November 25, 2008

To start off today's class we discussed our "Bell-Ringer" projects and all of our questions were answered. Dr. E, your husband is in my thoughts and prayers, and I hope he feels better soon!

Then, we did a lab called "The Tuning Fork." I enjoyed this lab because it was a good visual aid that helped me to actually see the vibrations that create sound. We dipped the ends of the tuning fork into a cup of water and found that just as the tips of the tuning fork hit the water, the water splatted out of the cup. We also touched the ends of the tuning fork to the edge of a piece of paper, and it made the paper ripple and make a "buzzing" sound. Then we touched the ends of the tuning fork to our cheeks to feel the vibrations. Finally we heald the tuning fork to a ping pong ball that was hanging on a string. The vibrations made the ping pong ball bounce.

The next part of the lab was taking a hollow tube and have one person hold the tuning fork at one end while the other person listens at the other end. You can hear a high pitched noise from the vibrations of the tuning fork.

Overall this was a great aid to help the class understand the material covered in the chapters!

Class 11/20/08

In today's class we covered what our "Bell Ringer" final projects were supposed to be about. I am really happy that we are doing another project vs. having a final test. I think projects are more beneficial because they are hands on. Finals just require memorization, and then you can for get about the information after you take the test. Then, we covered part of our reading guide, which was also helpful because I am having trouble understanding electric currents. Dr. E gave many demonstrations in class on how electrons are transfered, and it helped me to see exactly what the book is talking about. Finally, we started working on a lab called " Electroscope." We made an electroscope by using plastic tape and haning it from straws. The tape can gain or lose electrons when you stick it to a surface and rip it off. By suspending the pieces of tape on the straws and holding the balloon up to them, we could tell which pieces of tape were positively or negatively charged. We haven't had time to finish the experiment yet, but we will next class period!

November 18 2008

No Class Today.
Instead of having class today, we were to do two simulations about electric currents. The one I chose to do under the "Electricity and Magnet Simulations" tab on D2l was called "Balloons and Static Electricity." I was able to rub a balloon against a sweater containing bothe positively charged protons and negatively charged electrons. When I rubbed the balloon on the sweater, I found that all of the electrons moved onto the balloon. On the other end of the screen was a wall with positive and negative ions. After I got the ballon to contain all of the negative ions from the sweater, I moved it to the wall and it stuck to it. It stuck to the wall because all of the negative ions on the wall moved away from where the balloon was sticking.
I could not get the "Electric Circuit Construction Kit" to work on my computer, so I just decided to do another simulation from the "Electricity and Magnet Simulations" tab. I chose the simulation called "Johntravoltage." I rubbed John Travolta's foot on the carpet and watched his body fill up with electrons. If I didn't rub his foot enough, then he didnt shock the door because there wasnt enough electrons in his body. When his body filled with electrons, his finger shocked the door because the electrons transfered from his finger to the door. These simulations are helpful because they give us a visual of what the book is talking about, and it makes it easier to understand.

November 13 Class Session

We did not have class on Tuesday due to Veteran's day, so today was our first day back in class since Thursday, November 6th. In today's class time, we started over on the lab that we started last week Thursday. It was called "A Good Soxk." The main objectives for the lab were to :
- Learn how to better use and understand the Logpro Computer Device
-Determine change in temperature
- Compare the insulating properties of cotton and wool.

My group found that the bottle with the wool sock on changed less in temperature than the bottle with no sock on it. The bottle with the cotton sock on it changed less in temperature than the bottle covered with the wet cotton sock. We found that overall, the wool sock is a better insulator than the cotton sock, because it slowed down the transfer of heat better.
We can apply this lab to real life situations such as should you wear wet clothing in cold weather. The answer to this is no! You shouldn't wear wet clothing in cold weater because you will get colder faster! Overall, it was an informative lab because I learned how to run the logpro computer device better!

Class November 6th 2008

In todays class, we covered our reading guides. I enjoy doing this with Dr. E so that way I can make sure all of my answers are right before I take the quiz. We went through the reading guide really fast, so I am not exactly sure if I fully understand every concept, but we will see after I take the quiz later on tonight. We started doing a lab towards the end of class, but didn't get much time to work on it. The lab is called "A Good Sock." Next class period, we will be comparing the insulating properties of cotton and wool to see which one keeps the water in the water bottle warmer.

Class Novermber 4th

In today's class, we talked about specific heat, and thermal energy. I found Dr. E's lecture to actually be interesting because it was a topic I could understand and relate to. We learned that thermal energy is the total of all the kinetic and potential energy of all of the particals in a substance. (more mass = more heat)(as kinetic energy increases- speed increases)(as potential energy increases-separation increases). We also learned that heat is the flow of thermal energy from one object to another. Heat always flows from warm to less warm objects. I learned that when talking in scientific terms, one is never to say "colder." One is to say "less warm." Then we talked about the rate of cooling. The rate of cooling of an object- whether by conduction, convection, or radiation- is approximately proportional to the temperature difference between the object and its surroundings. Rate of cooling is also known as Newton's law of cooling. An example of this is holding an ice cube in your hand. After a while, the ice cube will melt because the heat from your hand transfers to the ice cube, while the coldness of the ice cube transfers to your hand, in turn cooling down your hand. Another example is holding a cup of coffee in your hand. The cup of coffee will eventually cool off while your hand will get very hot because the cup of coffee is warmer than the temperature of your hand. Overall, an interesting and informative class session!

Class 10/30/08

In today's class, the rest of the class presented their lesson plans. My group presented our lesson plan today and I think we did a good job. The other groups also did great. I learned a lot through everyone's lesson plans and I now have many good ideas for science lesson plans for my classroom. I also now understand how important safety is, especially in an elementary classroom. You have to be very specific with your students in what they can and can not do, because it is your responsibility to keep them safe during each experiment.