Week 26 In Review

Periodic Updates

Week 26 In Review

Important Dates & Assignments:

• Rocket Candy:
• This was a very exciting week for this project. We successfully mixed rocket fuel.
• Students tested their mixtures on Friday.
• We will be launching rockets on Wednesday at 12:00 at the lower school "Bobcat" area. 
• Students will be presenting to Mr. McCarter and I on Thursday as the final part of this project.
• STEM Fair:
• We are going to try to have extended time this week to work on STEM Fair projects. Please encourage your student to talk with their advisor about their plan.
• Please help by reminding them to work now and not procrastinate.

What happened last week?

• Review:
• We will continue to review key concepts as we progress.
• We don't leave those ideas, we just build the next level.
• Rocket Candy:
• This last week was very exciting for the students in the lab.
• Students successfully balanced a very challenging equation, used stoichiometry to determine mass of reactants, and used lab techniques to carefully make rocket candy.
• I was so proud of the students and what they were able to show this week.
• There are two pictures on this update because we did so much it was hard to put it in one snap shot.

From the desk of Mr. Terry:

Ready for launch, well almost! The students did such a great job this week. It was great seeing how students were applying their learning in the lab. Students worked with poise and precision as we determined what we needed and performing the tasks required. The students understood the seriousness and potential danger of acting inappropriately. They used their lifeskills of common sense and responsibility to complete the lab portion of this project.  It was great Friday watching the students reactions as we test fired the rocket fuel that they made. One fuel cartridge worked so well we lost it due to distance from the launch pad. This week is going to be a great celebration to the learning that has taken place. We are so excited to see this fuel perform in the actual rockets. 

Model rockets were chosen by groups. One of the rockets is requiring more assembly than the other. Students with the "Heat Seeker" rocket should see me on Monday to make sure that their rocket will be ready for launch on Wednesday. We just need to make sure the glue will have time to set up. Have a great week!

I am still available during lunch for tutoring. Tell your student 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 25 In Review

Periodic Updates

Week 25 In Review

Important Dates & Assignments:

• STEM Fair:
• Students are working on their projects at various speeds. Some have requested that they get to work on them over break. That is okay, although not the original plan.
• 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 by Monday.
• We will be giving the students the chemical formula this week and the reactants.
• By Friday, students will be testing their fuel!
• Next Wednesday is the proposed launch date, weather permitting!
• 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 Lab:
• The lab was due last Tuesday.
• Several students have not yet turned in their lab.
• Please encourage them to do so immediately!

What happened last week?

• Review:
• We will continue to review key concepts as we progress.
• We don't leave those ideas, we just build the next level.
• Liquids and Solids:
• This week was about adding knowledge to a previous concept. 
• We all know what solids and liquids are when we encounter them.
• This week we added Kinetic Molecular Theory to our knowledge and understood more about the properties of each.
• This will help our understanding of the rocket candy. We will be taking solids, making them liquids, letting them turn back to solids, and then turning part of them into gases!

From the desk of Mr. Terry:

3...2...1...Blast Off! I am getting so excited with anticipation of the rocket candy project this week. Our students will be showing what they have learned as they balance equations, convert using stoichiometry, describe using gas laws, and give an understanding of kinetic molecular theory. That is what the rocket candy project is all about. This is an exciting quarter exam! Will their rockets fly or just blowup? Will they be able to make a project that burns at all? Will their rockets go the highest? Answers will be coming soon!

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 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

Week 21 in Review

Periodic Updates

Week 21 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 chapters 3 and 4 of "Rocket Boys" for the weekend.
• Discussion questions are on google classroom and students are expected to post comments and questions on each chapter.
• 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.
• Stomach Stoichiometry:
• Students worked on finishing the lab report this week.
• Most of the students turned in their reports on Friday.
• Those grades are reflected on the progress report you should have received from the school.
• Any questions, please let me know.

What happened last week?

• Review:
• We did a short review of content that will help with stoichiometry.
• We will continue to do this as we proceed.
• Stoichiometry:
• Students worked on lab analysis.
• Students worked on conversions that are used in stoichiometry and presented how to answer different scenarios.
• Gas Laws:
• Students were introduced to different gas laws in class on Friday.
• We will continue this topic more this week.

From the desk of Mr. Terry:

I introduced a new rubric to the students concerning the stomach stoichiometry lab. This rubric is more detailed than the one I used last semester and I feel will better prepare them for future science lab reports. Several of the students didn't do as well on this lab report. Students may review the rubric and resubmit the lab when they feel it is more detailed. 

As we continue looking towards building rocket candy, our study will shift to gas laws. Students will be using stoichiometry and gas laws in the making of their fuel. We haven't started making this in class yet because I want the students to have more information before we start working with the material. 

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 20 In Review

Periodic Updates

Week 20 In Review

Important Dates & Assignments:

• STEM Fair:
• All students should submit proposals this week.
• Help your student with their calendar and planning.
• Rocket Candy:
• Hopefully you read that correctly, I did say "Rocket Candy!"
• Our big chemistry project for this 9 weeks will involve the students making rocket fuel.
• We will also be reading "Rocket Boys" as a class. This is the book that gave the idea for the movie, "October Sky."
• Students were assigned chapter 2 of "Rocket Boys" for the weekend.
• Discussion questions are on google classroom and students are expected to post comments and questions on each chapter.
• 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.
• Stomach Stoichiometry:
• The lab should be finished and turned in this week for review.
• We have started a new rubric to review labs that can be seen by clicking here.

What happened last week?

• Review:
• We did a short review of content that will help with stoichiometry.
• We will continue to do this as we proceed.
• Stomach Stoichiometry:
• We worked on the post-lab together this week.
• All students should be completing the rest of the lab individually and be turning it in for review.

From the desk of Mr. Terry:

Snow days! Everyone likes a snow day, but the work can get difficult when we have multiple snow days in a row. Help your students to continue reading and doing practice problems on snow days to stay fresh with the content. We will continue to work on stoichiometry problems this week and start to move on to gas laws by the end of the week. This continues to help us build content and knowledge toward our rocket candy.

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