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Day 10

8/29/2014

Another week finished up. Boy, did we learn a lot. At least I think we did. Yeah, who am I kidding. Of course we learned stuff.
In Chemistry, the students took their first assessment of the year. It had a bunch of stuff about the measurement lab. And by the way, the Measurement Lab report is due at the beginning of class on Tuesday, September 2nd.
In AP Biology, the students saw how effective bozemanscience.com can be when learning difficult AP Biology concepts like protein structure or DNA replication.
In both classes, we came up with a list of questions to ask a current college student. During Collaboration Days this year, we will spend some time talking about college and what it takes to get there. We will also talk to actual college students from around California and the nation to get an idea of how great college is!

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Day 9

8/28/2014

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What a great day! It was really nice outside and college football starts tonight and I went fishing after school. Yes!
The Chemistry students did a few different things today. First, I showed the students how stupid Indiana Jones was by putting a small bag of sand on a pedestal that was holding a 72 pound piece of gold. Congratulations to Jordan, Bryce and Rosie for being smarter than Indy. We also saw how hydrogen peroxide reacts to produce water and oxygen gas. Finally, we did a lot of practice problems associated with the Measurement Lab. We have a quiz tomorrow, so hopefully this was helpful.
The AP Biology students turned in the Diffusion and Osmosis Lab today because it was due! We also talked about carbon's unique ability to covalently bond with a bunch of stuff like oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen. We talked about isomers, especially the really cool ones called enantiomers. They look very similar to each other and are mirror images of one another. This has consequences in the pharmaceutical industry. Some medicines, like ibuprofen, only look if they are one of the mirror images. The other compound has no effect. Weird.

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Day 8

8/27/2014

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The first chance to win cash and prizes in Chemistry! Oh Boy!
The Chemistry students saw what happens to a marshmallow when you put it in a vacuum. Not a Hoover vacuum but a space-type vacuum. What happened you ask? Let's just say if you were a marshmallow, you wouldn't like it. We also looked at an example of the Measurement Lab report. There is a link for that document below. We then made sure all of our measurements were completed. Don't worry; if you didn't get to something, you can always come in during Achievement and finish it up. The lab report is due on Tuesday, September 2nd.
The AP Biology students put the final touches on the Diffusion and Osmosis Lab. We weighed the potato cores we had put into different concentrations of sucrose solutions yesterday. Some of the potato cores gained weight, others lost weight. It depended on what concentration of sucrose the cores were put into. We experimentally derived a solute concentration within the potato cells. I think it was around 0.38M. The lab is due tomorrow but a lot of students turned it in today.

measurement_lab_example.docx
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Day 7

8/26/2014

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You know what's fun? Taking huge risks in a chemistry class knowing you lived a long and decent life. Of course, that applies to me. Not sure about the rest of you. Maybe I should be more careful......
The AP Biology students did a couple of things today. We started Activity C of the Diffusion and Osmosis Lab by weighing and placing potato cores in different concentrations of sucrose solutions. Over time, the cores will either gain or lose weight, depending on the concentration of the solution. We also discussed the nature of water and its impact on biological systems.
The Chemistry students were shown what a lab report looks like and what they should turn in for the Measurement Lab. We also discussed 2 new characteristics that we can measure; density and temperature. An important thing to remember is about density is that it shows a relationship between mass and volume, characteristics we are familiar with now. We also saw what happens when a rubber stopper gets stuck in a Erlenmeyer flask. Awesome happens. You can access the link of the Measurement Lab powerpoint below.

chemistry_-_measurement_lab.pptx
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Day 6

8/25/2014

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The beginning of the second week and what a day. Actually, it was kind of an average day full of science surprises and knowledge seeking activities.
The AP Biology went over the data analysis from Activity B of the Diffusion and Osmosis Lab. What was especially important was the construction of an appropriate graph that illustrates the data that we had gathered from weighing the dialysis bags that were immersed in freshwater. We are taking our time with the question and answer sections of this lab as it is our first lab of the year.
The Chemistry students learned that you had better cook a cake longer in Lake Tahoe and not because it's all snowy and stuff. It's because with the lower air pressure found at higher altitudes, water boils at a lower temperature. You know, vapor pressure equals air pressure and all that stuff. We also continued with Part 2 of the Measurement Lab which focuses on Mass and Volume.

