Happy December! It's good to be back. Thank you for all the cards and well wishes. My prognosis is excellent and I will be starting radiation treatment soon. I have a great team of doctors who must have loved science in school.:) I will be scheduled more appointments with my team of doctors so I greatly appreciate your patients and support in encouraging your child's hard work when I am out in the future.

On Monday, the district will be printing the second semester report cards so watch for them this week. If your child receives an "I", incomplete, they will have 10 school days to make up the work.

lass="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Milwoodpan> is holding a holiday food drive from now until December 12th. Please send in store bought canned goods or boxed foods to your child's advisory class.

If anyone can donate clear, noncolored 2 liter bottles for our Global Warming class to create greenhouse environments, I would greatly appreciate it. I would love to have them by Friday to prep. them. Thank you!

Schedule:
Science

Monday, December 3rd,


Students will be learning about three types of conventional heating systems, discussing how solar energy heats buildings, and identifying the difference between passive and active solar heating systems. This is lesson 6.2 in the physical science book. Students will work in pairs using Rally Coach to partner read the lesson with breaks for group discussion led by the teacher. They will then answer questions in class and finish any at home they did not finish in class.

Tuesday, December 4th,

Students will be learning about how the internal and external combustion engine works. They will also be able to explain how a heat mover can transfer thermal energy in a direction opposite to that of its natural movement. They will take notes on a power point presentation and sketch an engine and label the parts.
Students will also be able to explain the four stroke cycle. They will see a demo on what is needed for combustion.

Wednesday, December 5th,

Students will explain how differences in ocean temperatures can be used to operate a heat engine that changes thermal energy to mechanical energy. Also, they will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of ocean thermal energy conversion.

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Thursday, December 6th,

Students will be working with their tables to look over their notes and what they have learned for Units 4, 5, and 6. They will work on writing their own test as a review for tomorrow's test. They will give their test to another group to take and they will grade it also.

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Friday, December 7th,

Unit 4, 5, and 6 Assessment. Bring a book to read.

Global Warming

Monday, December 3rd,

Welcome students to Global Warming class. Show students routines of classroom. Assign seats and complete a get to know you activity.

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Wednesday, December 5th,

Review classroom routines. Begin discussion on Greenhouse effect and Global Warming.

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Friday, December 7th,

Review classroom routines, complete a team building activity and complete Wednesday's Greenhouse effect and Global Warming discussion. Put posters up in the room.

Hope you all had a great break! I can't wait to get back into learning about physics. This week we will be talking about temperature (fitting isn't it) and how it moves around and circulates. Also remember that this Friday is a half day and the end of the second marking period. Make sure you have all your work in. Let's have a great week Lancers!

Science
Monday Nov. 26
Due to the fact that we are coming off of a long break today we are going to be doing some review from chapter 5. This will be done by working as groups to answer the review questions on pages 147 and 148. At your tables you will be doing:

• Reviewing Vocabulary 1-10
• Checking Concepts 1-10
• Understanding Concepts 11-15

During this period of time Mr. Korchnak will walk around the room and answer specific questions that students may have. Also on Tuesday we will grade the assignment as a class.

Tuesday Nov. 27
We will start the day by grading the work done in the previous day. Afterwards we will being chapter 6 by doing a vocabulary assignment. We are going to break the mold a bit and do individual crossword puzzles. On one page you will have the drawn out crossword with clues. On the second page you will have the answer key. A template for the crossword is linked below.

Chap. 6 Vocabulary Words

• Conduction
• Fluid
• Convection
• Radiation
• Insulators
• Radiator
• Solar Energy
• Heat Engine
• Combustion
• Internal Combustion Engine
  

Crossword Template: Vocab_Crossword_Template.pdf

Wednesday Nov. 28
Today we will start on chapter 6 from the book. We will begin with section 6.1. This sections deals with the movement of thermal energy. Concepts we will be discussion are conduction, convection, radiation and insulation. We will be talking about how we use an understanding of heat transfer to make things warm or keep them cool. We will pair read this section and answer question supplied by Mr. K in our science notebook. We will also make a class list of things we wouldn't be able to do without an understanding of movement of thermal energy.

Here are the questions we will be answering:

1. How is thermal energy transfered between solid objects?
2. How is thermal energy transfered in a liquid or air?
3. What is more dense hot water or cold water? How does this concept apply to a hot air ballon?
4. Draw an example of convection?
5. Using the example of boiling water where is heat transfer occurring? Please draw this.
6. How does heat travel from the Sun to the Earth?
7. Give two examples of good insulators and why they are.
   

