week of February 22nd

We have started our unit on atomic energy and have read through chapter four, section one. Expect a quiz on this material on Friday--unless of course we get more snow.

Topics to review include the definition of nuclear radiation, the concept of radioactive decay and atomic mass. Be able to compare and contrast alpha, beta and gamma decay. Think about both particle size and penetration.

We did discuss half-life in class today--It will not be on friday's quiz but it would be a good idea to review the concept.

The week of February 8th

This week we will be working on the concepts of acids, bases and the pH scale. Please make sure you read sections one and two of chaoter three and be prepared for a quiz sometime in the near future.

Feb 5 review and water tension

This week in class we reviewed our chapter two test on chemical reactions, reviewed our International Boiling point project and some classes even participated in a video conference with a school in pennsylvania.

Today we did a short review on surface tension (we will be reviewing material covered in 6th and 7th grade as we get closer to the NJASK test). We watched a youtube video of a water droplet bouncing in slow motion. The video can be found at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRSK4k3D-50

We also saw a video of water balloons popping in micro-gravity, found at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7fEHYkGxd0

Next week we will work on ionic and covalent solutions and then acids and bases.