Grade 5: Week of November 28th to December 2nd

It is hard to believe we are already in the Christmas season! From now until Christmas break we will learn about Newton's First and Second Laws. This week we will finish learning Newton's first law: the Law of Inertia. The Law of Inertia states that: An object at rest will stay at rest until a force moves it and a moving object will continue moving in a straight line until friction slows or stops it. Students will receive a review sheet Wednesday and we will have Newton's First Law Test on Friday.

Homework for the week:

Monday night: Newton's First Law sheet - fill in the blanks

Tuesday night: homework only if students do not finish the bubble map about Newton's Laws or Galileo's ramp sheet

Wednesday night: finish the review sheet and study for Friday's test

Thursday night: study for Friday's test on Newton's First Law of Inertia

Grade 7: Week of November 28th to December 2nd

It is difficult to believe we are now in the Christmas season! From now until the Christmas break we will be finishing up the circulatory system and learning about the central nervous system/the brain and its corresponding parts.

Students will receive a review sheet on Monday and we will test on Wednesday, unless I think students need more study time, and then they will then test on Thursday. However, students should be studying Monday and Tuesday night for Wednesday. On Thursday we will learn about the neuron (a nerve cell) and its parts. We will model how a neuron functions by relaying a message through "the hand game". Our fingers will be the dendrites, our arms the axons, and our hand the cell body. Each student will be a neuron and pass the message to the brain. On Friday we will begin our central nervous system booklet which shows all parts of the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system.

Homework for the week:

Monday night: finish the review sheet and study for Wednesday's test

Tuesday night: study for Wednesday's test

Homework may be given out Thursday night: TBA

Grade 8: Week of November 28th to December 2nd

It is hard to believe we are now getting into the Christmas season! From now until Christmas break, we will be studying geological, climate, biological, and technological evolution. Evolution in Science is defined simply as change. This week we will discuss what makes a species adapt to its environment, extinction of species who cannot adapt, index fossils, and Darwin's theory of natural selection. Students will also get a chance to make their own fossil on Wednesday. We will also examine how climate has changed over time and how this indirect evidence is recorded in ice cores as gas isotopes, dust, and so on.

Homework for the week:

Monday night: bring in "fossil"

Tuesday: finish mapping activity (if not already finished), bring in "fossil" for Wed. activity

Wednesday: pg. 416 questions - all Review and Reflect

Thursday: Answer questions about adaptation scenarios on sheet; tentative homework: pg. 443 definitions from evolution to Pangaea

Grade 5: November 21st and 22nd

Students will receive Nine Weeks re-tests on Monday (if they took them). Congratulations to the many students received the maximum retest grade of 77%!

This week students will finish their assignment about force, friction, inertia, and velocity. The assignment should have a picture and sentence of each of these words. This is due Tuesday. Students will work on questions related to Newton's First Law on Tuesday and if we have time, we will play Simon Says to act out force, friction, mass, gravity, speed, and velocity.

I wish you and your family a safe and restful Thanksgiving!

Grade 7: November 21st and 22nd

Students will receive back the quiz they wrote on Monday. We will explore the causes and effects of heart attack and stroke. Then students will develop a short play showing how to prevent heart attack and stroke, and consequences of not doing so.

I wish you and your family a safe and restful Thanksgiving!

Grade 8: November 21st and 22nd

Students did an excellent job on their geologic sections and timelines. They are on display in my room and the hallway. On Monday we will review for our geology test Tuesday. Geology comprises 25% of the End of Grade test so we have been taking our time to learn necessary concepts and work more in depth.

I wish you and your family a safe and restful Thanksgiving!

Grade 5: November 14th to 18th

Grade 5s will continue to learn about Newton's 1st Law: the Law of Inertia. Students will receive their Weather Nine Weeks Test on Monday and we will go over commonly missed questions. Students will test how aerodynamic their paper airplanes are in a competition and we will use the example of airplanes to lead into inertia. We will prepare a concept map on inertia and examine as many aspects of it as possible. By playing Simon Says with Newton's Laws vocabulary words, we will review inertia concepts. Finally, students will create a display to show a sentence and picture of each: inertia, force, friction, and velocity.

