Exploding Classroom

SQUID DISSECTION

2011-05-05T08:13:00.000-07:00

This lab is a very thorough dissection of a squid and will be a great experience for our students. The understanding of the internal structure of invertebrates is not something students 'get' just because its not familiar. There are a few terms we need to be familiar with before we put Squidward under the knife.

arms

The squid has 8 arms attached to its head. They have suckers along the inner surface.

beak

The beak is located in the mouth of the squid, under its arms. The squid uses the beak to bite and tear its food.

cephalopod

Cephalopod means head-foot. It is the class of mollusks to which squid, octopus, nautilus and cuttlefish belong.

fins

Fins are the triangular folds on the mantle of the squid that balance and stabilize its body. The fins also can be used for movement.

ink

Ink is the substance that the squid expels from its body to protect itself from enemies. The ink confuses the enemy so that the squid can escape. The ink is stored in the ink sac.

jet propulsion

Squid move or propel themselves through the water like a rocket does. This is called jet propulsion.

mantle

The mantle is the muscula sac which contains the internal ogans of the squid.

mollusk

A mollusk is a soft-bodied invertebrate. The squid belong to the mollusk family.

pen

The pen is the internal shell of the squid

siphon

The siphon is a funnel-like organ through which the squid forces water to propel itself. By moving the siphon, the squid can move in any direction,

tentacles

The squid has 2 tentacles which it uses to catch its prey, They are longer and thinner than the 8 arms and the ends are covered with suckers.

Science Fair Reminders

2011-04-26T12:37:00.000-07:00

OK there seems to be some confusion on what is due and when it is due. This Friday, April 29, a conclusion and graph are due. This means that your experiment must be complete but there is no need to bring your project to school or hand in your Final Report/Display Board yet. Conclusions and graphs can be on a sheet of notebook paper for this due date.

On May 10, FINAL REPORTS ARE DUE!!! Final Reports are to follow the check list that went home with the students last week.

On May 13, DISPLAY BOARDS are DUE!!! Display Boards are to also follow the check list that went home with students last week.

If you have any questions please feel free to leave them in the comment box, call the school, or email me!

Email: laura.sidebottom@hancock.kyschools.us
Phone: 270-927-6255

Science Fair Help

2011-04-14T09:02:00.001-07:00

I hope that all of your experiments are going well and that you are learning from the experience. Just wanted to remind you to record your observations in your science journals as soon as they happen. We all know humans are not perfect and our memory isn't the greatest, so record your observations!!! On Arpil 29th a graph and your conclusions are due. Chartgo is a great website to help you make that graph. Don't forget your titles and that you need to pick the type of graph that best expresses your data!!

Back into the Swing

2011-04-11T12:09:00.000-07:00

Hope you all have had a wonderful spring break....only 7 WEEKS of School left!!! Sure has flown by, that's for sure! Testing begins next week, but we have some major events in class that need to be taken care of this week. Tomorrow is going to be an Open Response Day! Here's your hint.....Tectonic Plates: What are some changes that happen to the Earth's surface because of the plate movement? How does it happen?

Test is on Wednesday. Parent signatures on the study guide will be due as well.

Keep coming back for more info and events!!!

Just a Few Reminders

2011-04-08T20:20:00.001-07:00

Hope everyone is having and fun and safe Spring Break. I just returned from Disney World with the High School softball team and had a blast...but life must go on and I just wanted to refresh your rested minds on what is coming up.

Monday: Review for Test
Tuesday: Open Response
Wednesday: Test
Thursday: Start Weathering and Erosion
Friday: Science Fair Check Point (Make sure you are recording your observations in your notebooks.
Display Boards will be on sale for $4.50 a piece.

Check this link out for information on collecting data and making observations.

SEE YA NEXT WEEK!

SPRInG BREAK!!!

2011-04-02T06:59:00.001-07:00

Enjoy the week off! Spring break is an excellent time get caught up on the science fair. If you have any questions post them in the comments for this post and I will do my best to respond.

Science fair reminder!

