We started off class today by watching a cartoon in which an astronaut traveled to another planet, and even though the planet appeared to be very small, there was a whole world of microscopic life occurring just underneath the surface (or atmosphere). The astronaut's giant footsteps caused chaos and catastrophe on this tiny planet, and when the astronaut was finally going to depart away from the planet in his rocket, the rocket blasted out a shower of fire that burned and destroyed the entire planet. 

Andrew then shared his Exhibition Night plans with us and drew out the organization for the space we're going to be using.  Our plays will take place in the Main Commons and our data analysis exhibitions will be displayed in the Great Room. There will be a table with refreshments in the middle of the Great Room. Andrew said we might distribute fortune cookies whose fortunes are different happiness related conclusions we came up with.

Andrew then spent a little bit of time going over our math homework for Kolina, and then we had open work time for the rest of the day.

Homework:
  • Work on your personal reflection for your pursuit. 
  • Correct any incomplete work from the units that Andrew passed back.
 
Here is a summary of what we've done this week:
We watched Cosmos on Monday and also in the beginning of class on Wednesday.
We've had work time to finish our personal reflections about our qualitative conclusions from our pursuits.
Andrew has passed back work from the units and updated our grades on PowerSchool.

Nothing major is coming up, just began to brainstorm artifacts from your pursuit that you would like to have present at Exhibition Night.

Homework:
  • Work on your personal reflection for your pursuit. 
  • Correct any incomplete work from the units that Andrew passed back.
 
Today we spent the first half of class watching and discussing Cosmos. This episode focused on female scientists, which helped make this episode unique. Andrew then spent the rest of class discussing different ways we could analyze the data from the survey he sent out regarding our happiness pursuits. Here is a link that will direct you to the post on the Happiness Blog on Andrew's DP where he discusses how he expects us to complete the data analysis report (you will need to copy and paste the link): http://alerario.weebly.com/project-blog.html

Instead of making the Redox Lab a requirement, Andrew's going to come up with a number of lab reports he wants us to complete by the end of the semester, which will give us a choice of which reports from which labs we want to do. If you already completed the Redox Lab, you can add this lab to one of the ones you need to turn in, and if you haven't, you do not need to complete it (but you will have to do more later this quarter).

Keep in mind that we do not have school next Friday, May 9th, and Intersession begins two weeks from today on May 12th and will run through Friday, May 16. Our exhibition is on Wednesday, June 4th.

Homework:
  • Happiness Data Analysis. http://alerario.weebly.com/project-blog.html
 
Thursday: We completed the Redox Lab and briefly went over the lab report requirements. Here is a picture of them (it's a bit blurry and I will try taking a better picture on Monday):

 Friday: We analyzed data from the survey that Andrew had on his DP which had us reflect on our happiness pursuits. We will be going over this in further detail on Monday, and we will begin to make conclusions based on this data. Here is a link to the survey: https://docs.google.com/a/hightechhigh.org/forms/d/1or5eXkPTJcBZDNT67ETxKn6VpXsuQ8sSpdQlQKzYdCs/viewform

We were given a lot of open work time on both of these days. Some people chose to stay in the classroom and work on their lab reports and happiness pursuit reflections while others went to work on their monster puppets for Kay. 

I apologize for not being able to post on here more frequently. I will once again attempt to begin posting daily this coming week.

Homework:
  • If you haven't already, complete your happiness pursuit reflections and turn them into Andrew as soon as possible.
  • Work on your lab reports for the Redox lab.
 
We begin class by discussing our trip to Six Flags yesterday. We talked about the different rides and how they made us feel in regards to happiness. We then got the rest of class to catch up on work or work on our puppets for Kay's. Tomorrow we will be finishing the Redox Lab in class, and if we have enough time we will have work time afterwards.

Homework:
  • (Due Friday) Our Happiness Pursuit Reflections + our Happiness Pursuit Journals.
  • (Due Friday) Our Redox lab reports.
 
