First Week Objective:
Students will be able to distinquish between an observation, inference, and prediction and be able to use these skills within an experiment.
Lab Safety
The first week of school is always a struggle because I just want to jump straight in to talking about science and doing labs but that would be a train wreck without layind down some ground rules. So on Monday we spent a majority of the class time talking about Lab Safety. Students were sent home a Lab Safety contract that needs to be SIGNED by a parent in order for them to participate in labs. Our very first lab is going to be on Thursday so they must have it in by then. If they do not then they will not be able to participate in the lab. If you have not seen this from your child CLICK HERE to print it out.
Observation, Inference, & Prediction
Starting on Wednesday we will be discussing what obervations, inferences, and predictions are. These are important skills to have when experiencing science. Many labs we will do this year will require these skills.
Observation: Using one or more senses to gather information.
Inference: Explanation of your observation based on reasoning from prior knowledge.
Prediction: Making a forecast of what will happen in the future based on past experience or evidence
Next Weeks Objective:
Students will be able to identify the steps of the scientific method and how to use all the steps to perform a quality experiment.
What's going on in the world of science?
Thought I would share this interesting video taken from the International Space station as it flew over Hurricane Irene. It is currently located in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean about 55 miles northeast of Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, and 70 miles southeast of Grand Turk Island. This position is also approximately 705 miles east-southeast of Miami, Florida. Irene intensified into a Category 2 hurricane Monday evening and now has maximum sustained winds near 100 mph.
