Hello Parents, Friends, and Students!
The Impact Physicists are knee-deep in their first Scientific Inquiry, the Gravity Car Project. It explains that there are two parts to this project; in groups of two, three, or four students will build a car that is powered only by the force of gravity (picture here) and then do an experiment to discover how to get the best-working car. (The assignment is in the students' notebook on page 15).
Their essential question, depending on what their group decided, is:
How will ____________ affect the _______________ of my gravity car?
different sized wheels distance
different falling weights velocity
different heights acceleration
During the week of October 3, all of the groups should be making hypotheses, writing step-by-step procedures, and building and testing their cars for the farthest distance, fastest velocity, or greatest acceleration.
During the week of October 10-14, students will be changing their car and re-testing, graphing, and drawing conclusions. Each group will modify their car according to what they chose as their improvement and re-test it to see if the outcome is different.
During the week of October 17, students will be typing up their Lab Report, which is the largest chunk of their Semester 1 grade in Physics. Please support them by giving them time to write and type, and perhaps by editing their writing too!
If you are interested in coming in to see how the gravity cars are coming along, please send me an email. We will be racing the cars and presenting our findings on the night of Impact's first exhibition of the year, on November 10th. Let the races begin!
Tamar
tamar@es-impact.org
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Welcome to Physics
Hello Impact!
I am so excited to get started with our new Physics students this year! Get ready for some fun exploration.
Materials needed for 9th Grade Physics:
Happy Week 1!
Tamar
I am so excited to get started with our new Physics students this year! Get ready for some fun exploration.
Materials needed for 9th Grade Physics:
- One Spiral Notebook with at least 80-100 pages (preferably large enough to fit a regular piece of paper)
- A folder or safe place to keep Physics tests or labs that are handed back to you
- One glue stick (optional)
Happy Week 1!
Tamar
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Circuits Inquiry Lab Report
Hi Students and Parents!
As you probably know, at Impact we have what is called Benchmark Portfolios. For the last four weeks before Spring Break, students were working on an Electricity lab report based on experiments they conducted on electric circuits in the classroom. This lab report is a product that could be in your portfolio. It was due on 3/25, the last day of school before spring break. If a student did not turn it in, you will see a zero in the grade book.
If students turned in a Lab Report and it was not proficient, they can still revise it until it becomes proficient and then add it to the online digital archive where we keep our portfolio products. The same goes for those who never turned one in.
MOREOVER, if a lab report becomes proficient, meaning it would probably take multiple revisions and drafts, any student who uploads a proficient lab report will change their lab's grade to a 4 in the grade book. Yes! That means an AUTOMATIC 'A' on the project if it is uploaded.
If you have any questions, please let me know - I welcome emails and parent correspondence. Have an electrifying day!
Tamar
As you probably know, at Impact we have what is called Benchmark Portfolios. For the last four weeks before Spring Break, students were working on an Electricity lab report based on experiments they conducted on electric circuits in the classroom. This lab report is a product that could be in your portfolio. It was due on 3/25, the last day of school before spring break. If a student did not turn it in, you will see a zero in the grade book.
If students turned in a Lab Report and it was not proficient, they can still revise it until it becomes proficient and then add it to the online digital archive where we keep our portfolio products. The same goes for those who never turned one in.
MOREOVER, if a lab report becomes proficient, meaning it would probably take multiple revisions and drafts, any student who uploads a proficient lab report will change their lab's grade to a 4 in the grade book. Yes! That means an AUTOMATIC 'A' on the project if it is uploaded.
If you have any questions, please let me know - I welcome emails and parent correspondence. Have an electrifying day!
Tamar
Monday, February 7, 2011
Welcome to Spring Semester!
We have just finished a two-week unit on Thermodynamics. Our test was on February 7, 2011 and covered thermal energy, heat, temperature, and heat transfer. We are starting a new unit called Electricity and Magnetism, Unit 3.
Over the next three to four weeks, we will be studying Electrostatics (or static electricity) and Electrodynamics (moving electricity) via circuits. Our next Science Inquiry Project will be on relationships of variables within a circuit. Students will choose a question to investigate and lead an experiment to discover the answer. This project will be certified and entered into the students' digital archive for use in their Benchmark Portfolios.
If you have any questions, please let me know via email! Happy discoveries!
STUDENTS: Please click on this link to fill out a 2-page mandatory survey that will help Tamar plan for the next unit and beyond. Thank you!!!
We have just finished a two-week unit on Thermodynamics. Our test was on February 7, 2011 and covered thermal energy, heat, temperature, and heat transfer. We are starting a new unit called Electricity and Magnetism, Unit 3.
If you have any questions, please let me know via email! Happy discoveries!
STUDENTS: Please click on this link to fill out a 2-page mandatory survey that will help Tamar plan for the next unit and beyond. Thank you!!!
Monday, November 22, 2010
Lab Report - Due Monday 11/29!!!
Today we started our Lab Report for finishing up our Gravity Car project. It can be hand-written, and it is due on Monday 11/29. All of the components of the report are as follows:
Today in class we wrote the Introduction and Purpose. We are to finish the whole thing in class tomorrow so you don't have homework over the long weekend! Here is a link that will download the assignment:
Lab Report Assignment
Here is the lab-report checklist, which includes sentence starters to help you know what to write. It will average about one paragraph per section/component (except for data and graph).
Lab Report Checklist
Happy Writing!
Introduction (like the overview of your presentation)
Purpose (why you did the project, what you were trying to discover)
Hypothesis (already written on pg 33 of your notebook)
Materials (already written on blueprint in folder)
Methods/Procedure (use building log to write step-by-step instructions)
Results (table of data)
Graph (graph of data - only if multiple weights tested)
Conclusion (was your hypothesis correct? what did you discover?)
Today in class we wrote the Introduction and Purpose. We are to finish the whole thing in class tomorrow so you don't have homework over the long weekend! Here is a link that will download the assignment:
Lab Report Assignment
Here is the lab-report checklist, which includes sentence starters to help you know what to write. It will average about one paragraph per section/component (except for data and graph).
Lab Report Checklist
Happy Writing!
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Updates!
We have just finished building our Gravity Cars! These are vehicles that are propelled solely by the force of gravity on a falling weight, which is connected to the axle and wheels of the car.
All groups need to have taken data on the time and distance their car travels on different amounts of weight. This week we are preparing our presentations for our Exhibition event, to take place this THURSDAY Nov. 18th from 6pm to 8pm.
WE'LL SEE YOU THERE!
All groups need to have taken data on the time and distance their car travels on different amounts of weight. This week we are preparing our presentations for our Exhibition event, to take place this THURSDAY Nov. 18th from 6pm to 8pm.
WE'LL SEE YOU THERE!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
PHYSICS RULES! Physics one-liners
Gravity is a downer
Plasma is another matter
Black holes suck
Friction can be a drag sometimes
A day without fusion is like a day without sunshine
What did the neutrino say to the earth? "Just passing through."
Quasars are far out.
The subatomic particle store had a sale last week.
Electrons: $0.10
Protons: $0.10
Neutrons: Free of charge
Q: How many quantum physicists does it take to change a light bulb? A: None, once they have observed it is out it has already changed.
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