CHEM: Your post-exam link of the day

After the exam, this is quite appropriate:



If the video doesn't show up here, click here to see it.

There's one bad word in it, but I think you can handle it.

Enjoy your weekend!

CHEM: Day 66 Homework

Not much to do this weekend.

1) Read pp 106 - 113
2) Review tour observations and noted from Lab 14. Start figuring out how to use what you saw to separate and identify the three ions from a possible mixture of them. You can do it!

CHEM: Review sheets

Gas Law Review problems Key

Open Book Gas Law Quiz Key

CHEM: Some review links for you

As I find some good links to help you with your review, I will post them here. Keep checking back here over the next couple of days.

A link to an Ohio State set of pages.

This review is a little more in depth, but goes into Graham's Law and the ability to use the Ideal Gas Law to derive all of the other two-variable laws we worked with.

I haven't looked at all of the links here, but the first few PDF links are problem sets, with solutions. Could be useful.

Another good college site, this time at Purdue.

More later, maybe.

CHEM: Day 58 - Homework

Nothing new here today. Finish up your reports for Experiment 8 (on looseleaf or typed up if I still have your comp book) for tomorrow.

Don't forget to bring your object with you. Point loss if you don't.

Periods 4 and 8 - Read Experiment 8 for tomorrow. The lab will go much better if you have an idea of what you are doing before you dive in.

See you tomorrow.

Link of the day

I'd buy COD 4 just for this. Totally worth it.

CHEM: Homework - Day 61

First off, here is your set of review problems for the test on Friday. You are not required to do these for credit, but you are strongly encouraged to do them. You'll get the key on Thursday.

Homework for tomorrow:

1) Read pp 102 - 106
2) Work on your report for Experiment 8. Do not open your shoebox until 8PM tonight, OR after you have completed your writeup for the unknown part of your lab. Whichever comes later.
3) Period 1 - Read Experiment 14 for tomorrow. The lab will go faster if you come in prepared.

Exam on Friday. Be sure to pick up your review sheets from the front desk.

See you tomorrow.

Link of the Day - Christmastime!

If you're looking for some ideas to give your parents, you could do worse than this list from which to pick. Some good stuff there.

CHEM: Day 57 - Homework

Well, this should keep you busy tonight.

Period 1 - Read Experiment 12 for tomorrow. Complete the lab report for Experiment 13 to turn in tomorrow.

The rest of you -
1) Read pp 454-464
2) ?s - p 470: 94, 95, 96
M p 129: 23, 24
M p 129 (Chapter Review): 1abc, 3, 5, 6

Remember, you will have two lab reports to do this week. Make sure you budget the time for them.

CHEM: Day 53 - Homework

So, here you go.

Period 1: Do your lab report for tomorrow.

Periods 3 and 4:
?s - M p 122: 7, 8
       M p 126: 14cd, 16
      M p 132: 1ab, 2ab

Period 4 needs to read Experiment 13 for tomorrow as well.

Period 8: Do your lab report and read Experiment 13.

Lots to do, this last week. Stay current.

Link of the day

I am not having nearly enough fun with this.

So, here are a pair of videos for you to compare. A Battle of the Band(s).

In this corner, a band, Portishead:



In this corner, a one-man band, Kid Beyond, singing the same song with just himself:



Wish I could do that.

CHEM: Day 51 - Homework

Five days until the end of the trimester. Are you ready?

Your homework for Monday -
1) Read pp 440 - 453
2) ?s - p 434: 47, 48, 49 (Pressure unit conversion practice)
p 468: 57, 58, 59, 60 (Gas law practice problems)
M p 121: 1ab, 4, 5 (More gas law practice problems)

See you Monday!

CHEM: Day 47 - Homework

So, hopefully you all wrote down the homework today. If you didn't, here it is:

For Periods 1, 3, and 4:
?s: pp 395 - 396 -- 94, 96, 99
M p 70: 53, 54
M p 60: 33ab

Lab report for Periods 1, 4, and 8 are due tomorrow.
Lab report for Period 3 is due Thursday.

Test is Friday.

You should do the review problems for Thursday. I won't pick it up, but you won't get as much out of the key if you haven't looked at the problems up to that point.

Study!

CHEM: Day 46 - Homework

*sigh* This has gotten behind. Time to solve that problem.

Problems for Periods 1, 3, and 4 for Tuesday:

1) Read pp 402-410
2)?s - p 395: 79, 90, 91, 93
         M p 70: 51, 52 (if I have the page wrong, this is in the chapter on CHemical Reactions, and the problems are in a block of #51-58)
         M p 189: 25 (titration problem with nitric acid and KOH)

Problems for Period 8: Those I don't have here. Grr.

Period 8 says that these problems took a while. Sorry about that.

Lab reports are due on Wednesday for Periods 1, 4, and 8, and Thursday for Period 3.

Exam is on Friday, November 6.

Just in case you were curious...

Cool post of the day

You may have to click through to get the full HD effect, but it's worth it. The shuttle scene is joyously OMG.



