Grade 8 Physical Science Assignments

52HW NO GRADE. We are finishing out our year with a series of lessons on electricity and electronics. Attached find sample math problems based on Ohm's Law, along with an answer key. Students can expect one problem like these on our upcoming final. Here also is a link to the program we have been using for electronics: https://makecode.microbit.org Students can review what we did in class, and also try different tools. The simulator that comes with this program will help students see their results in progress.

51HW War Of Currents questions. We are starting a short series of classes on electricity and electronics, to close out the year. This assignment introduces students to two players in the controversy surrounding electrical standards, Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison. I will be checking this assignment at the beginning of class on Wednesday.

47HW Bridge Building. This assignment compares the two materials most frequently used to build buildings and bridges-- steel and concrete. The page is formatted as answers-- students are to put in the questions (Jeopardy style). This assignment is due at the beginning of class on Friday.

42HW This assignment is the first in our new unit, "Engineering." For this unit, we will explore structures (focus on bridges and churches), machines, electricity/electronics, and end with a conversation about artificial intelligence. For this assignment, student groups are completing databases of bridges around the world. Students are doing this work as a shared document in GoogleSlides, and it will be due on April 12 by 9pm.

43CW Bridge Designs. There are three parts to this assignment-- vocabulary, a paper bridge challenge, and an online activity chooses bridges for different locations. We will complete part of this before Spring break, and part of it after.

41CW Newton's 3 Laws. Several activities introduce the three laws of motion, including a simulation, work with a formula, and a hands-on activity with rolling balls. We will add additional demonstrations as time permits.

40QUIZ10 This quiz will focus on two forces, gravity and friction. In addition, there will be a section on the scientific method. Attached find a practice quiz with study guide, and an answer key. Please do your best to finish the student practice on your own before referring to the answer key. UPDATE: This quiz has been moved to next Thursday because many students have been out with the flu.

I hope this extra time will enable students to review at their own pace, and to seek me out with any questions.

36STEM Parachute Challenge. In our study of motion, we are considering vertical motion by making model parachutes. Attached find a summary of this STEM challenge. The first parachute should be ready to drop by the end of class on Friday, March 15. We will drop chutes next week, and students will have a chance to improve their designs for a second drop the week after. UPDATE: Attached find a brief history of parachutes to help give us context for making our own. UPDATE: Student reports on this challenge will be due April 1 (Monday) by 9pm. Attached find a grading rubric (feedback) for team members. UPDATE: Students are to submit all updates for this project by Friday, April 12, at 9pm. Work submitted for the first time after this date will reviewed on a pass/fail basis.

NO GRADE Net force can be described as a free body diagram. Attached find a practice page that we have reviewed in class, along with an answer key.

NO GRADE. Attached find a "booklet" summarizing our introduction to physics. The focus is motion, force, and laws of motion. Students are to use this as a reference, and to help them keep track of work we do. We will finish our work with physics in the next several weeks.

38HW Gravity and 39HW Friction. So far in physics we have concentrated on motion. With this assignment, we add the idea of force. Forces of different kinds cause objects to move. This packet includes several different short assignments designed to explore two forces-- gravity and friction. UPDATE: The gravity part of this assignment will be checked at the beginning of class on March 15 (Friday). The friction part of this assignment will be collected at the beginning of class on March 19 (Tuesday).

37QUIZ09 This quiz will be on distance, displacement, speed, and velocity. Attached find definitions and sample problems for practice. All students are responsible for trying their best to tackle these problems, whether or not we have a regular class. There will be time on Thursday (March 7) for questions. We will see where we stand then. UPDATE: I have replaced the attached document. There was an error in my work on problem 1! UPDATE: This quiz will happen on Thursday, March 14. Students will be asked to solve two problems, one of each of the types on the attached practice document. UPDATE: Attached find an answer key to the practice quiz.

