Wednesday 10 August 2016

Presenting Our Argument

We have finished our research and now have our own opinions about the Conspiracy Theory that we have studied. It is time to convince Mr Nicoll that our opinion is the correct one... He will take some convincing!

Friday 1 July 2016

Staring to Inquire

We are starting to turn out Conspiracy Theory work into an inquiry:


Wednesday 29 June 2016

Conspiracy!!

While everyone is finishing their Internal Assessment, some of us got started on this:

Monday 20 June 2016

Conservation of Energy

Energy cannot be generated or destroyed. It just changes (transforms) or is transferred to something else. We used this to explain what happens with a bouncing spring:


Our next challenge was to try and do the same thing for pushing something off a cliff: a car; a boulder; a piano....

Friday 17 June 2016

Our Discussion

There are a few things we can focus on in our discussions. We need to include a fair bit of detail in each one (a full paragraph for each one). Here are some examples:


Thursday 9 June 2016

Constructing a Graph

Yesterday, we looked at how to construct a graph. There were a couple of key points:


  1. Put the independent variable (the thing we changed on purpose) on the x-axis.
  2. Put the dependent variable (the other thing that we measured) on the y-axis.
  3. Use the aim of the investigation to write a good title.

Now, we are ready to start...


The next part was the hardest bit. We looked for the largest value for the independent variable and added up how many lines/boxes there were across the x-axis. This helped us work out the scale (the difference between each number we write along the axis). A scale is very important for a graph. Without the numbers going up in regular amounts (in 10's in the example above), the graph is meaningless.

We then did the same thing for the y-axis. In this example, a difference of 4 was decided to be the best for the data we had. Note that this is a different scale to the x-axis. That is okay, so long as it is still a scale.

Once we had done all of that, we started to plot our data...


For our rugby investigation, we have found the data very difficult to interpret, because we could not control the angle well enough. There are some good little trends that we will look at in today's lesson. There is also some good Science behind the trends we can see on the graph.

Thursday 2 June 2016

The Class vs. Nicoll

The class collaborated over the past two lessons to come up with a workable method. I had a method using cannons to model the kicking of the rugby balls. The class weren't so keen...

So, I challenged them to present a method that considered most variables and challenges and catered for them. The class won...

FOCUSED TEAMS/GROUPS

The first thing the class did was to get into smaller groups, each focused on organising a key aspect of the investigation. There was too much to achieve in the time allowed if the class all worked on one task at a time. The teams:
  • Writing/refining the method
  • Arranging/preparing equipment
  • Recording distance
  • Recording angle

The teams came together today and presented their method. It was a little different to what we initially hoped for, but accounts for enough variables that it may be valid.

DATA COLLECTION

Today was Day One of our data collection. The "Method Team" took notes of any details they had not written in the original method. For example, they noted that measurements were being taken from the rearmost point where the ball landed. This is an important detail for consistency.

The " Equipment Team" had arranged everything, ensuring all balls were 30 PSI etc. They also took on the kicking duties. The "Catchers" (measuring the distance) had results tables and recorded every valid kick, while they ignored those that were "shanked".

The "Filming Team" took control of who kicked and when. They recorded the kicks so the angle of each kick can be calculated at a later date. They ended up being the "directors" of today and did a great job!!

Friday 27 May 2016

Energy Transfer and Transformation

Energy can never be created nor destroyed. It can only be transferred to something else (like from my foot to a rugby ball) or transformed into another type of energy (like chemical energy from my food being transformed into kinetic energy). We need to create a SEQUENCE of the energy involved in the kicking of a rugby ball:


Thursday 26 May 2016

Trialing Our Method

Today was a lot of fun!! We got to kick rugby balls for most of the lesson. This was to test our method, BUT...

...this was an epic FAIL (First Attempt In Learning). We found that we could not control a lot of the variables we identified yesterday AND it was impossible to control the angle we kicked the ball at.


What to do?

Our challenge is to come up with a better method in tomorrow's lesson. Let's see if we can...

Wednesday 25 May 2016

Planning an Investigation

We have started a "Fair Test" today. We have started to plan our method by looking at the variables and seeing what might be practical in class time.


Thursday 12 May 2016

Hokey Pokey

Today we made hokey pokey as an example of a thermal decomposition reaction. We then looked at the importance of each ingredient:


Friday 1 April 2016

Heating Reactions

When we heat things, there are a couple of possible outcomes:

  • Physical Change (melting, boiling)
  • Chemical Reaction
    • Combustion (reaction with oxygen)
    • Combination (reaction between two elements; combustion is an example)
    • Thermal Decomposition (one chemical breaks down into two, or more, chemicals; one product is carbon dioxide)

We did some experiments to try and work out how to tell which type of reaction is happening. We found:

THERMAL DECOMPOSITION
  • Start with a single chemical that has the word "carbonate" in it.
  • Creates a gas that turns limewater cloudy (this is carbon dioxide).