Enjoy!

CHEM: Day 42 Homework

Good evening, gentlemen -

Here is your homework for tomorrow.

1) Read pp 379 - 388
2) ?s - p 394: 64 - 67, 69
           M p 189: 24

For Period 1: Read Experiment and complete the pre-lab questions. You will turn these in tomorrow.

CHEM: Day 41 Homework

This shouldn't take you too long.

1) Read pp 659 - 664
2) ?s - p 359: 117, 118
           p 393: 61-63
           M p 54: 20c, 21ab

That's it.

CHEM: Day 38 Homework

Wake up, Gromit! Time for walkies!

It's a busy week. Test, lab, lab report, and only two days to teach with. As Dad used to say, "Plan your work and work your plan, son."

Homework for your next class:

1) Read pp 368 - 377
2) ?s - M pp 58-59: 28ac, 31
           M p 54: 19ab, 20ab

If you have lab tomorrow:
Read Exp 9 and be ready. It's not a long lab, and there's a lot of waiting in two places. Not too bad. Hopefully you'll be done early.

Lab reports for Exp 6 due:
Wed - Periods 1, 4, and 8
Thurs - Period 3

Your (optional) moles are due on Thursday. No ODE on the moles!

Let's get to work.

Study break links

I haven't been having enough fun here. I do however save links. Here are a few.

This is not what I want to see if my car alarm ever goes off. Especially in Dallas.

I think only the first picture is really good, but they're all kind of funny.

This is fantastic. Click on the pic to enlarge and scroll down for the full effect.

I remember working with a professor doing early work on this. Loads of potential here.

Now THAT is an off-road vehicle.

And I really want to live here. Room for all my stuff!

And I want to have this in my backyard.

And go to at least one of these places. (Besides home.)

The Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry for 2009.

Learn a little about the night sky. (This one takes a little while.)

If you've read through all of these at once, you'd better get back to work!

Okay, which one of you put this together?

Or am I missing something besides Steg's story here?

CHEM: Summaries

Sorry, kids, your summaries need a lot of work.

I figured I'd give you an example or two of good summaries. These follow the three stipulations for a good review of the experiment:
1) Restate your objective.
2) Discuss your results.
3) Make a suggestion for doing the lab better next time.

So, for Experiment 7 (the reactions lab):

This experiment used twelve different combinations of substances to demonstrate single-displacement and double-displacement reactions. Eight of the twelve reactions were double-displacement reactions, most of which produced a precipitate; one produced bubbles of gas. One reaction produced no product and was therefore reversible. The other four single-displacement reactions combined hydrogen, copper and zinc as both ions and metals. From the results zinc was determined to be the most reactive of the three, followed by hydrogen and then copper. Performing the reactions allowed us to verify that were were predicting which products would be precipitates or gases correctly with our observations. In the future larger amounts of the reactants could be used, so that the chemical changes could be more easily observed.

Now, I know that I write in a different style than you do. I'm not looking for absolute mimicry in form, style and tense. That would be annoying for all of us. Note though that I am not saying anything about how "fun" or "cool" or "neatobegeato" the experiment was. I know how cool they are, because I picked them out for you.

For Experiment 5 (the molecular modeling lab):

In this experiment five different molecular modeling techniques illustrated different techniques for illustrating how atoms bond together and in what shapes. We used ball-and-stick models and MolyMod kits to build two-dimensional and three-dimensional representations of molecules, and to illustrate changes in bonding during simple chemical reactions. Soap bubbles and films demonstrated how systems under stress can find arrangements to minimize those stresses, as atoms in molecules do. All of these shapes were used as templates to build Stuart space-filling models of more complex molecules using the arrangements of atoms we had already seen, around oxygen and carbon atoms. The Stuart models provided no built-in guidance as the MolyMod kits did for arranging the atoms, so our models of hexane and dimethyl ether were too linear. We did not make the common connections between different types of models until writing up this report. If we had to do this lab again, I would bring better drawing tools than a dull pencil and scratch paper, and I would take more time drawing the shapes so they made more sense later.

This is the kind of analysis I'm looking for - more discussion of results and what was learned, a short statement for improving the lab, and less filler. Try this on your Summary for Experiment 6 and let's see what happens.

CHEM: Experiment 6 Data and Notes for the Report

First:

Here is the data sheet with all class data for Experiment 6 - my classes and Mr. V's.

You will need to print out this sheet and attach it to your report. The sheet should be attached so that it does not stick out from inside the pages of your comp book. The easiest way to do this is as follows:

1) Print out the sheet. The file is in Excel 97-2003 format, so everyone should be able to print it. Use Google Docs to open it if you can't. The file is formatted so that the whole sheet, including the individual class averages at the bottom, will print on one sheet.
2) Fold the sheet in half, top to bottom (not side-to-side).
3) Lay the sheet onto the page in the comp book to which you will attach it, with the crease close to the binding and the top/bottom of the sheet along the long outer edge of the page.
4) Tape or staple the bottom edge of the data table along the outer edge of the page. DO NOT staple the top of the sheet as well, or you can't open the table and read it. Secure the whole edge of the sheet to the page with tape or several staples. You don't need twenty staples to do this - it's a piece of paper, not a laceration.

