Reflective blog 11-9/11-13

     This previous week was full of amazing labs and intense work. As we push towards our final week in class befroe finals, we are really trying to grasp every concept, especially the previous chapter, because most of the class struggled with it.

     To start off on Monday, we started with a Nail Lab. This lab topk place over the course of 3 days, where we had to take observations on both days. The first day, we were asked to place a nail inside of a beaker filled with chloride dihydrate and distilled water. As the nail was placed inside the beaker, you could see the copper slowly start to form on the ends of the nails. Bubbles were being produced as well. We then let it rest for a while and came back to take a final look for the day. The same thing could be seen again. The next day, we took the beakers out of the oven and found that the nails were fully covered in copper! We were then asked to rise the copper off the nail and seperate the copper from the nail. We then massed the dry nails and then discarded them. We replaced the beaker filled with copper (no liquid was left in the beaker), back in the oven and then waited for day 3. When we came  in on Wednesday we took the beakers out of the oven and massed the beaker with the dry copper. The purpose was to determine the ratio of moles of copper to the moles of iron, where we found the raio to be 1:1.

     In between the lab, we were asked to do worksheets related to balancing chemical reactions and we also did a special assignment on Wednesday. Considering most of the classes test scores were below average, Dr. J gave one day in class to work on what is called a Taskchain. They are mini quizes that allowed us to get a better understanding on the material by forcing us to get at least a 85% or better. We are allowed to retake the test next week, so this the perfect opportunity to really understand what the unit was about, especially with finals around the corner. We also finished the week with a chemical reactions lab, where we were asked to go around each table and produce a chemical reaction with the instructions given to us. We were then asked to take notes on the reaction and balance the equations on the back of the worksheet. We finished Friday by going over the reactions as a class, as especially reviewed the wording of chemical reactions.

     So with all this going on, this weekend will be quite busy with studying and taskchains. As we push towards out last week, I am excited to start reviewing for our final and to put everything we've learned at work. I feel confident with the strategies Dr. J taught us for balancing chemical equations, and now I just need to redeem myself on that last test, and go into the final with a strong mindset.

Reflective Blog 10-26/10-30

     This previous week, we have done a lot of work hoping to get ready for our upcoming test. As a lot of us our more confused with the idea of Ions, it made it more difficult to really grasp how Ions are used, and really the concepts in general. Dr. J really wanted us to focus on worksheets given to us over the course of the week to help us get practice with what we were really struggling with. For me, going into the week, I had some trouble with using the charges to make them equal zero. It was very confusing at first when I had to apply it by myself.

     On Monday, we got a worksheet asking us to find the formulas for the atoms given, and then draw the particle diagram. On the back of that sheet, we were asked to put the formulas on a periodic table based on the atoms involved. As a class we then discussed the relationship between these formulas. I am glad we did because I honestly had no idea what the relationship ment. We concluded that the for formulas in each row, they have a specific charge. We then white boarded and we also concluded they a neutral atom becomes a positive ion by losing an electron, and becomes a negative ion by gaining an electron.

     The next day, we took another look at a different worksheet that focused on naming ionic compounds. This worksheet made us analyze different areas of the periodic table, that we used in the first worksheet, to determine specific charges for specific scenarios. It then game us two elements, and using so we had to come up with the most amount of formulas possible. This made us practice the fact that the sum of the charges always had to equal zero. It took a little bit of time for that to process in my mind, but over the course of the week it got easier to make the connection of how many of which is needed to equal zero. We were then given the opposite, where the formula was provided to us and we had to name the ionic compounds. It was great to be able to do this because it showed me both sides of ionic compounds and helped me understand where the fomulas are coming from, and vice versa.

     The next two days, we were given two more worksheets but these were really focused on the charges of the ions. The first worksheet focused on polyatomic ions and how they are given charges compared to monotomic ions. It gave us a deeper understanding of how they are similar and yet they are also different. We also did a worksheet that I found was the most helpful. It was a sheet that, in some cases, gave us the ions and we had to find the formula unit, and in other cases gave us the formula unit and we had to find the ions. We were also asked to name the ions. This really combined everything in one worksheet. It tested us on our ability to make the charges equal to zero, it gave us the chance to look up the names of the ions, and even find the specific number of ions and atoms in each formula unit.

     As we head towards our Unit 6 test on Monday, I reflect and think about how great it was of Dr. J to move the test back to Monday. This gave me the weekend to study and do this blog to really gather all the information I have learned and to look back on it. As we push towards our next unit, and slowly towards the end of the trimester, I am once again excited to see what we have left to learn before our final exam. I am pretty confident coming into this test Monday, hoping to obtain a famous mole.