Elements - wanted postets

Catapults - cross curriculum

English and Science joined forces this week to design a course for our year 9 class. We decided on a theme... catapults. 

Year 9 Revision for End of Year Science Test

This year it was decided that our students would only sit a one hour Science test instead of an end of year exam.  We had limited time for revision so I decided to get them to create posters based on the Need to Know lists I gave them for each topic.  There were lots of great discussions and I was really impressed with amount of work some of the students completed.  

They worked in groups of 2-3 students, were given a Need to Know list for one of the topics we completed this year.  Armed with there science books, a text book and an Ipad they set to answering the questions.  

There was some fantastic group work and use of the resources to find out the required information

Observations by HOD 2013

During my first year at Paeroa College my HOD completed a couple of formal observations. He felt the content was appropriate and I clearly expressed my expectations buy he felt that I needed to have work on getting silence during key teaching moments.

Fire - Year 9 Everyday Chemistry

We are currently answering the question "how is chemistry used for in everyday life?". So far, we have looked at what chemical and physical changes are and they have also researched a topic of their choice and they had to identify the chemistry involved.  The topics included bombs, glass and baking. It invited lots of discussion and they connected with the research.  It also highlighted the need to develop teamwork skills and to find different ways for them to share what they find out.

We are moving forward into looking at reaction rates and am going to base it around fire to begin with. It is a great context to revisit chemical and physical change. It also means that I can build on their prior knowledge when introducing the idea of reaction rates.

The sciencelearn website has got some great resources that I can use in the classroom.

http://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/Contexts/Fire/Teaching-and-Learning-Approaches/Alternative-conceptions-about-fire

http://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/Contexts/Fire/Teaching-and-Learning-Approaches/The-great-candle-experiment

http://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/Contexts/Fire/Teaching-and-Learning-Approaches/Light-a-candle

This will be of use too, http://arb.nzcer.org.nz/resources/science/material/6000/mw6292.htm