2011-03-23T20:15:00.001-07:00

Material list and procedures are due this Friday. Science journals will be checked as well.

Plate Tectonics

2011-03-23T07:07:00.001-07:00

Moving and Shaking
from National Geographic

There are a few handfuls of major plates and dozens of smaller, or minor, plates. Six of the majors are named for the continents embedded within them, such as the North American, African, and Antarctic plates. Though smaller in size, the minors are no less important when it comes to shaping the Earth. The tiny Juan de Fuca plate is largely responsible for the volcanoes that dot the Pacific Northwest of the United States.

The plates make up Earth's outer shell, called the lithosphere. (This includes the crust and uppermost part of the mantle.) Churning currents in the molten rocks below propel them along like a jumble of conveyor belts in disrepair. Most geologic activity stems from the interplay where the plates meet or divide.

The movement of the plates creates three types of tectonic boundaries: convergent, where plates move into one another; divergent, where plates move apart; and transform, where plates move sideways in relation to each other.

Convergent Boundaries

Where plates serving landmasses collide, the crust crumples and buckles into mountain ranges. India and Asia crashed about 55 million years ago, slowly giving rise to the Himalaya, the highest mountain system on Earth. As the mash-up continues, the mountains get higher. Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth, may be a tiny bit taller tomorrow than it is today.

These convergent boundaries also occur where a plate of ocean dives, in a process called subduction, under a landmass. As the overlying plate lifts up, it also forms mountain ranges. In addition, the diving plate melts and is often spewed out in volcanic eruptions such as those that formed some of the mountains in the Andes of South America.

At ocean-ocean convergences, one plate usually dives beneath the other, forming deep trenches like the Mariana Trench in the North Pacific Ocean, the deepest point on Earth. These types of collisions can also lead to underwater volcanoes that eventually build up into island arcs like Japan.

Divergent Boundaries

At divergent boundaries in the oceans, magma from deep in the Earth's mantle rises toward the surface and pushes apart two or more plates. Mountains and volcanoes rise along the seam. The process renews the ocean floor and widens the giant basins. A single mid-ocean ridge system connects the world's oceans, making the ridge the longest mountain range in the world.

On land, giant troughs such as the Great Rift Valley in Africa form where plates are tugged apart. If the plates there continue to diverge, millions of years from now eastern Africa will split from the continent to form a new landmass. A mid-ocean ridge would then mark the boundary between the plates.

Transform Boundaries

The San Andreas Fault in California is an example of a transform boundary, where two plates grind past each other along what are called strike-slip faults. These boundaries don't produce spectacular features like mountains or oceans, but the halting motion often triggers large earthquakes, such as the 1906 one that devastated San Francisco.

A Visual Approach to Understanding Tectonic Plates

2011-03-22T07:09:00.000-07:00

Teaching Plate Tectonics with Easy-to-Draw Illustrations - Geology.com

Our Earth is constantly changing....recent events have demonstrated this quite well. Understanding how these destructive and constructive events take place is sometimes hard to grasp, but they tell us a lot about the composition of the planet we live on. The link attached above is a good reference and goes along with the illustrations we will be using in class. Feel free to take a gander if you have missed class, or if you didn't quite understand something in class.

Angry squirrel terrorizes Vermont town

2011-03-17T12:49:00.000-07:00

Angry squirrel terrorizes Vermont town
Just some randomness for your Thursday afternoon.

REMINDER

2011-03-15T12:48:00.000-07:00

TEST TOMORROW!!!!!!!!! BE SURE TO GET YOUR STUDY GUIDE SIGNED BY A PARENT!!!!

Check out this article from the Wall Street Journal about the recent Earthquake in Japan.

Earth's Energy Unleashed as Tectonic Plates Shift

By GAUTAM NAIK

Reuters

The tsunami washes inland Friday in coastal areas of Iwanuma, Miyagi prefecture, in northeastern Japan.

Even in Japan's turbulent seismic history, the 8.9-magnitude earthquake that struck Friday was one for the record books.

