Lab Check Up!

Today students had a Lab Check Up! to see how much they really understand about using lab equipment to solve a problem. Below was this week's problem:

Over the weekend there was a mix up in the lab involving various materials. The cubes you are about to receive were all labeled neatly in containers. However, something happened and now we don’t know what the cubes are made out of anymore. The science department needs your help finding the density of these substances to determine what they are. After identifying the substances, we identified which samples are elements and which samples are compounds. But what does all of this have to do with water? Many different elements and compounds contribute to water pollution.

Homework: Click the picture below and it will take you to a website. Click on the following areas, read about them and take notes. You will use your notes for a mini open notes quiz tomorrow.

You should read about AND take notes on: Chemical, Nutrients and Suspended Matter.

Interpreting Nutrition Labels

First a quick reminder about your homework:

Read the post below this one (or click here) for details about your Element Trading Card Assignment.

Today one of your peers asked, "But what do nutrition labels have to do with soil?! Why are we doing this?" You might have been thinking the same thing. We need elements, compounds, mixtures and molecules to function. Today we learned about some of these such as Vitamins A & C, Iron, Calcium, fat, sugar and protein. Next week we will learn about what elements, compounds, mixtures and molecules (ECMM) are in the soil. What ECMM do the organisms that live in the soil need? Are these the same ECMM that we need? Stay tuned!


We also looked at the molecular structure of fats, sugars and proteins, it turns out they a combination of H, C, O and sometimes N. What makes each molecule special? It's shape!

Elements, Compounds & Mixtures

Today in class we talked about elements, compounds and mixtures. Students were given a guided notes sheet to use during a powerpoint. We played a short game to practice categorizing elements, compounds and mixtures.

Homework:
1. Answer the question on the last page of your worksheets from today, "what elements do you think are found in the soil."

2. Using the periodic table in your student planner, identify the key elements 1-6 on the last page of the worksheet from today.