Another big day in the science lab.
The seventh grade completed an investigation into the amount of sodium bicarbonate required for a complete reaction with acetic acid in vinegar. They were introduced to chemical formulas, chemical equations, moles, molar mass, pH, acids, bases, and how to write a lab report. They hypothesized what the best amount of sodium bicarbonate would be for a complete reaction with the acetic acid in 25mL of vinegar. The results based on the gas produced were not too accurate but the pH test of the resulting solutions were right on for most groups. They were assigned to complete the lab report for Thursday, December 6.
The first grade came in to prepare their pumpkins for mummification. The cleaned out the "guts" of the pumpkin and saved the seeds in their canopic container to represent the organs. The pumpkins were filled with a mixture of salt, baking soda and kitty litter to facilitate the process of drying. The pumpkins will sit covered in the mixture and newspaper.
After school students who came for the STEM Club were working on a number of ideas. One group was building LEGO cars and using magnets to make them move. Another group was building a paper airplane model. Some students were working with the Mindstorm LEGO Robotics set. A large group of younger students were making crystals with the help of our high school volunteer, Tate Hammersly. One student was working on building the KNEX roller coaster. Green Team members were also present, working on up-cycled crafts for the CRAFT FAIR this Saturday.
Also this week, eighth grade students used the motion detectors and LabQuest interfaces to learn about acceleration and velocity.
Ms. Brunning did not make it out to lunch recess today to meet with students about their science research projects. She will be out for lunch recesses all next week until she has connected with everyone. The deadline for Assignment 2 that was Dec 3 will be extended to Dec 6.
One last note, OMSI will be offering LEGO classes over the holiday and winter break.
For information go to : http://www.omsi.edu/classes
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Friday, November 16, 2012
SPACE CAMP INFORMATION
Space Camp is open to students 9-18 years old. There are three different age groupings:
Space Camp grades 4-6
Space Academy grades 7-9
Advanced Space Academy grades 10-12
The facility is at the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
The 6 day sessions occur once each season.
For more information go to: http://www.spacecamp.com/camp/sc
For scholarship information go to: http://www.spacecamp.com/scholarships/
Scholarship applications must be postmarked by December 14, 2012.
Space Camp grades 4-6
Space Academy grades 7-9
Advanced Space Academy grades 10-12
The facility is at the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
The 6 day sessions occur once each season.
For more information go to: http://www.spacecamp.com/camp/sc
For scholarship information go to: http://www.spacecamp.com/scholarships/
Scholarship applications must be postmarked by December 14, 2012.
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
November 13, 2012
The Science Lab has been a busy place!
On Friday, the fifth grade conducted an investigation into the properties of play goo that results with varying amounts of ingredients. They made flubber, flak and slimy stuff. The learned that the more Borax you add to the glue water the more solid and less sticky the play goo becomes. Mrs. Brunning learned to always put down paper on the desk before ever doing this experiment again.
On Thursday, the fourth grade had a guest presentation by Dr. Perkins. She spoke about the function and structure of the human body, especially the liver, gall bladder and spleen. She had a model of a liver with normal and diseased sections. Students also viewed fresh beef liver sections.
Seventh grade used an interactive tutorial at http://learner.org/interactives/periodic/index.htm l to review what they had studied about atoms and the periodic table.
Sixth grade has been using an interactive all last week and today from the same site to review the "Dynamic Earth", introduce "Volcanoes" and the "Rock Cycle". The links are at:
http://www.learner.org/interactives/dynamicearth/
http://www.learner.org/interactives/volcanoes/
http://www.learner.org/interactives/rockcycle/index.html
This site has a number of interesting interactives in a variety of disciplines and grade levels, just go to: http://www.learner.org/interactives/ and search.
Today, the middle school math students participated in the American Mathematics Competition. The competition is national and involves taking a test of 25 multiple choice math problems. They will be scored by the Mathematical Association of America and ranked nationally and at the school level. Results will be available next month. This is a competition we chose to have students participate in to get a better sense of their math ability on a larger scale.
