Balancing Equations

We are working on predicting products of chemical reactions as well as balancing chemical equations. They should have a large amount of notes with examples in their notebooks. We will continue working on these all week. There are plenty of websites with tutorials if you need extra practice or a refresher.

Types of Chemical Reactions

We are covering 5 basic types. We are not concentrating on acid/base reactions

Types:
1) Synthesis

A + B --> AB

2) Decomposition

AB --> A + B

3) Single Replacement

A + BC --> AC + B

4) Double Displacement

AB + CD --> AD + BC

5) Combustion

Hydrocarbon (gas) + Oxygen (gas) --> Carbon Dioxide + Water

EOM Test Friday

The EOM Test Friday will cover ions (cations and anions), covalent and ionic bonding, balancing chemical reactions, naming reaction types, predicting reaction products, and acid/base reactions predicted based on hydrogen ion concentrations. We will also attempt to cover osmosis, diffusion, hyper/hypo/isotonic solutions.

Periodic Table/Atoms

Next week we will begin discussing these concepts. This will take the majority of the month including lab activities.

EOM Test Friday, Sept 4th

It will cover everything from the month of August. Focus on:
Scientific Method- know what each step means.
Metric System- be able to do conversions
Scientific Notation- be able to work with these numbers
Charts/Graphs- be able to decipher the data given
Controls/Variables- in an experiment, be able to identify these.

Pretty simple test. Each student should have ample study material and their previous test review sheets. They also have an EOM worksheet to use.

Week one Complete

We covered the scientific method and the metric system last week. We took the test today. Scores should be posted on sti by tomorrow. I've graded 75% of them and they are pretty good.

This week we will cover two topics at once. First we will deal with scientific notation. We will practice writing numbers in scientific notation and changing those to decimal form. We will also work on adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing scientific notation problems. Also, we will be working on our measurement skills. We will strictly concentrate on metric units with this. We will also discuss and practice using appropriate units when measuring.

The next test will probably be sometime next week. However, there could be a quiz at anytime if needed.

New School Year Approaches

Whew, the summer has flown by. Some of you may know that the school is under serious construction/cleaning/remodeling right now. I thought I would post a few things about my class since you may not see a list.

Your child needs a binder, loose leaf paper, something to write with, and a cheap scientific calculator. I'm not picky.

I would appreciate any donations of hand sanitizer and kleenex. The kids really go through these.

I look forward to working with you and your child to have a great year. I really need your help to accomplish the goals that we will set as a school and that I personally have for my classes.

EOM Test

Today we will be taking the EOM Assessment for February. This will cover topics of energy including kinetic, potential, problem solving, and energy transformations.

During the month of March we will be reviewing past concepts from August to March before we take standardized tests.

ThinkLink Testing

We will be taking the ThinkLink Assessment test on Wednesday.
We are covering energy now (potential, kinetic, etc...)
Hopefully start the next lab next week sometime.

States of Matter and other stuff

We are well into states of matter. This month we are covering several other aspects of matter.

* We have covered the 4 states of matter (solid, liquid, gas, and plasma)
* We have discussed the reactivity of these especially dealing with particle movement and structure
* We have discussed the kinetic energy of these states
* We have discussed phase changes and what is needed for a phase change to occur
* We have also reviewed the temperatures at which these changes occur and the appropriate terminology for these.

We finally can say we have a lab. It is technically a big closet but we will take what we can get. We did a general lab last week dealing with states of matter and the water cycle. Students were able to use a burner (butane) to change states of water and to record temperatures using a celsius thermometer. The other lab station dealt with density of different fluids. Students had to use several different lab instruments to properly complete this station. We have to have rotating lab stations due to classroom size but it is a start.

This week we will complete several lab stations dealing with chemical reactions and reaction rates due to catalysts, temperature changes, surface area, and types of chemicals.

My goal is for your child to have a basic understanding of lab procedures and safety prior to moving to the high school. I hope we succeed. The vast majority seem to love labs and are trying very hard to complete them successfully.

States of Matter

We will begin discussing states of matter (again) this week. We covered it some in the first semester because it dealt with the content we were covering but the pacing guide has us officially covering it now. All classes should have a homework sheet today (1/6). Some may have time to finish it in class. We will be looking to have a quiz around Friday. I will post notes later.