Planet Cookies Real or Fake

Directions:


Please don't go out of your way to buy anything for this project. Students have been asked to make a cookie (or fake cookie made of cardboard/paper) the shape of a specific planet. Each planet should be made in a way to show as many details about the actual planet as possible. Students need to have a scale for their planet and facts describing the planet. We will discuss the planets in our next class and eat any real cookie planets. Points will be earned as follows: Planet name (1), scale (2), and facts (7). No points for making it into an art project.  

More Videos to Come!

Tellus Science Museum

Learning about the Earth's core and contents at the Tellus Science Museum.

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Testing Mohs hardness scale.

Space Artwork

Travel Gallery with vehicles current all the way back to the beginning of motor travel.

Learning to make biodiesel.

Panning for gems.

Finding the amount of energy in different biological products.

Artwork in the Travel Gallery.

Lab: Popping Popcorn!

Lab: Making Popcorn from Chris Swafford on Vimeo.

More info will be added soon.

Demo: Testing Density & Viscosity

Testing Density & Viscosity from Chris Swafford on Vimeo.

Questions for today's class:

Q:1 How do oceans affect weather? 

Q:2 How do they affect our food?

Main point: We are studying the causes of ocean currents and the affects they have on weather and food production.

GEMS: Acid Rain Play

Acid Rain Play (Sept 2010) from Chris Swafford on Vimeo.

Student's enjoying the GEMS Acid Rain play as an ending to your Ecology unit.


Featuring Class Periods: 2 & 6

Ballooning to Space: Homemade Spacecraft's Video

Homemade Spacecraft from Luke Geissbuhler on Vimeo.

What does this video tell us about weather and weather prediction?


Check out these guys.

Interdependence in the Ecosystem: Acid Rain & pH

pH lab: Students testing pH of liquids from home.

Pakistan Flooding 2010

Learn about the floods in Pakistan. 


Q:1 How is the flooding going to affect food supply for the people of the country? What else will be affected? Why?


Q:2 How is food reaching the people in need?

    Listen to an article. The World PRI

    Read articles.
         BBC: Damage and Challenges
         BBC: More flooding cause more people to leave their homes
         USA: Aid to Pakistan

     See pictures about the flooding.
         Huffington Post
         BBC
         Google

Student Council 2010

Good job Candidates! Each of you did a fantastic job speaking to the class.

Student Council Candidate Speeches 2010
Password: (Where did we vote?)

And the winners are......

President 

Kevin McCaffrey 

Vice President 

Cayman Browder 

Secretary 

Jennifer Thomas 

Treasure 

Reid Mitchell 

Parliamentarian 

Mary Stuart Markham 

Representatives 

Skye Braden 

Meg Parry 

Katie Meadows 

Mary Eliza Hendricks 

Jessica Wicker

Advisory Representatives will be announced next week! 

Signal Mountain Food Web

Get to know your environment!

Make a Signal Mountain food web with 15 plus organisms from our deciduous forest ecosystem. Take special care to show correct relationships between each organism, arrows should point from the food source to the organism eating the source thus showing the flow of energy. If both organisms could eat each other such as a black rat snake and a red tail hawk a double-ended arrow should be used to demonstrate the fact that both creatures could eat each other. Those seeking to earn an "A" should add scientific names to five or more of the organisms.

Helpful list:

Tennessee Animals

Tennessee Fish Photos  

Fish Key

Tennessee Ornithological Society: Birds  

Non Native Birds

Venomous Creatures of Tennessee

Nonvenomous Snakes of Tennessee  

Snake Poster  

Snake Review

Amphibians and Reptiles of Tennessee


Frog Poster


Salamander Poster

eNature: Field Guides

Rare Animals of Tennessee (Not an easy read) 

Endangered or Threatened Animals

Tennessee Watchable Wild Life

Oh Deer: Limiting Factors & Carrying Capacity!

Activity: Oh Deer!

Main Point: Students will have a working knowledge for carrying capacity and understand how limiting factors contribute to population size.

Vocabulary: Limiting Factor, Carrying Capacity, Trophic Level, Food Chain

Helpful Information:

1. What are limiting factors? Link 1 Link 2

2. Understanding carrying capacity. Link

Q:1 What caused the population decline in 1987?

Q:2 How can the data collected be used to describe the population? Give examples.

Q:3 How can scientist use environmental carrying capacity studies to decide hunting and fishing quotas?

Quick Frozen Critters

Q:1 Why do limiting factors affect the number of organisms living?

Q:2 If you are a country leader, how would you direct a plan to feed your starving nation? Support your answer with facts learned in class.

Main Point is to help students better understand the 10% rule within trophic levels.

Vocabulary: Energy Pyramid, Trophic Levels, Food Chain

Additional Help:

1. Energy Pyramid Ocean

2. Energy Pyramid Video

3. How to play

4. Data Collection

DDT: Peregrine Falcon

How has DDT affected living organisms? Explain how this affects a food chain? Give examples.

Write your answers on a separate sheet of paper and bring them back to class. Directions for Garland.

1. Species Profile: Peregrine Falcon Link

2. Learn more about DDT or

Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (ClC₆H₄)₂CH(CCl₃) Link

Online Ecology Review: Interrelationships

Do you know your decomposers? Play the game and find out.

Play the food chain game!

Carnivore - Herbivore - Omnivore

Welcome 2010-2011 Class!