Thursday Nov. 29
Today we will be working with concepts what we learned in the previous day. This will include a lab were we will place colored ice cubes in normal and salt water and observe how the cool water from the ice moves in the different types of water. This will help us understand the concept of convection and movement of thermal energy. We will do this by having each table preform two experiments and filling out data sheets. The data sheet is found below.

Ice Cube Lab: Ice_Cube_Convection.pdf

NOTE: Quiz retakes from chapter 5 will be today during lunch.

Friday Nov. 30
Half day- Lesson TBD

Ecosystems
Tuesday Nov. 27
Today we will be reading an article about why in some places leaves are changing color later due to increased carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. To do this we will use a combination of teacher lead reading and pair reading. After the article is read by the students they will write down 5 interesting facts from the article and a short response to the reading.

Article: Leaves_Changing_Color_Later.pdf

Thursday Nov. 29
The topic of discussing today will be genetically modified crops. We will be talking about the benefits and the shortfalls of using GM crops. To do this we will be reading an article from the BBC about a study done on GM crops. Students will be asked to read the article and list 3 pros and 3 cons of GM crops. Then they will be asked to write down their opinion on them whether they are for or against using them. There are links to the articles we will be reading in class.

GM Crop Article: BBC_GM_Crop_Article.pdf

Ice_Cube_Convection.pdf

We're almost into December already as we enter Thanksgiving break. This week is a short one being only two days long. I just want to quickly talk about last week. Going into last week as a class we knew things were going to be a little different with Ms. Kahler being gone. I just want to say that change in class you all handled it perfectly and made the week absolutely spectacular. I'm very proud of you as learners and hopefully we can carry on the enthusiasm we showed last week into the coming weeks. Keep up the good work everyone. A lot of you worked hard last week and it shows.

Science
Monday Nov. 19
Today we are going to pick up from were we left of on Friday last week and discuss what Thermal Energy is. On Friday we read in groups at our tables and answered questions based on the reading in our science notebooks. Today in class we are going to go over those questions and move on to Sec. 5.4 on measuring thermal energy.

Tuesday Nov. 20
Being the day before Thanksgiving recess we are going to have "Physics Game Day". During the course of the class I have given examples of web based games that are centered around specific principles of physics. Today we are going to play those games and describe which aspects of physics they display as a class. To find the games at home in Google type the name of the game followed by the phrase "flash game". The games are Orbits, Red, N3wton and Roll. For each of the games students will have to give a brief summery of the physics involved to play the game.

Worksheet: Physics_Game_Day.pdf

Ecosystems
Tuesday Nov. 20
Today we are going to start a segment we'll try to do every week on unique ecosystems from around the world. Today we will watch a short 5 minute video about the Altiplano in South America. After the video we'll talk about what was interesting in the video and what makes it such a unique ecosystem. Afterwards we'll spend the rest of the class period getting caught up with late work.

Looking back at the beginning of the school year and reflecting what we have done as a class and where we are now I am so proud of all of you. This last few weeks have been tough material wise and we are working so hard to understand all this new material. For a lot of you the effort is paying off, and you have grown as physics learners. The hardest part is behind us and the work will get a lot easier for you if you put in the time to understand how to use and work with formulas. The goal of this week is to build on that and introduce a few new formulas and integrate them with our older ones. Keep up the good work because it is paying off. Let's have a great week Lancers.

Science

Monday Nov. 12
Remember that progress reports are due today. Today's lesson is going to continue with working on Newton's Third Law. We've been reading about it and taking some notes, but today we are going to do some labs on it. Students will be working in groups at their tables and will be doing various projects depicting Newton's Third Law.

Tuesday Nov. 13
Since we will be starting a new unit on Wednesday we need to first learn the vocabulary we will be using. Today student will be working on word boxes on chapter 5 vocabulary. We will be working on this all day in class and if students are unable to finish this assignment it will need to be done as homework.

Homework: (If students are unable to finish their word boxes in class) Here is the vocabulary words for chapter 5.

• Energy
• Kinetic Energy
• Potential Energy
• Work
• Mechanical Energy
• Law of Conservation of Energy
• Temperature
• Thermal Energy
• Heat
• Specific Heat
• Celsius (unit)
• Kelvin (unit)
• Joules (unit)
  

Wednesday Nov. 14
Since we wrapped up chapter 4 on Monday we will be moving on to chapter 5 which deals with energy. Today we will be learning about energy and work. We will also introduce a new formula for work, w=Fd. For homework students will have to do a few example with the new formula.