Homework for the week:

Monday: Competitive Edge pgs. 220-221 #13 to 18

Tuesday: Bring in pictures to show inertia, force, friction, and velocity for Thursday

Wednesday: pg. 228-229 #1-8 (I might modify the amount of questions depending on the understanding of students)

Thursday: Sentences and pictures of inertia, velocity, friction, force for good copy paper

Friday: students should have enough time to finish their Inertia assignment in class, but if they are not finished Friday in class, they will need to finish it at home over the weekend

Grade 7; Week of November 14th to 18th

Grade 7 is continuing to learn about the circulatory system and the heart. On Monday we will review the path that the blood takes through the heart and body. Then we will read about the parts of the circulatory system and define them. On Tuesday we will go over the parts of the blood and their functions. Students will create an assignment to show the definitions, functions, and pictures of the parts of the blood. Finally, we will test our heart rate and determine what our heart rate tells us about our health.

Homework for the week:

Monday: review vocabulary words we wrote down in our study guide

Tuesday: Pg. 379 all

Wednesday: Assignment on parts of the blood - functions and pictures of plasma, platelets, red blood cells, and white blood cells

Thursday: review parts of the circulatory system and parts of the blood for small quiz Friday

Grade 8: Week of November 14th to 18th

We are continuing to study geology and students will finish their geologic section, with students interpreting other's geologic sections on Monday. We will correlate geologic time of fossils and their development. To help interpret fossils and their different timelines, students will develop their own geologic timeline with a partner. Students will label animals in each era, and measure each era accurately to scale with one millimeter equaling one thousand years. We will also explore theories of the extinction of dinosaurs. On Friday students will have an opportunity to make their own fossils with plaster of Paris. They may bring in anything that makes an imprint.

Homework:

Monday night: geologic section (if not finished)

Tuesday night: pg. 400 Review #1-5

Wednesday night: pg. 400 Reflect #1-4, bring in materials to make fossil on Friday

Thursday night: study guide - all words on pg. 403, finish geology timeline (if not finished)

Grade 5: Week of November 7th to 11th

We are beginning a new unit and will study Sir Isaac Newton's Laws for the second quarter. We will first examine Newton's First Law of Inertia: an object at rest remains at rest until a force acts upon it, and an object will continue in motion until friction/an opposing force acts upon it. Our first topic of discussion is gravity and students will test different objects to see which has more gravitational pull and which will reach the ground first if dropped from the same height. This will lead to a discussion of air resistance, mass, and what determines gravitational pull. Next lesson, we will push a box over various surfaces with the same amount of force to determine which surface has the most friction. Finally, students will design paper airplanes with lift, thrust, and aerodynamic principles in mind. The most aerodynamic plane will win the competition.

While we are studying Newton's Laws, I will give students a bit of time to study their Competitive Edge on Monday and Tuesday. The Weather Nine Weeks Test will be on Wednesday.

Homework for the week is the following:

Monday night:
1. Study for the Weather Nine Weeks test using multiple choice questions in Competitive Edge.
2. Pg. 218 #1 and pg. 220 #9 Competitive Edge textbook

Tuesday night: Study for the Weather Nine Weeks Test

Wednesday night: pg. 218 #2-8, 19, 20 in the Competitive Edge

Thursday night: none; there is no school on Friday

Grade 7: Week of November 7th to 11th

Grade 7s will work on their non-smoking poster on Monday. The good copy is due on Tuesday and will be displayed in the room and hallway. Students may print out pictures for the poster, or may elect to do it all on computer and print it at home. Students will also get back their Respiratory system test on Monday and we will go over common corrections. If students receive 70% and below, they must get the test signed by their parents.

On Tuesday, students will begin learning about an essential system: the circulatory system and its main organ, the heart. During the week students will see animations of the heart pumping blood, label the heart's parts, and trace one student's body and the flow of blood from the heart to the cells and back again. Finally, we will discuss parts of the blood and their functions. Students will be especially interested in seeing a white blood cell attack and devour a virus!

Homework will continued to be posted through out the week. Students do not come to school Friday.

Grade 8: Week of November 7th to 11th

We will continue to compare absolute and relative dating of rocks with a Venn Diagram and student inquiries. During our study of relative dating, students will learn about the Laws of Superposition, Uniformitarianism, Horizonality, Cross-cutting relationships, and unconformities in rocks. We will examine the Grand Canyon, Stawamus Chief, and faults for these laws. So that students understand the different rocks in geologic sections and are able to make their own geologic section, we must review concepts from previous grades such as weathering and erosion, and the rock cycle. I will post grade 8 homework as the week progresses. There is no school on Friday.