August 12, 2010

Sixth Grade Science

Welcome to Mr. Swafford’s classroom! I enjoy telling stories and trying engaging activities as we do meaningful schoolwork.

I have two goals for this year. One is to have fun while learning together. The second is harder to measure but no less important: I want each student in my class to feel liked and needed while he/she does his/her very best work.

Here are seven tips that will make your school year great.

1. Have fun!

2. Be a friend. Yes, a teacher can be your friend too, even the hard ones.

3. Have respect!

4. Work for yourself.

5. Always ask questions, especially when you are not sure.

6. Join a club, sport, or an activity.

7. Try your hardest, even when things are not going in your favor.

I trust these tips will help you as you start this school year. Yet if you find you need help, ask one of your teachers; they are here for you! My classroom will be open most lunches. Come into the room if you need a quiet place to study or if you need help with an assignment.

Starting the year off, we will be studying Ecology as our main unit of study. See the reverse side of this letter for a tentative yearlong outline. Teaching will follow the State of Tennessee Science Standards as directed by HCDE policies.

Classroom Expectation

Students are expected to use their agendamates to record homework and as a backup www.smmhs.com. Each student should turn in tasks the day they are due to receive full credit and late work should be placed in the “IN” tray located in the classroom. Science lab journals will be used to record notes, vocabulary, and handouts for review and testing purposes. Benefiting students Holt online offers students the science text, study aids, practice test, short videos and more online. Please login and checkout the wealth of information (passwords given out with the textbook).

Grading: 93-100 = A 10% Homework

85-92 = B 30% Classwork (quizzes, task, labs, projects, journal)

75-84 = C 40% Tests (test, quizzes, performance task, labs)

70-74 = D 20% Exam

0-69 = F

Journals are expected for each student. Notes and vocabulary are kept in the journal for review and testing purposes. Keep journals neat, up-to-date, and present in classes.

Mr. Chris Swafford

swafford_Christopher(at).hcde.org

UTC Science Methods: July 12 & 16

Welcome to class.

Chris Swafford

swafford_christopher(at)hcde(dot)org

Links:

Layer curriculum by Dr. Kathie Nunley: http://www.help4teachers.com/

The Story of Stuff: http://www.storyofstuff.com/

Catfish: http://www.vimeo.com/11817894

Medical Visualization: http://www.visualiseringscenter.se/1/1.0.1.0/230/2/

TED: http://www.ted.com/

Solar Cookers: http://www.solarcookers.org/

Largest Solar Cooking System: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRGAfw4AMag&feature=related

Water cycle songs: http://smmhs.blogspot.com/2008/12/water-cycle-song-ii.html

Elliptical Orbit: http://smmhs.blogspot.com/2008/11/inertia-gravity-cause-elliptical-orbits.html

Chattanooga Regional Science Fair: http://www.chattanoogasciencefair.org/

Science Fair Project Ideas: http://www.sciencebuddies.org/

Swafford's Paper Outline: http://homepage.mac.com/crswaff/Sites/Science2008_2009/Science Fair Paper Outline 2009-2010.doc

Wild Edibles Resources (download 23.9MB): http://homepage.mac.com/crswaff/Sites/Masters/WildEdiblePlants.zip

Solar Cookers

Can you design and build a hot solar cooker? Our plan is to build a cooker, test it making s'mores, and enjoy learning!

Build Day

What is a solar cooker?

1. Explain that stuff

2. How stuff works

3. Solar Cooker International

Solar Cooker are used around the world to help individuals cook their meals. For more information and pictures about cooking projects see Solar Cooker Review.

Watch the video link to see the basics of how a cooker works, why cooker are important, and how government officials are being encouraged to support their use. ASAP Video: Importance of Solar Cookers

Excellent solar example pictures:Link

How are solar cookers helping poor women in Chad? Video

Data II

Your Data!

Causes of Wind!

1. What causes wind?

2. Basic Wind Info

3. Basic But Good: Weather Wiz Kids

Weather Facts:

WORLD RECORD WIND SPEED The highest wind speed ever recorded on the surface of the Earth was 231 mph on April 12 1934, atop Mt. Washington, New Hampshire. This high-elevation weather station experienced the winds of an extremely strong jet stream that had descended unusually low in the atmosphere.

THE WIND AFFECTS THE EARTH'S ROTATION During the northern hemisphere winter, the stronger westerly winds that build up in the Northern Hemisphere, combined with frictional drag at the Earth's surface, actually produce a very small, but measurable, increase in the speed of rotation of the Earth. From: Weatherquestions.com

Density Driven Currents

Lab two Currents

Weather

Boiling Over Lab: Video

Atmospheric Pressure: Barometer

Isobar: Map, High/Low

Awesome Resources:

Forecasting Book

Canada Forecasting Book

SMMHS Science Fair 2010

Science Fair Dates

Entry Form due: February 12 by 5:00 PM

Fair: March 8-11

Helpful Links:

-Chattanooga Science Fair Entry Form, Rules, Other helpful material

-Science Buddies Great for finding a project idea!

-Paper Outline Students should type their paper according to MLA format with size 12 Times New Roman font.

-Google Documents Type your paper and have it with you everywhere you go!

-Paper Outline on Google Docs

-Noodle Tools Save yourself lots of time! Here is the place to keep your notes and references.

-Science Project Pictures 2007-2008 School Year