If you have done this correctly, the data table will open across the face of the comp book, and not out onto the table, when you open the table to look at it. I'll show you Tuesday to make sure you understand.

The writeup scheme is as follows:

Heading
Objective
Partner
Procedures and Observations - this may include your data as well, or you can refer to your Data Table. Be sure to include your visual observations of the reactions when appropriate.
Data Table - You need your individual data table from p 39 (recopy it), as well as your full data table of the class results. You can attach the class data table to the page over your own data table, if you like.
Calcs - This is the list of calcs from page 40. Recopy these. Show your work. Watch your sig figs. Be neat.
Graph - Generate a histogram of ALL the class data, from all seven sections. If you choose, you can omit the one outlier from the data, BUT IF YOU DO, you must include an annotation on the graph explaining that there is one more data point off the page, including the value of the data point.
Questions - There are a few questions on p 38, after the descriptions of the calculations on p 40. Answer these here.
Sources of Error
Summary

This is not a short report. Do not leave this until the night before. Work on this along the way.

Write if you have questions.

CHEM: Review sheet for Monday's exam

This should do it.

CHEM: Day 35 Homework

Here is the homework for all classes, except third period, who have their lab report due tomorrow.

1) ?s - pp 359-360: 128, 141, 142, 159, 161, 165, 167

CHEM: Day 33 Homework

This week is a little unusual. You will have the PSAT Wednesday morning. Remember to get a good night's sleep and to eat a solid breakfast. Bring a calculator with good batteries and some pencils. Don't count on mooching off your friends.

Since fourth period will have some of their lab chewed up by the exam, I will have to start the reaction for you. Don't get used to it. Hoff it up to the lab when you finish the PSAT and we'll get started.

Homework for tomorrow, if you have class:

1) Read pp 476 - 487
2) ?s - pp 313-315: 96, 97, 133
           pp 358-359: 94, 95, 98, 99, 108

For lab:
1) Finish the report for Experiment 5.
2) Read Experiment 6. Be prepared - it's a long one.

That should do it.

CHEM: Day 32 - Homework

Remember:

You have homework due Monday, and an exam. We'll go over the homework and then you'll take the test. It's a memorization test - you don't need an entire period to agonize over what you don't know.

1)Read pp 348 - 354
2) ?s  pp 359 - 360: 131 - 136
         M p 72: 21 - 25

3) Stuuuuuudy!

4) Lab report for Experiment 5 due on lab day. Leave some time to spend on your drawings. You will be graded on them.

Have fun with your ions, eh?

CHEM: Day 31 Homework

Wednesday is such a weird day. I need to figure out what to do with the blog on Wednesday, since nothing new gets posted.

Due Friday:
1) ?s - M p 52: 15cd, 16cd, 17cd
           M p 65: 18 - 20
           M p 66: 28 - 30
           M p 67: 38 - 40

YouTube is always an option ...

CHEM: Day 29 Homework

Don't forget to link your observed product with the predicted product for each of your chemical equations in the Experiment 7 report. Tell me what you think you saw, and which compound you believe you observed.

Homework due Wednesday for Period 1 is listed in yesterday's homework post.

For Periods 1, 4 and 8, due Thursday/Period 3, due tomorrow:

1) Read pp 336 - 345
2) ?s - M p 52: 15ab, 16ab, 17ab
           M p 65: 15 - 17
           M p 66: 25 - 27
           M p 67: 35 - 37

That and your lab report should keep you busy.

CHEM: Day 28 Homework

Finally, the main course! No more review for you!

 Homework for your next class:

 1) Read pp 335-340; read M pp 49-52
 2) ?s - Mp 45: 3-6; M p 50: 13, 14

Lab report for Experiment 7 will be due for all classes on Thursday, October 6.

CHEM: Day 27 - Homework

All you need to do for Monday is read pp 320 - 335. Pay attention to the reading. It'll be better for you on Monday if you have some idea of what's gong on.

Make sure you start bringing your calculators from now on. Get some new batteries too, if you need them. There will be math most days for the next two months.

I don't have calculators to loan out, curing class of for tests. Secure your secondary brains, please. :)

CHEM: Day 26 Homework

Some problems for you tonight.

?s - pp 312-314: 80, 87, 88, 110, 112, 113

That's it.

CHEM: Day 25 Homework

STUDY!!




Here's your review sheet, in case you lost it.

Link of the day

An interesting fossil find was announced in China today. Paleoarcheologists have discovered a transitional species representing an earlier step in the evolution of some dinosaur lines to birds. This fossil (although there is no picture with this article) has feathers on the forelegs and tail, AND the hind feet, which possibly makes this a four-winged species. How that would work aerodynamically, I don't know, maybe the feet were drawn up to "fill in" a shallow wing set, but don't be fooled into thinking that this critter had two wings sprouting from each shoulder. That's not the structure here. Why fantasy illustrators always draw four-winged creatures like that, I don't know.

