Monday September 29th, 2014

Today's Quote:

Announcements:

Today's Lateral Thinking question:

Picture a bridge four kilometers long and strong enough to hold exactly ten thousand kilograms, but no more.A loaded transport truck weighing exactly ten thousand kilograms drives onto the bridge. At the halfway point, a sparrow weighing exactly 30 grams lands on the truck, yet the bridge doesn't collapse. How could this be?

Now Playing During Lunch

Scientific measurement, accuracy and precision.

Today's Class:

As students entered the class, I collected their 3x5 cards with a proper heading on one side and their science fair topic and possible experiment on the other. I will look over these and get them back to the students with my approval or a note requesting they do something different. I also handed out the research form to help them further develop their experiment. A copy is available here: General layout for experimental design. Students took FCA #1 and, if there was tie left, got out one of the laptops and began to do the Brain POP on Precision and accuracy.

Today's homework:

Watch Scientific measurement, accuracy and precision.

Precision and Accuracy. This first unit is on today's topic.

Free Resource!

I have purchased a Brain Pop account for my classes to use.

The user name for all students is: redshoulderhawks

The password for all students is: Horizon2014

Cool Website Alert

Have you ever been really curious about a topic and just don't know what to believe from the internet? Try Sparticl. Students just like you LOVE Sparticl, especially when doing research. As one student said, “One great thing about Sparticl is that it includes both fun activities as well as educational resources. If you want to write a research paper, you will find great information on Sparticl, and it’s all credible,” said Hanna Endrias, 14, of Washington, D.C. Sparticl, give you access to current science and STEM activities and features really cool games in a learning platform. Try it today!

We talked about making a works cited page for your research paper and I recommendEasybib. It is incredibly easy to use and a tool you can use from now through college.

FCAT Explorer is now ready for use! Go to FCAT Explorer.com. Once you get there you can sign in using the following formula for your user name and password

STUDENT LOGIN INFORMATION Student sign-ins are using the following formula : full last name, followed by the first letter of the first name (e.g. Alberto Rodriguez = RODRIGUEZA). Student passwords Are using the following formula: the two-digit district ID number, followed by the first four letters of the last name, followed by the two-digit birth month, followed by the two-digit birth day (e.g. Alberto Rodriguez, Duval County [16], born on May 10 [mmdd] = 16RODR0510). Our District ID is { 42 }.

I should have your sections set up by tomorrow. Once they are in place you can work on FCAT explorer from home. When you complete a section (for example Science Voyager), I will enter a quiz grade based on what your average score was. This will count toward your class grade, but cannot hurt your grade. (It functions like an extra credit assignment)

PM Update:

It felt good to be back in the room! The FCA took the entire period, so we did not get much else done. I collected science fair ideas from students but did not hand out the design worksheet. As I review their project ideas I will staple the card to a sheet and hand them back