Christopher ArellaRaffaella Todaro

Websitewww.thefactmonster.weebly.com

Ms. CormierSt.-Thomas High School

Nov. 5, 2012

Table of Contents

Investigation................................................................................................................................. 3Design Brief.................................................................................................................................. 3Annotated Bibliography........................................................................................................... 4Design Specifications.................................................................................................................6Method of Evaluation.................................................................................................................6

Planning.......................................................................................................................................... 7Evaluation of Plan....................................................................................................................... 8Modifications................................................................................................................................ 9

Creation........................................................................................................................................ 10Screen Shots............................................................................................................................... 10Problems..................................................................................................................................... 11

Evaluation................................................................................................................................... 12Specifications............................................................................................................................. 12Product........................................................................................................................................ 12Improvements........................................................................................................................... 12Evaluation of performance................................................................................................... 13Impact.......................................................................................................................................... 13

Investigation

Design Brief

This project emerges from the criteria of community and service and human ingenuity, thus, the goal of this project was to create a study and information website for secondary 5 chemistry and physics students. We were to put any information, learnt last year and this year, which could be useful to any student studying for a test or just reviewing notes. We were asked to cover the topics of:

Significant Figures Motion and Forces Balancing Chemical Equations Limiting Reagents Nomenclature Precipitate Reactions Stoichiometry

The importance and relevance of this task is for us to thoroughly learn the information we were publishing online and it was a way for us to learn how to communicate information to others in a clear and concise fashion. This site will be useful to society because anyone who would like to learn and understand a basic level of chemistry or physics may now do so. Also, since the information is put into other words, it may make it easier for other classmates to understand the topic better than when the teacher explained it.

The questions that will guide our research are the following:

What helped us understand the concept or topic? Important formulas and how to use them? Important tables, graphs, etc. How can I make messy class notes clean, clear and concise? How can I make my website easy to navigate? How much information should I put? Should I make individual notes sheets? Or write the information directly on the site? How should I organize the layout of each page to incorporate a bit of humor, yet

while keeping everything organized? How will I know if my worksheets are reliable and correct?

The following topics will demand a bit of research:

Definitions of each unit Tables, graphs, etc that can be useful to the student Stoichiometry because it is a tricky topic to teach Worksheets for physics because ours are hand made More examples, different explanations for every topic

Annotated Bibliography

McRae, D. "Chemistry." Chemistry. St-Thomas High School11. Room 202, Pointe-Claire. 15 Oct. 2012. Class lecture.This source was a lecture given in chemistry 534 at St.Thomas High school. This lecture was chosen as a reliable source because McRae has studied chemistry at a university level and has been teaching it at a high school and university level for several years. It is relevant to this project since she gives a lot of information and notes about the topics we must discuss on our website. This source is reliable because she teaches chemistry to university students and all the notes given corresponded with the information found on the internet to create the chemistry section of the website.

"Forces and motion | Nuffield Foundation." Nuffield Foundation |. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2012. <http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/practical-physics/forces-and-motion>.This is a very dependable site to use for information. It includes a lot of subjects including extras that were used for the development in our website. It goes into detail about each subject and includes all the formulas needed. This was a very useful source for the development into our project.

Gueco, Fatima Bianca. "Physics (significant figures)." Upload & Share PowerPoint presentations and documents. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2012. <http://www.slideshare.net/FatimaBianca/physics-significant-figures>.This website was a very useful site because it demonstrated a summary of physics using a slide show with simple diagrams and images. It can be applied to all ages so the information is quite general and simple. It includes a lot of images that could be used.

Cormier, G. "Physics." Physics Class. St-Thomas High School. Room 304, Pointe-Claire. 15 Oct. 2012. Class lecture.This would be the most reliable and credible source on the bibliography. All the notes and formulas that were given were used in the website. Some of the notes were applied to our tests and answers for certain subjects. This was used for all the physics aspects of the website.

"SIGNIFICANT DIGITS." Physics Department | University of Guelph. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2012. <http://www.physics.uoguelph.ca/tutorials/sig_fig/SIG_dig.htm>.This site was primarily used for significant figure notes. It was used for a wide array of examples in that subject. This would be a reliable site because the data matches those of reliable sources.

"Vectors: Motion and Forces in Two Dimensions - Table of Contents." The Physics Classroom. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2012. <http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/>On this site, information about physics concepts and some chemistry notes were used. This site was reliable because it matched the notes given in class. It helped with both physics aspects and other subjects.

Chirlian. "Chemistry 101 Home Page." Department of Chemistry, Chemistry 101. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Nov. 2012. <http://www.brynmawr.edu/chemistry/Chem/Chem101lc/chem101.html>.This is a chemistry teacher's site. We used some of her notes as well as examples for our website. This site is reliable because it is another chemistry teacher's website.

