Monday 10/1/12

I'm making the transition to my itsLearning page.  Here is a link:

Mr. Cole - 7th Science

If the course asks you for a password or code, it's "science"  It shouldn't, though.  I believe I was successful in adding all of you to the course.

You'll need to go to the itsLearning page to see what we did in class today.

Thursday 09/27/12

Hi everybody. It was too rainy to have a lab outside, so we stayed indoors. We reviewed hypotheses from Wednesday's homework and we completed the first half of the M&M Candy Lab. You'll complete the lab (graph and conclusion questions) tomorrow after you finish your quiz. Here is your lab handout. Remember to study tonight! Good luck on the quiz tomorrow!

Wednesday 09/26/12

Tomorrow, as long as it is not raining, we will be going outside to collect data for a lab.  If you think you might get cold out on the track, stop by your locker and grab your jacket on the way to science class.

We will be having a quiz on Friday.  Topics will include: science/technology, metric measurement, graphing interpretation and hypotheses.

Today we started with a warm-up practicing metric measurement.  Here is a copy of the warm-up:



Then we continued with the notes packet from yesterday (09/25/12). We finished with a discussion on how to generate hypotheses from scientific questions. We did the first homework question together:

1. QUESTION: How does the amount of caffeine affected the sleep time of a 7th grader?

    HYPOTHESIS: If a 7th grader drinks caffeine, then he/she will not get a lot of sleep.

We also did #6 together.

6. QUESTION:  How does room temperature affect class participation?

    HYPOTHESIS:  If Mr. Cole's classroom is warm, then class participation will decrease.

The important thing to remember is that hypotheses should be in the form of an "If, then" statement.  Here is the homework worksheet:

Finally, for those students who were missing the second Observation/Inference worksheet, here it is again:

Tuesday 09/25/12

Today I announced our second quiz of the year - Nature of Science Quiz #2.  Topics on this quiz will include:

• science/technology
• metric system
• interpreting (reading) graphs
• hypotheses

Our warm-up today involved answering questions from a circle graph.  Here is the warm-up activity:

After the warm-up, I collected your Ruler Drop lab handouts, if I hadn't already collected them. Finally, we took some notes on the 6 skills that all scientists use and the CONPTT characteristics of science (The Nature of Science). We also discussed questions that science CAN and CANNOT answer. Here is a copy of the notes handout that you filled in during our discussion: And here is a copy of the notes presentation:

Monday 09/24/12

Today we had a fun warm-up - brain teaser stories.  They weren't just silly stories, though.  They were intended to make you think "outside the box," as you tried to think of alternative possibilities, and not just the obvious answers. Scientists must remain open to all possibilities, not just what they initially think the answer will be.  Here are the stories (and answers) so you can astound your friends and family.



Then we briefly discussed good graphing techniques. The homework for today was to complete the Ruler Drop lab from Friday. You should complete the graphing section and the conclusion questions.

Sunday 09/23/12

Hi everybody. Sorry I haven't posted in a couple of days, I had to go to the Washington D.C. area for a wedding. I've known the bride and groom since we were all in the 6th grade together, a year younger than you guys and gals are now! Can you imagine yourself, 20 years from now, giving a speech about your best friend on his/her wedding day? Pretty crazy, huh?

Anyway, I'm starting to transition from this website to Reynoldsburg's itsLearning website format. A few of you have started signing up for my course, which is great! If you haven't signed up yet, you can find my course website at

https://reynoldsburg.itslearning.com/main.aspx?CourseID=456

I've uploaded resources that we will be using on Monday, and I'll be adding more to the site tomorrow. I'm still learning how the itsLearning system works, so please bear with me as I get used to it.

Wednesday 09/19/12

Today we practiced using the metric system of measurement. This is the system of measurement used by scientists all over the world. It is essential that they use one system so that they can compare results or share data amongst themselves, even if they live in widely separated countries and speak different languages. I showed a BrainPop video in class to introduce the metric system, and I explained how you can covert measurements from one unit to another (gram to kilogram, for example). Here is a PowerPoint slideshow that covers the same material I discussed in class: And here is the handout we used in class. We worked through most of the front together, and I asked you to complete the rest for homework.

Tuesday 09/18/12

Today we had a warm-up that reviewed material from the past few days, specifically, "What is science? What is technology?" and "What qualities and/or characteristics make a good scientist?"

Here is a copy of the warm-up: After the warm-up, I returned your quizzes from Friday. Most grades were pretty decent. If you got a 19/28 or below on the multiple choice section or a 2/4 or below on the extended response, schedule a time to meet with me during Raider for a chance to get some of those points back.

We also finished our notes on "Science vs. Technology" today.  See yesterday's blog post for that file.

Finally, I checked who did their homework from last night.  We'll be working on the metric system tomorrow.  Your homework for tonight is that last page in the metric packet, the one with all the pictures of rulers on it.  I don't have a digital copy of that here at school, so I'll post a copy later tonight after I get home and scan a copy.


UPDATE:  Here is a digital copy of the homework assignment:

More stars in the sky or grains of sand on Earth?

Here is a link to a fascinating article I read this evening. What number do you think is larger - the number of grains of sand on all the beaches on Earth or the number of all the stars in the sky?

http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2012/09/17/161096233/which-is-greater-the-number-of-sand-grains-on-earth-or-stars-in-the-sky

Monday 09/17/12

Hi everybody!  Hope you had a nice weekend.

