What's going on in class 10/1-10/13

IB Chemistry
We have just finished a big Stoichiometry review and learning about how to write an IA (Internal Assessment).  This week, it's time to do a REAL IA!  Students are using titration to find the %CaCO3 in an eggshell.  I encourage you to all use the IA template (all files are on a wikispace, see link down below).

Next up is Atomic Structure, the Periodic Table, and Bonding.  This unit includes a review of atoms, electron configurations, periodic trends, VSEPR, Lewis structures, polarity... from regular Chem + you'll learn about mass spectrometers, empirical formulas, and how to write concise answers to IB questions.  Cool stuff!

October 11 is the Group 4 Project: A project where students from all disciplines of IB Sciences come together to create experiments and interpret data together.  You will be conducting an experiment out at Dillon Falls along with a group of other students and thinking from a Chemist-perspective.  At the end, you will produce a poster which needs to be up in S-Hall by Tuesday 10/15.  You will be graded on your poster, but also your "Personal Skills" as required by IB.

Chemistry
Right now, we're wrapping up a unit on designing experiments-- Including an experiment on which materials have the fastest cooling rates.  Friday we will be making videos on how to find/write about sources of error.  Get creative.

Next up= States of Matter and Gas Laws.  You'll be reviewing kinetic theory, but also learning how to explain gas behavior using math.  How much does a weather balloon's volume change when it's way up in the atmosphere?  How does a potato gun work?  How does dry ice turn to a gas?

What's going on in class 9/18-10/1

IB Chemistry
Here are 2 videos that I recommended watching before class on Friday 9/20:

1. Crash Course Chemistry: Significant Figures: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQpQ0hxVNTg
2. Rich Thornley's Uncertainties in Measurements: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcaYc9xr9-k

Welcome back to School!

Welcome back!
I hope those big powerful brains are rested, flexed and ready for action (not atrophied and screaming with wimpiness) because this is CHEMISTRY!

Bookmark this site because it has lots of stuff that you'll find useful as the class progresses. What's on here, you ask? Well...

• A bi-weeklyish update of exactly what's going on in class with large assignment and test dues dates (see packet/calendar for small assignment details)
• Links which will be helpful for studying- tutorials and review sites
• Links to videos used in class
• ALL paper materials distributed and power points used in class will be posted on a wikispace site which you can access through here
• Assignment details
• IB practice tests
• A few games and things just for fun
• Class syllabi + rules

.....and maybe more, especially if you ask for it

I'm excited (you'll learn that it's kind of a constant state, verging on a problem) and I hope I get you excited about Chemistry.

Who am I?

Hi there! I just want to take a minute to introduce myself and give you a little of my background.

My name is Casie Bullock. I grew up in Texas, went to high school in Chicago. Then, I went to Michigan State University where I played soccer and majored in Chemistry in the Honors College. I graduated, goofed off for a while, and then landed in Tahoe where I worked for AmeriCorps- working with the teen parent and AVID programs at South Tahoe High. After that, I worked for 3+ years at a biotech company in the Bay Area called Inhale. We made (or tried to) injection drugs into powders that could be inhaled through the mouth. Insulin was supposed to be our big product. That didn't work out, and I had always wanted to teach anyway, so I got a teaching credential at San Jose State and started teaching in 2000. I spent 3 years at Branham High in San Jose. Then, I moved to New Zealand for 3 years and just ended up teaching by accident! (Yep- there's a story there) We moved back to the Bay Area (what a shock after living in a town of 3000), couldn't deal with it, and escaped to Bend. After a year of tutoring, subbing, and baking, I landed at Bend High (Yeah!). The 2012-2013 school year will be my 11th year teaching and my 6th at BSHS.

I LOVE my job. There are so many things that make it wonderful, and I'm excited for the school year.  My goal is to create a classroom where students feel safe, have fun, and are challenged to truly think, to question everything and search for their own answers, and to be scientists.
But, I also love my family. I have a husband named Grant and 2 little boys named Cal and Ian.  In between, I am usually outside- playing soccer, running, hiking, skiing... whatever gets me out.

Welcome to the 2012-2013 school year. I hope you're as excited as I am!