Friday, December 12, 2008

Urbas - Science Week of Dec. 12 - 18


Students have been busily building machines from LEGO parts and this week investigated pulleys and cranes for mechanical advantage. Next week they will finish their investigations and actually build a machine that they design to solve a problem they are given in a practical test.


Monday, December 8, 2008

Urbas - Science Week of Dec 5 - 11

Students are working with LEGO kits this week in an effort to investigate simple machines which lead to more complex machines.







I can't believe it won't fit.
Future engineers.
It HAS to fit!
Finally after a long week, we enjoy the weekend. Here is Mr. Urbas skiing in Colorado during the past weekend in Breckenridge.
You don't get runs like this in Illinois.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Urbas - Science Week of Nov. 25 - Dec. 4th


Have a Happy Thanksgiving!



Friday, November 21, 2008

Urbas - Science Week of Nov. 21 - 24


Students have finished their initial investigations of machines and now are going to put that information to use with LEGO's.


Hail the machine!

Friday, November 14, 2008

Urbas - Science Week of Nov. 14 - 20.

Students have finished with the pulley investigations and are beginning their investigations of Newton's three Laws of Motion. They will be doing labs based of the laws starting Monday.

Friday, November 7, 2008

Urbas - Science Week of Nov.7 - 13.



Students begin their working on finding the mass of three coins using a lever.






Students are finding the mass of a wooden block in order to compare it to the actual weight of the block.








The coins are balanced on the lever and they are trying to find the fulcrum point.











I know this thing should work!













Finding the mass of a penny, nickel, and a quarter.











Friday, October 31, 2008

Urbas - Science Week of October 31st - Nov. 6

http://www.edheads.org/activities/simple-machines/



The kids had a great week of experiments and have a pretty good idea of what a lever is. They investigated many common items they use on a regular basis and found out that they were really machines.



Next week we will be further exploring levers and will start our investigations of pulleys and the inclined plane.



For all you trick or treaters out there today, be safe and don't eat too much of the candy or you will look like my friend below.
















Friday, October 24, 2008

Urbas - Science Weekof October 24 - 30

Students are continuing their investigations of speed and motion and have added velocity to their vocabularies. This upcoming week will focus on the speed of sound, mass vs weight, and levers. Students will be doing three labs that will be challenging.

Friday, October 17, 2008

Urbas - Science Week of October 17 - 23


Student this week will begin their investigations of speed and velocity.


Friday, October 10, 2008

Urbas - Science Week of October 10 - 16

Students have begun their investigations of energy and motion by working in the lab on a lesson based on Kinetic and Potential energy using a rolling ball. Next week they will investigate Balanced and Unbalanced forces and Graphing metric units.

Test next Friday, 10/17

Items to be covered are:

Scientific Method
Safety
S.I.
Metric base units
Metric measurements
Metric conversions
Area, Volume, and Density problems.
Buoyancy concept

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Urbas - Science Week of October 3 - 10

Students are finishing their study of metrics and problem solving and this week will begin their investigations of simple machines, work, power, kinetic and potential energy. The next few weeks will be a lot of "work".

Friday, September 26, 2008

Urbas - Science Week of Sept. 26 - Oct.1

Students this week had several opportunities to calculate and work with the concept of density. They discovered why a boat floats and why a submarine can operate both above and below the surface.

Next week they will continue to investigate and explain scientific method and how it relates to their daily and weekly investigations.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Urbas - Science Week of Sept 19 - 25

Students have had a week of working in the lab and getting familiar with the equipment of the lab. This past week they worked on the concept of density and will apply it next week during two experiments that involve unknown specimens and buoyancy. Pictures next week.

Tomorrow on September 20, I am offering a chance to obtain extra credit by going to the Museum of Science & Industry and participating in LABFEST ! The hours are 9:30 until 4:00 and admission and all activities are free. This is an excellent opportunity for a family outing in which everyone will get something out of the experience. All that is required is to bring an entrance stub back to class.

The website with more information is:

http://www.msichicago.org/

Friday, September 12, 2008

Urbas - Science week of Sept. 12 - 18

Students have worked through the concepts of area and volume and now are starting to use more of the equipment in the classroom. They started to utilize Triple Beam Balances in order to measure the mass of objects in class on Friday. They will continue next week to refine their use and be able to start on the concept of Density. Below are some students finding unknown masses.







Students discussing their results.






Three heads are better than two.



Friday, September 5, 2008

Urbas - Science Week of September 5 - 11

Students are continuing their investigations of the metric system and have been building toward volume and density in order to complete an upcoming experiment.

This weekend in Chicago there will be an event held at North Avenue Beach known as the Flutag, human powered aircraft. The event is sponsored by Red Bull and starts at 1pm on Saturday. You may have seen this on the news before and it will be again this weekend. There are about 40 fliers and it should be fun. Check out the website below.

http://www.redbullflugtagusa.com/Chicago2008


I know I'll be there to celebrate the mystery of flight, hope to see you there.

