Monday, October 18th, 2010.... Computer Lab

Welcome to our Science blog. We we utilize this blog to keep track of the fun things that we have been doing during the year. I will try to update this daily, however I can PROMISE to do it at least once a week. This is a place that you can leave comments to ask me questions about what is going on, see what our composition books look like, and keep up with what we are doing, find our vocabulary words that we are studying, see pictures of our experiments etc. We will occasionally do lessons on here as well.

Your first lesson begins today:

1. Go to www.brainpop.com

2. Follow the instructions that are listed on the sheet I gave you before computer lab on how to sign in to the account.

3. Watch the video titled Energy Sources, it can also be accessed by clicking the linked words in the list.

4. Take the quiz and print it out, it will be a grade

5. After taking the quiz, come back here to the blog and comment on this post. Your comment needs to include, something new that you learned from the video.

Saturation of Solutions Experiment

We explored solutions further and discovered the fact that solutions such as salt and water, can too be separated, by using EVAPORATION.

Below you will find a slideshow that shows our class making SATURATED solutions, and then pouring them into evaporating dishes, that we left sitting out over a weekend, to let CRYSTALIZE, so that we could study their CRYSTAL STRUCTURES. When a solution becomes saturated that means that no more SOLUTE can be dissolved into the SOLVENT. We discovered that 2-3 5g spoonfuls of salt will SATURATE a 50 mL vial of water. Water is often called the UNIVERSAL SOLVENT, because most things will DISSOLVE, or spread out, into it.

The key to making the salt dissolve in stirring or shaking... here are just a few pictures of us making the salt dissolve...

Mixtures and Solutions Slideshow

Below you will find a slideshow of two different experiments that we have conducted in class.

At the beginning are pictures from our first mixtures and solutions experiment in which we tested how mixtures and solutions could be separated. First, the students observed the three materials, (gravel, diatomacheous earth, and salt) using their five senses. We then mixed 5g of each solid materials with 50 mL of water using syringes. Each group then mixed the materials together and poured them over a cup with a metal screen sitting on top, they had record either yes or no, the material was separated by the screen. Then the materials we combined with the water again, and poured into an empty cup through a funnel and coffee filter, and then recorded either yes or no again. The results showed that The screen separated the gravel but not the diatomacheous earth and salt. The filter paper separated the gravel and the diatomacheous earth, but not the salt. We conclude from this that the first two combinations are called MIXTURES, and the salt and water combination is a SOLUTION. Solutions are different from mixtures, because one materials dissolves, or spreads evenly into the second materials. Mixtures can be easily separated. Solutions are explored further in another experiment.

The second experiment included in the slideshow, used the same materials; however each group was given the same bucket of materials, that also now included a magnet, and a cup that contained, salt, gravel, and a mysterious black substance (iron filings) and were told to separate all three from each other into three separate cups. The groups should have figured out that they could pour the mixture over a screen and the gravel would stay on top and the salt and iron filings would fall through. They would then run the magnet over what remained and the iron filings would be attracted to the magnet. Most groups did an excellent job of this.

For future reference, any blue linked words can be clicked on to see further information about that word.

Enjoy the slideshow!!!