Monday, November 23rd, 2009

Today in class we added five new cards to our vocabulary rings. The words we added were:

chemical Reaction
precipitate
change
reactant
safety goggles

We also discussed the difference between a physical change and a chemical change. Using our illustrated word wall words we figured out that a Physical Change is when a substance changes it's appearance, but does not change what it is made out of. The examples your student should know are: a hair cut, a piece of chalk being broken, a paperclip being unraveled, a piece of wood being carved into a bat, and a piece of paper being ripped in half. Then we compared that to a chemical change, which is when the substance changes appearance, and changes what it is made out of, often a new substance is formed. A chemical change includes two main parts, the reactants (substances being combined and the precipitate (the substance that is created because of the combination). The examples we discussed are A penny in oxygen or water which creates rust, a firecracker being lit and creating ash, a piece of bread in oxygen molding, an iron nail in oxygen rusting, a piece of wood being burnt and creating ash, a leaf getting less sunlight so creating less chlorophyll and changing colors (like what happens in the fall).

We will not have Science tomorrow due to the various school day activities. However, check here for an announcement about extra credit.