The quake—the fifth-largest recorded since 1900 and the biggest to hit Japan in three centuries—released almost 1,000 times the energy released in the Haiti quake a year ago. Friday's quake also triggered a tsunami that traversed the planet, all the way to the shores of California.

Seismologists at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in Palisades, N.Y., talk with WSJ's Christina Tsuei about the science behind Japan's devastating earthquake.

Tsunami-causing quakes usually occur where shards of the earth's crust—tectonic plates—meet. Magma rises from deep inside the Earth, causing the plates to move. They slide past each other but sometimes get stuck. When they jerk forward again, they can trigger a quake.

Friday's quake occurred where the Pacific plate, moving at a speed of about three inches a year, slides under the Eurasian plate. The last big quake there occurred in 1933, causing 3,000 deaths. Since then, the plates have been trying to move past each other, but have been jammed in place.

On Friday, the accumulated strain overcame the strength of the rocks deep beneath the sea some 80 miles offshore. "The rocks cracked under the pressure," causing the plates to jerk forward again, said John Elliott, an earthquake geophysicist at the Centre for the Observation and Modelling of Earthquakes and Tectonics at Oxford University in England.

View Full Image

The jerking motion of one plate moving under the other caused a massive uplift of the seafloor, convulsing an area almost 200 miles long and 50 miles wide.

"It's hard to even imagine just how much water was displaced," said Lynda Lastowka, seismologist at the United States Geological Survey.

The resulting 30-foot-tall tsunami slammed into Japan's northern coast and swept away people cars, boats and buildings.

A 30-foot-high tsunami brought catastrophe to cities and towns up and down 1,300 miles of Japan's northern coastline. WSJ's Jason Bellini maps out the city-by-city devastation.

The tsunami traveled across the Pacific at about 550 miles per hour, or the speed of a jet plane. Its undulations likely passed unnoticed on most ships, because the crests tend to be less than three feet tall and are hundreds of miles apart.

A system known as Deep Ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis, or DART, picked up the signals and allowed officials to issue tsunami warnings reaching across the Pacific Ocean.

DART, developed by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, consists of spheres moored to the deep ocean floor that use pressure gauges to measure the variation in sea levels. Data from a tsunami wave passing overhead are sent to a buoy on the sea surface, which zaps the information via satellite to monitoring stations in Hawaii and elsewhere.

The awesome force of a tsunami only becomes apparent in shallow water. As it approaches the coast, the wave slows down to about 20 to 30 miles an hour. By then, all its energy is packed into much less depth, which can increase the wave's height dramatically.

Though Friday's tsunami caused tremendous devastation in northern Japan, its impact elsewhere appears to have been modest. Waves as tall as 5.7 feet were reported at a harbor in Hawaii, while some parts of central California saw waves as high as 6.2 feet, according the USGS.

The tsunami unleashed by the 2004 Indonesian quake was far more destructive to far-off places than the tsunami generated near Japan. The 2004 temblor was bigger—9.1 magnitude—and released far more energy. In addition, the 2004 wave had to travel only 800 miles before it reached Sri Lanka, one of the hardest-hit countries. By comparison, the Japan tsunami traveled about 3,500 miles to reach Hawaii, which dissipated a good amount of its energy.

Tomorrow's Open Reponse---HINT HINT!

2011-03-14T06:21:00.001-07:00

Today it pays off to check out the class blog. Tomorrow's open response will be over the rock cycle. Be sure you know all three types of rock, how they form, and how a rock can change into a different type of rock. A nice diagram would be the chart we filled out during our "Crayon Rock" lab. Good luck and keep coming back for more class news and science facts.

Science Fair

2011-03-11T06:36:00.000-08:00

We are well on our way to another successful year of Science Fair Projects. Research Papers are coming in and looking GREAT!! Just a reminder...that you should be writing in your lab journal when you work on your project.

The next task for you to complete is to construct a hypothesis. Check out these links for help!

You are now getting to the fun part of the Science Fair. The information you gathered while writing your research paper will now help you set up a FAIR TEST and develop a well-thought hypothesis.

