Science at Mid-Year

As you may know, science doesn’t involve as much assignments and projects in Grade 8 PLP, so I thought doing a review half-way through would be a good way for my blog to have at least something from this subject.

To connect to a math study, I remember doing a fun experiment were in parters, we made a boat out of tinfoil and toothpicks to see how many pennies it hold while floating in water. Many models were made, though in the end I think a simple canoe shape worked out the best.

Our first actual unit was on the States of Matter. This involves learning that matter is everything in the universe, and for the most part can be classified into liquids, solids, and gasses. Next I learned how these states change from one another, and how we see that all around us. This unit culminated in us making a video in parters (Izzy was mine) showing how the particles in a substance could change.

The following lessons were all about viscosity, including flow rates and liquids. To see this in real life, the whole class was part of a viscosity lab. Each partnership (can you tell we do this often?) got a specific temperature to heat oil up until and then we timed how long it took for the oil to all drip out form the same height. We then all made one chart to see what the data looked like.

Below is the video Izzy and I made. Definitely could use some refining, but I really like it except for my voice.

As of this moment I’m writing, the unit is one focused around cells and microbiology. Before anything else could take place, a few days ago everyone completed a sheet on how to use a microscope. There are lots of small details and my absolute nightmare would be to drop one, so I’m being EXTRA careful. Just today, there were several specimens I put under the ‘scope and they were all incredibly fascinating to look at. I’m waiting eagerly for the rest of this unit.

This year has been very different for me in the way that classes are set up and when they are done, however I think I’ve adapted well. That being said though, there’s still a couples habits I’d like to tweak. Firstly, I think looking deeper into the subjects would really help me, even if it’s just watching a YouTube video because it offers more ways to look at things differently. Also up for revision is my ability to be flexible and open to these new concepts and ways of presenting work. Instead of a poster, there’ll be a video, instead of a worksheet, there are tough questions, and these are all important to know. I enjoy going to science class, and I think that’s a huge part of what has helped me, and what will continue to for the rest of the year.