Friday, August 29, 2008

Urbas - Science Week of Austus 30 - Sept. 4

Students had a full week getting into the swing of things here at Lakeview. They seem to have made the transition very smoothly and at the end of the week tried a quick experiment to work off some tension prior to the long weekend. Enjoy the three days off and we will see you on Tuesday.

Friday, August 22, 2008

Urbas Science Week of August 25th

Welcome to 6th Grade
Mr. Urbas
Science 6th Grade
I would like to welcome all of the new students to Lakeview Junior High whether you come from Prairieview or another school. Your next years will be filled with new challenges, opportunities, and possibilities.
I teach science in the sixth grade and have been doing so at Lakeview for the past 14 years. In addition to teaching, I also coach Cross Country, a sport I encourage you as a sixth grader to participate in during the fall. I also coordinate a Science Club in the spring which is open to all students in which we perform various experiments that are not a part of the science curriculum at Lakeview.
The science curriculum in sixth grade is one based on the studies of Earth and Physical Science. The class has an emphasis on hands on activities and the lab is a major part of the curriculum. Students are expected to participate and act in a safe manner whenever working in the lab setting. Units of study include metrics, safety, machines, geology, plate tectonics, color and light, astronomy, and topography.
The curriculum is matched to state standards and is designed for the student to be successful during the process. Required work consists of daily work, pre-labs, lab assessments and quizzes and tests. To be successful a student needs to complete the work in a timely manner. Specific rules and procedures will be given out to each individual student in the fall at the start of the year to be reviewed by the student and parents both.
I can be reached by accessing my e mail at:
murbas@ccsd66.org
or
(630) 985-2700 x 5305
Please feel free to contact me and I hope to see you at the Parent Open house sponsored at Lakeview.

Friday, May 30, 2008

Urbas - Science Week of May 30 - June 6

Students are in the final week of school and in Science are finishing their study of topography. Students will be running compass courses in the next few days and finishing their mapping work.
The 6th grade went on a field trip Thursday, May 29 to the Chicago Architectural Boat Tour of Chicago. This was a beautiful day and the students enjoyed the information almost as much as the tour. Below are pictures of the trip.





Students on the front of the Skyline Princess boat.


















Students on the back of the Skyline Princess boat.












The other boat with half of the students was the Skyline Queen.
















The boats are going through the locks at the lakefront.












Lunch by Buckingham Fountain.














Nice view of the fountain in the background.







This trip always seems to get better! Thanks to everyone who helped.






Friday, May 23, 2008

Urbas - Science Week of May 26 - 30

Students started this week on the study of Topographics and Mapping. They are using directional compasses and starting to find their way. The next weeks will include lessons on taking and making a map bearing in addition to several sessions of mapping using the Lakeview Campus. Students will also be doing some orienteering using their compasses which will show their skills. Pictures to follow.

Also, this weekend is free admissiion to the Museum of Science and Industry for kids. So, for that reason. I am offering extra credit of ten points to any student who goes and brings back a proof of admission to me. I recommend a family outing.






A nice waterfront shot.

Monday, May 19, 2008

Urbas - Science Week of May 19 - 23.

Students have finished their study of the universe and this week will be taking a practical quiz and a test on the universe on Friday, 5 23.


Last week the highlight was the use of the Starlab in the classroom. Starlab is a portable planetarium dome which inflates and students go inside and view programs on stars, nebula's, constellations, plate tectonics and mythology. Below are pictures of the dome in the classroom.




A look at the entrance.
The kids crawled through to get inside by the Starlab name.

Friday, May 9, 2008

Urbas - Science Week of May 12- 16

Students are continuing their study of the universe with the use of Starlab this week. Star shows will be a daily feature.

The pictures below are a way to hold the sun, enjoy.











This thing is not so hot!











Nice sturdy crane!

Friday, May 2, 2008

Urbas - Science Week of May 5 - 9

The 6th grade classes are continuing their study of the universe and stars. This week they will be constructing Star Finders to use in locating constellations and will be investigating Parallax, the distance to stars and evaluating stars based on their temperature, brightness and color.

The pictures below were taken during a Hydrogen Fuell Cell car competition sponsored by Argonne National Labs. The teams consisted of 7th and 8th grade students and they participated in an academic as well as a car competition. The teams placed 5th in the academics and 2nd place in the car competition. The Lakeview teams had 2 cars in the final heats of 5, a great accomplishment.









The members of the teams who were at the finals.




















Checking alignment and traction.


















Let the races begin!

















Our car took first place in this race!

















I think they enjoyed this part!















Smiling team members with their hardware!





For more pictures, go to the site below.

Friday, April 25, 2008

Urbas - Science Week of April 28 - May 2

Students are working in Astronomy in order to understand stars and the sun. Featured this week will be Constellations, star positions and movement during the night and year.

Check out below for a nice space ride done by Eric Idle.
.


