Grade 5: Weeks of December 6-17th

We are studying Newton's Third Law: every action has an equal and opposite reaction. We have discussed examples of balanced and unbalanced force, acted examples in front of the class, and did an inquiry on balanced and unbalanced for using a balloon. Students will further delve into gravitational pull and learn that all objects fall at the same rate, despite mass, given equal air resistance. Finally we will review Newton's Laws and examine how each law is applied in daily life. Students will receive a test on Newton's Laws on Tuesday December 14th or Wednesday December 15th.

Grade 6: Weeks of December 6-17th

We are wrapping up our unit on the rock cycle. Students are completing a story on a sedimentary rock of their choice: shale, limestone, conglomerate, sandstone, or coal. They detail the journey of their sedimentary rock, accurately describing the processes that occurred to form it. We will also learn about metamorphic rock and how it forms under intense heat and pressure. Students will draw a diagram of the entire rock cycle. Grade 6 will have the Sedimentary and Metamorphic Rock test on Tuesday, December 14th.

Grade 7: Weeks of December 6-17th

We are continuing to learn about the circulatory system. This week we will watch video clips of the circulatory system and its role in transporting nutrients, gases, and wastes. We will learn how to keep our heart healthy, and how to prevent a heart attack and stroke. Students will design a poster to promote healthy hearts. The circulatory system test will be next Tuesday or Wednesday (December 14-16). Our sheep heart has been ordered and we will be dissecting it when it arrives!

Grade 8: Weeks of December 6-17th

This week we are examining water pollution and human impact on the hydrosphere. We will learn about Linfen, China, one of the most polluted cities in the world, and discuss this year's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Students will use their knowledge of water health indicators to determine how water has been affected in both areas. Please note students have a test on Friday.

Progress Reports and Homecoming Dance

Parents, progress reports come out on Tuesday November 30th. Please return progress reports at the latest December 2nd. Grade 5-7 will have two chips taken off per day after December 2nd if they do not bring in their progress report, unless this is accompanied by a note.

The Homecoming Dance is Friday, December 3rd from 8pm to 10pm. It will be a lot of fun!!! Please remember that tickets are $7 in advance and $10 at the door. All middle school teachers will be chaperoning - see you there!

Grade 5: November 29th - December 3rd

We have had great fun modeling Newton's Second Law with toy cars! Our first experiment involved creating a catapult with rubber bands and letting loose a toy car. We increased the number of rubber bands to see how far our toy car would go and learned that increasing the force also increased the distance and the speed. We graphed this result and drew conclusions. Our second experiment involved increasing the mass of the toy car by adding other toy cars while keeping the force (number of rubber bands) the same. We learned that increasing the mass decreased the distance and speed that a toy car could travel. Thank you to all students who brought in their toy cars for this experiment:)

Students will receive a review sheet on Tuesday and will have Newton's Second Law test either on Thursday or Friday (depending on the class). Please check the agenda for details.

Grade 6: November 29- December 3rd

We have now moved on to sedimentary rocks! We have examined and modeled how sedimentary rocks form from weathering, erosion, deposition, compaction and cementation. We will learn how various sedimentary rocks formed such as shale, conglomerate, and sandstone, and then write a picture book on one of these rocks. Students will have an oppportunity to do a "rock inquiry" with real sedimentary rocks and examine their characteristics. Finally, we will watch a movie about sedimentary rocks. Next week we will learn about metamorphic rocks and then wrap up the rock cycle.

Grade 7: November 29th to December 3rd

Grade 7s are studying the circulatory system and all of its components. We will see various video clips related to the circulatory system, google images of the heart and its blood vessels, and run around the school to test our resting and maximum heart rate. We will focus on how to keep our heart healthy and what could make our heart unhealthy (smoking, fast food, lack of exercise). Our culminating activity will be to dissect a sheep's heart! This is always an activity that fascinates students.

Grade 8: November 29 - December 3

This week grade 8s will learn how humans affect the hydrosphere both negatively and positively. We began our unit with "the river that caught on fire" and are examining factors that affect water's health: turbidity, biological indicators, nitrates, phosphorus, temperature, and dissolved oxygen. We will examine and model how water is cleaned. We will examine different types of pollution (point and non-point pollution), and various case studies from USA to China. This is our last unit studying the hydrosphere. In total, the hydrosphere counts for 30% of all EOG questions. Please see your child's test included with the progress report Tuesday November 30th.

Homecoming Week: November 29th - December 3rd

Grade 6 through 9 is participating in Homecoming Week and will decorate their homeroom on the theme "Winter Wonderland." Judges will be looking for the best decorated homeroom! Every day students will come to school dressed for a different theme - from twin day to college day. Please note Grades 6-9 will have a dance on Friday December 3rd. Tickets will be on sale during homecoming week and will cost more at the door.

Progress reports will go out November 30th. Please sign the progress reports and return to each subject teacher no later than December 2nd. Thank you.