Next week is Night of the Notables and Wax Museum. Science Fair will move forward after that event is complete, the main focus right now is preparing for Night of the Notables and Wax Museum.
.
On Friday, the fifth grade conducted an investigation into the properties of play goo that results with varying amounts of ingredients. They made flubber, flak and slimy stuff. The learned that the more Borax you add to the glue water the more solid and less sticky the play goo becomes. Mrs. Brunning learned to always put down paper on the desk before ever doing this experiment again.
On Thursday, the fourth grade had a guest presentation by Dr. Perkins. She spoke about the function and structure of the human body, especially the liver, gall bladder and spleen. She had a model of a liver with normal and diseased sections. Students also viewed fresh beef liver sections.
Seventh grade used an interactive tutorial at http://learner.org/interactives/periodic/index.htm l to review what they had studied about atoms and the periodic table.
Sixth grade has been using an interactive all last week and today from the same site to review the "Dynamic Earth", introduce "Volcanoes" and the "Rock Cycle". The links are at:
http://www.learner.org/interactives/dynamicearth/
http://www.learner.org/interactives/volcanoes/
http://www.learner.org/interactives/rockcycle/index.html
This site has a number of interesting interactives in a variety of disciplines and grade levels, just go to: http://www.learner.org/interactives/ and search.
Today, the middle school math students participated in the American Mathematics Competition. The competition is national and involves taking a test of 25 multiple choice math problems. They will be scored by the Mathematical Association of America and ranked nationally and at the school level. Results will be available next month. This is a competition we chose to have students participate in to get a better sense of their math ability on a larger scale.
Next week is Night of the Notables and Wax Museum. Science Fair will move forward after that event is complete, the main focus right now is preparing for Night of the Notables and Wax Museum.
.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
October 23, 2012
It has been a while since my last post. That is a sign of how busy things have been in the lab(and a personal battle with a cold virus).
In the last two weeks, Sixth Grade has been studying Plate Tectonics. They used the cracked shells on hard boiled eggs to model what happens as the plates move around. Chocolate pudding cups and graham crackers were used to model eruption of lava in sea floor spreading. Looking at the cross section of an apple gave them a representation of the layers of the Earth. Using cut outs of the continents, students moved the "plates" on Earth as they would through time. Today they watched a demonstration of the impact of heat on the movement of fluids, this modeled the movement of magma in the Earth's mantle. Next it is on to the study of earthquakes.
Fifth Grade was in the lab today for an introduction to atomic structure. They used tiddlywinks of different colors to represent the location of subatomic particle in an atom. The terms they used were atom, atomic number, atomic mass, atomic nucleus, proton, neutron and electron.
Last week Fourth Grade used the new Vernier Heart Rate probes and Lab Quest to explore how their heart rate changes with activity (or lack of activity). The spent some time getting acquainted with the device and preparing their hypothesis and data table, then Mr. Weaver guided them through the data collection portion during PE. Students each selected which activity to do and recorded their heart rate before and after that activity.
After school, STEM Club has been investigating a variety of things including magnetism, legos and lego robotics, worms, frogs, lizards, guinea pig and rabbit, pond water, rubber band rockets, zing wings and design drawings. One group of students have been exploring prosthetic limbs. The even had a science sleepover and assembled a model of a prosthetic arm, complete with straw fingers that bend at the "joints". With the help of their parent they viewed a video tour of a local prosthetic manufacturer.
Last Thursday I forgot to cover the frog cage after STEM Club. When I returned Saturday, after recovering from my virus, I discovered the frog had escaped. I thoroughly searched the room with no luck. I cam to the conclusion that it was stuck behind a wall and most likely dead. This morning during Geometry class a couple students noticed movement by the recycling collection container and alerted me. There was the frog hiding behind a plastic bag. It is now safely back in the aquarium.
In the last two weeks, Sixth Grade has been studying Plate Tectonics. They used the cracked shells on hard boiled eggs to model what happens as the plates move around. Chocolate pudding cups and graham crackers were used to model eruption of lava in sea floor spreading. Looking at the cross section of an apple gave them a representation of the layers of the Earth. Using cut outs of the continents, students moved the "plates" on Earth as they would through time. Today they watched a demonstration of the impact of heat on the movement of fluids, this modeled the movement of magma in the Earth's mantle. Next it is on to the study of earthquakes.
