By Stephen Pegler on Monday, December 17, 2007

It's hard to believe that Christmas and the rest of the holidays are here already!! (I know that Chanukah has already passed.)  I wish you an enjoyable time, and a time of fun, relaxation and extra sleep.

A reminder that students should be working on their home energy audits for homework.  It's due January 10.  Please see my notes from last week.

This week in class we will finish the bulk of the Power Up unit.  Students will take the post unit tests on Thursday and begin the final project on Friday.  I will be taking home the Power Up packets to grade over break, so students need to make sure that they are finished by Friday.  After break they will finish their project, present it and take the final content test.

By Stephen Pegler on Monday, December 10, 2007

This week students will be using solar panels to generate solar energy.  If we have time, we will look at some videos to examine other ways of using the sun as an energy source.  Hopefully we will begin using fuel cells later this week.

Students do have homework.  They should be working on the home energy audit.  They do NOT need to print the entire packet - it's over forty pages long!  They need to keep their results in a separate notebook.  Please check my homework tab for more details.

By Stephen Pegler on Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Students are continuing to explore wind generation.  They will design and test their own blades for their wind generators.  Later in the week we will get to solar cells.

There is an extra credit opportunity  at CU Boulder this Saturday - December 8 in the Engineering Building.  College students are presenting their engineering projects.  It should be pretty cool.  My understanding is that the presentation will last most of the day - say 9 AM through 3 PM or so.  If students go, they should bring back some sort of proof that they went - a program, summary, photos, or a signed note from their driver.  Students should also include how long they were there and write a brief description of three of the projects that they saw.  Up to fifteen points will be awarded in the homework category.

UPDATE from a parent: 

I just spoke to the director of the Eng ... Read More »

By Stephen Pegler on Sunday, November 25, 2007

Greetings!  Today we start a four week unit on alternative energy.  We will have a series of discussion/lecture/films followed by the Power Up unit exercises.  All the work for the unit will be done in class.  There is, however, a homework assignment.  It is described on my homework tab.  Please check it out.  Students will need computer access to do the activities.

For the homework please go to: http://www.energyscience.org/education/images/ESITH%20Student%20Guide%202006-7%20Suncor%20logo.pdf

You will also need to go to:     http://www.ase.org/section/homeenergycheckup/                   for some of the activities.

You do not need to do the color competiti ... Read More »

By Stephen Pegler on Monday, November 19, 2007

There is a test on Monday.  It will be finished on Tuesday.  Please check grades.  There are many students who didn’t turn in their trebuchet labs last weeks.  They have zeros.

By Stephen Pegler on Thursday, November 15, 2007

1. Why should the two balls hit the floor at the same time?

2.  How do the two carts show the conservation of momentum?

3.  How do the two carts show F=m*a?

4.  How did the carts with the red liquid show inertia?

5.  How did the Newton's Rocker show conservation of momentum?

6.  How did it show inertia?

7.  Why do the balls with the Newton's Rocker eventually stop moving?

8.  How did the two carts show Newton's Third Law: For every action  . . . ?

By Stephen Pegler on Wednesday, November 14, 2007

These all refer to the demonstrations a week ago:

1.  Explain how the Newton's Rocker shows the conservation of energy.

2.  Explain how the red liquid in the container showed inertia.

3.  Why did the two steel balls hit the ground at the same time in the "monkey shooter" demonstration?

4.  Explain the movement of someone on a swing in terms of PE & KE.

5.  How did the two carts demonstrate that F=m*a?

By Stephen Pegler on Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Today is a work on homework packet day for the morning classes.  The trebuchet lab writeups and graphs are due by tomorrow.  Thursday will be a short introduction to energy.  On Friday the students will take all the pre-unit tests and surveys for the Power Up unit we will work on after the Thanksgiving break.

On November 19 students will have a test over the materials we have studied this trimester.  They will be allowed the use of a “study guide” – one sheet of paper.  There will be no retakes of the test (except for absences).  On Monday I will grade the current homework packet and the warmups for the entire trimester.  There are a lot of points that come due next week!!!

Please turn in the permission slips for the Power Up unit.

By Stephen Pegler on Tuesday, November 06, 2007

1. On what two factors does the strength of gravity depend?

2.  If I push on you with a force of 500 N, with what force do you push back on me?

3.  #2 is an example of Newton's Law that states: "For every . . . "

4.  On what two factors does force depend?  (Newton's Law)

5.  A good hypothesis is in the form of a ______________.

By Stephen Pegler on Monday, November 05, 2007

This week we will watch several videos on motion and forces and watch some demonstrations.  I also hope to finish the number calculation and the graphs for the trebuchet lab.  I will be gone on Friday to the Science Teacher Association conference.  There is a test scheduled for November 19.  Students' warmups will also be checked that day.  Tuesday, November 13 will be a day that the students will have to work on their homework packets in class.  The trebuchet labs will be due that same day. 

Don't forget the permission slips for the Power Up unit in December!!  The permission slips were sent home last week, but there are copies on my web page as well.

After Thanksgiving, we will be using the Power Up unit on alternative energy developed by the Colorado School of Mines and the University of Colorado Denver School of Education as part of a tax payer funded research project on using hands on ... Read More »