Is the Liquid a Mixture??

NOTE: Becuase of the Harrington trips over the next two days, the schedule is a bit crazy.  Tomorrow I will see all students in English 4 and History 4.....that means that you might be doing this lab with someone from a different class- be flexible!! 

Over the next two days you all will be taking on a lab to determine whether an unknown liquid is a mixture or a pure substance.  You will be using the characteristic property boiling point in your investigation.

Below is a picture of the lab set-up.  Think you could put this lab station together on your own?

Come to class with a print out of your lab prep, a blank time/temp chart to fill in, and your game face. First lab with alcohol burners here we come!  Be safe and have fun.

Dress As Your Favorite Element!

You have spent the last few weeks investigating atoms and the elements that they make up. You have learned how to interpret and "decode" a periodic table and how valence electrons, period, and group number can effect the properties of a specific element. Now let's hone the scope a bit.....



Your Assignment: Pick an element and research it. Through your research determine the properties of your element (density,boiling point, melting point, state it's found in at room temperature, reactivity, and anything else you think would be interesting to share) and identify common uses of your element. You must also find out when your element was discovered and the origin of its name.

The Final Product: Next Tuesday you will come to class dressed as your favorite element and present your findings. You need to create a poster to use as a visual aid during this presentation. The poster must include at a minimum the following information:

• Element name and symbol


• Atomic mass and atomic number


• A picture of a sample of your element


• A list of physical and chemical properties


• Information on the discovery of your element (date, scientist, and origin of name)

I realize that there is much room for personal interpretation of the guidelines of this project.....go with it! You are all clever and creative....put those skills into action!

A Good Starting Point....

If you are stuck on trying to find a cool and interesting element to take on check out this awesome interactive periodic table. It has great pictures and tons of info on properties and history of each of the elements.
Your project will be graded on accuracy as well as creativity (a specific rubric will follow).

Have fun and good luck!!

Organizing the Elements

Welcome back! Your first assignment of 2011 is below.....

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ICE CREAM!

Ice cream is a solidified concoction of milk, sugar, whipping cream, and vanilla. Using your knowledge of the states of matter, kinetic energy, and observations from the lab today please complete the form below.

First Hand Implosion

Friday second period, McCurdyB students in action.....Apologies in advance if this video makes you a little dizzy, we're still working on our filming techniques!

The Incredible Imploding Can: How Does it Work

Your assignment:
1. watch the video
2. scroll down, under the video and read the instructions
3. answer the questions in the form, read them over to make sure they are complete, and hit submit!
4. you' re done.


Important background information: The can that is being heated has 5 mL of water at the bottom of it. Besides that, it is completely empty.

Separation Techniques in Action

Students performed filtrations followed by evaporation to separate a mixture of sulfur and salt.

Make a Plan!!!

On a separate piece of paper please propose a method to separate the following mixtures/substances. Your plan can be written out step by step or in paragraph form....

#1: Water and Isopropanol

#2: Sand and wood chips

#3: Water (I know this is a pure substance.....how would you pull apart the oxygen and hydrogen atoms, though???)

#4: Salt, water and sulfur.

Be prepared tomorrow to try some of your methods out!

Lab Equipment and The Safety Song

In class today we went over many pieces of laboratoty equipment that we will use in the lab this year. You are responsible for being able to identify these items- and also spell their names!! If you want a review of all the lab equipment that we went over in class today click here.

Also, lab safety is a HUGE component of lab work. You never want to put yourself or others at harm. A lot of lab safety is common sense. Here is a video put together by a science teacher that I want you to watch. He puts the rules of the lab to music...it's catchy and I hope it sticks with you! Even though this video is supposed to be funny, please no that lab safety is no laughing matter and something that I take very seriously.


Good luck studying for the quiz tomorrow!

Playing with a Purpose

You watched the following video in class today:

You then were allowed to make your own batch of oobleck and experiment with it on your own. Please answer the questions below.

First Assignment

Okay, let's dive in.....

Here is a link to another teacher's blog with a post that relates the scientific method to a Super Mario brothers game..... Please watch the video and read the teacher's response to it.

We have talked about the scientific method throughout the last few days. You have completed an activity involving paper helicopters and we discussed how the scientific method was considered when setting up and completing this lab.

Now, I want your opinion, is Mr. Wildeboer's connection a stretch? Why or why not? Can you think of any other daily activities that you can breakdown into components of the scientific method?

Please write your response in the comment section below. You are welcome to respond not only to my initial question, but to your classmates responses as well.

How you will use this blog.

First off, welcome to 8th grade and IPS. We have an awesome year of science ahead of us.....so get excited! This blog will be a big part of class this year. I will rely on it constantly (and so will you!) You are responsible for staying up to date with blog posts. Many times homework from the school website will be elaborated on here. Sometimes you will even have to answer homework questions directly on this blog. Other times I will ask you to comment on articles, videos, current event topics, or even classmates' reflections. Remember, comments are public; please be respectful with what you say (a good rule of thumb: if you wouldn't say something in front of me, it's not appropriate to post on the blog!)
Questions? Add them to the comment section and I will respond as soon as I can.