Mr. Powell Science
  • Home
  • APES
    • Unit 1: Ecosystems
    • Unit 2: Biodiversity
    • Unit 3: Populations
    • Unit 4: Earth Systems and Resources
    • Unit 5: Land and Water Use
    • Unit 6: Energy Resources and Consumption
    • Unit 7: Atmospheric Pollution
    • Unit 8: Aquatic and Terrestrial Pollution
    • Unit 9: Global Change
  • CHS Environmental Science
    • Environmental Chemistry
    • Ecosystems and Population Interactions
    • Earth History and Natural Resources
    • Weather and Climate
  • Science Resources
    • Genetics >
      • Genetics Exam Review
    • Evolution
    • Chemistry
    • Physics - Motion and Forces >
      • Speed, Velocity, and Acceleration
      • Force
      • Newton's 3 Laws of Motion
      • Gravitational Force
      • Weight
      • Newton's Second Law - Finding a Net Force
      • Newton's Second Law of Motion - Finding Acceleration
      • Newton's Third Law of Motion
    • Physics - Energy and Waves
    • Astronomy
    • Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
  • BMS Lacrosse
  • STEM at CHS
  • About
  • Contact
  • Home
  • APES
    • Unit 1: Ecosystems
    • Unit 2: Biodiversity
    • Unit 3: Populations
    • Unit 4: Earth Systems and Resources
    • Unit 5: Land and Water Use
    • Unit 6: Energy Resources and Consumption
    • Unit 7: Atmospheric Pollution
    • Unit 8: Aquatic and Terrestrial Pollution
    • Unit 9: Global Change
  • CHS Environmental Science
    • Environmental Chemistry
    • Ecosystems and Population Interactions
    • Earth History and Natural Resources
    • Weather and Climate
  • Science Resources
    • Genetics >
      • Genetics Exam Review
    • Evolution
    • Chemistry
    • Physics - Motion and Forces >
      • Speed, Velocity, and Acceleration
      • Force
      • Newton's 3 Laws of Motion
      • Gravitational Force
      • Weight
      • Newton's Second Law - Finding a Net Force
      • Newton's Second Law of Motion - Finding Acceleration
      • Newton's Third Law of Motion
    • Physics - Energy and Waves
    • Astronomy
    • Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
  • BMS Lacrosse
  • STEM at CHS
  • About
  • Contact

The Investigation Continues!

11/30/2017

0 Comments

 
Students used their crime kits to solve the mystery of the stolen whiteboards. Tomorrow they'll begin writing their own Sherlock Holmes story starring themselves as the detective and narrator.
Picture
0 Comments

The Whiteboards Have Been Stolen!

11/29/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
The only clue left at the crime scene is a mysterious white powder. Students will analyze 6 different known powders, associated with 6 different suspects, to determine the identity of the whiteboard thief! This activity is modified for 8th grade, based on The Proof is in the Powder, originally designed for the International Exhibition of Sherlock Holmes. Students will finish their investigation tomorrow and complete this assignment by writing a crime report that is due Monday.
The Proof is in the Powder Lab Sheets
File Size: 370 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

0 Comments

The Greatest Detective of All Time

11/28/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
Sherlock Holmes first appears in the story    A Study in Scarlet in 1887 and for the last century and a half has fascinated readers with his brilliant mind and deductive skills. In class today students read an excerpt from A Study in Scarlet and annotated the piece to show how Holmes (and author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) used the scientific method to solve crimes. Embedded in the text, you can easily determine Holmes's question, hypothesis, experiment, results, and conclusion. Through Sherlock Holmes, Doyle created a paradigm shift in police work and modern forensic science is directly descended from those stories written more than 100 years ago.

Holmes testing how long after death bruises may form

Sherlock Reading Activity From Class

a_study_in_scarlet_excerpt_and_guide.pdf
File Size: 285 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

0 Comments

Welcome Back From Break!

