.

Sept 12 hw

Tomorrow we will be putting together a keynote presentation on the steps of the Scientific method and how to run a controlled experiment using the leaf disk lab as a model. You will have one day to put it together. Everyone in the group should be working on some of the slides, so divide the work fairly. Each student will be required to talk about their slides and what it represents.
Each slide should represent one of the steps of the scientific method. Make sure to just have an outline with the important points. It can't be a script to read from.
Font size should be 24 or larger.
You may put the data table and graph on the slides.
In the conclusion:
restate the hypothesis;
background information will be about controlled experiments;
3 pieces of evidence;
whether or not the hypothesis is supported;
no need to explain why your variable caused the measured result.
You will give your presentations on friday.
Good luck

sept 7 hw

Great job on conducting your experiment in a shorter amount of time. It shows you are using time management better and that everyone in lab is working. Better job on cleaning up too.

You are going to take these results and present to the class your findings. The next time we meet you will have one class period to write the presentation. Everyone must have a copy on their iPad! One person from each group will connect to the projector and each person in the group will take turns talking about one of the slides. You must talk for a total of at least five minutes and cover each step of the Scientific method. It is a lab report in a presentation form.

You will take turns peer editing the presentation. You will also self assess it. You have a few days if there is research or other considerations you want to include.

I will put up a lab report to show what it should cover. Remember it is an outline, most of the details are spoken, you should not read word for word, but remember what you will discuss.

set 6 hw

Sorry the lab did not work, but it was good practice to learn time management and cooperative learning. You must be doing something in lab, instead of watching someone else work! Also when lab is over there were many leaves left out with holes in them, markers and hole punchers not returned to the front desk, syringes and cups not returned to the central supply area. You are responsible for cleaning up or it will reflect on your grade.

I found a leaf that will fall after one application of a vacuum. the leaf is green and white. It took me 15 minutes to run the experiment from start to finish. The next time we meet we will perform the experiment. You will be given 25 minutes to run it.

For homework, go through your notes on the Scientific Method, and for each thing we talked about (Problem, hypothesis, running an experiment that is valid, observations/data, analysis, conclusions) write down what you will do the next time in the lab to meet all the requirements of running a valid experiment , as well as what you will include in your report. You can give the actual problem, hypothesis, and method and how it will be a valid experiment., because these are things you must know before you start an experiment. You can also tell me how you will set up the data, and what type of graph you will use, as well as, what things to include in your conclusion.
This is due the next time we meet. IT NEEDS TO BE HAND WRITTEN. Do not send it electronically.

After we perform your experiment you will write a lab report.

sept 5

Good job participating in class today!

You should continue to study what we have discovered about the Scientific Method and how to conduct experiments. There will be a quiz Thursday on this. Soon I will attach a document that shows you how to write a lab report. We will do a simple lab that you will have to design yourself choosing your own variable.
OOOOOH...INQUIRY LEARNING!!!

Try to be ready when I cut the reigns.

Two things we did not mention is that after a graph you should make a statement that expresses the mathematical relationship shown in the graph. For example...The graph shows that the dry mass of the plant is twice as high in the variable group, than the control group.

The conclusion is the only place to explain why the measurable results in the experiment turned out like they did. But it is based on evidence, not opinion. You should give a few peices of evidence from your observatiions, data or the graph for your conclusion. It is best to use a comparison of data points, rates in a graph or a comparison of averages in the control or the variable group.
You must try to answer the quesion or problem you posed and only talk about that. Your data at the end will either support your hypothesis, or not support the hypothesis. It will not prove or disprove the hypothesis!

sept 4 hw

Read the new resources on the student resources sidebar about graphing and the scientific method. Memorize the steps of the scientific method. Write down how you would do the scientific method (step by step) to find out whether students with iPads do better on standardized tests than students without iPads.

Tomorrow we will learn about how to run an experiment (one variable, control group, sample size); collecting data tables; analyzing results-graphing smoothing lines, types of graphs; making conclusions. There will be a surprise quiz on the steps of the scientific method.