COMBINATION
  • Start with an element (usually, this is a metal).
  • This reacts with another element (usually, this is oxygen).
  • Creates one chemical that has two names (zinc sulfide, magnesium oxide, iron (III) oxide, etc.).

Wednesday 30 March 2016

Reaction Types

Part of our assessment requires us to classify reactions. Are the precipitation reactions, displacement reaction, thermal decomposition or combination reactions? We have only learned about the first two, but this is enough to start...

Wednesday 23 March 2016

Writing Balanced Equations

We were shown how to write balanced equations. We had to come up with a 3-4 step SEQUENCE to help us remember how to do it. Then we were given some examples to complete and balance:




Wednesday 16 March 2016

Displacement Experiment


For homework, we have to write word equations for the ones that did react.

We found that copper was a very unreactive metal (it didn't react with any of these solutions), while magnesium was a very reactive metal, reacting with all solutions except magnesium sulfate. No metal reacted with a solution that it shared a name with. For example, Magnesium did not react with Magnesium Sulfate; and Iron did not react with Iron (III) Chloride.

Monday 14 March 2016

Displacement Reactions




This video explains the next step in understanding Displacement Reactions. It was recorded with another class.


Friday 4 March 2016

Writing Formulae

Today we started to learn how to write ionic formulae. This is a tough skill and will take a while to get good at. Before we can even start, we need to know our ions off by heart, though...




We practiced this skill, and discovered a little trick for doing it quickly - "drop and swap" the numbers when the charges do not automatically cancel out:



Here is this being taught to another class:


Wednesday 2 March 2016

Ions


Today, we had to make Flashcards to help us learn the names of these ions. Once we know the names, we can start learning the hard stuff for this topic - Writing Formulae.

Thursday 25 February 2016

Explaining Precipitation

Today, we got to mix solutions together to see if a precipitate formed. Then, we wrote a word equation for the reaction and used this to word out what the precipitate was (if one formed).

If there was no precipitate, this means the ions were all more attracted to water than with each other.

The Solubility Rules (below) are given to us. These are really useful for working out what does form a precipitate (insoluble) and what does not form a precipitate (soluble).






Wednesday 24 February 2016

Precipitation Reactions - An Introduction

Today, we were introduced to a special type of reaction called precipitation. This is where you combine two solutions, and a solid (precipitate) is formed. The example we looked at was adding Iron (III) Nitrate to Sodium Hydroxide. A brown precipitate formed; this was called Iron (III) Hydroxide:


Then, we were given a solution and added Sodium Hydroxide to that. We had to create a diagram like the one below to show what happened:



Here is a video of some of these concepts being taught to another class:

Monday 8 February 2016

Earthquakes!!

After learning that fault lines can be the sites of earthquakes, we will be spending this week learning about what earthquakes actually are.

  • What causes them?
  • Why can the be so destructive?
  • What are aftershocks?
  • Why does liquefaction sometimes occur?
This is a really good link, too: http://sciencelearn.org.nz/Contexts/Earthquakes/Science-Ideas-and-Concepts

This video gives a good overview of what we will be looking at in class:



Focus and Epicentre

What happens within/along the fault line to actually trigger an earthquake?

Earthquake Waves

There are four different types of earthquake waves: two body waves, called P (Primary) and S (Secondary) Waves; and two surface waves called L (Love) and R (Raleigh) Waves. What are their characteristics?


One thing Mr Nicoll forgot to mention in this video was the link between the Richter Scale, Modified Mercalli Scale and the waves:

Richter Scale measures magnitude. This is the amount of energy in each wave pulse. This means each wave has a larger amplitude.

Modified Mercalli Scale measures intensity. This is the frequency of the waves. The higher the frequency, the more seismic waves per minute.'

Aftershocks

One common occurrence after earthquakes is a series of aftershocks. Are these just more earthquakes, or are they something slightly different? Why do they occur?

Liquefaction

In certain soil types, liquefaction is something earthquakes can cause. It can be devastating. What type of soils are susceptible to liquefaction? How and why does it happen?

Tuesday 2 February 2016

Fault Lines

Our first goal for this unit is to be able to explain how fault lines form.

Earth's Structure

The first step is to understand the structure of Earth, beneath the surface (which we can see). This interactive website was used to help learn some of the key parts:

SOURCE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structure_of_the_Earth

Plate Tectonics

Thursday's lesson was about tectonic plates:


This video shows some simple models of Convection Currents in the Mantle, and how these make the Tectonic Plates move. If they collide, they often cause Fault Lines and Fold Mountains to form.


Faults