Upcoming Important Dates

Mineral and Rock OR: Tuesday, March 15
Mineral and Rock Test: Wednesday, March 16
Variables and Hypothesis Worksheet; Friday, March 18
Material List and Experimental Procedure; Friday, March 25

States of Matter

2010-11-11T09:47:00.000-08:00

It's the second round for states of matter after the kids have switched GTT/Science Classes. If you are looking for more information on the states of matter, check this link out!!
Advanced class will be completing another Independent study about Matter and its changes.

On another note congrats to the 7th grade girls on a three game winning streak!!! Taking on Breck Co Tonight!!!! Come on out and support the girls!!!

TEST TEST TEST

2010-09-16T09:54:00.001-07:00

6th Period Test FRIDAY!!! 9/17/10

Be sure to have your parents sign your study guide.

All classes have guidance lesson with Mrs. McCaslin today.

Vocabulary List for 9-24-10

2010-09-15T07:55:00.000-07:00

Every Friday science students will be responsible for a set of vocabulary words. These will build as the year goes on, for example the list on next Friday may be on the test three months from now as well as new words.

List for Next FRIDAY!!!

1. atoms: tiny particles of matter; contains protons, neutrons, and electrons
2. density: measure of how much mass is contained in a given volume (density=mass/volume)
3. physical change: a change in shape, color, size, or state that does not change the chemical composition
4. physical property: observable or measurable property of a substance
5. mixture: two or more substances that are blended but can be separated using their physical properties.

What's the MATTER??

2010-09-13T05:53:00.000-07:00

Please excuse the pun! During the next week we will be studying matter and all its glory! If it takes up space and has mass, then it's MATTER!!!

MATTER VOCABULARY

physical property
matter
physical change
density
states of matter
melting point
boiling point
chemical property
chemical change
law of conservation of mass

WANT TO KNOW MORE CHECK OUT THIS WEBSITE ON MATTER!!!

Surviving Science

2010-09-13T05:41:00.000-07:00

Tips to Survive Science!
1. ORGANIZE!!! You have a three-ring binder and dividers, so keep everything in order.
2. Even though I have not assigned homework, you should study your notes or anything that we have done at least fifteen minutes every night.
3. ASK QUESTIONS!!

Check this link out for more study skills that will help you in all classes!! http://www.brighthub.com/education/k-12/articles/3521.aspx

STUDY HARD and SUCCEED!!

Another Year!!!

2010-09-03T09:18:00.000-07:00

It's the beginning of another wonderful year. I plan to keep my blog updated weekly, but we'll just see how that goes as things get busier!! LOL! Here is what's going on

2nd, 3rd, and 8th Period: Currently working on measurement.
5th: Scientific Method Independent Study Presentations TODAY!!
6th: Experimental Design

TEST NEXT THURSDAY!!!! 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 8th Period ONLY!!!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Labor Day weekend!!! BE SAFE!!!

Don't Be an Epiphyte!!

2010-03-16T19:27:00.000-07:00

Don't be an epiphyte! Have your science roots dug into the ground!!! Feeling a little lost in science or you just can't get enough??? Here are some awesome links to browse that will get your fix in. So get off facebook and myspace and get on!!!

-Dragonfly TV: http://pbskids.org/dragonflytv

A website that can help you with your class assignments and the SCIENCE FAIR!!!!!

-SciGirls: http://pbskids.org/scigirls

OK it says girls but guys you are welcome too!! Check out the projects and watch some great videos!!

- Design Squad: http://pbskids.org/designsquad

Get off the couch and gear up for some competition! I know we all like reality tv shows and if you like MythBusters you will love this!! Real students ta

ke on engineering tasks! They fail, they re-design, they succeed!!!!

Keep up the good work on the Science Fair Projects and remember this Friday your hypothesis and variable worksheet, material list, and pr

ocedures are due!!!

"Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity." ~George Smith Patton

Sick of the SNOW!! Home fun to try!!

2010-02-15T11:52:00.000-08:00

Well another snow day!!! Your stuck in your house, your sick of tv, your sick of you family....and blunty your just sick of the snow. Here is snow information about snow that you may not have known and some activities to cure the snow day blues!