Then again they are FANTASY illustrators, not reality illustrators. Dur.

CHEM: Day 24 - Homework

Sooo, the demos didn't go quite as planned today. I've left the test tubes overnight and we'll see if anything resolves by tomorrow.

Your homework for tomorrow is just to finish the lab report for Experiment 3. Make sure to attach the graph, there is no data table, and finish all of the sections of the lab NEATLY. Buy a ruler!

Also, all periods need to read Experiment 7 for tomorrow. We'll talk about the lab at the end of Period 3, but they will be doing the lab on Thursday after their exam.

That should do it.

Various links of the days

First - An article from Smithsonian magazine about new photos of the planets, most of which are from the Cassini probe orbiting through the Saturnian system, here. Make sure to click on the link to the Photo Gallery, in the center column about three items down. The lead picture of Saturn is famous, but you can't tell why from here. Ask me in class and I'll show you a bigger version.

Second - I know some of you will have fun with this site. You can make a graph of anything you want. There are some good ones, some bad ones, like any open user-driven content site. And then there are some that should not be true but are, for too many people.

For a more serious look at the graphical portrayal of information, you can check out this site too. In fact you should. Don't limit yourself to the first graph, either. Keep going and see what else you find. Another good site is WallStats. You can find some of his smaller projects starting here. Click through the photostream. This one is good though, if you want to jump ahead. I have two of his posters. I need to put them up outside the room.

There is also this site, which is a Map Party(TM). You can have all kinds of fun here. Lots of historical maps too.

And finally - before I head out to satiate my strange and sudden craving for barbeque - we so need to do this at school:

Office Nerf War | Viral/Other | SPIKE.com

And if the embed doesn't work, go here for the video. You'll be glad you did.

CHEM: Day 23 Homework

Homework is due for Tuesday Sept 29, ALL PERIODS (even first period, because you get the double-whammy lecture):

1) Read pp 293 - 298
2) ?s - p 312:  72, 75, 85, 86cd
          M p 67: 39 - 40
          M p 68: 45 - 47

3) Your lab report for Experiment 3 is due Wednesday, for all periods. There will be a couple of questions for homework as well, so plan ahead.

4) Your next exam is Thursday, for all periods. This means Period 3 is getting the double-whammy that day, since they'll have the exam and the lab to do.

The lab next week is Experiment 7. I should re-order the experiments in the lab manual, I suppose, since Lab 7 always comes before Lab 6 or 5 anymore, but I haven't. Experiment 7 is pretty short; you can finish in less than one period. HOWEVER - do not allow your need to get out of lab as fast as possible interfere with your observations. The writeup will be a little different as well, so make sure you take some notes when we discuss this in class.

Now for a little fun ...

CHEM: Day 22 Homework

The homework due Friday Sept 25 for all classes:

1) Read pp 289-292
2) ?s - p 312: 65, 71
          M p 71: 7 - 12
          M p 42: 11, 12

This assignment was slightly different for first period. Roll with what you have.

CHEM: Day 21 Homework

I haven't posted since Tuesday? Lame.

Some catch-up posts, for those of you who have forgotten how to write :)  :
Homework due for Thursday for periods 1, 4, and 8 (and was due Wednesday for Period 3) was assigned under the Day 20 Homework post.

p 312: 62, 66, 68, 70
M p 36: 5 (Use M p 249 if needed)
M p 39: 10

The lab report for Experiment 4 was due from Period 3 for Thursday.

More in a minute.

CHEM: Day 20 Homework

Period 4, where are you?

Questions due for your next class:
p 312: 62, 66, 68, 70
M p 36: 5 (Use M p 249 if needed)
M p 39: 10

Cool link of the day: For under the surface lies the future

This is science meeting science-fiction.

About fifteen years ago there was a short-lived sci-fi drama on NBC called SeaQuest DSV. The oceans were being colonized and were the new Wild West, and the SeaQuest was the supersub called on to keep the peace, do research, find the bad guys, all that stuff. Think Star Trek: Underwater. You can get it on NetFlix, but only the first season is anywhere near watchable. Then the NBC execs got a hold of it and screwed it up.

In the show there was the resident boy genius, Lucas Wolenczak. He figures out how to talk to dolphins, gets himself in lots of trouble, typical plot device kind of character. But one of the cooler subtexts in the show was the idea that if you want to move around in the water better, you need to move like the fish. So he and one of the navigators build a one-person personal submersible based on dolphin hydrodynamics. The show's aquaracer had two jets and a tail that "swam" to provide a rudder and stability, and the whole idea struck me as pretty novel. The running story of the sub was one of the better plot lines in the season.

And now someone's done it. Or come close enough for government work. They've been working on this for some time - you can see the prototype at the site - but now they're in production with two models - one a racing model, and one for us regular Joes. Doesn't look like it can dive too deeply yet, but it's a heck of a start.