Fifth Grade was in the lab today for an introduction to atomic structure. They used tiddlywinks of different colors to represent the location of subatomic particle in an atom. The terms they used were atom, atomic number, atomic mass, atomic nucleus, proton, neutron and electron.
Last week Fourth Grade used the new Vernier Heart Rate probes and Lab Quest to explore how their heart rate changes with activity (or lack of activity). The spent some time getting acquainted with the device and preparing their hypothesis and data table, then Mr. Weaver guided them through the data collection portion during PE. Students each selected which activity to do and recorded their heart rate before and after that activity.
After school, STEM Club has been investigating a variety of things including magnetism, legos and lego robotics, worms, frogs, lizards, guinea pig and rabbit, pond water, rubber band rockets, zing wings and design drawings. One group of students have been exploring prosthetic limbs. The even had a science sleepover and assembled a model of a prosthetic arm, complete with straw fingers that bend at the "joints". With the help of their parent they viewed a video tour of a local prosthetic manufacturer.
Last Thursday I forgot to cover the frog cage after STEM Club. When I returned Saturday, after recovering from my virus, I discovered the frog had escaped. I thoroughly searched the room with no luck. I cam to the conclusion that it was stuck behind a wall and most likely dead. This morning during Geometry class a couple students noticed movement by the recycling collection container and alerted me. There was the frog hiding behind a plastic bag. It is now safely back in the aquarium.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
October 9, 2012
The STEM Club has begun. There were more students than stools yesterday at our inargrual meeting of the CHPCS STEM Club! A list of citizen science opportunities was presented and also a list of competitions and contests. Both are available in the right margin of this web page.
Students filled out a survey of their interest areas in science, the survey had space for students to add areas not listed. If you missed the meeting click on STEM Club Area of Interest Survey and send the information back to g.brunning@chpcs.org.
The meetings are scheduled for Mondays 3:45pm to 4:45pm, but due to number of students the possibility of an additional day is being developed and an email announcement will be sent tomorrow.
Thank you to the parents that were able to come to the meeting and help facilitate the different groups of interest. If you have an interest in science, engineering, technology and or math and would like to help at one or many meetings, your time contribution will be greatly appreciated. Email your interest and availability to g.bruning@chpcs.org.
A reminder to parents and students, science is about a search for knowledge and technology is the application of the knowledge. We are capable of many things do to science, however not all those things belong in the hands of those who lack training and safety gear. So please talk to your students about the importance of keeping others safe as well as ourselves. STEM Club is not a safe place for students to use explosive or dangerous chemicals. Anything that has potential for harm if mishandled is only allowed to be transported and demonstrated by or used in the presence of a trained adult and must be pre-authorized by Ms. Brunning.
Science is awesome and I am excited to be joining your children on this journey of discovery!
Students filled out a survey of their interest areas in science, the survey had space for students to add areas not listed. If you missed the meeting click on STEM Club Area of Interest Survey and send the information back to g.brunning@chpcs.org.
The meetings are scheduled for Mondays 3:45pm to 4:45pm, but due to number of students the possibility of an additional day is being developed and an email announcement will be sent tomorrow.
Thank you to the parents that were able to come to the meeting and help facilitate the different groups of interest. If you have an interest in science, engineering, technology and or math and would like to help at one or many meetings, your time contribution will be greatly appreciated. Email your interest and availability to g.bruning@chpcs.org.
A reminder to parents and students, science is about a search for knowledge and technology is the application of the knowledge. We are capable of many things do to science, however not all those things belong in the hands of those who lack training and safety gear. So please talk to your students about the importance of keeping others safe as well as ourselves. STEM Club is not a safe place for students to use explosive or dangerous chemicals. Anything that has potential for harm if mishandled is only allowed to be transported and demonstrated by or used in the presence of a trained adult and must be pre-authorized by Ms. Brunning.