So where does all this "white stuff" come from? When cloud temperatures are at the freezing point or below, and there is an ample supply of moisture in the air, ice crystals form around a core particle. As water vapor condenses and freezes, the complex pattern of a snowflake is born, one molecule at a time. A snowflake's hexagonal shape is born at the atomic level. It is here that water molecules bond together into stable crystal structures.

Snow can be further classified into six basic patterns called: Needles, columns, plates, columns capped with plates, dendrites, and stars. Each type is the result of different atmospheric and temperature conditions within the cloud.

Viewing snow flakes

What you'll need:
Viewing platform: black velvet, dark cloth, or black construction paper
Magnifying glass

Snowflakes are delicate creatures and their fine crystalline shape can vanish at the touch of warmth. You'll need to freeze your viewing surface (keep it in the fridge or outside in a cold dry area). If the snow is falling, just hold your platform aloft to catch a few flakes and view with your magnifying glass. You may need to wear a scarf over the mouth and nose to avoid melting the flakes with a warm breath.

Photographing the flake

You'll need a camera with a "macro" lens and a tripod. Set the camera in a shady spot (sunlight can be deadly to a newborn snowflake "sleeping" on a dark heat-absorbing surface). Set the focus and experiment with exposures. Chances are, unless you are using a fast film, you'll find your exposure time to be between 1/15 to 1/30th of a second. Perhaps longer.

Keeping a "snow journal"

The act of keeping a simple journal is a great way to introduce your child (of any age) to the basic scientific tool of observation. A younger child may simply draw pictures of the kind of snowflakes observed under a magnifying glass, while older kids can embark upon more detailed record keeping.

Parent's tip: A journal is an excellent way to get a head-start on next year's science project. Teachers are always impressed when a child produces a project based upon detailed records and personal observations.

Types of observations to record in your journal:

Date, time, and amount of snow fall;
Temperature of air and snow pack;
Kinds of snow crystals observed (needles, columns, plates, columns capped with plates, dendrites and stars);
Weight of unit of snow. Using a small container such as a + cup measuring scoop, gather enough snow to fill container (DO NOT COMPACT SNOW). Use a straight edge (like a ruler or butter knife) to level snow to top of container and weigh it on a postage scale. The idea is to keep the unit volume of snow being measured consistent each time. You'll find that the higher the weight, the higher the water content.

Questions to ask:

Is there a relationship between the type of crystals observed and the weight (water content) of the snow?
How does the air temperature affect crystal formation?
What happens to snow flakes on the ground over night and after several days? Do they change shape?

Did you know?
The most snow in one season occurred during 1998-1999 when 1,140 inches of snow fell on Mount Baker, Wash. That's a whopping 95 feet of snow! Try shoveling that out of your driveway!

ITS SCIENCE FAIR TIME!!!!

2010-02-06T20:26:00.000-08:00

Let the excitement begin!!! This week students will coming home with information about this years science fair. Each student will be responsible for their own project. THIS MEANS NO GROUPS!!! Check out http://www.sciencebuddies.org/ for project ideas. This site will also have any handouts that students will be given in class, just in case they become "misplaced." :) Be sure to view the blog for any upcoming due dates for the science fair!!!!!

Support 6th Grade Girls Basketball!!!

2010-01-22T10:35:00.000-08:00

Monday, January 25, the sixth grade girls will open up their season at home against South-Spencer. A-team game starts at 5:30 so come out and cheer them on!!!!!!!!

Upcoming!

2009-12-02T07:23:00.000-08:00

Just a friendly reminder of the upcoming test over Ecosystems. First, Second, Fifth, and Sixth period will have a test on Monday!!! Eighth period's projects will also be due on this day! Twelve days til Christmas Break...KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!!!

