Getting ready! July 2015

I hope everyone is having a good summer. I have been spending a little time getting ready for the 2015-16 school year. Mrs. Zolman, Mr. Wilkinson, and I attended a KSDE Conference in June. We met Science teachers from around the state and got lots of great ideas for next school year.

This was immediately after Mrs. Cindy Couchman's session. (She took the picture!)

 If you would like to see some of what we did, check out this video trailer I made for the afternoon sessions we attended at the conference.

The custodians have been hard at work in the building and our classroom is spic and span for the coming year. Construction is underway for the new tennis courts which we will be able to see them from our classroom window.

I hope that everyone was able to watch part of the New Horizons flight past Pluto. It has sent back some amazing data and has greatly expanded our knowledge. I'm also checking in on the Rosetta Mission, expecting our understanding of comets to increase greatly as a result of this ESA mission. If you are out in the evenings or can't sleep, you might want to look for the International Space Station.You can look up when the ISS will next fly by at NASA's Spot the Station.

I hope that you enjoy the rest of your summer and I look forward to seeing you soon!

Mrs. Poulseen

Techincal Difficulties - mine!

Well, it has been awhile since I posted a blog. I've been having some issues with technology, me not the equipment. My camera died just before Christmas so the images on my last post were screen shots from my laptop. Shortly after that post I received an iPad mini for use in my classroom. I used it to take pictures when we were studying chemical reactions and pH. But I couldn't figure out how to get the pictures from the iPad to this blog. Then a couple of weeks ago I got a new phone. I used it this week to take pictures after we had studies Newton's Laws of Motion. I put in some time tonight and figured out how to get the pictures from my phone and the iPad to this blog. So below are a few of those images.

Red and blue litmus paper that indicates pH.

After being put in an acidic solution.

After being put in a neutral solution.

After being put in a basic solution.

Recently we have been working with Newton's Laws. We reviewed the three Laws, worked with friction, potential and kinetic energy, momentum, acceleration, and inertia. He is a picture of a couple of students using what they learned in Science class during Seminar.

How far will it go?

Here is hoping that I keep increasing my technology expertise and use of new technology in my classroom.

Welcome back!! Jan. 10, 2014

I hope that everyone had a good break. I certainly did, spending time with family and relaxing was certainly needed and enjoyed.

I unexpectedly had a day longer break as I got ill on Sunday before we returned. The sub did a good job of dealing with the lesson plans written when I had less than focused concentration.

When I got back on Tuesday we jumped right in. We started learning about chemical bonding - ionic, covalent, metallic, and polyatomic ions. Since this is new information for my students we have been taking it fairly slow. They are giving me "thumbs up" when surveyed about their understanding of the topic.

Part of a journal showing .5 mile visibility due to fog and an increase of daylight by 12 minutes.

Today was our first Weather Journal recording of the new year. We discovered that the amount of daylight is increasing since we returned from break. Yea! We also have been looking at the web cam at several sites over the course of the year. I've included some of those for you to view.

Island Falls, ME

Mt. Katahdin, ME

Fargo, ND

San Francisco, CA

Seattle, WA

Crater Lake, OR Steel Visitor Center

I'm looking forward to a busy weekend that includes some fun activities. Hope you have the same in store.

December 6, 2013 - Lots of learning going on.

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving break. It has been busy, busy here at PHMS 116 since we got back from break. We are working on finishing two major items, one project and one unit.

The project is our research project for the Technology Assessment. At this point students have finished the majority of their research. We started putting the final product together on Monday. They made their first post on their blog at Kidsblog. We are not opening up their blogs until the project is completed so they have a chance to edit and revise before it is published. They should have two posts completed, one is their personal connection to their topic (why they chose it) and the other is the history or background about their topic. They will continue to do a small amount of research to fill in gaps of knowledge and to gather images to be used in the blog.

The unit that we are completing is on atoms and the periodic table. At this point they have learned about atomic theories, subatomic particles, atomic structure, isotopes, ions, symbols, and the arrangement of the periodic table. We'll be reviewing the material next week and taking a test over the concepts on Dec. 19. That way they can relax and enjoy the Christmas break.

If you would like to view a video on atoms and the periodic table click here. You may have to download the video before viewing. Hope you have a great weekend.

Bethel College visits our classroom. 11/25/2013

Students paying close attention.

What is going to happen??

A Liberal Arts education put to music.

Did you take a shower this morning?

Water molecules staying together.

A hot flash put into the water.

What??

Fill'er up!

A CD splitting water into the rainbow.

Using a "powder glove" to get the penny with out getting wet.

 

"Elephant toothpaste"

A busy week - Nov. 15, 2013

This last week was a busy one. Students are learning how to manage two projects simultaneously. We spent Monday and Wednesday on the Technology Assessment. You can visit Mrs. Bowman's website to see the guidelines here.

Mrs. Poulseen's class receiving instructions from Mrs. Bowman in the Technology Assessment.

 Tuesday and Thursday was spent learning about sub-atomic particles, protons, neutrons, and electrons. We used the Gizmo "Element Builder" at ExploreLearning.com to see how the different particles impact an atom. What determines the identity of the element, the charge of the atoms and which isotope is represented.  We created a pyramid shaped graphic organizer with information about the sub-atomic particles.

Friday was an unusual day. All students attended the BHS performance of"Lil' Abner"in the morning. Then after lunch was the reward they earned by meeting the goal set in the food drive. The studnents seemed to enjoy both activities.

Hope you are enjoying the cooler weather.

Friday, Nov. 8, 2013

 
The water barometer has been having a work out this week. On Wednesday, the water in the spout was below the reservoir indicating high pressure and fair weather coming. But today the water was dripping out of the spout, indicating low pressure and rainy weather coming. The Galileo thermometer was indicating cooler weather. This is one of the few times when four of the spheres have been at the top of the thermometer.       

We started two learning activities this week. We are beginning the study of substances, specifically, elements. We started with the "greatest" discoveries in chemistry and Bill Nye. We created a foldable graphic organizer listing six of the atomic theories and their main ideas. Learning how theories have changed with changes in technology was emphasised. Speaking of technology, we started the State Technology Assessment this week. 

                                    

Students will research a "science" topic of their interest and create a product showing what they have learned - all using technology. Mrs. Bowman, our librarian, will be helping with this project. Students will be working on this two days per week until Dec. 16. The rest of the time, it is class as usual. Today we were introduced to a "classic" song from Mrs. Poulseen's class. We sing this to the tune of the "Addams Family" Intro Theme song from the 1964 television show. There are two more verses but we aren't quite ready for them yet.

THE ATOM FAMILY SONG

(sub-atomic particles = parts of the atom)

Protons are positive, (+ charge)

Neutrons are neutral, ( 0 charge)

Electrons are negative. (- charge)

The Atom family.

Chorus:

Dada da da, snap snap.

Dada da da, snap snap.

Dada da da,

Dada da da,

Dada da da, snap snap.

(neutral, stable or balanced atoms)

In atoms that are balanced, (neutral, no charge)

Electrons equal Protons, (+P = -e)

Neutrons are what’s left  (AM – AN = N)

when you do subtraction.

Chorus: