Blog Archives - Button's Place

Day 13

8/30/2019

Another Friday has come and gone. I think we only have like 30 more Fridays to go.
The Chemistry students did a couple of things today. We went over the results of the Metal and Nonmetal Lab. We attempted to make a high explosive using ammonia and iodine but it seemed like there must have been a problem because it didn't quite work. We also did a memory exercise that is really quite amazing.
The AP Biology students went to the library in an attempt to complete the uncompletable. We (they) worked on the Chemistry of Life online assignment.

Day 12

8/29/2019

Day 12? That means that the school year is 1/15th of the way done. Only 14/15ths left to go.
The Chemistry students did a kinda neat lab exercise today. It was called Metals and Nonmetals. Actually, it's still called that. Anyway, the students checked out the physical properties and chemical properties of 8 different elements. We had a contest on which class could identify the most of the elements. I think 5th period won but I'll know for sure later.
The AP Biology students went to the library today to work on that big online assignment called The Chemistry of Life which covers Chapters 2-5 of that huge textbook called Biology. We're gonna learn more about Chapter 4 tomorrow.

Day 11

8/28/2019

Know what happened on this day in history? Me neither.
The Chemistry students took the first quiz of the year today. Boy, there were some sad faces after that. But not to worry. If the students complete everything I ask them to, they will have almost unlimited chances to improve their grade by taking an assessment on a particular objective anytime they wish. Sounds great, doesn't it? And yet so few take advantage of this.
The AP Biology students got the Chapter 3 & 4 Combo Reading Guide and that thing is due next Tuesday. We went over a bunch of stuff about water which is pretty cool because water is awesome and really can quench your thirst. A lot of work lies ahead for this group of students.

Day 10

8/27/2019

Day 10, you say? Day 10 means that the school year is 1/18th of the way done. Only 17/18ths left to go!!
The Chemistry students did this whole thing today. First, we talked about 6 definitions that are super important for the study of chemistry. Those six were physical change, chemical change, element, compound, pure substance and mixture. After that, the students checked out a bunch of situations and the students had to decide if they were looking at a physical change or a chemical change. Then we checked out some substances and they were maybe elements or compounds (which are pure substances).
The AP Biology students discovered the wonder that is the free response section of the AP Biology Exam. We went over the scoring procedures of 3 different questions and, hopefully, proved that the Exam isn't as bad as it might seem. We'll do stuff like this throughout the year.
Oh yeah - if you are a Chemistry student, check out the review stuff below in order to prep for the quiz tomorrow.

classifying_matter.pptx
File Size:	6615 kb
File Type:	pptx

measurement_lab_stuff.pptx
File Size:	223 kb
File Type:	pptx

Day 9

8/26/2019

The start of a new week and a milestone is reached! Today marks the end of the first 1/20th of the school year. Only 19/20ths left to go!
The Chemistry students went over a bunch of material centered around the Periodic Table which is super user friendly if you know some stuff. We talked about atomic number, atomic weight and the mole. The mole, you ask? Yeah, it is a real big number. 602000000000000000000000.
The AP Biology students went to the library today to begin work on the first real online assignment of the year. It's called the Chemistry of Life. It's a lot of stuff but should be pretty easy for AP Bio students.

Day 8

8/23/2019

Despite what you see in Room 1204 at West Valley High School, there is no such thing as magic. Listen.....question everything - everything you see in this class, everything you see on TV, everything you see on your cell phone. A lot of liars out there!
The Chemistry students saw me turn a penny into gold. Yup, gold. Believe me? You shouldn't. Ever. We also reviewed some conversion calculations from that first worksheet I gave all the students.
The AP Biology saw, for the first time, the AP Biology Exam. We checked out some multiple choice questions which, really, didn't require any special knowledge of biology. If you can interpret a graph or table of data, you'll probably do OK. We also turned in the Osmosis and Diffusion Lab.

Day 7

8/22/2019

Here is what happened today in Room 1204:
The Chemistry students continued with Part 3 of the Measurement Lab today. That involves density and temperature. Density, as you are well aware, is the measure of the mathematical relationship between the mass and volume of an object. That sounds a little wordy but I'm pretty it's true. We also checked out this:

That's a density problem if I ever saw one!
The AP Biology students completed the data analysis section of Part C of the Osmosis and Diffusion Lab today. That means were about done with it. The lab is due tomorrow at the beginning of class which is plenty of time to finish the intricate questioning contained therein.

Day 6

8/21/2019

Wow! Now the school year is 1/30th of the way done! Only 29/30ths of the way to go! Today was the first Advisory Day!! Rejoice Everyone!
The Chemistry students continued with the Measurement Lab today. They mainly concerned themselves with measuring the mass and volume of a variety of objects including a rock, wooden block and the earth itself. Yeah, good luck with that. We also did some temperature measurements and some density stuff, too.
The AP Biology students did a couple of things today. The students got the first Reading Guide of the year is is like the Advisory of homework assignments. That is due on Monday. We also began Part C of the Osmosis and Diffusion Lab. We're gonna find out the solute concentration inside a potato and, by extension, its water potential.

Day 5

8/20/2019

Day 5?? That means the school year is 1/36th of the way complete. Only 35/36ths left to go!
The Chemistry students learned a little about mass and volume today which is a good thing because Part 2 of the Measurement Lab is all about Mass and Volume. Not that capitalizing it should make any difference. I think most student groups got through around half of Part 2. Part 3 starts tomorrow.
The AP Biology students did the data analysis section of Activity B in the Osmosis and Diffusion Lab today. Basically, we saw that, yes, water will move into a dialysis tube more if the sucrose solution within the tube is more highly concentrated. We did that and learned that drinking salt water is a real bad idea.

Day 4

8/19/2019

This is the start of the first full week of the school year. Today also marks the completion of the first 45th of the school year. Only 44/45ths left to go! It'll be over in no time.
The Chemistry students began the annual Measurement Lab today. Part 1, which we started, consists of measuring length and time and doing some conversions as well. Conversions are calculations that allow you to change from one unit of measure, like years, to another, like minutes. We'll continue this stuff tomorrow.
The AP Biology finished the data collection section of Activity B which was pretty much just making dialysis tubing filled with varying concentrations of sucrose solution and setting them in fresh water for 30 minutes. Over this period of time, one would expect the mass of these tubes to change as water diffuses into the tubes. Tomorrow, we'll check out the results.