Why is Science Important?

Neil deGrasse Tyson is the director of the Hayden planetarium and the host of the new Cosmos series.  He spoke in this little 2-3 minute blurb about why everyone needs a basic understanding of science (science literacy).

Watch the video and tell me:  what are some other examples of situations in life where people might try to "pull one over on you" where an understanding of science and questioning would be helpful.  The example given in the video is of someone telling you that crystals will heal certain diseases.

Thoughts on Energy-Day One

So, to kick off the year, and our mini-unit introduction to energy and forces, students watched the "Honda COG" video, selected one portion of it, and diagrammed out the "energy story" of that portion.  Students were asked to list types of energy, describe what was happening to the energy, and where the energy was.

Here is the video:

And here are some sample whiteboards with the task students were asked to do:

We then discussed and acknowledged that students already had a pretty intuitive understanding of energy already.  Then, students were asked to come up with a definition for energy.  These are some sample definitions:

This idea courtesy of the Energy Project at SPU!

Supplies!

It's almost time for a welcome back!  Just so you know, the following materials will be required for your science class this year:

• 2 composition books (100 pages each, one for each semester, please buy them both now!  I will keep your second one for you)
• set of colored pencils (8 colors is plenty)
• calculator (on a cell phone is acceptable).

I will be checking for these materials on Tuesday, September 6th.  Let me know if you have questions or problems with this list!  

There are suggested supplies that you might find helpful to have, but are not required:

• a ruler
• post-it notes
• a highlighter
• A bright color of pen to contrast with the pen or pencil you normally use
• tape or a small bottle of white glue

Students this year will also have Google accounts set up through the school.  If you have a smart phone, you can access Google docs through this with free apps.  This is completely optional, but a nice feature, if you have a smart phone.