Blog Archives - Button's Place

Day 12

8/31/2017

Did you notice how happy your teachers were today? You know why? First pay day since June, that's why!
The Chemistry students took the first make-up quiz of the year. Well, not everyone took it. Some students aced the first one and just chilled why most everyone else had some work to do. I just got done with the grading and there was a lot of improvement.
The AP Biology students took a look at the free response section of the AP Exam. And now we're done with that. We will, of course, revisit the exam from time to time as we plod our way through the curriculum. You know, plod isn't the right word. Sled? No. How about skate? Nah, that denotes laziness. I know - skip. Yeah, that's it.

Day 11

8/30/2017

This Wednesday is a long one!!!!! Wake up at 5:30, school until 2:33, stay at school for Back to School Night and get home at 9!!! Ugh!
The Chemistry students reviewed, in detail, the results of the first quiz of the year on Unit Conversion. Some students did good and some did not. One of those groups out numbered the other. We're gonna have a make up quiz tomorrow for those students who are in one of those groups. We also did a memory thing that should amaze the students' friends for years to come.
The AP Biology students had their first look at the venerable (yes, that's a word) AP Biology Exam. Traditionally, we spend the 2 days after the end of the Osmosis and Diffusion Lab taking an in-depth look at the reason why the students are in this class which is to take the thing in May.

Day 10

8/29/2017

Day 10? That means the school year is 1/18th of the way done. Only 17/18ths left to go.
The Chemistry students had the first quiz of the year today. It was all about the measurement lab and unit conversion. Kind of. After I finish this, I'm gonna look at the results and judging by the reactions of the weeping students, it might not be that great. We checked out a short video about gold, too. And we found out that Indiana Jones probably was a thief and not that smart.
The AP Biology students finished up the data collection for Part C of the Osmosis and Diffusion Lab. And guess what? We are finished with the whole lab! All that's left is to turn it in (like some students did today) tomorrow. Next stop.....something else.

Day 9

8/28/2017

Monday and it's hot. I mean real hot. Like hundreds of degrees hot. Did I mention it was Monday today?
The Chemistry students did a bunch of things today. Let's see......first, we reviewed density and I showed the students how to calculate it. Density that is. Then I showed the students the following clip:

The students tried to figure out what the heck went wrong with Indy's plan of stealing an important religious artifact. We'll talk more about this tomorrow. We also reviewed some stuff for the quiz tomorrow and we even started a homework assignment.
The AP Biology students started Part C of the Diffusion and Osmosis Lab. We dunked potato cores in a variety of sucrose solutions. We'll let the cores sit in sugar water for 24 hours and check them out. We also talked about grades and the Achievement Period.

Day 8

8/25/2017

Another Friday! I like them.
The Chemistry students did a couple of things today. We (meaning they) worked on the Measurement Lab and remaining Part 3 measurements. It's time to move on so I hope everyone got done. I think they did. Most people. There will be a little time next week to finish up any missing stuff. I showed the students how to effectively blow something up. You only need zinc, copper sulfate, sulfuric acid, hydrogen peroxide, manganese dioxide, a gas collection trough and some matches.
The AP Biology students were shown some of the different ways lectures will be delivered today. We reviewed a huge amount of chemistry today. A huge amount. We also previewed the next part of the Osmosis and Diffusion Lab.

chemistry_day_2-1.pptx
File Size:	245 kb
File Type:	pptx

ap_lecture_1.pptx
File Size:	2966 kb
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Day 7

8/24/2017

Today was a good day. A lot of funny things were said. Mainly by me. But then again, I'm a professional.
The Chemistry students continued with the Measurement Lab. I talked about Part 3 which involved DENSITY and TEMPERATURE. You know why I capitalized these words? Check out yesterday's entry. The students endeavored to finish the lab but not to worry, we will have some class time tomorrow to do just that.
The AP Biology students did the data analysis section of Part B of the Osmosis and Diffusion Lab. Yes, we did. We calculated % change in mass of the dialysis bag which probably only .01% of Earth's population have ever done. Maybe less.

Day 6

8/23/2017

Well, I feel better today. I was soooooooooooo tired yesterday. You know, the eclipse thing. Anywho, I'm back physically and mentally.
The Chemistry students continued with the measurement lab. I went over MASS and VOLUME. I capitalized those words because of their intrinsic importance and I'm pretty sure I misused instrinsic just then. So we made a bunch more measurements and there we are. Oh, I included the Power Point thing at the bottom of this entry.
The AP Biology students did the actual physical part of Part B of the Osmosis and Diffusion Lab. The students made a lot of dialysis bags of varying sucrose concentration and put them in 100% water and checked out what happened. What happened was that those bags better have gained weight. I bet they did.

chemistry_day_2-1.pptx
File Size:	253 kb
File Type:	pptx

Day 5

8/22/2017

And I'm back to work.
The eclipse was absolutely unbelievable. It's hard to describe how cool it was to see. You know, I've seen a lot of cool stuff in my life. Saw the Space Shuttle land in person, saw the Giants win the pennant 3 times, seen many World Series games, Grateful Dead concerts......a bunch of stuff. This eclipse was right up there in the top 10.
The Chemistry students began the annual Measurement Lab today. Part 1 focuses on Length and Time. Tomorrow will be the time to finish this and begin Part 2 which is about Mass and Volume.
The AP Biology students reviewed the procedure for Part B of the Osmosis and Diffusion Lab. We also discussed Chapter 1 in the text and how a typical lecture might be structured.

Day 4

8/21/2017

Well, I took the day off. I was a little burned out after 3 days. Ahhhh, not really. I went to Salem, Oregon to see the total eclipse of the sun. It will be only partial in Cottonwood so I'm outta here.
The Chemistry students will complete a really simple activity on Matter and its definition.
The AP Biology students began work on the Chapter 1 Reading Guide. This will be due on Thursday, August 24th.

Day 3

8/18/2017

Wow, this Friday came fast! Oh wait....we started on Wednesday so I guess this Friday took forever to get here.
The Chemistry students finished up the Scientific Inquiry by completing the analysis of 18 photographs from my past. So this is what they found out: I'm 57, I'm married to Jamie, Roy and Olivia are my kids, I graduated from San Francisco State University and a bunch of other stuff. Also, those people above are some of my personal heroes - J. Robert Oppenheimer, Roy and Olivia Button, Joshua Chamberlain, Jamie Button and Neil Armstrong.
The AP Biology students completed the first part of the Osmosis and Diffusion Lab, the first lab of the year. We checked out the diffusion of iodine and glucose through the pores of a dialysis bag. It was cool.