Thinking About The Lab Report

This weekend's homework requires us to take some time and truly think about the Lab Report:

1. What purpose does a Lab Report serve? Why do we make them in them at all? What do we hope to accomplish with a Lab Report?


Once you've established why it is important to do a Lab Report, you will then need to answer the following question:

2. What makes a good Lab Report? What information should it include? How should it be presented? What should a good Lab Report avoid? What makes a BAD Lab Report (provide at least 3 examples of a bad Lab Report)?


The combined responses should be 1/2 to 1 full page in length.

RE: vue! (quiz! quiz! quiz!)

Today we had a small recap of the concepts we've been studying for the last two weeks. We also discussed the lab we did Wednesday and we talked about the Law of Conservation of Mass. Here is our homework:


1. Prepare your binder for the Binder Check.

2. Study for tomorrow's quiz!

Naje's wacky Wednesday experiment!

The homework is a continuation of the work we started in class. We placed aluminum foil(Al) in a bag containing copper chloride (CuCl2) in solution. We made several observations and we were asked to draw conclusions.

The homework requires us to synthesize all of that information with our knowledge of chemistry in order to explain what we witnessed in class.

Assignment: What you believe happened today during our science experiment? Was there a chemical reaction? How do you know? What do you think happened to the substances involved? If it was a chemical reaction, what kind of chemical reaction do you think it was (Synthesis? Decomposition? Single displacement? Double displacement?) ?

Write a paragraph explaining what you think happened when we combined aluminum with copper chloride. Remember to provide evidence and also to provide a chemical equation to support your answer.

Tuesday's Homework April 27, 2010

What kind of a reaction is the following:

NaHC03 + CH3COOH ---->  CO2 + H2O + CH3COONa




Is it a synthesis reaction, a decomposition reaction, a single displacement reaction or a double displacement reaction? Why do you think so? Explain and provide evidence. (1 long paragraph)

Monday's Homework for April 26, 2010

Thinksheet #72

Fair and balanced!

Today we understood that the amount of matter on the reactant side has to be equal to the amount of matter on the product side. So if we have four atoms on the reactant side, then we must have four atoms on the product side as well, even though they are new substances. We will work on more of that tomorrow.

Tonight for homework we have thinksheet # 0836. The thinksheet presents a variety of situations and we must determine whether they are physical or chemical changes. Remember to use as many vocab words as possible. Also remember that there are two sides (front and back)! Argh!

New Bonds, New Substances!

Wednesday's homework is to answer the following question. (1 paragraph response)

Why do reactants and products in a chemical equation involve the same elements?

More than meets the eye!

Today in class we watched Naje introduce a teaspoon of some powdery white substance into a 500ml beaker filled with 100ml of clear liquid. In an instant the concoction erupted, nearly spilling outside of the beaker before swiftly subsiding and coming to a rest! Craziness! What did we witness?

Naje soon informed us that he had just combined baking soda with vinegar. We were tasked with explaining what we had just witnessed in the scientific terms we've been using this year. We had to make observations, predictions and draw conclusions supported by evidence. What most of us agreed upon was that we had witnessed a chemical reaction...and that's when the homework came.

Monday Homework:

We were told that the substances involved were these strange looking things:

CH3COOH and NaHCO3.

One of them is baking soda. One of them is vinegar. Which is which? How do you know? What evidence do you have to support your claim? What did you see today that supports this? What prior knowledge do you have to give you clues? (1/2 page response).

The Art of Science!

Tonight's homework was Study Sheet # 38. Unfortunately we did not complete our gallery walks in class so this means we will have to finish Study Sheet # 38 first thing in class tomorrow! So I guess there's no homework tonight right? Wrong! You still need to review your notes and come prepared to present your area of expertise tomorrow (cations vs anions, ionic bonding, covalent bonding, metallic bonding, dot diagrams, or the periodic table). Get ready to work mañana!

Metal Heads!

Why is it that the properties of metals do not change when they form metallic bonds? (1 paragraph)

Weekend Homework = Awesomeness!

Okay SOFers, it's that time again. Time to help Young Bill out. The homework for this weekend is to write a letter to Young Bill. In the letter you need to explain the three kinds of chemical bonds you've been studying this unit. The letter can include and introductory paragraph, then 1 paragrapgh dedicated to each bond, and finally a conclusion paragraph. In this final paragraph you can explain the ways in which these three bonds are similar and different, as well as methods for telling them apart. In total, it should be 5 paragraphs (1 page). Hopefully Young Bill will finally understand what's going on in class!

WANTED!!!!

Wow, this Flouride Ion seems pretty angry. He's running around stealing electrons. Something needs to be done about this before he steals anymore!

But first, the homework:

Assignment # 1: Bring your binder to class. No binder, no stamp!


Assignment # 2: Bring 100 sheets of looseleaf to class.


Assignment # 3: Bring a glue stick to class.


Assignment # 4: This fourth and final assignment is the WANTED, MISSING, and LOOKING FOR... posters that we discussed in class Friday. You will need to make a poster about a situation regarding an ion, an atom, or an electron, in such a way that you show an understanding of ionic or covalent bonding.

For example, for the above picture with the angry Fluoride Ion, we could make a poster saying

WANTED: Fluoride for stealing electrons from Alkali Metals. He was last seen hanging out with a group of Halogens. There is a $5,000,000 reward for information leading to his arrest. If you see Fluoride do not approach him as he is HIGHLY REACTIVE! Contact your local scientist immediately!

And we might draw an image of Fluoride stealing electrons, or Fluoride with a mustache, etc.

We could also do a MISSING poster.

MISSING: two electrons missing since Friday. they were last seen with Magnesium before he was approached by two Chlorine atoms from the Anion Gang. When they left, Magnesium found he was missing two electrons. They may be ionically bonded and therefore trapped in a crystalline structure. If you recognize these electrons from their photo, please contact your local authorities.


You can draw the poster, or download images from the web to make your poster, or even use photoshop to create your poster. Have fun and check that the information you provide is correct. Use your notes to make sure. If you don't finish completely over the break, don't worry. We will have a day or two in class to complete the assignment. But you must come in on Wednesday with the work you have done.

Enjoy the rest of the break!