May 22nd

Did You Know…? In Iran, clouds are lucky. If someone is blessed, you might tell them, ‘your sky is always filled with clouds’.

Good afternoon,

Today the students and I had a pretty great day. After a long week of testing, we had decided yesterday to have a break today. This morning we had an extra Computer class to get started. The students did have to type and publish their Social letter/journal that they have been working on for the Great Migration. Then then students were exploring acids and bases and the pH scale. The websites we used are listed below. The first website tested the pH of different liquids. You could even get more complex if you wanted by changing the concentration (adding water) to see if that changed it’s pH. The second simulator let students test the pH of different liquids using litmus paper. This litmus paper is a lot more sensitive than the paper we use in class that turns either red or blue. This paper could change to a variety of colours depending on the pH of the liquid. It is important that students remember that acids have an acidity of 0 to 7, that bases have an alkalinity of 7 to 14, and that 7 is neutral. They should be able to list some examples of acids and bases as well. For example, orange juice and vomit are acids, but dish soap and drain cleaner are bases. Check out the websites at home for more examples or watch the Study Jams video for a quick review!

Acids and Bases – http://phet.colorado.edu/sims/html/ph-scale/latest/ph-scale_en.html

Litmus Paper – http://www.glencoe.com/sites/common_assets/science/virtual_labs/E22/E22.html

Study Jams – http://studyjams.scholastic.com/studyjams/jams/science/matter/acids-and-bases.htm

In Art today we learned a little bit about First Nation’s artist Alex Janvier.

We were inspired by the use of line in his work, and so today students completed a project that I like to call, “Taking a Line for a Walk.” This project involves them using their imaginations as they follow the line across the page. Are you travelling uphill? Flying? Then students fill in the spaces to help convey information about their adventure. They can be detailed or they can be subtle. Some students put in words, characters, etc. while others focused on using colour and shapes to tell their stories. Check out the pictures at the end, they turned out great! Want to see my example again?

Finally, we continued to explore the topic of Classroom Chemistry today. Today we focused on acids and bases (similar to the activities above). We started with a quick review of the cohesion seen in water particles that creates it’s strong surface tension or a “skin” of water. Soap and other bases can lower the surface tension water. We placed pepper on the water. As soon as we added soap, the pepper quickly moved to the sides. As the surface tension is lowered, the “skin” of water breaks, rushing towards the sides of the cup and carrying the pepper with it. We then reviewed what we know about acids and bases. We know that bases have a pH of 7-14, taste bitter, and can lower waters surface tension. We know that acids have a pH of 0-7, taste sour, and can speed up the rate at which something dissolves. We also learned that acids react with baking soda when we explored the PBS kids website on Wednesday. So today we tested the following liquids: vinegar, dish soap, lemon juice, liquid bluing, hydrogen peroxide, and iodine. The vinegar and lemon juice both reacted with the baking soda (we saw a gas form – bubbling) identifying them both as acids. Then we discussed some of the materials we used today. A lot of cleaners are bases. The more alkaline a substance the better it is at lower the surface tension of water. That means that other materials (eg. dirt, food on dishes, etc.) won’t adhere as well to the water and can be easier to wash away. Acids can be found in some cleaning supplies too, as they are good at dissolving unwanted materials so they can we rinsed out, but often bases are more common for commercial cleaning products.

Agenda:

Read 20 minutes

Math: