Students Are So GOOD With Technology!

During the Chemical Reactions unit 9PLa demonstrated once again how capable they are with technology. They have used it in many different ways to share their understanding!

This is a Prezi made by Viola

Students in 9PLa also all made their own websites - I am not sure the general public will have permission to see them though.  If you click on the screenshot of the website below, you will hopefully be taken to a students' site and be able to see all their work, explanations, videos and the Do Now's they created for others.

If the picture doesn't link to Gustavo's site, click here

If that doesn't work, then you don't have permission to view it. 

One student in 9RTd even filmed their own video during the unit, edited it and added a great backing track - a rap about safety in science! Thanks Ricky.

As always, follow this link to see the gorgeous work my three Year 9 classes have been creating, and feel free to explore my site :) 

Making Ice-Cream - Easy!

All three of my Year 9 classes finished their Chemical Reactions unit on Friday, and we decided it was time for a treat for working so hard!

9PLa and 9PTt got to make ice-cream after Latiume sent me this link and requested to make ice-cream, and 9RTd got to launch rockets with Mr Grace in their Friday class!

I was so impressed by how 9PLa and 9PTt worked together to help set up their bags of ice-cream, which you can clearly see in the photos below. The recipe for ice-cream is not difficult, and some of the students even said they would make it at home again!

Everybody helping one another with the measurements - it is difficult to do alone!

Trey helping Lasa measure the vanilla essence.

Everyone doing the measurements.

Once the two bags were all set up students had to keep shaking them to make their ice-cream creamy!

Suzie enjoying her ice-cream in the sun.

Latiume and Tyrone were pretty happy with the outcome of their effort.

Reactants for the small ziplock bag:

1/2 cup blue milk

2 tablespoons of sugar

1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

Reactants for the larger ziplock bag:

Three handfuls of ice

1/4 cup rock salt

Method:

1.   Place all of the reactants for the small ziplock bag into it.

2.    Make sure the small ziplock bag is COMPLETELY sealed.

3.  Place all of the reactants for the larger ziplock bag into it.

4.  Place the smaller ziplock bag into the larger bag. 

5. Shake the larger bag from the corners, try not to touch the ice too much - it's very cold!

6.  Shake until you can feel the milk has hardened into an ice-cream-like texture.

Product:
Vanilla Ice Cream

Word Equation:
milk+sugar+vanilla essence --> vanilla ice-cream

Conclusion:

The science behind this chemical reaction is that mixing ice and salt causes the ice to be able to melt into water while it is still at the temperature of ice - below 0 degrees. Try not to touch the freezing cold ice-water while shaking the bag, as it can cause second or third-degree burns similar to frostbite. The ice-cream tasted really nice, but some bags had a slight salty taste because there was some salty water sitting in the crease of the ziplock bag, which fell into the ice-cream when it was opened! 9PLa would advise you to wash the bag before opening it, while I quite enjoyed the slightly salty ice-creamy taste; kind of like salted caramel. Yum!

A Student Shines at the Halfway Point

Yesterday I set 9PLa and 9RTd an assessment as we are now halfway through the Chemical Reactions unit. 

Students chose whether they would like to work on paper, Google Presentations, Wix websites or Prezi. Most students chose to make a Google Presentation or Prezi, 2 students chose Wix websites and there are a few working on posters.

I set out Achieved, Merit and Excellence criteria, and students chose which grade they would like to aim for and got to work!

One student went home and kept working on their project, and here are some screenshots of her beautiful presentation, handed in days early and to a very high standard! Check them out below:

Here is the Achievement Criteria; what is the highest grade she met all the criteria for?

Achieved

1. Include a safety slide at the start of your prezi. It must have information about:
1. safety around acids and
2. safety around bunsen burners.
2. Include a slide with a definition of a chemical reaction. This slide must:
1. be written in your own words
3. Include a slide that explains the difference between physical and chemical changes. This slide must include:
1. Whether or not a new substance is made
2. Whether or not the change is reversible
3. What you might observe (see) during a chemical change
4. What you might observe (see) during a physical change
4. Include a slide about 2 chemical reactions we have done at class, or others you do all the time at home.
1. You may or may not want to include photos or videos from class
5. Include a slide about the chemical change that happens when a potato is cooked
1. Identify the reactants and the products

Merit

1. Same as Achieved
2. Same as Achieved
3. Same as Achieved
4. Include a slide about 2 chemical reactions we have done at class, or others you do all the time at home.
1. You may or may not want to include photos or videos from class
2. Explain how you knew they were chemical or physical
5. Include a slide about the chemical change that happens when a potato is cooked
1. Identify the reactants and the products
2. Explain how you tested whether there had been a chemical change

Excellence

1. Same as Achieved
2. Same as Achieved
3. Same as Achieved
4. Include a slide about three chemical reactions we have done at class, or others you do all the time at home.
1. You may or may not want to include photos or videos from class
2. Explain how you knew they were chemical or physical
5. Include a slide about the chemical change that happens when a potato is cooked
1. Identify the reactants and the products
2. Explain how you tested whether there had been a chemical change
6. Include a slide about the chemical reaction between iodine and starch
1. Identify the reactants and the products
2. Explain what is happening during the reaction
3. Discuss how you could use iodine to test another food; write a hypothesis of what you think would happen and a method of how you would test it.  

Back with a bang!

9PTt has just started their Chemical Reactions unit, and I showed them an impressive and scary (for me to light) chemical reaction. It takes place in a ground flask, with the class lights turned off for maximum effect!

1 tsp boric acid + 100mL methanol --> thimethyl borate

The boric acid and the methanol react together to produce trimethyl borate, which produces a beautiful green flame when it is lit on fire.

Reactant + Reactant --> Product

Katherine and Caroline were kind enough to film the experiment for their class.

Year 11 Explaining their Learning

Year 11 are working on an Achievement Standard about the properties of metals and their uses in society. So far we have done some reactions of metals with acids and metals with oxygen... 

For the last 2 days we gave the class time to summarise their observations and what they have learned about the reactions of metals. Some very creative pieces were made, with some students opting to use digital media and others choosing coloured paper and pens.

Some students also opted to collaborate on their presentations while others chose to keep their work to themselves. 

Click on the picture below if you wish to view the presentations up close.

Please also feel free to comment here on the students' work, I'm sure they would love feedback on their efforts.