Science Concepts in 8th Grade
8th-grade scientists have great rapport at this point in the year, you might even say they have chemistry. Combining their work from film and their emergent understanding of basic concepts in chemistry, the 8th graders are making short films to both show and deepen their learning. We made up a goofy host for the science show Professor Proton. Costumes, props, and dance moves are a must. But mostly, we are trying to take something small, obscure, and invisible to the human eye and make it large, clear, and visible.
Just today we brainstormed our way through the second chapter of Middle School Chemistry, looking for concepts that we understood well enough to explain and we got a huge list!
Energy can be transferred and that is heat
atoms are in motion
energy transfer causes both a speed up and slow down in molecules
molecular structure changes across phases
PHASE CHANGE
different solids melt a different temperatures
heat increases the rate of evaporation
humidity affects rates of condensation
ice can expand to break cast iron
water cycle/ water appearing in different places/forms depending on the conditions
Next, we thought of ways to embody these concepts using our bodies in a video and came up with some fun ones. We are looking forward to sharing the end products at an all-school soon!
Here are some scenes from the hands-on learning in the science lab!
Tilly and Phina recording observations about condensation:
Harper measuring energy transfer with a thermometer in Celsius:
Everybody watching the kinetic molecular theory, which states that molecules are always in motion, take place in real time with food coloring:
Case and Tilly play with water on wax paper to see its cohesive properties, it is a polar molecule after all!
