Mr. Williamson's Science Blog

Atmosphere Quiz Study Flashcards

toddwilliamson — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 13:52:21 +0000

Welcome 2011-2012 Sunfish

toddwilliamson — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 19:10:11 +0000

Hello Sunfish students and parents! I hope you all had a restful summer and are ready to head back to a great year at BCMS on the Sunfish Team. Our team has a lot planned for you this year, and I’m certain it will be a year filled with learning opportunities for you. The important part is for you to choose to be involved in our classes. It is up to you to accept the challenges and struggles that may come with the school year, over come them, and have the best year for real learning you’ve ever experienced.

Are you up for the challenge?

It’s coming…

Service Project Reminder

toddwilliamson — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 17:26:02 +0000

DON’T FORGET!! SERVICE PROJECTS ARE DUE MARCH 31st!! DOWN TO THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS…PROJECT REQUIREMENTS CAN BE FOUND IN THE DOCUMENT LINKED TO THE RIGHT CALLED “SERVICE PROJECT FORM”

Looking forward to seeing what you guys have come up with!

The Eyeballing Game

toddwilliamson — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 12:48:31 +0000

For those of you that finish your Writing Task Early…here’s a little challenge! The Eyeballing Game will test your ability to use Geometry to find midpoints, intersections, and angles.

Good luck! Post your top score & time in the comments!

The Eyeballing Game

Writing Task #3: Science Content Piece

toddwilliamson — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 14:37:03 +0000

Okay folks, it’s that time again…the third piece is upon us for the NC Writing Assessment. This time it’s the science content piece. Here is the prompt, a few notes from our discussion today, and some dates for where this is going.

Prompt:
Which system of the body do you consider most important and why?

Possible Reasons a System is Important

Contains vital organs like…
Performs necessary function of…
Works with these other systems…

Please remember to provide clear arguments, supported with information from class and the textbook. You should support each of your reasons/arguments with details that move your point forward.

Monday, Jan 3rd: Brainstorming

Tuesday, Jan 4th: In class writing time

Wednesday, Jan 5th: Turn in written copy

Thursday, Jan 6th: Time in the computer lab to type up written copy

Tuesday, Jan 11th: Computer Lab/Laptops to submit final copy to the state

Body Systems Information

toddwilliamson — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 15:40:33 +0000

For those needing a refresher on the Systems of the Body, their organs, and the functions of the systems, here’s the presentation file with all of that information. Images are from Bodies: The Exhibition!

Weather Map Data Table

toddwilliamson — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 14:26:56 +0000

For those of you who did not finish plotting all of the station models on your Weather Map, here is the data table for the the activity. Please have this finished for class tomorrow so we can work on turning a bunch of station models into an actual weather map.

Click the image for a full size view of the table.

Propaganda and Gaming

toddwilliamson — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 10:41:27 +0000

Today in class you are going to explore one of three online games related to energy use, conservation, air pollution, and global climate change. While you are playing the games, you should be looking for certain things from our propaganda discussion. For example:

Who sponsored the creation of the game? What stake do they have in environmental education?
What types of “in-game” activities make you most successful? Are these tied to the sponsor in any way?
What are some of the actual conservation tips that you learned during the game?
Are there specific uses of any of the propaganda techniques we discussed in class: hiding negative info, sensationalism, “twisting” the truth?

The Games

Electrocity - This one is a SimCity style game where you have 150 turns to create a city with a large population which is also environmentally friendly. Choose the best ways to balance taxes, happiness, environment, and population growth to get the highest overall rating as mayor after your 150 turns. When you finish a game, use the teacher code: TW11152 to notify me of your score.

Energyville - This game focuses more on the sources of energy for your city. Select sources to power your city while keeping the environmental impact low. Certain energy sources may be more effective than others. Try out many different combinations to create the best city.

ClimWay - Follow the link, and click PLAY beside The ClimWay Game. This game focuses on decision-making to control the impact of Greenhouse Gases (GHG) emitted from various sources around a city. Probably the most in-depth of the three games. Please note, in order to see the full options for the game, your browser needs to be in Fullscreen Mode. To do this, press F11.

After playing your game, comment on this post with information from the bullets above. Your comment should be in complete sentences, focused on the content of the game (not the gameplay or graphics), any potential bias or propaganda, and the actual conservation information you learned.

Atmosphere Test on Thursday!!

toddwilliamson — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 13:47:37 +0000

Sunfish students will have a test on the information we have covered about the Atmosphere on Thursday, October 14th. The test will cover the following topics:

Atmospheric Layers
Heat Transfer (Conduction, Convection, Radiation)
Local Winds (Sea Breezes, etc)
Gases in the Atmosphere
Global Winds/Coriolis Effect
Air Pressure (Specifically related to demonstrations in class)

I have given students a study guide, but a copy of that study guide can be found here.

Gummy Bear Analysis Questions

toddwilliamson — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 12:45:09 +0000

The following are the analysis questions from today’s Gummy Bear Lab. These should be answered in your notebook on page 37 or 38 along with the rest of your lab write-up.

1. Do observations and evidence support your hypothesis? Why or why not?
2. Which change is greater – mass or volume? Explain.
3. Explain what happened to the gummy bear. Page 383 in the text may be very useful.
4. Was there a change in density? Why?
5. How do your results compare with your classmates?
6. What additional questions do you have/experiments could you perform?