Here is a quick note about your quizzes from Friday - not too shabby! For the most part, people did well. I will give them back tomorrow in class. If you didn't get a very good grade, don't despair. I will permit you to schedule a time this week, during Raider, to try to get a better score. This is for people that really "crashed and burned," and would like another try, not those individuals who got 99% and really, really, really want to try for the 100%.


Today in science class we discussed WHAT IS SCIENCE? ARE THERE QUESTIONS SCIENCE CANNOT ANSWER? and WHAT QUALITIES AND CHARACTERISTICS MAKE A GOOD SCIENTIST.

Here are my notes:



 And here is YOUR handout, with the blanks to fill in:

 

We got about halfway through the notes. We'll finish the rest tomorrow.

On Friday 9/21/12 you will be conducting a lab activity. You will need to be metric measurement masters by that day. Here is your homework to practice your metric measurement skills:

Great presentation about science and technology

TECHNOLOGY VS SCIENCE

More PowerPoint presentations from guler sabanci

Wednesday 09/12/12

Hi Everybody!

Today we reviewed our 2 types of observation (qualitative and quantitative) and inference.

We also started a discussion of Science and Technology.

Here is the slideshow:




And here is the homework assignment. I want you to start thinking about how science and technology are related. Match the example of technology (invention) with the culture that created it.

Tuesday 09/11/12

Hi everybody!  I'm starting to build my itsLearning page (there is a link at the right side of the screen).  If you want to join my itsLearning page, you'll need to know the registration code - it's science.  Ms. Baranek will be working with you in the coming week to get signed up for all of our Team Washington itsLearning sites.  Don't worry that you're going to miss something....I'll be updating both of my sites for a while.

Today we continued practicing observation and inferences.

Here is a copy of our WARM-UP about inferences:




Then we reviewed our homework from last night. It was more practice with observations and inferences, and you can get a copy from the 09/10/12 blog post.


In case you need it to help you study for this Friday's quiz, here is a copy of the OBSERVATION-INFERENCE GUIDED NOTES with the answers filled in.

Finally, here are two good, short readings about observation and inference, along with some activities to practice for Friday's quiz.

OBSERVATION

 

 INFERENCE

Monday 09/10/12

Sorry I'm a bit late in posting this today....I had to take my dog to the vet after school.

YOUR FIRST QUIZ IS ON FRIDAY
SEPTEMBER 14 - THAT'S THIS FRIDAY!

Today we started with a warm-up on Qualitative vs. Quantitative observation.

Then we continued our discussion of laboratory safety with a story about Spongebob and his friends. We read the story and highlighted the safety rules that these guys violated.

 Here is a slideshow that shows the rules they broke, in the order they appear in the story.

Finally, I gave you a worksheet to reinforce your observation and inference skills.




Tomorrow we'll start a new discussion - Science and Technology.  What are they?

Friday 09/07/12

Today you finally had a chance to practice using your scientific process skills of observation.  Mr. Cole brought some dry ice to class.  You investigated the dry ice and made 5 observations and 3 inferences.  Here is the introductory slideshow:

 

Here is a brief video clip of a student conducting an excellent investigation and making some very astute observations:

Thursday 09/06/12

Hi everybody,

Today we started with a warm-up involving our observation and inference science process skills.  I showed you a picture of a boy in the water, you read the statements on the warm-up assignment and had to decide whether each statement was an observation or an inference.  Here is a copy of the warm-up assignment:





After the warm-up, we reviewed the homework from last night. 

Finally, we had a brief introduction to lab safety in preparation for tomorrow's lab activity.  You received a Safety Circle paper to keep in your science binder.  You wrote a description for each safety symbol so that you'll know what to do in science lab.

Here is the Safety Circle paper:



 And here is the safety presentation. Use this to write your descriptions on the Safety Circle.

Wednesday 09/05/12

Hi everybody,

Today we started class with an "Interest Survey" warm-up.  I'm still getting to know you, and I thought this might be a fun way to learn more about you as individuals.



After the warm-up, I distributed a "Guided Notes" document.  We filled in the blanks as we made our way through the presentation.  Here is the PowerPoint presentation:



Finally, I gave you a brief homework assignment.  If you use your guided notes to complete this, it should be a piece of cake!

Tuesday 09/04/12

Here is a copy of today's "warm up" activity. Remember to check for a warm up on your way into the classroom EVERYDAY
 
After the warm-up, we worked on setting up a page for our lab activity - The Mystery Tube. If your group didn't finish building a working model of the Mystery Tube, you may get another chance in the future.
 

REMEMBER, bring your signed syllabus forms back tomorrow! And you'll need your agenda book, science binder and something to write with.

Friday 08/31/12

Science Syllabus

Here is a copy of the science syllabus document.  If you lose your hard copy, you can download and print another copy from here.

Thursday 08/30/12

It was very nice meeting all of you today!  You'll learn more about how things will work in science class tomorrow.

Remember to show your parents your STUDENT HANDBOOK and have them sign the very last page.

You need to return that last page, with a parent's signature, by TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4.

Until tomorrow, check out this SUPER COOL picture from NASA.  This is the rover"Curiosity" parachuting through the Martian atmosphere.  This image was snapped by a passing satellite.