Week 27, Day 5: Chemical reactions-Splitting water with a BANG!

Even block Schedule.   Finish Hindenburg video, splitting  water into H2 and O2 with electrolysis apparatus.

Spring break is a week too late. Need it now! This week as been "off" in the words of a colleague. We have had quite a few days of the choir kids being gone to competition which makescthe class size drop from 36ish to 31 ish.  I've always been amazed by the difference the absence of 3 kids can have on a class. If It's the right 3 kids the class will be TOTALLY different.

I've been using the Hoffmann electrolysis device in class to splitting water molecules into H an O gases. I mix them and BANG!!!.  Or I keep them separate and show the burning properties of both. This is a great demo for our chapter on Chemical Reactions and the PBS episode of Secrets of the Dead: What happened to the Hindenburg. I highly recommend this video. Great chemistry and history and kids say " that's were the "Oh the humanity" quote comes from".

Sci fair next week. My students that have chose to do this for their project have not all been spending the time checking in with the other coach. This is my poor managerial skills. Next year I need to make sure ALL my kids are meeting with me each week. I focused only on the sci oly kids.  Hey live and learn. Improve 10% per year.

I hope this helps,

Love to Teach, and Teach with Passion!

It's not Magic, It's Science!

richardkinney@cusd.com

http://qp.clovisusd.k12.ca.us/rey_kinney

Week 27, Day 4: Is it Easter Vacation yet? Teaching techniques

ODD BLOCK SCHEDULE: Same lesson as yesterday.  Intro Student Periodic Square start Hindenburg.

Choir out again today so movie day. I updated grades, kids ramped up and I'm ready for next week to end.

Perhaps the choir kids being out for the 4th day in a week is getting the students hyper excited, also the sunny warm weather is helping the kids get a bit wild.

New York Times article about teaching techniques and merit pay.  Very good. I really like the links to videos of excellent teaching techniques.An aging dinosaur like me is appreciating this.

I hope this helps,

Love to Teach, and Teach with Passion!

It's not Magic, It's Science!

richardkinney@cusd.com

http://qp.clovisusd.k12.ca.us/rey_kinney

Week 27, Day 3: Choir kids gone, more artsey Chemistry.

Even block. Hindenburg video. Student periodic Square.
Choir is out again today and this week so I'm doing videos in place of notes or labs.

Lost moring prep time having to cover morning duty because some colleagues not showing up to their duty.

I created this STUDENT PERIODIC TABLE assignment as a fun way to make a connection between students and chemistry.  It looks so neat on the wall with all their pictures, especially when the put photos of them when they were much younger.

Week 27, Day 2: Getting my "sea" legs back.

Odd block schedule: Period 1 , begin NOVA Kaboom video.  Period 5 and 7  do white powder lab(after a week off from labs due to the grape and broken model airplane incidents).
Day felt hectic, kids are a bit more hyper, we just had the daylight savings time switch and we now have sunny warm perfect weather after almost 2 months of clouds and rain. I need a vacation more that the kids to.  My colleagues feel the same way about the hyperness of the the kids.  We hope next week will be better for kids behavior.

I'm almost recovered from the intensity of the final weeks of science olympiad.  My room is a mess and I need to get it cleaned up.  Open house next week.  I need to get ready for that.

Week 27, Day 1: Hydrolysis of water and Gold Foil Simulation Lab

EVEN BLOCK SCHEDULE: Viewed Hydrogen Hopes Video, and Honors sceince did the Gold foil simulation lab,

Electrolysis device working slow but usuable.THe Platnum electrodes are waring out or my copper wires connecting it are corroded mostly through.

 I escaped to lunch with my wife and mother in law. It was nice to get away after 4 months of coaching during my lunches.
In honors class we did the Rutherford Gold foil lab simulation. This was the experiment that showed atoms have a positive dense nucleus. Did it outside on cement. The data was lousy. Perhaps the cement or maybe the distance ,25 ft, was too much. Lab took too long, more than a period. I thought we'd be done in a half an hour.  The kids are to roll marbles randomly, not aim, at some target marbles. Then we count hits and misses and use some statistical math to determine the size of the target molecules.  Usually we do better with calculating the % error. Usually its about 10%, today it was -56% error.  Yikes.

You can get the lab sheet from my web site.  E-mail me if you need.  richardkinney@cusd.com

Week 26, Day 5: Short periods and Rally and P Er I O d I C N Am Es!

Odd Block Periods
Due to shorter periods we really just had tome to go over homework, reveiw some notes and prepare for the next homework.
Friday rally schedule.  Classes a bit shorter than usual. Actually about the length of next years class periods on the 3 day non-block periods.

This is The Periodic Names Assignment.  A fun artsey project that looks great at Open House
You see our school and the connected High School do not have enough minutes per period compared to the other schools in the district and we have to change our schedule next year.  For me this means one less section of teaching and an hour a week MORE with my students.  YES!

I was rally co-M.C.. I am shy by nature, I overcome that in class by being semi wacky, being over the top is my stichk.  I would much rather wear a mascot suit so noone knows who I am.  I over come this very well, I doo great on stage, but it leave may lepidopterans in my gastric region.

Week 26, Day 4: Don't plan anything big during a chior festival.

Thursday, Even Block Schedule: Same lesson as yesterday.


Choir was out today to a festival out of town.  I estimate that 1/4 of period 2 was absent.


Every month we have a pizza luncheon to pay tribute to our students that have done exceptional work or made exceptional improvement. 3/4 of the award recipients were out for choir, including my student.


Nice day, VERY CALM