Watch the videos of this thing. Hot diggity, I want one!

CHEM: Day19 - Homework

I need sleep. I'm glad to have your homework more done, but I'm beat.

For your next class:

1) Read p 247
2) ?s - M p  36: 3, 4
           M p 39: 7, 10
           M p 71: 1-6

For your lab:
1) Complete the lab report for Experiment 4
  Turn in pp 27-30, trimmed, plus a printout of the data table and your graph
2) Read Experiment 3
You'll be getting a few pointers on the lab, but mostly this one is all you. Be prepared!

See you tomorrow.

CHEM: Lab 4 Data Sheet Solution

A couple of you have written to tell me that you can't open the Excel data file. The data file I sent you is in the .xlsx Excel 2007 format. You will need a converter pack from Microsoft to open it.

I've sent out one copy of the data table in the old Excel 2003 format, but it occurs to me that you will be seeing more and more Office 2007 files coming from teachers and other sources, so it would be better for you to pick up the Compatibility Pack rather than ask for older file versions every time (and better for me not to send the file out in several different formats every time).

Here is a link to the MS page: Compatibility Pack for Windows

Once you have installed this, you should be able to open the files normally.

For Mac users running Office 2004, I think the new file formats are already installed. If not, it looks like you have to convert the file separately before opening the file (installing the following file doesn't appear from the description to integrate into your Office suite). This may be a drag-and-drop box, or you may have to run the program and select files from inside the program. Have fun finding out. :)

Here is a link for Mac users: Open XML File Format Converter for Mac

If you're using Linux, I don't know enough about the OS to help you.

I think OpenOffice reads all the XML fies natively, so if you use that you should be set. OpenOffice is free, but the download is a big file (~120MB). Play with it if you want.

If none of this makes sense to you, you can open the attachment with Google Docs. If you do, the file may not print nicely, but you should be able to pull up the data and work with it.

Do your other homework, too.

Updated link of the day

I have found another article discussing the first successful imaging of a molecule at the atomic level. This article offers more detail and a few images to help you visualize what's going on.

Here you go. Enjoy!

Video of the day

Jethro Tull. One of my top five bands of all time.

If you ever wondered whether people (like maybe your grandparents? HA!) actually dressed all hippie-dippie in the late 60s, the answer is a qualified yes. Some of them, anyway. Here is evidence.

Jethro Tull - Witches Promise, 1970

Granted, Ian Anderson (the frontman on flute) looks like he's in a bathrobe, but the bass player is all decked out, an the guitarist's and drummer's hats are classic. This is about the most tricked-out video I have seen of them, so it's the right one for a Friday.

I saw Tull in concert in 1989. One of the best concerts I've ever seen. Two hours of solid music. The band took breaks in shifts, and there was always someone or a small group on stage rocking it out. For a band of five people, they put on quite a show.

Everybody tell DJ $penca to listen to more Tull. :)

CHEM: Day 18 - Homework

Are you ready for the weekend?

Everyone's homework for Monday is:
1) Complete Naming Worksheet IV - do it in your duplicate book!
2) Read pp 282-288
3) Work on your lab reports for Experiment 4.

Remember that the lab report for this week's experiment is another "pull-out" lab. You will turn in pp 27-30, properly trimmed of filigree, plus a printout of the data table (you can download the data table here), plus your histogram of the data. Your graph must be a full page graph, with all appropriate labels and information. Refer to page A-21 in your lab manual for an example graph and a list of the needed components.

If you choose to graph your data with Excel, then you'll need to set aside some time to learn how to graph with it. The onboard Help will point you in the right directions, but it's not the most new-user-friendly writeup. You will have to play a bit and see what you can get to work. If this does not appeal to you, do the graph by hand. You will be doing another histogram for Experiment 6, so make sure you don't forget everything you're doing now.

That should do it.

Link of the day

Now that you type so much, your natural practice with writing suffers. FOr many of you, this leaves you with some difficulty communicating without a computer.

Here's an article on the need to print legibly, and why. The letter printing drill is only useful if you actually do it, and I'm not suggesting that (for most of you). However, there's a little surprise about two-thirds of the way down that I thought was really interesting - obvious, but not recognized. It's the part of the article right after the third writing example, on how you actually read the written language. Take a minute and look at it.

You might be glad you did.

CHEM: Day 17 Homework

I was going to give you some reading, but that can wait for the weekend.

Everyone's homework for tomorrow is to complete Naming Worksheet III, in your duplicate book. Spend a little time on it. Start to familiarize yourself with the polyatomic ions and writing more complex formulas.

Over the weekend you're going to have another naming worksheet, some reading, and your lab report to work on. Plan your work and work your plan, kids.

CHEM: Day 15 - Homework

For today's homework, there is a bit of a correction. Follow along below.

Period 1:
1) Molecular Naming Worksheet - do in duplicate book
2) Read pp 218-224

Period 3:
1) Naming Worksheet II - do in duplicate book
--Omit the tungsten compounds. We'll talk about this tomorrow.