> > The Ride> > We are all on quite a ride.... > > Turn up the sound. This clever piece originated in Australia. > > It is so very well done most folks don't realize how much info he is sharing! > > The jingle is sung by Eric Idle (former member of Monty Python).> > Just click once on the link below or copy & paste it. > > Speakers on. Photos by NASA. > > Enjoy Your Journey...!!!> >


http://dingo.care-mail.com/cards/flash/5409/galaxy.swf

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Urbas - Science Week of April 21 - 24

Students have finished up their investigations of Color & Light and now are going to move into the stars using much of what they just learned. Astronomy is the next unit of study and students will be enbarking on a trip across the universe, stay tuned.


For those of you who like a challenge, try this site.


The site below is used to test reaction time of fighter pilots. If you get to 20 seconds, you might be good enough.


<http://members.iinet.net.au/~pontipak/redsquare.html>

Friday, April 11, 2008

Urbas - Science Week of April 14 - 18

Next week in Science, students will be finishing up their investigations of Light and Color by working with Prisms, observing color presentation through filters, and changes in light.


In science this week students were treated to a presentation during 4th period of Friday covering Global Warming by Tricia Avanzado, a senior in college. Tricia gave a talk that featured a great deal of information of the Global Warming crisis and how we as ordinary citizens can help. The talk was a part of a class she is taking in college. The students saw a Powerpoint presentation and were encourged to suggest solutions and hypothesize on future problems. It was an excellent presentation. The website below is for a short on the problem. Watch it.

www.climateprotect.org/ah12

Friday, April 4, 2008

Urbas - Science Week of April 7 - 11

Students in 6th grade will be finishing their investigations of Light and Color in the next two weeks and will be observing color mixing, color display, looking at the causes of season change, and examing microscopes in the upcoming week.

Here is a website for those of you who love dogs and it will help if you are interested in adopting a pet.

http://www.dogsindanger.com

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Urbas Science Week of March 31 - April 4th.

Students are returning from Spring Break ready and refreshed and looking forward to warmer weather. In 6th grade we will be continuing our investigations of Color and Light with some labs even being conducted outdoors. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and the snow will finally be gone.

Here is also a site to log on to. It is for a worthy cause.

To all you animal lovers. This is pretty simple... Please tell ten friends to tell ten today! The Animal Rescue Site is having trouble getting enough people to click on it daily to meet their quota of getting free food donated every day to abused and neglected animals.It takes less than a minute (How about 20 seconds) to go to their site and click on the purple box 'fund food for animals' for free. This doesn't cost you a thing.Their corporate sponsors/advertisers use the number of daily visits to donate food to abandoned/neglected animals in exchange for advertising.Here's the web site! Pass it along to 10 people you know.http:/ /www.theanimalrescuesite.com/

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Urbas - Science Week of March 17 - 21

Students in 6th grade are continuing their study of Light and Color and this week evaluated Shadows and Mirrors and Reflections in the Lab.

The 6th grade also participated in that exciting activity called ISAT'S this week and they are featured at the bottom of this column. Parental Discretion is advised.








Happy students on the left!











Happy students on the right!







The entire class is looking forward to the tests!














Tests finished, so are the students!












They have given their all for the tests!


A three day weekend is in order. Yeah!



Friday, March 7, 2008

Urbas - Science Week of March 10 - 14

First of all I want to congratulate the two teams I am working with on a Hydrogen Fuel Cell project sponsored by Argonne National Labs. My 7th and 8th grade participants placed 5th in the academic competition last Saturday at Argonne out of 12 schools! Excellent job! They are now starting the construction of their cars for the next competition in April.




The sixth grade is deep in their study of light and have been writing their reflections on it in class. They have worked with reflection and will be starting observations of color and its characteristics.




I have posted a couple of photos of students below, doing an experiment on angles of Incidence and Reflection.








Determining the angle of Incidence.









Determining an angle of Reflection.

Friday, February 29, 2008

Urbas Science Week of Feb 29 - March 7

The 6th grade classes finished the series of experiments on temperature based of a set of Marie Curie experiments and we have sent our results in via e-mail to the American Physical Society. We should be receiving the results and scores in April. The kids really enjoyed the experiments and the level of participation and interaction was high. Pictures of a few of the experiments are below.






Students setting up their thermometers.












Measuring the height of the internal fluid.




Measuring out the Hydrogen Peroxide.











Adding yeast the Hydrogen Peroxide to get a reaction.








Comparing levels of fluid.











Stirring the yeast for the reaction.






Cleanup of the lab station.

Friday, February 22, 2008

Urbas Science Week of Feb. 25 - 29

Sixth Grade students this week in Mr. Urbas's science class have been participating in the set of experiments called the " Marie Curie's Floating Classroom" sponsored by the American Physical Society. It is a group of four experiments that when completed will give clues to where Marie Curie's hidden classroom is located in Warsaw, Poland in the 1800's. Students have been working with the concepts of atoms, heat, and temperature to solve the experiments and successfully gain recognition for their class. More to come next week when they finish the experiments and submit their answer online Tuesday or Wednesday. Some views of the first two experiments are below.









Students working with different temperature water and chart dispersion rates.
















Solutions are being observed at the beginning of the experiment.
















Tablets are dropped in at the same time.
















Testing the temperature of three examples of water.