New Unit and Lots of Prep for SO

On Monday we started the week out by reviewing for our test on Tuesday. This test was on centripetal acceleration, work, force, power, and the material that was on our quiz. We started by completing the last of our study guide questions. This helped me review the topics I had trouble on in the past. It also helped me to apply the concepts a lot better. After we reviewed our study guide we played grudge ball. During the game I wrote down the questions I didn't understand. Some of the topics were easier than others. Grudge ball definitely lives up to its name because everyone has a grudge against each other by the end of the game. To play grudge ball each team has the same amount of x's on the board if you get a question right you can erase the other team's x's.

On Tuesday we had our test. I understood most all of the questions and after the test I felt like I had done well. I guess my instincts were right because I got a 99 on the test! The one point I missed was because I put a direction on a scalar quantity. I thought because in the problem an object was falling meant it needed the direction down. Overall everyone seemed to do well on this test so we must have all studied very hard and understood the material.    

On Wednesday we started unit three conservation of energy and momentum. To start out the unit we did the unit vocab to understand some basic terms before reviewing the vocab. I was familiar with some of the terms before reading the definitions.The two terms I was mostly familiar with were potential and kinetic energy. I learned many new things while reviewing notes but one thing that stood out to me was mechanical energy. This is when all the energy is combined.

On Thursday we started a new lab. This new lab will teach us about kinetic and potential energy. To test this we are testing both types of energy on a golf ball, tennis ball, and a marble. Our group tested the potential energy and part one of the kinetic energy.  We tested potential energy from different heights. We tested it from the floor, the desk, and a group member's head. To test the kinetic energy we dropped the balls at different heights. We did heights ranging to .5 of a meter to a full meter. We tested each trial three times and then took the average.

On Friday we didn't have school because it was a teacher workday.

This week I think I can definitely improve on getting ready for Science Olympiad and telling my brain that it is not over until after states. These few weeks we haven't really practiced for long periods of time for picture this but on Monday we will have lots of time to practice.