Periods 4 and 8:
Due for lab -
1) Read Exp 4
2) Finish lab report for Exp 2 - turn in
3) Pre-lab ?s for Exp 4 - do in duplicate book and turn in

For Periods 4 and 8, your Naming Worksheet II will be due Thursday. Omit the tungsten compounds as well.

That should do it. Sorry this has been late getting up.

CHEM: Day 14 Homework

Well, this has gotten away form me this week. Sorry about that.

Due for Tuesday:

Next class -
1) Read pp 218-224
2) Molecular Naming Worksheet - do in duplicate book.

Due for lab -
1) Read Exp 4
2) Finish lab report for Exp 2 - turn in
3) Pre-lab ?s for Exp 4 - do in duplicate book and turn in

Book it. Done.

Cool link of the day

I wish I had this kind of time and skill. Most impressive.

CHEM: Day 13 Homework

Here we go. Are you ready for the weekend?

Homework or Monday, all classes:
1) Read pp 248-252
2) Periodic Table Worksheet - Do on sheet. You will need colored pencils or pens to complete the assignment.
3) On the back of the Periodic Table Worksheet (to save paper)
?s - pp 95-96: 74, 76, 82, 85

Show your work!

Where are your shoeboxes?! Due Tuesday!

Cool link of the day

Quick link (because your parents are here):

This is a cave in Mexico with the larges crystals found anywhere in the world. These selenite crystals grew over a half-million year period and only recently were discovered when a mine broke through the wall to find these. They are big enough to walk on. The cave itself has a temperature of over 150 degrees F and a high humidity - without special environment suits, people have died in under fifteen minutes.

Check it out.

CHEM: Day 11 Homework

Sorry this is late. I am briefly consoled by the fact that
1) there's not much to do, and
2) this was all on the board yesterday.

If you have class tomorrow:
1) Make sure you've read pp 84 - 90
2) ?s - p 95: 65 - 70

If you have lab tomorrow:
1) Finish Exp 1 lab report and turn it in. Stapled, trimmed, and in order.
2) Read the procedure for Exp 2 - make sure you read the questions too!
3) Bring your comp book, a ruler and a black pen to class. Two people forgot that today, and they'll have to set up their books by themselves.

The assignment for Friday will be the same for all of you. And short.

Later!

Cool link of the day

One of the many reasons I love science - new discoveries all the time.

Scientists climbed down into a volcanic crater a kilometer deep and three kilometers wide that has been geographically isolated from the rest of Papua New Guinea's flora and fauna for 200,000 years. What do they find? New critters! Grunting fish, giant rats, frogs with fangs, kangaroos living in trees - and they've only been there a month.

FAAAAAAANTASTIC.

CHEM: Day 10 - Homework

It's weird having the third week of school be short.

Remember, Mini-School is tomorrow.

Homework:

For lab:
1) Exp 1 Report due. Tear out the pages and data/obs table, trim them, answer all the questions, turn them in. The report should be stapled before you arrive.
2) Read Exp  Read the questions too. It's always a good idea to know more about what you are looking for.
3) Bring your comp book, a ruler and a black pen to class.

For your next class:
1) Make sure you have read pp 84-90
2) ?s - p 95: 65-70

Where are your shoeboxes?

CS

Random cute link of the day

Because I have to share pictures of kids and their dogs.

CHEM: Day 9 - Homework

I hope your tests went well. Because one of you needs to make up the test, I will have to hold on to them for a couple of days next week. Be patient.

Your homework for the Labor Day weekend is as follows:

1) Your lab report for Experiment 1 is due on your lab day next week. Finish pages 9-11, attach the data table (pp 5 and 6), trim off all the hanging filigree from ripping the pages out of your book, and staple it together. Your lab reports must be done before you arrive, or I will consider them late work and dock you points accordingly.

NO PHOTOCOPIES. NO TYPING.

For your next class -
2) Read pp 84-90
3) ?s - p 92: 40, 41, 42, 46, 58, 60

For lab -

2) Read Experiment 2. Make sure you read the questions too!
3) Make sure you bring your comp book, a black pen, and a ruler to class. I have a couple of rulers, but bring your own if you have one. We'll spend the first half of the period setting up your comp book and going through the sample report in your lab manual, and then you get to burn stuff.

4) Bring in your shoebox. You have eleven days left. I have six of the 46 I need from you. If you honestly don't have any shoeboxes at home, go to a shoe store and ask them for one. They have plenty of emtpy boxes from floor displays and such.

Enjoy your weekend, eh?

Tip of the Day

There is a fantastic Web site called Lifehacker. The site leaders spend all day finding new and interesting ways for you to make your life a little less hectic and a little (or a lot) more productive.

Yesterday the editors put together a Top 10 List of student iPhone apps, some of which look pretty good. There's a homework tracker, a larger assignment/studies organizer, a great (and free) periodic table app, and a unit converter (which you cannot use on your test today).

Worth looking at.