Grade 5: Week of November 22-23th

This nine weeks we will focus on Newton's Laws of Motion. Students have learned about Sir Isaac Newton and Newton's First Law of Motion: the Law of Inertia. Students made a poster showing different elements of Newton's First Law of Motion: Inertia, force, friction, and mass. We did force and friction experiments to further examine this law, created a concept map of inertia, created aerodynamic airplanes, and finally dropped various objects to show gravitational pull and drag. Students wrote a test on either Thursday or Friday on Newton's First Law and will receive their test on Monday.

We are moving on to Newton's Second Law of Motion and will examine how force and mass act on an object's acceleration. We will need temporary donations of toy cars after Thanksgiving to show how adding two times the mass reduces acceleration to half - a very fun experiment indeed!

Grade 6: Week of November 22-23th

We are continuing to learn about the Rock Cycle this week - this time focusing on sedimentary Rocks! We will model the process of creating sedimentary rocks by showing weathering, erosion, cementation, and compaction. Your child will have various opportunities to examine different kinds of sedimentary rocks both this week and after Thanksgiving. Students may feel free to bring in rocks they believe are sedimentary. In fact, 75% of all rocks ARE sedimentary!

Students finished writing a test on igneous (volcanic) rocks on Friday and will receive their test on Monday. We have had fun examining the characteristics of igneous rocks and have put them into categories of intrusive - forming in the volcano - or extrusive - forming outside of the volcano. Students also had the opportunity to identify rocks' mineral properties using seven different tests.

Grade 7: Week of November 22-23th

Grade 7 has just finished a unit on the digestive system and healthy eating. You can expect a test to go home with your child on Monday. Grade 7s will write out a healthy menu with partners this week and we will vote on the best menu.

My grade 7 homeroom will also be decorating on Tuesday to prepare for homecoming week (November 29th to December 3rd). The theme is Winter Wonderland and we would appreciate donations of decorations. Thank you!

Grade 8: Week of November 22-23th

Grade 8s have put forth a wonderful effort on their ocean models and paragraphs! We will be ending the ocean unit and will have a test on Tuesday November 25th. After Thanksgiving we will begin a unit on "Resources and Pollution in the Hydrosphere".

SCIENCE FESTIVAL SEPTEMBER 11-26

University of Chapel Hill and Morehead Planetarium are hosting a Science festival from September 11-26th. There are two signature events: An afternoon with Myth Busters September 19th and the UNC Science Expo September 25th.

An Afternoon with Myth Busters

Morehead Planetarium and Science Center is bringing two TV stars who specialize in science entertainment — Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, hosts of the Discovery Channel television show "MythBusters" — to the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

"An Afternoon with Adam and Jamie" will begin at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 19, 2010, in UNC's Dean E. Smith Center. The event is part of the North Carolina Science Festival.

During the 90-minute program, Adam and Jamie will share stories from behind the scenes of their popular show. They'll also feature special video presentations of spectacular explosions and other "for fans only" outtakes.

The program includes a question-and-answer session led by UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp with opportunities for questions from the audience.

Tickets go on sale Monday, July 26, through www.tarheelblue.com. Lower-level tickets are $28 per person, and upper-level tickets are $18 per person.

UNC Science Expo

From rappers to race cars, you'll get a fresh look at science in our world on Saturday, Sept. 25, 2010, during the free UNC Science Expo, the first celebration of its kind on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus.

The expo runs 11 a.m.–4 p.m. and is presented by Morehead Planetarium and Science Center as part of the North Carolina Science Festival. With activities for all ages, the expo offers science activities, demonstrations, performances and more!

A small sampling of the day’s activities includes:

• A talk with Nobel Prize winner Dr. Oliver Smithies, facilitated by UNC President Emeritus William Friday
• Demonstrations including catapults and trebuchets, virtual reality, wave simulation machine and Segways
• Stage shows including Baba Brinkman performing "The Rap Guide to Evolution"
• Science talks including sports and technology, science and music, North Carolina’s changing coastline, advances in cancer treatment and neuroscience
• "Science on wheels" exhibits featuring Ryan Newman's NASCAR race car, a Town of Chapel Hill fire truck and a UNC Healthcare ambulance
• Tours of UNC departments including physics and astronomy, mathematics, archaeology and anthropology, biology, North Carolina Botanical Garden and more
• The North Carolina Science Challenge – a series of hands-on activities that test the abilities of students in grades 3-10 to solve science problems creatively
• "Small Science" activity zone for kids

Please see www.ncsciencefestival.org and moreheadplanetarium. org for more information.

SCIENCE GRADE 7: SEPTEMBER 13-24

Grade 7s will take a test on severe weather on Thursday September 16th to demonstrate their knowledge. We will head full steam into the severe weather project on Friday. Students have already chosen their severe weather topic and will need their research (internet print outs, books, magazines) this Friday to begin to write notes. Dates of the project are as follows:

• Friday Sept. 17th to Tuesday Sept. 21st: Writing notes and working on the choice project. *Research needs to be brought to class to write notes.
• Wednesday Sept. 22nd: Notes and bibliography due. We start writing the essay in class.
• Thursday Sept. 23rd: Continue to write the essay.
• Friday Sept. 24th: Essay and choice project due. Presentations begin.
• Monday Sept. 27th: Last round of presentations.