34LAB Spin Inquiry. We will be exploring 3 types of motions in physics-- circular motion, vertical motion, and horizontal motion. The spin inquiry has students designing their own investigations based on toy spinners they make from CDs, marbles, bottle caps, and pennies.

35HW Spin at Work in the World. This assignment complements 34LAB Spin Inquiry. It includes a Bill Nye video, as well as short videos about football and figure skating.

33QUIZ Speed. UPDATE: Students who received less than 80% on this quiz will have the opportunity to retest by March 8. The focus on the retest will be-- dimensional analysis, formulas for speed graphs, and speed story equations. Attached find a "Request to Retest" form that students must submit before retaking the quiz, along with some evidence that they have tried to improve their understanding.

32LAB Speed Story original. Students will make up and graph their own speed stories, based on human movement.

33QUIZ08 Speed stories and equations. Shortly, I will post a practice quiz and study guide. Attached find practice problems using the speed equation (speed = distance/time). We will review stories and equations on Wednesday and Thursday. UPDATE: Attached find the practice quiz along with the teacher answer key. UPDATE: Attached find answer keys for the speed equation practice problems.

30CW Speed Story #2 (cheetah). UPDATE: This assignment is now due on Thursday (Feb 21).

31CW Speed Story #3 (Jamaican relay team), UPDATE: This assignment is now due on Thursday (Feb 21).

29CW Speed Story #1 Mrs. Ohls Starts Her Day

28CW Speed Units. As physics starts, we are thinking about a familiar motion-- speed. Students are to complete this sheet for homework if it is not done in class.

27HW Bill Nye 97 Measurement. Students are to take Cornell notes on this video. We are returning to measurements in general, and conversion in particular, as we continue our unit on physics. Students will have time to work on this during "STEM Fair" day on Wednesday, January 30. A good link for this video can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDlHVICAnHM. I will be checking for completion of this assignment at the start of class on Thursday (January 31).

26FAIR Display boards for the fair are due today by the end of class. Reminder: Our fair is January 30. This includes judging in the morning, visits in the afternoon, and viewing in the evening. Attached find display guidelines for the boards, as well as a form that judges will fill out when they interview students about their projects. UPDATE: The grade for the board will count for term 3. UPDATE: Boards will now be due on January 25 (Friday). UPDATE: Boards completed in class will be eligible for a maximum grade of A. Boards completed at home will be eligible for a maximum grade of B.Please bring in any materials you need to complete your boards (lettering, glue, etc).

25QUIZ07 This final quiz of term 2 will be an in-class writing assignment. Students will be asked to write two paragraphs on the scientist Marie Curie. The first paragraph will be an analysis of a topic related to Curie. The second paragraph will be a personal reflection on the same topic. A good way to prepare for this quiz is to carefully read the Curie biography attached here. Attached also find a slide show about Curie that includes links to some short online videos. UPDATE: This assignment has not been changed to a take-home writing assignment. See the attached instructions.

MIDTERM practice exam and study guide. We will be reviewing on Wednesday and Thursday this week. The science midterm is next week on Wednesday. Students, please take the time to review this practice exam, and answer as many questions as you can before class on Wednesday. This will make our review more meaningful. UPDATE: Attached find the answer key to the practice exam.

22LAB Pendulums This is our first lab for our new unit on physics. UPDATE: The due date for this lab has been changed to January 14 (Monday).

24QUIZ06 This will be the third quiz for term 3. I will post a practice quiz closer to the date. UPDATE: Attached find a practice quiz and study guide.We will review this practice quiz in class on Wednesday (Jan 9). UPDATE: This is NOT an open notes quiz, except for use of the Periodic Table. UPDATE: Attached find an answer key for the quiz. Also, I will be in tomorrow (Friday) by 7:45am if anyone has any last minute questions.

