Week 24 In Review

Periodic Updates

Week 24 In Review

Important Dates & Assignments:

• STEM Fair:
• So many projects, our students are amazing!
• Please discuss with your student what they are doing and make sure they are staying on task. 
• If you have any questions, please let me know.
• Please help by reminding them to work now and not procrastinate.
• Rocket Candy:
• Students will be assigned chapter 7 of "Rocket Boys" to be read this week.
• We tried to demo the rockets this week but the wind shut us down Friday.
• We will demo more this week.
• We will also start to get the actual work of this project going this week.
• If anyone has any contacts with a model rocket club in this area, I would love to partner with them for this project.
• Gas Laws:
• We completed a lab that is due Tuesday.
• Students took an assessment Friday. If they didn't finish, they should finish Monday during lunch.

What happened last week?

• Review:
• We have continued reviewing stoichiometry and gas laws this week.
• Gas Laws:
• Students worked on collecting Hydrogen gas Tuesday in lab.
• Upon initial observations, students did excellent and should have great results.
• Labs are due on Tuesday.
• Assessments were taken Friday. The questions that were finished have been scored and students have performed well overall.

From the desk of Mr. Terry:

Confidence! Help me build our students confidence in Chemistry. The assessment on Friday was very difficult as it mixed math with science. Our students hit this in stride and started showing their understanding. I am so impressed with our students performance so far. Many need to finish this assessment during lunch on Monday, but so far they are doing so well. Help me by reassuring them. Their hard work is paying off. Have a great week! 

I have been tutoring many students during lunch. This is a great time for us to quickly work out some misunderstandings. Tell them to bring their lunch and we will eat together while we discuss Chemistry!  Have a great week.

I am available to help during lunch and Flex on the "A" day schedule 4th block. Students can make arrangements to miss their 4th block class to meet with me.

terryk@claytonbradleyacademy.org

Week 23 In Review

Periodic Updates

Week 23 In Review

Important Dates & Assignments:

• STEM Fair:
• Now is time to work.
• Students should be doing research, planning, and designing their project.
• There may be time to work on these throughout the week, but students will also need to work at home.
• Please help by reminding them to work now and not procrastinate.
• Rocket Candy:
• Students will be assigned chapter 6 of "Rocket Boys" to be read by Friday.
• Weather permitting, I would like to demo fire some rockets this Friday.
• I am hoping this builds excitement for the project that will start to get interesting next week!
• If anyone has any contacts with a model rocket club in this area, I would love to partner with them for this project.
• Gas Laws:
• Students should have been practicing Ideal Gas Law, Combined Gas Law, and Dalton's Gas Law over the weekend.
• The pre-lab questions should be completed in their lab notebooks for the lab Tuesday.
• We will be doing a gas lab on Tuesday.
• Check for Understanding:
• There will be a "Check for Understanding" on Friday to assess student progress before we begin making rocket candy next week!

What happened last week?

• Review:
• We have continued reviewing stoichiometry and gas laws this week.
• Gas Laws:
• Students used PV= nRT in a demo lab on Monday.
• We are all practicing precision in the lab as we learn the importance of every calculation.
• Students were assigned additional practice and the gas law lab for Tuesday.

From the desk of Mr. Terry:

Every measurement matters! That is a lesson that became all too real on Monday. Students attempted a demonstration activity/lab on Monday that involved Alka-Seltzer tablets. The measurements to get the right mass of carbon dioxide became very important. We had some groups come so very close to exactly right, while others missed by over half.  It is a lesson of showing the lifeskill of patients and the lifelong guideline of personal best. I loved it. Our students did work very hard and even showed sense of humor when they realized how far off they really were from the right answer. This lab was a lesson that will help them succeed on Tuesday. We will be working with a very strong acid, 6 Molar HCl. The students are ready to go and I can't wait to see how much better they do. 

I have been tutoring many students during lunch. This is a great time for us to quickly work out some misunderstandings. Tell them to bring their lunch and we will eat together while we discuss Chemistry!  Have a great week.

I am available to help during lunch and Flex on the "A" day schedule 4th block. Students can make arrangements to miss their 4th block class to meet with me.

terryk@claytonbradleyacademy.org

Week 22 In Review

Periodic Updates

Week 22 In Review

Important Dates & Assignments:

• STEM Fair:
• All students should have submitted their proposals Friday.
• We will begin to make calendars this week.
• Help your student with their calendar and planning.
• Rocket Candy:
• Students were assigned chapter 5 of "Rocket Boys" for the weekend.
• Discussion questions are on google classroom and students are expected to post comments and questions on each chapter.
• Mr. McCarter and I launched a practice rocket Friday. All systems worked as expected. We will be firing for the students soon!
• Students will be working on this project in the Chemistry lab under the my supervision of the supervision of Kendal McCarter. No student should be making this fuel at home! This fuel can be very safe but it is used as fuel for a reason. It is combustible and burns hot.
• If anyone has any contacts with a model rocket club in this area, I would love to partner with them for this project.
• Gas Laws:
• Student presentations lead to a better understanding of the ideal gas law. PV=nRT
• Practice problems were given to the students to be completed over the weekend.

What happened last week?

• Review:
• We continued to review stoichiometry and limiting reagents.
• Stoichiometry Lab:
• Students were given the lab rubric used to score the written lab.
• Corrections can be made and the lab can be resubmitted for review.
• Gas Laws:
• Students did really good descriptions of various gas laws.
• We then put them all together to get the ideal gas law.
• Students seemed to really understand it in class.

From the desk of Mr. Terry:

Mr. McCarter and I had a lot of fun Friday testing launching our first rocket. The rocket did as expected and set the stage for the next phase of our "Rocket Candy" project. We will be demonstrating launches with the students this week, weather permitting! 

I am available to help during lunch and Flex on the "A" day schedule 4th block. Students can make arrangements to miss their 4th block class to meet with me.

terryk@claytonbradleyacademy.org