March 3
Read Lesson 10: Light of the World, and answer these questions:
- What is nuclear fusion?
- Describe Thomas Edison’s lightbulb.
- What does opaque mean?
- What does transparent mean?
- What does translucent mean?
- Can light travel through space?
Today you worked on two labs:
Light Lab 1
Light Lab 2
We’ll finish these next time.
February 24
Finish reading Lesson 9, The Sound of Energy. Instead of answering questions about this part of the chapter, I would like you to do two things:
- Put your February Lab Packet together. See the table of contents, linked below.
- Read the rest of Lesson 9 and study for a test on lessons 8 and 9. It will be a combination of true/false and multiple-choice questions. You need to remember these concepts:
- Kinetic energy and potential energy.
- What sound is and how it travels.
- The parts of a sound wave. If you were absent from class this week, see the diagram linked below.
February Packet Table of Contents
February 17
Hello! Can you hear me? Can you hear noises around your house right now?
As I type this, I hear the clock ticking above my desk, the sound of my fingers moving on my keyboard, Mr. B is rustling papers, my oven makes clicking sounds as it heats to bake my bread, the furnace came on with a gentle hum. Take a few minutes to sit with a pencil and paper and list all of the sounds in your house!
Please read Lesson 9, “Sound of Energy”, from pages 146-152. Answer these questions:
- Take a few minutes and listen to the sounds around you right now. Write down all the sounds you hear.
- What is sound?
- What is a sound wave?
- What is an echo? How are echo’s produced?
- What does it mean that “air is a conductor of sound”?
- Which kind of medium does sound travel through best – solid, liquid, or gas?
Today you began working on two labs–
- Sources of Sound
- Sound Mediums
You didn’t finish these labs, so you will come back next week and work on them. This week, though, you can make sure you have answered the worksheet questions for the labs you did finish.
February 10
Read 134 – 144
- What are the problems with using coal for energy? What are the advantages?
- What is natural gas, and where does it come from?
- Write two sentences about nuclear energy.
- Why are hydropower, solar energy, wind energy and geothermal energy called “clean” energy?
- Choose one example of clean energy and write one sentence about it.
Today’s science lab was called Kinetic and Potential Energy Lab. If you didn’t finish gathering your information, you can do that next time.
February 3
I’m so sorry to cancel classes today! And you were going to take a test, too!
Now you have an extra week to study for the test, and to get your January pages in order.
Test on February 10; January pages due also.
Our next chapter is Lesson 8: Work in the World. Please read pages 126 – 134 and answer these questions:
- What is energy?
- There are two main kinds of energy. What are they?
- What are three examples of kinetic energy?
- What are three examples of potential energy?
- Explain the potential energy in a banana.
- How does fuel provide energy?
- What is an “oil reservoir?”
January 27
We’ve finished Lessons 6 and 7. Now it’s time for a little test on what you know! Study these terms: mechanics, Newton’s three laws, inertia, force, acceleration, friction, traction, adhesion, gravity, free fall, and centripetal force. Whew.
Read Lesson 7, pages 116-123. Define these terms:
- What is gravity?
- What is free falling?
- What is centripetal force?
Your quiz will be true or false. If you understand the meaning of those motion words, you will be fine…but study them this week
All your notebook pages for January are due next week. Click below for the Table of Contents list.
Also, to practice for your test next week, do this quiz. (It is not homework…and the answers are in the next document).
January 20
Please read Lesson 7, pages 109 – 116 and answer these questions. Put your answers inside of your notebook.
- We live with two forces every single day. What are they?
- How do scientists define friction?
- How is friction an important part of our lives?
- What is traction? What is the best way to get a car unstuck from a mud puddle?
- What is adhesion? How is adhesion different from cohesion?
- Name two ways to reduce friction.
January 13
Read the rest of Lesson 6, “Mechanics in Motion”, pages 102-107. Answer these questions for your notebook:
- What does Newton’s Second Law mean? Give an example.
- What is acceleration? Does acceleration only mean “speeding up”?
- What is Newton’s Third Law? Write it in a sentence.
- Draw a diagram of a balloon zooming around the room when you blow it up and let it go. Use arrows to show how the balloon moves in one direction as the air escapes in the opposite direction.
- Why must astronauts be hooked to a rope when they go outside the space station? Explain using Newton’s Third Law.