Today we did an experiment. We stuck a copper wire in a beaker filled with .1 moles of silver nitrate solution, and watched patiently as crystals began to grow on the part of the wire that was in the solution. As we waited for the crystals, we learned about the oxidation and reductions reactions taking place, and by doing this we were also able to review balancing equations and calculating molar mass. Andrew will hopefully be posting the lab overview to his DP soon, but if you would like it sooner, send me an email and I'll send you pictures of the pages.

Tomorrow we will have hour/hour schedule in the morning. Chris White (the college counselor) will be giving a talk on his experiences applying for college and other things during fourth period, and we will be meeting with our Inspire Week groups during fifth period.

Next week, we will be going on a field trip to a college fair taking place at the San Diego Convention Center on Wednesday morning from 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM. If you did not receive a permission slip today, make sure you grab one tomorrow. Andrew wants us to return the slips to him no later than Friday (preferably tomorrow).

Homework:
  • Correct any incomplete work that Andrew passed back.
  • (Due Friday) Your happiness pursuits and journals are due!
  • (Due tomorrow) Signed permission slips for the college fair.
 
Today we reviewed molecular mass and the basics of stoichiometry. Here are picture of my notes:
Here are pictures of the papers that Andrew handed out to us today which further explain this concept:
Andrew also passed back corrected work today.

We will be doing an experiment in class tomorrow.

Homework:
  • Correct any incomplete work that Andrew passed back.
  • (Due Friday) Your happiness pursuits and journals are due!


 
First of all,, I would like to apologize for being unable to update the blog Thursday and Friday of last week. I will attempt to make sure this does not recur. A basic rundown of Thursday was that we watched Cosmos, spent a few minutes subsequent to that discussing the episode, and then spent the rest of the period engaging in a Socratic Seminar like experiment as a class. On Friday, we had another Socratic Seminar like experiment, in which we learned about acids and bases by mixing different amounts of hydroxide (a base), and hydrochloride  (an acid) with red cabbage juice. 

Today in class, we watched episode 6 of Cosmos in the beginning of class. We spent some time afterwards discussing it as always. Afterwards, we began learning about stoichiometry. Here are a few pictures of the main things Andrew had written on the board:
Here are pictures of my notes on the topic and notes Andrew wrote for me to help me understand molecular mass:
Tomorrow we will be doing an experiment in class. Andrew announced today that we will no longer be doing units (however this does NOT mean that we will not be receiving work!). Our 6 Flags trip is one week from tomorrow! 

Homework:
  • (Due Friday) Your happiness pursuits and journals are due!
 
Today we began class with our usual discussion, and then we watched Episode 3 of Cosmos. We had our after-Cosmos discussion subsequent to that (we somehow ended up steering the discussion to Arizona laws). We then had a mid-project check in survey. We had to fill out a sheet of paper with different questions regarding our progress with our pursuits of happiness. We then had a chemistry evaluation assessment with review questions from past units so that Andrew could get a hint of what we remembered and what he should briefly review (and also to get a sense on how to structure future lessons so that the material stays with us).

We will be watching the fourth episode of Cosmos tomorrow. We will also be receiving back graded work.

Homework:
  • Work on your happiness pursuits and happiness pursuit journals!
  • Complete work from any of the units you are missing.
 
On a starters note, welcome back to school! I hope you had a relaxing and enjoyable spring break, and are now well rested and ready to finish this last stretch of the school year strong!

We began Andrew's class today with the opening discussions as always. Andrew touched based on a few things to keep in mind in regards to the project:
  • Exhibition Night will be June 4th. 
  • The field trip to 6 Flags will be on April 22nd. Permission slips and money must be turned into Kay by this Friday, April 11. If you need financial assistance and can only pay a partial amount of the $65 cost, talk to Kay and you will be assisted.
  • The happiness pursuits + journals will be due next week (on Friday).

We watched Episode 5 of Cosmos in class today. We decided collectively that we will be watching Episodes 3 & 4 (the ones that ran over spring break) tomorrow (Wednesday) and Friday.  We spent some time discussing the content of Episode 5 after it finished.

Tomorrow in class we will be beginning reflections about our happiness pursuits. Andrew will also pass back all the work he corrected over break, and he will show you what work from which units you still need to complete.

Homework:
  • Work on your happiness pursuits and happiness pursuit journals!
  • Complete work from any of the units you are missing.