NEW TERM, NEW EFFORT FOR SOME

It is a new term, and we have had a few tasks that are worth marks. If you want to improve your learning and grade this term, please don't hesitate to stay after school for some assistance. If you did not get your title page done, or the recent reading and questions, be sure to do so early in the week or you will get a zero!

What are we doing this week?

• Learning about how pollution gets into the environment
• Exploring the concept of PH and starting to realize how this may affect the environment
• Reviewing what substances are essential to all life and also how organisms take in substances that they need to survive

THIS WEEK IN GRADE NINE SCIENCE...

• We analysed the disaster in Haiti from an environmental chemistry perspective
• Completed emergency response plans to increase our understanding of the challenges facing survivors of the disaster
• READING: Be sure to read from page 180 to 195 by Monday
• QUESTIONS DUE MONDAY: Page 190 (all questions) and page 195 (all questions except #6)

I am proud of you people for taking the response plans seriously. We need people with strong Environmental Chemistry backgrounds to help in disaster relief efforts, and also here at home when assessing the environment. Realize there will be a job market for Environmental Scientists in the future; a career that may interest some of you!

Have a great weekend, see you on Monday!!!

WELCOME BACK GRADE NINES!

Welcome back from your refreshing break! Well rested and bored from a lack of Science homework, you are hopefully ready for your new unit. Report cards are only weeks away so it is that time of the year when tasks are due.

What is our next unit of study? Environmental Chemistry! Please participate in the poll on the side of the web page!

REMINDERS FOR THE WEEK:

• Environmental Chemistry Title Page - this small but fun task was due on Monday
• All vocabulary since August is due on Thursday, January 14th - it should be in your duotang. If you missed a vocab, be sure to make up the missed words by using this website (Scroll down for old Vocab).
• Water Discussion/Debate: We will introduce Enviromental Chemistry this week by exploring a water and issues surrounding it

HOW ARE YOU DOING IN SCIENCE? First of all ask yourself the questions: "am I acomplishing the learning outcomes for each unit so far?" "Do I hand everything in and do I take my time on assigned questions/tasks ensuring I learn the required material?"

Your marks will be calculated in the next week; if you didn't see what you got on your Unit Test before break, please come see Mr. Mang afterschool or at Lunch for your mark; this test mark will affect your grade in term 2 substancially!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS GRADE NINES!

Students and families, I hope that each and every one of you has a happy holiday! We will continue our learning after the winter break. Also, congratulations on being done Mater and Chemical Change (at least until the Provincial Achievement Test in Spring)!

Sincerely,
Mr. Mang

NOTE: I WILL NOT BE RESPONDING TO EMAIL UNTIL JANUARY 8TH

For your interest, the day I'm posting this message is the shortest day of the year (December 21st) a day called the winter solstice. What does this mean scientifically? It means because of the earths tilt (23.5) degrees and where the earth is in its orbit around the sun, the suns' rays actually hit earth most directly at 23.5 degrees South Latitude on this day; that is why we have summer in the Southern Hemisphere right now and winter in the Northern Hemisphere. As the winter progresses, the day will actually lengthen (in terms of hours of light vs hours of dark) and the suns rays will gradually hit the norther hemisphere more directly. On March 21, the suns rays will hit the equator most directly and humans will experience 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness in almost every habitable place on our planet; that is why we call this day the equinox (more specifically the vernal equinox). The day keeps getting longer until the first official day of summer (June 21) when the suns rays hit 23.5 degrees North latitude most directly (the tropic of Cancer). If you read this paragraph and understood it... well done!

As the snow falls and the days continue to get shorter (until Dec. 21), we rapidly approach our Unit Final which will be on Tuesday, December 15th. Please begin to prepare for this important evaluation of your learning! Just a quick learning moment: on Dec. 21 our winter will officially begin (yes its actually still fall or autumn) and from that day onwards to June 21, the day length will be increasing gradually. After June 21 the day length gradually decreases again...

This week:

1. Finished our unit (read it again if you already have done so)
2. Began our Unit Review booklet; reminder if you do the section review and 1 check and reflect you can earn bonus marks; all review work is due on Tuesday, December 15th
3. Learned more about Climate Change and the Copenhagen Climate Conference
4. Wrote two quizzes: one on periodic table skills and one on basic chemistry knowledge

STUDY TIPS:

1. Re read the textbook
2. Complete all assigned review work...and more if you want a bonus mark
3. Try www.edquest.ca for practice quizzes, notes and more!
4. Review the "naming/formula writing" cheat sheet and other work we have completed
5. Work with a partner and test each other on basic chemistry knowledge
6. Ensure you know how to calculate the number of neutrons from the mass number and atomic number

COMPOUNDS...A COMBINATION OF ELEMENTS BONDED TOGHETHER THROUGH CHEMICAL BONDS

The diagram above shows Sodium Chloride being formed by the exchange of one electron. Notice that once the chlorine and sodium ions bond, the net charge becomes 0. What is a chemical bond? It is the bond formed between different elements share or exhange electrons which essentially "bonds" them together!

* This week we learned the important concept that compounds are formed when chemical reactions occur. We also learned that when chemical reactions occur, electrons are exchanged (ionic compound) or are shared (molecular compounds) between the elements in a compound. We also reviewed the idea that in a mixture, there is no chemical bonds between the different substances.

WORK THIS WEEK:

Reading: Be sure you have read up to the end of section 3.0!

Questions: Complete check and reflect questions on page 149 and 153 (all questions) and also the Assess your Learning (section review) questions, 1-12 only

Vocab: Complete the new vocabulary #8

WORK DUE THURSDAY: All check and reflect questions (pg 149/153) and Assess your Learning #1-12 page 154/155.

ALMOST DONE SECTION 2.0!

We are almost done learning about the material in Section 2.0. You should have read up to page 129 in your textbook by now; if not you are behind!

THIS WEEK:

• Continue to learn about the structure of the atom
• Completed work relating to chemical properties, the periodic table, etc.
• Review assigned work, going over answers
• Learning how to calculate how many neutrons are in an element using atomic number and mass number (see example below)

Example: How many neutrons does Carbon -14 have? Carbon -14 has a mass number of 14. You can determine how many neutrons Carbon 14 has because the mass number is the total of protons and neutrons and the atomic number is the amount of protons. So what we do is take the mass number (14) and subtract the atomic number (6) which leaves us with 8, the number of neutrons in carbon 14. This is a skill you need to have!

ASSIGNED WORK:

• Reading the rest of secti0n 2.0
• Complete new vocabulary (Vocabulary #7)
• Review questions to ensure we have learned the contents of section 2.0: check and reflect page 121 (1-11), page 125 (1-7), page 134 (1-8) and Assess your learning (1-6 only) are Due Monday, November 23th.