 Cormier. "Ms. Cormier's Science - Announcement." Ms. Cormier's Science. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2012. <http://cormierscience.weebly.com/>.This is our physic's teacher's site. We, once again, used it as inspiration for our own website

 Guch, Mister. "Practice Chemistry Worksheets!" Practice Chemistry Worksheets! N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Nov. 2012. <http://misterguch.brinkster.net/practiceworksheets.html>.This site has about 30 worksheets for everything about chemistry. Thus, it was used for the practice and answer section of the website. It is reliable because all the answers were right and we have seen some of the sheets in chemistry class.

 McRae. "Ms. McRae's Science - Chemistry." Ms. McRae's Science. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2012. <http://msmcraesscience.weebly.com/index.html>.This is our chemistry teacher's site. We used it as inspiration for our own website.

 "Nomenclature." Nomenclature. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2012. <http://www.files.chem.vt.edu/RVGS/ACT/notes/Nomenclature.html>.This site was used for more notes about nomenclature. It is reliable because it gives examples, flow charts and more information about nomenclature than most other sites.

 "Quizlet." Solubility Practice Problems Flashcards. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Nov. 2012. <http://quizlet.com/399277/solubility-practice-problems-flash-cards/>.This site is flashcards about solubility. We used it to make one of our worksheets. It is a reliable source because when checked, all the answers were correct.

 "Solubility Chart." N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2012. <http://www.google.ca/imgres?q=solubility+chart&um=1&hl=en&biw=1146&bih=589&tbm=isch&tbnid=qSb7Ry6XaN8VKM:&imgrefurl=http://chemistrybrain.wordpress.com/&docid=iFkLwmhWnVJ3nM&imgurl=http://chemistrybrain.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/solubility_chart.jpg&w=10>.This is the solubility chart provided on the website. It is reliable since it is very similar to the one we received in class.

 Unknown. "Nomenclature Practice." Nomenclature Practice. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2012. <http://www.usca.edu/chemistry/genchem/nomtst.htm>.This site only has a practice sheet that was used for the nomenclature section of the website. We chose this source because it had both, challenging questions and an answer key. This source is reliable because all the answers were right.

Design Specifications

The information we found on these sites was very useful for the creation and information of our website. We used information given in class, just as the information from websites to create our notes, our worksheets, to inspire us for the layout of our website and gave us ideas on how we can make our site interesting.

Our list of specifications includes:

o Visually appealing. To attract students Interactive. Our notes and worksheets must be adapted to the audience Helpful. Students must be able to find all the information they are looking for Have practice questions. So the visitors can review by practicing to make sure they

fully understand the topic Have all necessary information for each topic and aspect. Must have enough

information, not too little, not too much, so all questions are answered without overwhelming the reader.

Method of Evaluation

For the evaluation of our website, we will have a checklist of our specifications to ensure that our website includes everything we believe is pertinent to the success of it. During the whole process we will constantly refer to the specifications to make the best decisions possible. Another way we will evaluate the website is by asking a secondary four and a non-science secondary five student to review our website and give us feedback. To inform us if there were any faults in the website or unclear things in the notes and if the worksheets were possible after reading the notes.

Planning

Plan

Day 1: Split up work:

o Chris: Physics Criterion B Criterion D

o Raff: Chemistry Website in general

o Both: Criterion C Criterion E Criterion F

Day 2: Pick theme and general look of website. Brainstorm ideas Look at other teacher’s websites for inspiration

Day 3: Screen shots Raff:

o Work on websiteo Help work on plan

Chris:o Work on plan

Day 4: Screen shots Work on our parts on the website

o Raff: nomenclatureo Chris: Sig figs

Day 5: Screen shots Work individually on website content

o Raff: LRo Chris: Motion and forces

Day 6: Screen shots Work on website

o Raff: BCE + criterion Bo Chris: Motion and forces

Day 7: Screen shots Raff: Stoichiometry Chris: Bibliography

Day 8: Screen shots Raff: PPT reactions Chris: criterion D + criterion B

Day 9: Clean up website Clean up criterion C Clean up criterion D Finish criterion B

Day 10: Criterion E Criterion F

*Weebly website template to be used during the creation of this project. Notes will be based off of class notes and reliable sites for extra information and practice tests. Microsoft Word was used to type all the notes to add to the website. Eureka chemistry and physics book was used for some examples as well.

Evaluation of Plan

The plan itself is quite logical. The opening step is to determine a lot of the fundamentals that will mould our project into what we want it to be. This includes: Selecting the theme, domain name, color scheme, pages, website layout, etc. The work was then divided so that we could begin working on our parts individually without having to rely on what the other was doing. After, the procedure was relatively simple because we would just do our own subjects on our own including the effect of our modifications as a factor.The criterions will definitely take the most time so it was left near the end when the project was near completion. We left it for then so we could reflect on our work and spend the rest of the time focusing on the write up and slight modifications to the site. Another aspect of this project that will take a longer period of time to do would be the write-up of the notes. Re-copying all the essential notes is a difficult task that did take awhile to accomplish.