Science is awesome and I am excited to be joining your children on this journey of discovery!
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
October 3, 2012
Applied Superconductivity Conference's Outreach Day
Is your student interested in physics, chemistry and or engineering? Next week there is an Applied Superconductivity Conference at the Oregon Convention Center and they are offering a Public Outreach Day on Wednesday October 10th from 1-4:30 pm.
Information is available at www.ascinc.org/outreach. and at Applied Superconductivity Educational Outreach Day Flyer.
Note that admission is free but a badge must be picked up at the registration desk.For the demos they will have 20 tables set up with exhibits from Mad Science, OMSI, and by Applied Superconductivity (of superconducting cables, mag lev devices) and Hitachi is bringing in an SEM. In addition there will be conducted tours of the exhibits for participants.
Although this is during the school day, it is a unique opportunity for your interested student. With such short notice the school is unable to conduct a field trip, however, because it is a great educational opportunity ,if possible parents are encouraged to take their students to this event.
CHPCS STEM CLUB-if you are interested in science, technology engineering and or math, come check out STEM Club, after school on Mondays 3:45 to 4:45 in the science lab.
In the lab....
Yesterday 4th grade did a blood typing activity using simulated blood. They tested unknown "blood" samples with simulated "Antibody A" and "Antibody B". They wore their lab coats as would a lab technician conducting the actual test in a lab. As a class the students also played an online simulation on blood typing. You can access the game at The Blood Typing Game. Next week 4th grade will be back to do a lab activity on the human heart.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
September 25, 2012
My intention of making daily reports is not turning out to be a reality. That is a testament to the activity in the Science Lab. I will keep posting as often as I am able.
Today the Sixth Grade came to continue their study of "Deserts of the World"
They started with viewing portions of "The Baking Desert" with David Attenborough. They were observing different animals that live in desert areas and what adaptations they have to survive the climate.
Next they investigated the effect of black vs white background on light intensity and temperature. To do this they set up light intensity probes and temperature probes in black and white bowls to collect data. While the probes were monitoring the temperature and light intensity, the began their next activity; "Using Everyday materials to Build a 3D model of a Desert". They had to leave for lunch but returned afterward to record their data on temperature and light intensity. They discussed the trend that appeared after averaging the class data and were assigned the conclusion for homework. Their work on the desert model continued until it was time for PE. They returned after P.E. to finish and share their models as well as hear about a special assignment to write a proposal for the Science Lab Desert Biome terrarium (not due until Thursday).
NEW ITEMS IN THE SCIENCE LAB:
-The Glofish are thriving in their 1.5 gallon aquarium courtesy of the "Pets in the Classroom" grant.
-We have 4 young carnivorous plants; 2 sundews a butterwort and a Venus fly trap. They are located under the new grow light on the specimen shelf.
The tables have been rearranged and the metal cabinets have been used to create a lab prep area.
Today the Sixth Grade came to continue their study of "Deserts of the World"
They started with viewing portions of "The Baking Desert" with David Attenborough. They were observing different animals that live in desert areas and what adaptations they have to survive the climate.
Next they investigated the effect of black vs white background on light intensity and temperature. To do this they set up light intensity probes and temperature probes in black and white bowls to collect data. While the probes were monitoring the temperature and light intensity, the began their next activity; "Using Everyday materials to Build a 3D model of a Desert". They had to leave for lunch but returned afterward to record their data on temperature and light intensity. They discussed the trend that appeared after averaging the class data and were assigned the conclusion for homework. Their work on the desert model continued until it was time for PE. They returned after P.E. to finish and share their models as well as hear about a special assignment to write a proposal for the Science Lab Desert Biome terrarium (not due until Thursday).
NEW ITEMS IN THE SCIENCE LAB:
-The Glofish are thriving in their 1.5 gallon aquarium courtesy of the "Pets in the Classroom" grant.
-We have 4 young carnivorous plants; 2 sundews a butterwort and a Venus fly trap. They are located under the new grow light on the specimen shelf.
The tables have been rearranged and the metal cabinets have been used to create a lab prep area.
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