Erdossy's Scientists

8th grade scientists have been hard at work exploring the physical and chemical properties of matter!

We rotated through Properties of Matter Stations, testing properties including luster, texture, state, density, mass, volume, temperature, magnetism, solubility, and reactivity. We learned that we can observe and test physical properties without changing a substance, but testing chemical properties creates a change in the matter through a chemical reaction.

Students also investigated Mystery Substances, by observing the color, state, particle size, solubility, magnetism and reactivity of five unknown substances to uncover their identities.

We also took on our Chocolate Chip Cookie Lab — describing cookies using physical properties and then hunting down the right one! Thank you to the amazing parents who donated cookies to provide a “sweet” way to learn.

I’m so proud of my students for their hard work and collaboration in learning these challenging concepts!

We kicked off our Properties of Matter unit today! Students tested their background knowledge by sorting everyday items into “Matter” or “Not Matter” categories. They’ll find out during instruction if their initial thinking was correct.
Test your own knowledge- how would you sort these items: Air, Energy, Heat, Rainbow, and Light?

"I need to figure out how to have more whirli and less gig." – one very determined Whirligig engineer

Today our classroom turned into a whirlwind of creativity during the Whirligig Lollapalooza Lab! Students explored the experimental design process—asking questions, making predictions, testing their ideas, and collecting data to see which designs worked best.
From careful measurements to bursts of laughter, these 8th graders showed curiosity, teamwork, and problem-solving in action. Our first full week together is in the books, and we are off to a great start! Looking forward to an amazing year with these scientists!