*Any portion brought to class late will receive a maximum mark of 70%.

We are looking forward to seeing students' final presentations!

GRADE 6 SCIENCE: SEPTEMBER 13-24

Grade 6 is wrapping up its study on earthquakes, volcanoes, and plate tectonics. We have delved into the world of magma, examined evidence of continental drift, and have seen the devastating effects of the tsunami of 2004. Students will demonstrate their knowledge of plate tectonics on their test Thursday September 16th.

We will begin studying soil and its different components this Friday and continue for two weeks. We will examine Horizon 0, A, B, and C, and compare their different characteristics such as nutrient level and minerals. In fact, we will dig these layers of the soil up and do various experiments with it to test for permeability, cohesiveness, and so on.

SCIENCE GRADE 5: SEPTEMBER 13-24

Grade 5 is continuing to study about air pressure and how it affects weather. This week we did two air pressure experiments: one to test if air really had weight and the other to model how air flows from an area of high to low air pressure. We have also measured air pressure. Each day a new "meterologist" reads the air pressure of our barometer and its corresponding weather. As we learn more about each element of weather, we will begin recording our data findings. Students will write a test on air pressure this Friday. On Monday we will begin a new unit on clouds. Watch out for those cumulonimbus clouds!

SCIENCE GRADE 5: August 30 - September 10th

Welcome Grade 5 students and parents! This nine weeks we will be learning about weather: the water cycle, air pressure, clouds, wind, air masses, fronts, climate, and hurricanes. We are currently learning about the water cycle and will most likely have a test this Friday. Before each test, students receive a review sheet and have two days to study for the test. I teach them various study skills and give them time to practice these skills in class. The week of September 6-10 we will study air pressure. Students will have an opportunity to study air pressure through two experiments, and then will be a meterologist and read the barometer to determine atmospheric pressure.

I look forward to working with you. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have questions or comments.

SCIENCE GRADE 6: August 30 - September 10th

Welcome back to Neuse Charter! Grade 6 is studying plate techtonics, the Theory of Continental Drift, and earthquakes. We are exploring these concepts through various models, experiments, reading and writing activities, examples, and games. One exciting part of our unit is making fossils with plaster of Paris. Students will need to bring in an object from nature that could potentially be fossilized. Also, students should expect a test the week of September 6-10th. Before the test, students will receive a review sheet and two days to study. I look forward to working with you again this year!

SCIENCE GRADE 7: August 30-Sept 10

Welcome to the start of a new year! We are studying extreme weather in all of its forms: thunderstorms, lightning, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, including the technology used to measure and contain them. Expect students to have a test the week of September 6-10. We will begin projects on extreme weather after the 10th. I look forward to working with you again this year.

Grade 5 Science February

Grade 5s are studying rivers and their landforms and how rivers erode the land around them, changing the landscape constantly. The classroom got very dirty when we poured sediment and water down mountain and plains landscapes to test erosion principles. We discovered most sediment landed in the delta region and most erosion occurred on the steepest slope. Grade 5s will have a river landform test Tuesday Feb. 16th.

The next mini-unit will focus on weathering and erosion, current weathering and erosion problems, and ways to prevent it.

Grade 6 Science February

Grade 6s are creating fantastic power points and presentations of their planets!

Project dates are as follows:
Thursday Feb. 11 - writing and additional project is due
Friday Feb. 12 and Monday Feb. 15 - presentations

Next unit of study is the wondrous universe - black holes and all....

Grade 7 February

Grade 7 students are working diligently on their brain projects to end their unit on biology.

Timelines are as follows:
Thursday Feb. 11 - writing and additional project are due
Friday Feb. 12 and Monday Feb. 15 presentations

Please note any late assignments receive a maximum grade of 70%.

Grade 8 Science February

We are studying chemicals: their benefits, toxic effects, and alternatives and solutions. Students will work in stations and examine chemicals in cosmetics, pesticides, dry cleaning, electronics, and cleaning products. Next unit examines chemical susceptibility, dosage, and subsequent effects.

Grade 5: January 20-31st

We are starting a new unit on landforms! Students will learn various landforms in mountain, plains, ocean, and desert regions and will then make a model of their region's landforms in groups. Any materials that would help construct models of landforms is appreciated, especially clay. We will investigate many real life examples of landforms and how they were created. This will lead into river systems and how they weather and erode the land, as well as topography and contour lines of mountains, canyons, and hills.

Jan 20 -22 Events

Parents, we will have student led conferences on Thursday Jan 21st from 3:30-4:30 pm in Ms. Rennie's room. This is an opportunity to hear your child tell you what s/he has learned during the semester and see a compilation of your child's work. If this time does not work for you, you may reschedule a more appropriate one. Just let me know. Please check your child's folder for this notice.