11/27/2017

0 Comments

 
I hope you had an excellent thanksgiving and engaged in many chemical and physical changes in the kitchen.  Today we reviewed chemical and physical changes with a jeopardy game as well as discussed possible careers in chemistry like forensic science, which is featured in the video to the right. Tomorrow we begin our final project regarding chemical and physical changes.
0 Comments

Gravitational Waves and Corn Genetics

11/17/2017

0 Comments

 
To celebrate American Indian Heritage month, today we discussed Indigenous contributions to science. We focused on the recent detection of gravity waves by Corey Gray, a Blackfoot scientist working for LIGO in Washington state. It's been recently announced that Gray and his team are being awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for their work in detecting gravitational waves. Click HERE to listen to Corey Gray talk about their discovery. A special moment in class was watching a recording of Mr. Gray's mother, Sharon Yellowfly, reading the press release for the discovery of Gravitational Waves in the Siksika (Blackfoot) language.


​
Picture

Sacred Seeds Video

In addition to gravity waves, we also discussed the domestication of corn and how the indigenous people of Central America began selectively breeding corn up to 10,000 years ago and how this new cood crop spread throughout the continent. We also watched a clip of Omaha Tribal member, Creighton University Professor, and Corn Planter Taylor Keen discuss the revival of many ancestral species of corn that he and many others are trying to bring back from obscurity.
Gold Tape Question: Draw or use a computer to create a color diagram showing the "Four Sisters" that Mr. Keen describes in the Sacred Seeds video, with labels or captions that explain how each of the different plants helps the garden survive better together than they would on their own.
0 Comments

More Molecular Modelling and Coloring the Periodic Table

11/16/2017

0 Comments

 
Today we continued modelling molecules with ball and stick models as well as began color-coding our own periodic tables. That's all the chemistry we'll get to before Thanksgiving because tomorrow we have a special activity to begin our holiday break.
periodic_table.pdf
File Size: 17 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Coloring the Periodic Table
File Size: 9 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Picture
0 Comments

Come on, Come on, and Meet the Elements!

11/15/2017

0 Comments

 
Today's class comes to us like the original Star Wars Saga; in three parts. We started class with a little competition as students tried to write down as many different elements and compounds as they could from the music video for Meet the Elements by They Might Be Giants. Then we broke into three teams and rotated through three stations, Physical and Chemical Change Practice; Periodic Table Scavenger Hunt: Molecular Modeling with Ball and Stick models. We will continue these activities tomorrow, our lab sheets are attached for download.
chemical_and_physical_changes_practice.pdf
File Size: 252 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Ball and Stick Molecular Modelling
File Size: 194 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Periodic Table Scavenger Hunt
File Size: 319 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

0 Comments

Chemical and Physical Stations Lab Part 2

11/14/2017

0 Comments

 
Today students finished up the rest of the lab stations for our chemical and physical changes lab. Afterwards we discussed our results from each station and also watched Crash Course Chemistry: Periodic table. If you missed the labs, you can watch a version of each of the experiments in the video playlist below.
0 Comments

Physical and Chemical Changes Stations Lab Part 1

11/13/2017

0 Comments

 
Today we continued our exploration of chemical and physical changes and started an 8 station lab conducting experiments about these concepts. We also watched the two videos below to continue adding to our background knowledge. We will complete the lab tomorrow, it you need another lab sheet you can download the file below.

What's the difference between chemical and Physical Changes?

What happens to stuff when it dissolves?

phys_and_chem_changes_stations_lab.pdf
File Size: 147 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

0 Comments

Physical and Chemical Changes

11/9/2017

0 Comments

 
      In class students took copious notes about physical and chemical changes. If you missed class you can look through today's slides below. Also, we did demonstrations of different types of chemical changes. Video demonstrations of each of the types of reactions shown in class are in the playlist at the bottom of this post.
Gold Tape Question: Explain whether or not salt dissolving in water is a physical or chemical change.
0 Comments
<<Previous

    Author

    Mr. Powell is a High School Science Teacher in Western Colorado.

    Picture

    Archives

    November 2021
    October 2021
    August 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017

    Categories

    All
    Acceleration
    Activity
    Atlatl
    Chemistry
    Competition
    Demo
    Electricity
    Energy
    Force
    Genetics
    Hands On Science
    Hands-on Science
    Human Evolution
    Inertia
    Lab
    Motion
    Physics
    Speed
    Velocity

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly