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Latest assignments:
Updated 24 March 2008:
- Keep bringing you lab coats. We will need
them for just about every lesson in both groups, even when we just have a
one hour class.
Exam revision:
The test you will have during the Compositions Groupées
week will be on Module 1. Here is a revision list:
- the different "spheres" - atmosphere, hydrosphere,
lithosphere, biosphere
- the experiments from the Meudon trip: soil
porosity, Tullgren funnels, pH of soil, particle size using the seive
towers, solubility of minerals and ions.
- plants: anatomy of a plant, the transportation
of water in a plant, leaf pores, capillary tubing, wettable surfaces,
evaporation
- photosynthesis: seedlings germinating in the
dark/light, unbalanced chemical equation for photosynthesis, glucose,
carbon dioxide
- food chains: autotrophs, heterotrophs,
decomposers
- carbon and oil: peat, coal, oil, natural gas
formation from dead organic material, determining how much energy can be
obtained, renewable and non-renewable resources, plastics and other
petroleum products, the carbon cycle, global warming
The exam will focus not only on your factual knowledge
but also on your ability to observe and think like a scientist. You
will be given a situation and you have to deduce a scientific answer based
on the skills you have acquired.
Have a look at my guide for
preparing for and taking the compositions groupées.
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Updated 20 January 2008:
- The 4eSA11 group may be doing an experiment on
Tuesday 22 January so bring your lab coats. Otherwise, continue to
bring your science folders with the B2i booklet and your USB key every
time you have science.
- For Tuesday, the 4eSA9 group is asked to do some research
about where petroleum (oil) comes from and what things in our everyday
lives need petroleum products. About 1 page of text is expected and
some images would be nice.
- For this assignment, it is OK to simply copy and
paste but the information must be at a level which is not too babyish
and not too complex.
- Save your work on your USB key in a format which the
computers at school can open (.doc or .txt or .rtf)
- If you are using Word 2007 or Works, be sure to Save As
and change the format to a previous version of Word such as Word 2003.
If you are afraid that your USB key will not work, you may print out the
research you have done.
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Updated 15 January 2008:
- For the 4eSA9 group, we will be doing an
experiment on Thursday 17 January so
please bring your lab coat. The experiment will be in the lab MO1
instead of our regular lab. For this experiment, please have a look
at the Bunsen Burner page and
the peanut burning
experiment which shows the technique we will use with fossil fuels.
- Both groups are asked to do some research
about where petroleum (oil) comes from and what things in our everyday
lives need petroleum products. About 1 page of text is expected and
some images would be nice.
- For this assignment, it is OK to simply copy and
paste but the information must be at a level which is not too babyish
and not too complex.
- Save your work on your USB key in a format which the
computers at school can open (.doc or .txt or .rtf)
- If you are using Word 2007, be sure to Save As
and change the format to a previous version of Word such as Word 2003.
If you are afraid that your USB key will not work, you may print out the
research you have done.
- For the 4eSA11 group, we will be doing an
experiment on Thursday 10 January so
please bring your lab coat. The experiment will be in the lab MO1
instead of our regular lab.
Updated 9 December 2007:
- Task 4: By Tuesday
11 December (or before if you can), prepare the text and / or tables and
graphs for what you promised to contribute to the web page. The best
thing to do is to send the work by email because everything must be in
electronic format. Text must be done by word processor and graphs
must be done by Excel. If you have a drawing, you must scan it.
When you send it, send it to me and I will forward it to the student in
charge of making the pages. If you have any questions,
contact me by email.
- If you would like to help out on Saturday, December
15th for the inauguration of the new building, please
contact me by email. We need students
to show the experiments and posters we have done. Rumor has it that
some famous people will be visiting including politicians, a Nobel prize
winner and an astronaut.
Updated 1 December 2007:
- Reminder: send me an email if you are interested
in helping out on the 15th of December. I only need about 2 students per
half-hour session (13:30 to 14:00 or 14:00 to 14:30.) If I have too
many volunteers, I'll have to narrow down the list.
- All students and parents are invited to come to the
inauguration any time between 11 and 16:00 on December 15th.
- Task 3: (see
calendar)
- Print out and have a look at
these organisms found in soil. Can you recognize any of them
from the organisms we saw from the Tullgrens funnel experiment? Use
the key given in class to try to identify at least 3 of them. (SA9 -
I need to give you this key on Monday or Tuesday - remind me in class)
- In class this week we will be discussing our web page.
Please send me any photos you have taken of the experiments we did with
the soil. We will also need tables and graphs showing the results of
the experiments. Do you remember what your job was for the web page?
Start doing it....
- for SA9, here is the photo of the capillary tubing:
(click for a larger image)
From left to right: thick glass rod, Pasteur pipette, thin rod,
micro pipette
- Bring lab coats on Monday - we are going to look
at our seedlings.