CHEM: Day 8 - Homework

STUUUUDY!!!

CHEM: Day 7 - Homework

Forgot to post this yesterday.

All I wanted was the Sig Fig Practice Sheet II. In your duplicate book of course.

The board in front of the room is your primary resource for determining your assignments. This assignment was up there. Keep an eye on that.

CHEM: Day 6 Homework

Lots going on today. Busy busy busy!

Homework:
1) Read pp 76 - 83
2) ?s  - p 62: 78abfg, 79abc, 88, 89, 91, 92
           p 94: 33, 34, 37, 38, 43

So you're only doing the lettered problems in 78 and 79.

Remember, your first exam is Friday. Here is your review topic sheet.

CHEM: Day 5 - Homework

A lot going on today.

This week you will have homework due on your lab day. I want you to have as much practice with the material today before your test on Friday. This means that you will have two assignments due on lab day - the homework assignments and the Pre-Lab questions. I'll try not to have this happen often, but this time around I think it's necessary.

So,
Homework tonight for everybody:
1) M p 9: 1 (sig figs only - don't tell me about uncertainty); M p 14: 2
2) Sig Figs Practice Sheet I
Do both assignments in your duplicate book. You should do them on the same sheet.

For next class:
1) Read pp 70 - 75
2) Read M pp 7 - 9

For lab:
1) Read Exp 1 - be prepared!
2) Answer Exp 1 Pre-Lab Questions in duplicate book and turn in at start of lab (with other homework)
3) Don't forget your Lab Contract! You can't do lab without it!

First Exam Friday.

Get to it!

No comments. Grr.

Apparently you can't turn on comments for one post. I have to turn them on for all posts and then turn them off for every OTHER post, or not turn them on at all. SO no comments for the bookmarks post. You'll just have to tell me tomorrow whatever your other ideas are.

Annoying, but that's what we got.

Textbooks and bookmarks online

If you want to access your textbook online, you'll have to keep a bookmark somewhere you can always access it. You'll also need to keep the passcode somewhere so that you can access the book.

If you're just going to be using the online textbook at school, you can make a bookmark and save it either in your network storage file or as a shortcut in FirstClass. Once you navigate your way to the textbook site, you can save the bookmark to the desktop and copy it over. The Files folder in FirstClass is persistent and you can keep a file there for pretty much ever. However, the bookmark will not store any cookie information the site uses to allow you access to the online textbook. I recommend changing the name of the bookmark to something like "Chem Book KFJHLKEWGWG" where the crazy characters at the end are the textbook access code. Then you can type it in anytime you need to.

Another good and more robust solution is to use an online bookmark manager. There are lots of sites that will keep a list of bookmarks for you in an account, so that you can access them at will. I've used a few. The best one I have found does a little more than that. It's called Xmarks.

Xmarks is a bookmark synchronizer with online access. You can use Xmarks with Internet <strike>Exploder</strike> Explorer, Firefox, and Safari. You set up a free account the first time you load the extension/add-on, with your e-mail address. You can pick a username if you'd like. Xmarks will copy all of your bookmarks to your account on their site. From there, you have lots of options.

If you have more than one computer like I do, you can install Xmarks on every one, for whatever browser(s) you use (and I use all three, depending on what I'm doing). Xmarks will keep your bookmarks synchronized across all of your computers, for all of your browsers, automatically. You do have to open the browsers to engage the synch, but that's easy. (Be advised that when Xmarks is running, unless you have a speed beast of a computer, your browser may lag or freeze up while Xmarks is doing its thing. It's more of a problem when you have lots of bookmarks like I do.) This won't work with your school account, since any bookmark information is stored on the machine you're using and not in your account info on the server (as far as I know).

You can also sign in to the Xmarks site and access your bookmark list from anywhere. Again if you rename the bookmark for the textbook site with the access code in the title, you're all set.

So those are my ideas for you. I'll give you the textbook access code Tuesday or Wednesday. (Tomorrow is a very busy day classwise.) If you have another idea, post it in the comments here. I'll go turn them on in a minute.

See you tomorrow.

Weekend Pic

Now that takes some skill.

CHEM: Online textbook success!

It looks like I have the access code for the online text version of your book. I'm not going to post it here, but I'll give it to you Monday or Tuesday.

Now if you leave your book at home you'll be able to read and work on your questions at school, at any terminal. I have an idea on how to make that possible without having the code in your pocket to type in every time. Give me a day or two to work on that.

There will have to be some guidelines if we want to keep this service open. You will not be able to trade the code around or pass it along to your friends. If the publisher thinks that we are accessing this too often or from too many computers, they will more than likely pull the code and get torqued at me and at the school through me. I don't want that.

Still - I have the code!



I AM INVEENCIBLE!

See you Monday (unless I come up with something else).

CHEM: Link of the day

A Venn diagram of mythical creatures. Brilliant.

I like the dog intersections on the right. Took me a second to figure that out.

CHEM: Day 4 - Homework

I am so not a morning person.