Class Notes: Energy_and_Work_Notes.pdf
Work Examples Worksheet: Time_to_Go_to_Work_Worksheet.pdf

Thursday Nov. 15
Today we are going to continue working on energy. We are going to do another large physics problem where we connect multiple formulas together to solve an every day situation. For this problem we will be finding the amount of force it takes to lift a stack of books and how much momentum some one has if they were to fall backwards into a chair with the books if they were too heavy. The worksheet is linked bellow.

Slightly Smaller Physics Problem: Slightly_Smaller_Physics_Problem.pdf

Friday Nov. 16
Today we are going to start learning about thermal energy and what it means. We will be talking about the different phases of matter and how they relate to temperature, and that heat is a form of energy transformation. There will be a short quiz at the beginning of the hour based on the material we have covered this week. There is also be a homework assignment on the units we use in physics and how they explain what is happening in a physics problem.

Questions from Reading: Section%205.2.doc
Homework: Follow_the_Units_Worksheet.pdf

Ecosystems

Monday Nov. 12
Today we will be working with current topics in environmental news in the Great Lakes Region. To do this we will be listening to a 20 minute news report from Michigan Radio, Michigan's NPR station. A link to there website is found below. Students will be expected to write down information based on what they are listening to and give a short reaction to them afterwards.

Also progress reports will go out today and will be due on Wednesday.

Notes and Response Handout: Michigan_Environmental_News_Nov12.pdf

The Environment Report Website

Wednesday Nov. 14
Today we will be learning about our ecological footprint and it's impact on ecosystems. To do this we will be taking an online quiz that calculates your footprint. Students will be using the laptops in class to do this. We will be comparing our results to averages around the world.

Progress reports are due today.

My Ecological Footprint Quiz

Class handout: Ecological_Footprint_Worksheet.pdf

Friday Nov. 16
Today we will be learning about PCB clean up in the Kalamazoo River. We will go over what PCBs are and how they were released into the river. How they effect the local wildlife and what is being done to clean it up. This is based on the debate that occurred earlier this year about how to clean it up and who is responsible. We will be connecting this to what we have been learning about in ecosystems and how this effects the food chain.

Happy November All! We are just crusin' along in Physics. All tests were given back last week and students were given the weekend to regain some of their missed points and they had vocabulary homework (see last week's blog).

Progress reports will go home on Friday and should be returned on Monday signed by a guardian with any late work.

There will be a quiz on Friday to assess what we have learned so far from unit 4 on lesson 4.1 through 4.4.

Have a great week.


Science

Monday Nov. 5
We will begin a two day lesson on 4.2 "Projectile and Circular Motion". Students will be able to explain why things that are thrown or shot follow a curved path. They will also compare motion in a straight line with circular motion and define weightlessness. We will read pages 100-105 and take notes in our science journals.

Tuesday Nov. 6
We will finish any notes that were not finished yesterday and complete a Mini Lab to answer the question, "Do Projectiles fall more slowly than dropped objects?" There will also be a demonstration on "free-fall". Students will then go over the questions from the Section Wrap-Up on page 105 in their groups using the Rally Robin approach. Then we will use the student/team selector to have teams answer the questions.

Wednesday Nov. 7
This class period will be dedicated to looking at artificial satellites and how we send them in orbit, why they are useful and why they don't say in orbit. To do this we will read section 4.3 in the book and have a presentation with questions from the reading and previous lessons. Notes will be taken in our science notebooks through out the day and a follow along worksheet with the problems will be collected at the end of the hour. A link to the presentation and worksheet follows.

Presentation: Sending_up_Satellites.pdf
Worksheet: Sending_up_Satellites_Worksheet.pdf

Thursday Nov. 8
We will work on Lesson 4.4 "Action and Reaction". Students will read and take notes in their Science Journal from pages 110- 116. There will be a Mini-lab to demonstrate, "How to deliver a payload with a rocket." Then students will work in their teams to complete the Problem Solving activity on page 115.

Friday Nov. 9
Quiz today over what we have learned the last two weeks. Progress reports go home today also. Please return them signed by a guardian for homework credit. Students should also return any late work with the progress report on Monday. Yesterday took longer than expected so we will continue finishing Thursday's lesson.


Ecosystem

Tuesday Nov. 6
Today we will be looking at how important bees are to many ecosystems and agriculture. We will be reading about Colony Collapse Disorder by reading an article from the New York Times.Students will be asked to write down 5 facts found in the article and reflect on how it relates to ecosystems. There is a link to the article bellow.

Colony_Collapse_Disorder_NYTimes_Article.pdf

Thursday Nov. 8
We will continue to look about how plants are and how those interactions between plants and their different pollinators effect their ecosystem.