Today we experimented with Newton’s Third Law with “Film Canister Rocket Lab”, which was both fun and messy! Answer the questions on your lab handout and put them into your January section.
January 6
Today we learned about physics and some “laws” discovered by Sir Isaac Newton. Read pages 97-102 and answer these questions for your science notebook. They will be due at the end of the month!
- What is the study of motion called?
- What does a mechanic want to do when he works on a broken car?
- Name at least 5 things in the universe that are moving all the time.
- Write Newton’s First Law of motion on your notebook paper, filling in these blanks:
An object at _________ prefers to stay at __________ unless something forces it to move, and something in ____________prefers to stay in ____________ unless something forces it to stop moving.
- What is a force?
- Lastly, let’s say you’re sitting in the back seat of your car, and your mom is driving 40 mph on Sidney Road to Miracle Ranch. Suddenly a deer jumps in front of the car and your mom slams on the brakes. What happens to you? Why?
For lab today, we worked on understanding inertia with three labs:
Penny Spin
Penny Drop
We didn’t have time to do “Out from Under”, but we’ll do it next week.
Make sure you have answered the questions on the lab papers and put them inside your binder!
January 1, 2026
When I see you on January 6, I will explain inertia to you.
Have you ever heard of inertia? Can you pronounce it?
Inertia is a big deal in physics, and we’ll learn what an early scientist named Isaac Newton had to say about it.
See you soon!
Mrs. B
November 28
We’re on vacation! Hooray! Enjoy your break, and I will be so happy to see you on January 6. We will begin a study of physics next!
November 18
Next week we will say goodbye until January 6, 2026! I hope you have a very good Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday and I will look forward to beginning the “physics” part of our book when we return.
Due next week is your November packet of homework assignments. Below I have linked TWO documents for you –
- The Table of Contents page for November. Print this and follow the list of assignments to staple your pages together in the correct order.
2. Just in case you don’t know which page is which (because they have similar titles), I have linked ALL of them below. Check this link to make sure you have yours; print them if you need to!
Also, you will take a little test next week. Today I gave you two practice quizzes; use them to study for the little test.
November 11
We did two experiments about solutions and mixtures today, and how to separate the parts of a mixture by filtration and mechanical methods. Make sure you have answered the questions on your handouts and put them into the November section of your notebook!
November 4
Write this heading on your paper: Lesson 5, pages 82-87
- What is the difference between a heterogeneous mixture and a homogeneous mixture?
- In a glass of salt water, what is the solute? What is the solvent?
- Water is a “polar molecule”, kind of like a magnet. That’s why it can dissolve so many substances! See the drawing on the top, left side of page 86. It shows a water molecule. Please draw a water molecule, labeling its positive and negative ends.
- Dirt and oils and germs are nonpolar and cannot be washed off by water alone. Explain why we need to use soap to get our hands clean. Use at least two sentences in your answer!
Today I gave you a packet of handouts about “Solutions and Mixtures.” These are the pages you should have –
- “Solution/Mixture” graphic. Please color this.
- “What is a Solution” information page.
- “Solutes and Solvents” worksheet: write the correct answers in the rectangles.
- “Mixture or Solution?” worksheet. Write “mixture” or “solution” beneath each picture.
- “Mixtures and Solutions Word Search”
- Lab: “Is it Soluble or Insoluble?” We did this lab in class today. Make sure you have finished recording your findings on both pages.
For each handout, you must answer the questions, or work on the problems, or color the pictures. These are due on November 25, 2025.
October 28
Today we learned how to read a thermometer! You wrote some temperature information into a chart. Turn that chart in with your October packet next timel
Click on the link below to print your Table of Contents:
October 21
Wow! Wasn’t it interesting to have Mr. Hubbard join us today with his rock collection? He has some very beautiful samples of crystals!
We Also practiced taking the volume of an irregular solid. Finish the handout “Measuring Volume using Subtraction” if you didn’t finish it in class.
Your reading assignment this week comes from Chapter 4, pages 72-79. Write a heading on your paper this way:
Questions for Chapter 4, pages 72 – 79.
Answer these questions:
- Where does the word “acid” come from, and what does it mean?
- How do acids taste?
- What makes strong acids dangerous?
- What is a base?
- Give an example of a base.
- What is the difference between a chemical change and a physical change?