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Here is the calendar you should follow:
| Monday |
Tuesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
3 Dec
SA11: - lab coats
SA9: - lab coats
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4 Dec
SA9: - lab coats
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6 Dec
SA9: - Task 3
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7 Dec
SA11: - Task 3
SA9: -
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10 Dec
SA11: -lab coats
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11 Dec
SA9: -
Task 4
lab coats
SA11: - Task 4
lab coats
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13 Dec
SA11: -lab coats
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14 Dec
SA9: - lab coats
SA11: - lab coats
Expo 15 Dec > |
17 Dec
SA11: -
SA9: -
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18 Dec
SA9: -
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20 Dec
SA9: -
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21 Dec
SA11: -
SA9: -
(Talent Show) |
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Vacation |
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Vacation |
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| ... to be continued |
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Updated 25 November 2007:
- We will continue working on laboratory experiments and
examining the results we get. Bring your science folders with the
results of the latest experiments.
- We will also be working on the web site for the 15th
of December soon. We will discuss this in class the last week of
November and the first week of December.
Updated 13 October 2007:
- Task1: Complete a finished version of a
bar graph for the particle size investigation. Use a ruler, pencil,
etc. Be sure to include a title, units and which layer you measured.
(For the date when you will pass this in, see the calendar below.)
- Task 2: Poster work. For the
poster, you should bring in printouts of your interesting facts and your
images. These cannot be only on your USB key, they must be printed
out. Remember, try to use your own photos, drawings - if you need a
picture which is copyright free, check out
NASA Image Search
or my photo gallery.
For the text, you should print it out in large letters. (See the
calendar for the dates of each group.)
- Bring the sheets you have been sent by email.
(Check your email accounts once in a while to see if I have sent you
anything.)
- Week A group (SA9): should bring their lab
coats all week.
- Week B group (SA11): Should bring their lab
coats on the week of 22 October.
Updated 7 October 2007:
- Week B group (SA11): should bring their lab
coats on Tuesday 9 October for more experiments.
- Both my 4ème classes should have printed out the
emailed documents about the soil experiments. Put them in your
science folder and bring them to our lessons.
- Both classes should continue research, drawings,
photos, etc. for their posters. You should know which themes
you are working on and which jobs you have for the big open house
presentation on December 15th.
Updated 30 September 2007:
- Week A group (SA9) should meet at the front
courtyard (between the reception desk and the front door) at 13:15
to take the bus for the trip to the forest on
Monday Oct 1st.
- Both classes should continue research, drawings,
photos, etc. for their posters.
Updated 27 September 2007:
- Continue working at home on the text and the images
for your poster.
- Remember that the text should not be long paragraphs
but rather should be short key facts.
- Do not copy/paste from your sources - please write
in your own words.
- You may use some images from other sources but we want
as much original art work as possible.
- Think about a scale for presenting your poster
clearly and in an attractive way.
- Once the class has decided on a layout theme
fror the poster, decide which part you are going to work on and get going!
- Keep a list of your sources for info and
- Week B group (SA11) should bring a lab coat on
Friday 28th. Also bring materials for working on posters if we have
time or if the lab materials are not available.
- Week A group (SA9) should bring their poster
stuff on Friday Sept. 28th and don't forget the trip to the forest on
Monday Oct 1st.
- Continue research (see topics below) Put
all the info you find on your USB drive and print out 3 pages of
interesting information or diagrams.
- Start thinking about a poster and which part
your team would be most interested in working on: hydrosphere (oceans),
atmosphere, lithosphere, biosphere.
- Have the paper about the Trip
to Meudon signed by a parent and bring it back with 7 euros.
- Double-check the assignments below to make sure you
have done everything else.
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Reasearch to begin working on in September:
- Try to find out more about the following:
- Earth's atmosphere: composition, temperatures
how high does it go, layers
- Project Excelsior and Joe Kittinger
- Earth's oceans: depth, pressure, temperature,
light
- Please copy any information you find onto your USB
thumbdrive and bring it to class.
- If you do not already have one, you should get some
kind of science notebook to keep all your research and notes.
Click here for an
example of a Science Folder
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To Do for the week beginning Monday 10 September 2007
- Send me an email with your name, class and science
group so that I can gather everyone's address. You can find my email
address and further instructions on my How to
Contact Mr. Damon page. Note that the address a little different
from what I wrote on the board.
- Buy a pack of blank Flash
Cards and bring the cards in to class to show me. (Click on the
words to see more information.about their size)
- Bring a USB thumb drive to class. Be sure your
name is on the outside somewhere. If ever I collect them, I need to
know whose is whose! Also, if you lose it, we know who to return it
to. If you are buying a new one, I do not recommend the U3 Smart
drives in class. For the moment, they are not compatible with Mac or
Vista. Also, 1 or 2 Gb is enough - do not spend more than 25€ for
this.

- Eventually you will need a lab coat but as long as the
new building is still under construction, we will not be doing many
experiments which require one.
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