Our plan makes excellent use of time considering it’s excluding the future in class time provided to work on it which will either advance our work or keep us at pace with our plan. Our plan makes good use of the resources available at our disposal since they are very credible and reliable information that are necessary to our project. This is directly related to the order of our plan based on work and time needed to be invested into each aspect of the project.

Modifications

This was the original plan. In 10 days we were supposed to be finished. However, We spent 2 days on Day 2, putting us behind on our schedule. This was due to

being new to the website and the whole technological aspect. Time was spent on trying to familiarize ourselves with the tools of the website and to apply them to our project.

At first, Chris was supposed to do a page of chemistry, however, we agreed that he would take care of some of the paper work, do physics and general editing as Raff did the chemistry section due to varying strengths in each subject and technological work.

Splitting up the work was the initial step to the start of our project so we could begin on our own parts. After that, we both had to mutually agree on some aspects of the website so we could get started. These things included the theme, designs, tabs, extras etc. After brainstorming ideas, we searched for inspiration for our website and our main goal for it. After each day, we would put our own information into our subjects and then meet up to compare and re-evaluate our position in the project. This step was usually done during class time working on the project. After completing the information fraction, we began working on the criteria’s and organizing our work. After completing our tasks, just general updates and touch ups done to the website to make it look better.

Creation

Screen Shots

1.Home page (Draft 1)2.Default page for every topic3.Nomenclature notes4.All pages at beginning5.Significant figures initial page6.Nomenclature Q&A7.Chemistry main page8.Motion and forces initial page

Problems

Our project developed very well except that we did run into a few problems:

We spent 2 days on Day 2, putting us behind on our schedule. This was due to being new to the website and the whole technological aspect. Time was spent on trying to familiarize ourselves with the tools of the website and to apply them to our project.

We lost the document with all of our screen shots from day 3 to day 7. So we only have days 7 to 9. We had to spend 1 day trying to figure out if we could find the old screen shots, restore the document or find a way to retake the pictures. Nothing worked. They were re-taken and posted. Screen shots were assigned to each day to demonstrate progress.

Evaluation

Specifications

o Visually appealing. To attract studentso Interactive. Our notes and worksheets must be adapted to the audienceo Helpful. Students must be able to find all the information they are looking foro Have practice questions. So the visitors can review by practicing to make sure

they fully understand the topico Have all necessary information for each topic and aspect. Must have enough

information, not too little, not too much, so all questions are answered without overwhelming the reader.

o Easy to navigate in

Product

Isabella Todaro, secondary four student, viewed and read the information from the website and gave us some feedback “As a secondary four student who hasn’t learnt any of this yet, it was very clear. The information was understandable, making the practice questions and tests easy to complete. I feel ready for secondary five chemistry and physics now. Navigation through the website was very easy and everything was clearly labeled, you couldn’t get mixed up. I liked how there were links for tables and graphs that would be useful for chemistry and how there was a mini introduction on each page in the physics section. I found that the site could be a little brighter, have more colors, and the banner could have varied a bit from page to page. It also could’ve been a little less cheesy. However, the site was very well organized and the humoristic sense gave it a charm.”

Megan Mongeau, a non-science student, viewed our website and gave us some feedback. “After viewing the website with the mind set of a student in need of aid for chemistry and physics, I thought it was quite useful. All the notes were there to view and tests to be completed after to see if we could apply our knowledge after. Navigation throughout the website is easy and each page is complete. There are links to several different sources and social medias if needed. The color scheme of the website as a whole is good, but seems empty at times. The banner displayed throughout the pages is repetitive but adds a touch of professionalism.”

Improvements

Some improvements which could be made to our website are:

Weaknesseso More sites about the topicso More practice questions and answerso Too repetitive bannero A bit bland at timeso Very professional looking

Strengthso Clear layouto Information is easily findableo Notes are clear and conciseo Humor is well includedo Links to several different sources and social medias

Evaluation of performance

a.Investigation: Our investigation stage was very strong. We did a lot of research and put in a lot of effort to make an annotated bibliography with complete information. We spent many days at home researching different teaching methods and different explanations for topics. We also thought about what was useful to us in class so we could make sure to include it for future student.

b.Planning: Our plan was very basic and spread out properly, giving us enough time to brainstorm on our own and create our website in only 10 days of work. Leaving time for the problems we ran into. Obviously they out us behind schedule in our work but we managed to pull through with perseverance and the drive for success. However, overall we planned our project out very well.

c.Creating: The creation of our website was simply mind-blowing. It came together very quickly and well. It took us two days to understand how Weebly worked, but once we got the hand of it, we were extremely efficient and got a lot of work done. We basically made up the time we had lost by working fast and competently.

Impact

Our website will have an impact of helping students all over the world with the bases of chemistry and physics. Any student looking for a study guide can come read and practice with out website. Also, it has had an impact on us, teaching us how to use different resources and methods to create a technologically adapted study guide.