- What is the difference between an endothermic reaction and an exothermic reaction?
October 14
Oh goodness! Bubble gum contains LOTS of sugar! Make sure you have finished your lab sheet called “How much SUGAR is in a piece of bubble gum?”
Then, start Lesson 4. Please write a heading on your paper like this:
Lesson 4, p. 62-72
Answer these questions on your paper:
- Explain what “element”, “molecule” and “compound” mean.
- What is a crystal? Give an example of a crystal.
- Where does the word “crystal” come from? What does it mean?
- What did you learn about diamonds?
- What did you learn about polymers? Give two examples of polymers.
- What is the bad news about plastics? What is the good news?
October 7
This week please read Chapter 3, 49-59, and answer these questions:
- What part of an atom has no charge?
- What two particles live in the nucleus of an atom?
- Look at the Periodic Table of Elements on page 53. Choose any three elements, from #1-20. Write the names of your elements, their letter abbreviation, and their atomic number.
- Choose two atoms from #1-10 on the Periodic Table of Elements and draw them. Remember that the top number tells us how many protons and electrons the atom has; the bottom number tells us the number of protons PLUS the number of neutrons in the nucleus. This is tough stuff…do your best!
September 30
- All your September science homework is due next week, October 7. I gave you a Table of Contents sheet today so you will know what assignments are due. Staple all your pages in order!
- Read Chapter 3, Building Blocks of Creation, p. 43-48. Answer these questions:
- What is an atom?
- What is an element?
- What part of an atom has a positive charge?
- What part of an atom has a negative charge?
September 23
We made a density tower in class today — and it worked! Yay! Finish your lab handout by coloring the graduated cylinder correctly and put it into your binder. September is just about finished; I will collect your work soon.
Please read Lesson 2, Moving Matter, pages 30 – 35. Answer these questions for homework:
- What are the three main states of matter?
- What causes one state of matter to change into another state?
- Which state of matter has atoms that are “frozen” in place?
- Which state of matter has atoms that have no special form?
September 16
We learned about density today! You got to use a digital scale to take the mass of three objects. And you saw me demonstrate how to measure volume with water in a graduated cylinder.
Then, you and your lab partners did a lab called “Saltwater Density.”
Please finish writing about density and coloring the graduated cylinder correctly. Put the handout inside of your science binder, under “September.”
Please read pages 23-29 in your science book. Answer these questions and put them in your binder also:
- What is buoyancy?
- Let’s say you lived a long time ago, and you wanted to get rich by panning for gold. What would you do to tell the difference between real gold and “fool’s gold?”
- What word means “bendable”?
- What word means “able to be made into a wire?
September 9
Hello Parents!
The Big Deal is THIS SPACE. You and/or your student – preferably YOU AND YOUR STUDENT TOGETHER first this week, should come right here after 9 a.m. on the Wednesday after a Tuesday class.
You’ll see the assignment. It will always be pages for reading and questions to answer. It generally will also include a brief “lab report” handout.
BUT here’s the difference: Instead of turning science homework in the very next week, your student will turn in a “monthly packet” after the last class of a particular month. His/her assignments will be arranged according to my Table of Contents and stapled.
Today I showed students a presentation titled “Lab Safety”, and we discussed how important it is to obey all safety protocols in class. One of the most important rules is “No Horseplay”. Chemistry and physics experiments can be dangerous because they involve household chemicals, glassware, scales, etc. Any student not obeying safety rules will be removed from the lab, and I will notify you. Thanks!
Homework September 9
Please read Lesson 1, “Chemistry and Physics Matter” from pages 15-22. Write answers to these questions on your own notebook paper. Put your homework inside of your science binder, in the section “September”.
- What is matter?
- What is energy?
- Fill in the blanks with words of Colossians 1: 15 – 17. This verse is written for you on page 16:
“He is the image of the _________________________God, the firstborn of all ________________. For by him ____________ ______________________ were created, in heaven and on earth, ____________ and _______________________, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all ___________________ were created through _____________and for _______________. And he is _________________all things, and in him all things ___________________ ______________.”
Design your science lab badge! I gave you a handout explaining how to design a likeness of your face to put on a science lab badge. Follow directions on the handout. Make sure you use color – colored pencils or markers are best. Bring this to class next time, and Abby will laminate your badge!