23HW NOTES Students are to take Cornell notes on a video entitled "The Metre and Time." This video explains a connection between time and distance. It complements what we will be doing for our pendulum lab (22LAB). Students should have their notes ready for a completion grade at the beginning of class on Wednesday.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvVCNhWJvvo&t=55s 

Classwork: Metric conversions. We will practice converting meters, liters, and grams into equivalent measurements based on milli, centi, and kilo. This topic was covered in grade 7 math, so this will be a review. To do these conversions, we will be using a technique called "dimensional analysis."

Human Brain packet. This packet gives students background information for an extended writing assignment on addiction, that they will finish with Mrs. Ohls. Students must present to me a completed packet, which includes notes, summary, and reflection. The attached teacher copy will help with notes. Students may use sources cited in this document to add to their own research. UPDATE: Attached find a source list to help with research, along with reading "The Science of Addiction," and a list of starter questions generated (mostly) by students. Some of these questions will be more relevant to your thesis than others.

20FAIR The final report for projects is due. Attached find a rubric I will use for grading.

21QUIZ05 Chemistry. Attached find a study guide with practice questions. I would ask students to start studying early this week, and to bring the completed practice quiz to class on Wednesday. Part of the preparation for this quiz is to view and take notes on two short videos.We will review the practice quiz on Wednesday, and the quiz will be on Friday. This will be an open notes quiz. I am available for extra help on Wednesday and Thursday after school. UPDATE: Attached find an answer key to the practice quiz.

(no grade) Here are handouts we will be working on this week in science, as we finish up our unit on chemistry.

19FAIR I will review student logs. These are weekly pages (in project folders) where students document their planning, their activity, and their reflections in preparation for our STEM Fair.

16HW Students are to take Cornell notes on a section of our Glencoe Physical Science text. Chapter 17.2 (pages 529-533). This is about chemical properties and changes. Students should have their notes ready for a completion grade at the beginning of class on Wednesday.

18QUIZ04 Attached find student and teacher versions of a practice quiz. The "real" quiz will follow this format, with different questions.

(no grade) The Periodic Table and Chemical Bonding. This packet digs deeper into the Periodic Table, and begins to explain how the process of bonding occurs. UPDATE: We will finish reviewing this packet after finishing QUIZ04 on Monday (November 19).

17HW Periodic Table. Students are to read a section of text on the Periodic Table (Glencoe Ch. 18.3) and take Cornell-style notes. I will be checking this assignment for completion at the beginning of class on Wednesday.

14LAB Separation of a Mixture. Student groups will design and carry out their own investigation that attempts to recover materials from a mixture. This lab includes developing a graph of the results with embedded formulas for percent (we will have a lesson on how to do this). UPDATE: I have moved the due date for this lab.

15STEM Periodic Table Basics. This is a paper model that students will make that showcases the first 18 elements of the table. Patterns that we see here will help us to understand how and why chemical reactions happen. Since this is a "paper" assignment, it will be due at the end of class on Friday.

13HW Physical Properties and Changes. Students are to take Cornell-style notes on the Glencoe text Chapter 17.2. Do the parts on "Physical Properties" and "Physical Change." We will handle "Chemical Properties and Changes" at another time. Pay attention to processes that you might use for our upcoming lab on the physical separation of a mixture.I will check for completion of this assignment at the beginning of class on Wednesday.

12LAB Rate of Dissolution. Students will design and carry out their own investigations on the factors that affect how quickly a material dissolves into solution. This quick lab will be done completely in class over the course of 2-3 days.

11QUIZ03 Density Research. This short research piece will count as our third written assessment for this quarter, which ends next Friday. It is due by 9pm on Friday, October 19.

Density Math practice #2. Students are to complete these six problems by end of class on Friday (October 19). There will be class time and support to work on these problems.

08LAB Density. This lab has three parts-- an online simulation, an exploration with eggs, and a demonstration with bowls. Students will work in groups so that they can share data, but each student will submit an individual lab report for a grade. UPDATE: The due date is moved to October 15 (Monday). In class on Wednesday, we will review the lab,and do the demonstration for part 3. 

