9 August Science 7 Organizing the class AND continuing with motion

  1. Sit at table islands in alphabetical order by family name.
  2. Mindful moment.
  3. Roll
  4. Digital Science Notebook

Digital Science Notebook (DSN)

An entry needed for every class

to help you:

  • Remember
  • Think
  • Learn

 The entry should be dated and titled. Follow guidelines for organizing entries in topic folders AND for naming files.

Each entry should include sentences, data and images.

See the next seven panels:

  1. Normal notes you would take. Information from the board, introductory instructions, etc. Assigned writing.
  2. What you/we did
  3. What you/we saw
  4. What you/we talked about
  5. A sketch that will help you remember and think about something significant from the class. (It could be a sketch of a thing, a process, or an idea.)
  6. A photo that will help you remember and think about something significant from the class. (A photo different from a photo of notes on the board.)
  7. What you think and wonder regarding 1,2,3, 4,5, and 6 above. What are your questions, ideas and reflections? (You can write about what is significant in the sketch and photo. You can be creative, too. Try a poem or essay from time to time.)

Setting up the google folders for your DSN–digital science notebook.

  • Create a new google folder.
  • Name it your name (given and family) DSN7 1819
  • As in: <richard frazier dsn7 1819>
  • Share the folder with Dr. F (editing). Share with your parents (viewing).
  • Inside this folder, create another folder.
  • Name it <motion>.
  • Inside the motion folder create a document.
  • Name the document file <9 August first DSN and motion continued> This is the document for today. It will be the first entry in your DSN.
  • Put a title and date on the document.
  • Click on the blogpost entry for today. Copy it. Paste it on the document. For example, the link to today’s blogpost is <http://rfrazier.msblogs.aes.ac.in/2018/08/09/9-august-science-7-organizing-the-class-and-continuing-with-motion/>
  • At your table check that each group member has set up the DSN folders correctly.

Several ways to complete your DSN entries.

  1. Write on a google doc located in the appropriate folder (motion for now).
  2. Write on an app of your choice and transfer to the google folder–make sure it is readable. The problem with pdf is the difficulty of adding and revising to the entry.
  3. Hand write (MUST BE LEGIBLE) in your paper notebook. Take a photo and upload the photo. Must be dark, large enough, readable, in focus, and oriented for easy reading.
  4. Take notes–handwritten perhaps–edit and enhance these notes in a google doc. This is the most valuable technique but it is also more time consuming.

We will offer time in class to start your DSN. Some students will be able to complete their entries during class at times. All students are expected to have the DSN entry completed by the beginning of the next class.

Regular beginning of class routine:

  1. Mindful moment.
  2. Review DSN entry from previous class. Add and/or amend if necessary.
  3. Examine blogpost/plan for the day. Follow and view links/references when time permits.
  4. Set up your DSN entry for the day. Remember the file name, a title on the document, the active link to the blogpost for the day. Then prepare to complete the 7 items during and after class.
  • * * * * *

Review the blog pages (a page is different from a post):

Calendar < http://rfrazier.msblogs.aes.ac.in/science-7/science-7-calendar/ >

Syllabus Classroom procedures Office hours <http://rfrazier.msblogs.aes.ac.in/science-7/syllabus-science-7/>

Dr. F’s contact and profile <http://rfrazier.msblogs.aes.ac.in/contact/> <http://rfrazier.msblogs.aes.ac.in/profile/>


  • * * * * *

See the attempts to describe and explain the ramp-walking elephant from a previous class.

In today’s DSN. Write about your ideas and your group’s ideas about how to describe and explain the elephant ramp-walker. What would you add and/or revise about the sketches above? What are some of the ideas about motion that we should name and possibly investigate? Consider: Balance, center of gravity, falling, swinging, rotating, friction, colliding, slipping, sliding, rocking. Add to this list. Discuss with your table partners.

You might enjoy the two pieces on motion written by 7th graders. Write a reflective response in your DSN entry. Discuss with your table partners. Can you write something about motion on your own? Try it.

Creative non-fiction essay on motion by a 7th grader. This student wrote an essay like this one for every week of class during his 7th grade year. Each essay was related to something we’d done or talked about in class.

  •             Motion is when an object is moving. It doesn’t necessarily have to be going somewhere. When an object in motion hits another object it results in impact. The size of impact depends on the size of the objects colliding. Without motion, the universe wouldn’t be here. Nothing could ever happen without motion.
  •             To measure the motion of an object, I think you need the distance of travel, time of travel, velocity, force/momentum, and a relative point. You need a relative point because if an object is just moving through space, there is no point for it to move closer or farther from. If an object is just moving through nothing (open space), where it ends up later will be exactly where it ends up later will be exactly like where it started. So basically it hasn’t moved at all.
  •             Einstein’s theory of relativity has much to do with motion. Can time stand still if you move away from a clock/time at the speed of light? The way this works is the time travels from the clock to your eyes at the speed of light. So if you move away from the light which carries the time to you…wouldn’t time stand still? If this true, would it be possible to go back in time if you travel faster than the speed of light? The only way to find out is to try it and experiment. I doubt these experiments with time travel will occur very soon. Humans are far from travel even close to the speed of light.
  •             A centerfielder judging a fly ball is my specialty. My favorite sport is baseball and I know pretty well how players judge the ball. Seventy-five percent of judging is seeing the acceleration of the ball off the bat and determining if it is low or high ball. A hard, low ball would reach it’s highest point in about one second. It is quite amazing how fast the ball can accelerate into the air. I think in races, acceleration is a key part to winning. It’s a key part in motion!

Poem related to motion by a 7th grader. This student wrote a poem for every week during her 7th grade year related to something from science class.

A Tennis Ball in Space vs. A Tennis Ball on Earth

I wrote this for our unit on motion and how gravity affects our everyday life. (Note: The first line is a tennis ball in space, the second line is a tennis ball on Earth, the third line is a tennis ball in space, the fourth line is a tennis ball on Earth, etc.)

  • Gliding to be free to drift wherever you please,
  • Gliding in a designated path.
  • Tracing your thoughts,
  • Tracing the thoughts of the arm that directed you.
  • Knowing you will always drift and will never end,
  • Knowing you will eventually hit the ground with a thud ending all movement.
  • With the whole universe to explore,
  • With the whole planet to explore but not by your choices.
  • Sensing the danger of a black hole,
  • Sensing the danger of a playful puppy.
  • Loneliness of being the only tennis ball in space,
  • Loneliness of being the only thing flying.
  • Being able to not feel anything for there is nothing near you,
  • Being able to feel people’s hands and anything that touches you.
  • Many other items that feels as strange as you,
  • Many other tennis balls.
  • Random and spontaneous.
  • Precise and assured.
  • Free.

See the videos below (you’ve already thought about the first one!). What do you see happening? What questions do you have? Could you make something that behaves in the same way? What ideas about motion come to mind? Can you think of other motion toys and toy-like devices? Discuss with your table partners.

About rfrazier

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