3.1 & 3.2: Cell Division

This week we look at the Cell Cycle.

Explain the cell cycle and the phases of cell division.

Also, on Thursday, we have the PlastiVan coming to school to put on demonstrations for the eighth grade. Post your comments on that as well.

Due Friday: Contract 28

1.1 & 1.2: "Living Things Needs Needs"

This week we are looking at the characteristics and needs of all living things. What are the characteristics? What do living things need?

This week will will be setting up our class terrarium/aquariums to learn the needs of living things.

We will also be collecting some water samples to make wet-mount slides to view living cells.

All of this and Contrat 27.

4.3 & 4.4: Acids, Bases, and Alloys

Our final chapter of the chemistry looks first at acids and bases.

How are they related?
What makes a solution an acid? What makes a base?

And then we focus on alloys.

Why are we talking about metals during a solutions chapter?
How did the copper penny turn "silver"? "gold"?

All of this culminates on firday with presentations for Contract 26.

4.1 & 4.2: Solutions

This week we begin the final chemistry section: Solutions. Solutions are a special type of mixture where two parts are combined to make a new product with its own unique properties.

How and why do the properties of the solution differ from those of the solvent and solute?
How can we change the solubility of the solute in the solvent?

Those are a few questions we ask in Contract 25.

3.3 & 3.4: Energy in Reactions

This week we finish our Chemical Reactions unit as we look at bond energy and real-life examples. Be able to...

Describe energy change in a chemical reaction.
Give examples of how living things use chemical reactions to create and store energy.

These are also our choices on Contract 24.

3.1 & 3.2: Chemical Reactions

This week we are discussing chemical reactions so that when we can eventually do a few reactions in a lab and know whats going on. So...

What is going on during a chemical reaction?

We also learn that because of the Law of Conservation of Mass, what goes in must come out. While molecules are rearranged, the type and number of atoms stay the same in a reaction. So...

Balance the following Equation:

NO + H2 -> NH3 + H2O

Have you found a reaction you want balanced in your Contract 23 research? Post it!

2.3 & 2.3: Chemical Bonds

We just finished up our "scavenger hunt" of chemical bonds today.

What items do you find around your house that we use because of their unique bond properties?

Contract 22 focuses on Covalent and Ionic bonding.