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Day 5 - end of Week #1

8/22/2014

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The end of the first week! Only 35 more and it's the summer again! But let's slow down and enjoy this ride while it lasts, shall we?
The AP biology students completed the data gathering for Activity B in the Osmosis and Diffusion Lab. We took 4 containers of water and placed therein a dialysis bag containing a different concentration of sucrose solution. We measured the mass of each bag before and after submersion in the freshwater. We will analyze this data on Monday.
The Chemistry students continued work on the Measurement Lab. We also introduced the concepts of mass and volume and how to measure volume of an object mathematically, if possible. We also looked at what pressure can do to an aluminum can, if applied correctly.

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Day 4

8/21/2014

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This year is already 1/45th of the way done! It's going so fast. I don't want it to. I'm having too much fun so far.
AP Biology began the Osmosis and Diffusion Lab and saw that, yes, iodine can diffuse through the pores of dialysis tubing which we indirectly observed by noting the indicative blue color change when iodine reacts with starch molecules. Boy, that sounded smart.
In Chemistry, we began the Measurement Lab which is a rather lengthy investigation into scientific measurement which will serve as a gateway into the wonderful world of chemical reactions, explosions and controlled mayhem that is the centerpiece of our study of matter. Ah, explosions in a chemistry class. The little brother of hand grenades.

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Day 3

8/20/2014

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Day 3 is over. That means the year is 3/180th of the way over. Or 1/60th of the way over. So we do what we just did 59 more times and the year is over! Yayy! Math is great!
My AP Biology class went over some more Chemistry review material. We also saw that both powerpoints I have shown in class are now on this blog. We also had our first look at the AP Biology exam. Oh boy, it is something.
My Chemistry class saw a really cool oscillation reaction and then completed the activity on the nature of scientific inquiry. The students made some guesses about me: my age, my family, education, all the important stuff. They then examined photographs from my life history beginning at birth and continuing to the present day.
They found out:
I'm 54
I'm beginning my 21st year of teaching at West Valley
I've been married to Jamie for 29 years
Roy and Olivia are my kids and they are awesome
I went to San Francisco State University
I love the Giants
and a bunch of other stuff

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Day 2

8/19/2014

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Another glorious day at West Valley. You know what's great? Air conditioning. It's one of my favorite things. It's right up there with pizza and Otter Pops.
In AP Biology today, I gave a short lecture/background information on Chapter 2, The Chemical Context of Life. This gave the students an idea of how some of the course information will be disseminated and it also gave them information regarding the homework assignment due next Monday. I also showed them another presentation of information created by the textbook publisher. And we got our textbooks! Look below for links to the lectures notes I did today.
In Chemistry, we reviewed some things we talked about on the first day. Then we began an activity on scientific inquiry and using observations and inferences. Basically, we looked at pictures from my past and made inferences as to the nature of the photographs. We will finish it tomorrow. We got our books, too!

02_lecture_presentation.ppt
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ap_lecture_1.pptx
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Day 1 of 180

8/18/2014

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The first day of school! Remember when you were in first grade and your Mom took your picture and you sort of cried a little bit because you didn't really want to go to school? But then she gave you Cocoa Puffs which was your favorite cereal and that made you feel better. I remember that.
In AP Biology, I mainly just talked about grading, rules, labs, AP exam stuff, etc. etc. etc. I just went on and on. I thought I would never shut up. The real work in AP Biology begins tomorrow. As with all first days of a class, the teacher goes over basic stuff and the students just absorb it. Cool science stuff begins tomorrow!
In Chemistry, I pretty much did the same thing as I did in AP but we did get to see some cool chemistry stuff like how to make a ping pong ball cannon and how to light rubbing alcohol on fire within a huge water bottle.

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Day 10

Day 9

Day 8

Day 7

Day 6

Day 5 - end of Week #1

Day 4

Day 3

Day 2

Day 1 of 180

Dan Button

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