Ms. Bearse's Site

We popped corn today.  We started off by brainstorming all the things we wondered about, and all the questions we could make and solve regarding popcorn.

We measured volumes, and volume changes, we timed how long it took to pop

We made containers out of one cheed of paper and tried to maximize the volume.

We noticed that the buckets aren’t perfect cylinders, so We figured out how to approximate the volume, and then checked it using our known cylinders.

We did a lot of math and explored so many different things!  It is hard to imagine how many explorations came from a bag of popcorn.

 

How far will a ruler fall before you catch it?

We tested our reactions today as an introduction to Kinematics, our next physics unit.

We’re paper free today!

Today in physics we learned about how hearing works, and how hearing can be damaged, and what technology is available to help when there is hearing loss.

We had a guest speaker come in to talk to us about her cochlear implant, and how her hearing was damaged.

In physics we used a tuning fork, pvc pipe, water and a ruler to determine the speed of sound in the room, and from there we determined the temperature.

We used the tube in water which acts as a closed end resonating air column.  We can extend the tube to find the first resonant length of the tube.  It really sounds loud at a specific length due to how the 256 Hz tuning fork excited the air column.

Today we are having a follow-up workshop led by Link Crew leaders.  We are discussing strategies to get through challenges.

We made paper airplanes with a partner, but both using non dominant hands, and not talking.

That was a challenge!  We all could do it, but it took a lot longer than we expected.

We then had to throw them into a basket, using our partner and non-dominant hand.

That was a challenge!

We discussed limitations that we have in school, and how to persevere and work through the challenges that we have.  Some strategies we talked about are using an agenda to stay organized, working in groups to talk about what you are learning, practice the things you are not so good at yet.

Our task today was to build pyramids that have a volume of 300cm^3.  We needed to figure out dimensions, and make a net, then cut it out of old file folders and then we tested them to see if they matched the measurements we wanted.

Planning is important!  So is measuring.

Some of our pyramids were perfect!  Others ended up being too short.
 
Those groups mixed up the prism height and the slant height.  We can calculate the slant height using the pythagorean theorem.

It’s neat to see the different variety of pyramids that all have the same volume.

It was also fun to work through the challenge as part of a team.

We are lesrning about waves and sound and how instruments work.  Today we had a field trip to learn about how pipe organs work.  We have been learning about resonance in air columns, and harmonics.  It was nice to see and hear these in action!

We heard what different pipes sound like, and how having a stopper in the pipe will change the sound.

We looked at the keys and the pedals.  Each switch causes different pipes to sound.  Some sound like flutes, some sound like strings, some sound like oboes.
Here’s a reed pipe.  These will tend to go flat in warmer temperatures, whereas flute pipes tend to go sharp.  Organists need to tune the organ if there is a major change in temperature!

We went inside to see all the pipes.

Some of us even got to play!

Many thanks to Charlie, the organist who taught us all a lot!

Hello parent/guardians of grade 9 students.  Today we started our weekly progress emails!

We will be updating our parent/guardian community each week on our progress.  Today we also learned about what cc and bcc mean when we email.  Ms. Bearse is cc’d on these emails.

This website shows some of what Ms. Bearse’s classes are up to, and can be good conversation starters about what is happening in math class, and what math we are learning.

We have weekly quizzes on Fridays, followed by a little bit of time to email home.  We hope you enjoy learning more about what is happening in math class in high school these days.

We met Emma Jane today, our adolescent care worker.  We are learning about stress, relaxation, breathing, and ways to stay centered.

It’s important to be learning all sorts of skills in math class.  So many people get a bit nervous and anxious when doing presentations or tests, so we’re working on strategies to recognize and manage those feelings.  We’ll be using the strategies all term.

If you are feeling upset about school, home, family, friend issues, you can go talk with Emma Jane, and she can help with strategies and resources to support you.