09QUIZ02 This will be our second quiz in chemistry. This quiz will include classification of matter, atomic structure, and phase change. It will not include density. I will update this post later in the week with a sample quiz and study guide. UPDATE: Here is the practice quiz, along with your very own copy of the Periodic Table to use as reference for the rest of our unit on chemistry. UPDATE: We have moved the quiz to Monday.

10FAIR Permission Forms and Starter Materials. This week the serious project work begins. We are adding an enrichment session each week for the fair, so students will have extra time to work on fair projects. I will send a separate message to each family with project details. For Monday (October 15), please send in permission forms and enough materials that students can start experimenting (science) or building (engineering). 

07FAIR Background Research. Students should be working on a project at this point. Background research helps to establish what has already been done on a topic. Each person in the group is to prepare an annotated bibliography that references at least two sources. Attached find instructions and examples. This is a graded assignment that is due by 9pm on October 8. NOTE: This research should be printed out and attached to the next available pages in the fair section of your composition notebooks. Keep this research handy, as it will become part of your final report as well.

06CW States of Matter. Our study of chemistry continues with a look at states of matter, also known as phase change. This packet includes 5 activities-- boiling ice (we did in class), cooking popcorn (we will do in class), exploring with an online simulation, reading about kinetic theory, and analyzing a graph of the phase change points for the ten most common elements in the universe. 

FAIR Project Plans. Students are developing ideas into "action" projects that involve science investigations or engineering designs. Students-- Please come to class with an action plan that you can present to me. When I sign the permission form, it will go home for your parent's signature. Then you will be ready to begin!  

05HW Atoms. This packet includes three parts-- hierarchy of matter, atomic structure, and practice simulations. There is also a special (optional) section for those interested in nuclear fusion, fission, and radioactivity! Review on this material starts Thursday, so please come to class with the packet finished as best you can, along with any questions you have. I will give a completion grade on this assignment when our review is complete. 

FAIR Top Ideas. Students are to dig deeper into their best brainstorm ideas. Each student is to fill out a sheet of information-- students can work together on this, but each person must bring a completed sheet to class tomorrow to use as a talking point for conferences. 

04QUIZ01 We will have our first quiz on material covered so far in science class. By midweek, I will post here a practice quiz with an answer key. UPDATE: We have rescheduled this quiz for Wednesday, September 19. Update; here is a copy of a practice quiz, with built-in study guide. UPDATE: Attached find an answer key for this practice quiz. UPDATE: For the quiz, I will be giving you THREE choices from which to generate Cornell notes. Two of the choices will be a familiar prayer or pledge. The third choice will be a passage from our Glencoe text.

FAIR brainstorm. Each student is to come up with two ideas that could develop into STEM fair projects. Attached find a form to fill in. Each student in a group must come up with different ideas. If students write about the same idea, each will get partial credit. Students are to cut the attached form in half, and fasten each half onto the next available right-hand page of the composition book, in the STEM fair section. this is a starting point for discussion on Tuesday: I will be checking and grading notebooks for completion on Tuesday in class.. The left-hand page of the composition book will be left blank for teacher comments.

03HW Composition of Matter. Students will read Glencoe 17.1 ("Composition of Matter") and complete Cornell-style notes in their composition books. I will check for completion on September 13 in class. 

02LAB "Volumes of Rainbows" This is our first practice with measuring and working in lab groups. Students will share data, but each student will complete an individual lab report.

01HW My STEM Type. This is a short writing assignment based on an online inventory (anonymous) that students completed about their interests and abilities. The inventory categorizes answers into 8 STEM "types." Each type leads students to consider how different STEM careers might suit them. It is not to early to begin thinking about future choices. Throughout the year, we can refer back to these types as we study science and engineering. In class, we reviewed the components of a good paragraph. Now, students will write about the results of their inventories.