Homework for Monday - same assignment for all of you:

1) Read pp 47-53
2) Read Appendix C in your lab manual
3) Dimensional Analysis Worksheet
4) ?s - p 62: 64, 67, 76, 82
Write up 3 and 4 as one assignment. This assignment must be done in your duplicate book.
5) Buy your materials!
6) I need your Safety Contract by lab day next week, at the latest.
7) Bring me a shoebox by September 15 (3/46)

CHEM: Link of the day

This is pretty cool. Scientists at the IBM Research facility in Zurich, Switzerland have made the first image of a molecule at the atomic scale.

Read about it here if you're curious. There's a picture too.

(h/t Iron Hayden)

CHEM: Day 3 - Homework

Happy happy joy joy!

1) Read pp 17-21, pp 32-46 (most of this is review, except for the last section)
2) ?s - pp 26-27: 40, 41, 44, 46
p 62: 66, 67

Show your work on the last two problems.

This assignment will be the same for everybody, since you all have class tomorrow.

CHEM: Printing tip

In some cases you will want to print part of a webpage and not the whole thing. Sometimes a page will print frame-by-frame, and each part - header, text/body, ads, sidebar, etc - will all print on separate pages. Or a particular blog post is three lines, but the sidebar is two pages long and you have to print all of it. This is both wasteful of paper and annoying.

If you want to print only a section of a page, like a paragraph or two, there are a few ways to do it.

1) You can highlight the text on the page you want to print, choose File --> Print from the menu, and check the box or button marked "Selection." Only what you have highlighted will be printed. This works in both Firefox and Internet Exploder Explorer.

2) For most blogs there is a separate link for each post, so that you can bring up a post by itself (or link back to the post and not the whole page). For this blog the permalink is clickable at the title of the post and at the timestamp at the bottom of each post. You can click that and print only one post, but the sidebar will print as well.

3) The copy-and-paste method. Durr.

Be frugal with your paper, eh?

CHEM: Day 2 Homework

One down, a bunch to go.

Ongoing assignments:
1) Buy your gear! Look at your Day 1 Sheet for the list.
2) After your safety orientation, have your parents read your Survival Guide, especially the parts on safety and grading, and you and one parent need to sign both copies of your Safety Contract. Also sign the no-cheating pledge. This contract must be turned in no later than your first lab (next week), or you will not be able to do the lab with everybody else.
3) Bring in a shoebox by September 15th.

Period 3:
You have lab tomorrow.
1) Read Appendix A in the lab book. Bring your lab book to class. You'll be taking some notes too, so bring something to write with and on.
2) Bring your gear if you have it.

For periods 1, 4, and 8: Same as the assignment on the board from yesterday/below.
1) Read pp 3-16 in text
2) ?s - p 26: 28, 30, 32, 34, 38, 39
3) Read Appendix C in your lab manual

That should do it.

CHEM: Online Resources

I told all of you that you could leave your textbooks at home. It did not occur to me  at the time that some of you might like to read and work on your homework at school, considering how many of you have class in the morning and maybe some free time in the afternoon.

I am in the process of registering with the publisher's Web site. There are some online resources there you might find of use. Right now you can get to the pages with some extra reading and online quizzes for review, but it looks like the real prize, after they verify I'm teaching out of the book, is an online version of the whole textbook. I hope that's what it is, because that would be sweet. For you and me both.

I'll have instructions in the next couple of days for you, including links.

CHEM: Day 1 - HW

Woo woo! Stuff to do!

HW:
If you have class tomorrow -
1) Read pp 3-16 in text
2) ?s - p 26: 28, 30, 32, 34, 38, 39
3) Read Appendix C in your lab manual

If you have lab tomorrow -
1) Read Appendix A in your lab manual
2) Buy your goggles and glove bag from the Student Store,
     and bring them to lab with you
3) Do the above homework for your next class

For everybody -
1) Buy your stuff! You need to have your class materials no later than Friday afternoon.
     Your first homework assignment due in the duplicate book will be for Monday.
2) Buy your lab gear as well. If you don't have it this week, that's acceptable, but you
     must have your goggles and gloves by lab day next week.
3) You must also have your Contracts signed and turned in by lab day next week.
     Otherwise you will not be allowed to do the lab, and you will have to come in
     after school and make it up on your own time.
4) Everyone must bring in a shoebox by September 15th - the fewer holes in it, the better.

Lots to do in the first week. Things will calm down soon.

First exam - next Friday, September 4.

CHEM: Day 1 - And So It Begins

Well, here we go.

I played around with a blog last year, and had some success, but I started in the middle of the year. This time I'll start out with this and see where it goes.

This space will serve as an archive of assignments, links to class stuff (and the occasional interesting link), some papers, and whatever I can find to help you with your studies. The school website will always have the major assignments, but the daily/weekly work will be here. The Blogger interface is less constricting and, as this foray into the Internet expands, let me do more.

Watch this space. Make suggestions. Let's see what happens.

CS

MINE.

It's a start!