SFOTW: Don't Blink You'll Miss It

2009-11-14T20:59:00.000-08:00

It is something that you never think about during the day. It just happens while you go about throughtout your day. I bet while you have been reading this blog you have done this a few times. Can you guess what it is??? It's blinking! And this week the sceince fact of the week is that average human blinks 4,200,000 times a year! What is your average number of blinks during a day? Have someone count how many times you blink for a minute, then multiply that by 60 (because there is 60 minutes in an hour), and then muliply that by 24 (24 hours in a day). thats the average number of times you blink during one day. TRY IT OUT!!

Science Fact for the Week!!

2009-11-03T12:11:00.000-08:00

Since every student in the sixth grade seems to have brought in a caterpillar my classroom, I found this fact appropriate.

SCIENCE FACT OF THE WEEK:

The human body has less muscles in it than in a caterpillar!!!

So the next time you are feeling small, think about the caterpillar. He is way smaller than any body builder, but has way more muscle!!!

Energy Transformation = Big City Lights

2009-10-27T17:28:00.000-07:00

What runs a city that never sleeps....one mega-load of electricity!!! A mega-load of electricity must come from somewhere and in Las-Vegas, Nevada you can give the credit to the Hoover Dam. Hoover Dam is one of several hydroelectric generating stations; it is actually the world's 35th largest!!!

How does this happen you may ask??? Large amounts of water can be very powerful, so why not use it! The kinetic energy of falling water can be used to generate electricity. Water is backed up behind a dam on river. Once this is completed a lake or reservoir is formed. Lake Mead was formed once Hoover dam was built. The water near the top of the dam then falls downward. The kinetic energy of the moving water spins generators, which produce electricity. The potential energy of the water behind the dam is transformed into electric energy. From the electricity that is generated from Hoover Dam, 23 % is allocated to the state of Nevada and on the other side of the river, 19 % is allocated to the state of Arizona.

Check out the generators in Hoover Dam that I photographed while I visited this national landmark.

Think About It?

Ask a sixth grade student the following question.

Is the electrical energy from Hoover Dam a new creation?

Save a turkey...order a Thanksgiving Ham and support the Hornet softball team!!!

2009-10-27T17:19:00.000-07:00

Orders are now being taken for Thanksgiving hams. Bypass all the trouble that comes with cooking turkey for your family and contact one of the girls to place your order. There are several girls in the middle school that have order forms. Hams are selling for $30 and will be collected til November 16!!!

Bacteria: Good or Bad?

2009-09-02T18:57:00.001-07:00

It is ironic that we started this activity prior to the recent "bugs" that have been troubling our immune systems. For the past week the Science Skills class have been conducting a bacteria study on everyday objects found in our school.

Our journey began after the students had been divided into two teams; red and blue. Students first had to conduct research and pass a quiz on bacteria. The research process was educational as well as entertaining due to a few student comments and realizations of the different types of bacteria.

The fun began as we took a nature walk through the school for the two groups to plan the sites of the "swabbing." A few teachers were invaded for various acts of "swabbing;" from Mrs. Meritt's toe, keyboards, and the most poplar book from the library. Both groups were supplied with three petri dishes to examine their bacteria samples. For both groups perti dish "A," consisted of a skin sample from each group member. The eight samples remaining to be examined in petri dishes "B" and "C" were chosen by the group members. Some samples that were chosen were door knobs, hand dryers, the handle on the hand sanitizers, and various areas throughout the school.
Students collected data on the growing bacteria for one week, which added to the meaning of "you never know what is growing in my classroom." I was amazed just as much as they were on the growth of the bacteria, which would be frightening for the untrained brain. Bacteria is both good and bad. Its been a hard task to prove this with all the bad bacteria floating around over the past weeks, but one bit of information that the students learned from this experience was that we would be far worst off if there were no bacteria.

Keep following my blog to stay caught up with the class! You just never know what will be unleashed in Miss Sidebottom's classroom....or what jar will be opened!!

Extreme Home Makeover: Frog Edition

2009-09-02T08:08:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago we adopted our first classroom pet. "Luna aka Momma," an Upland Chorus frog, has been living in a shoe box in my classroom. Today we had an extreme home makeover frog edition for Luna. My Science Skills class assisted in the home upgrade.