Grade 8: Week of March 26th to 30th

We will begin officially reviewing for the EOG. Students will receive questions for warm up every day to start class and will receive a warm up class grade for a total of 10 points per week. Mrs. Barbour ordered our EOG coach books last week and they should be arriving some time this week.

Our new chapter is about exposure to chemicals. We will explore acute versus chronic exposure to chemicals, how chemicals enter our body through inhalation, ingestion, and absorption, and the difference between dose and concentration. We will discuss the threshold and potency of chemicals, and individual susceptibility based on factors such as age, gender, and lifestyle. Students will learn about chemical exposure through discussion of common chemicals in poison ivy, fried chicken, and vinegar. They will also explore chemicals they are probably not as familiar with such as dioxins, DDT, and mercury. Please note I am being quite strict about homework, and students will receive a detention slip to stay after school Wednesday if they do not complete Tuesday night's study guide homework.

Homework for the week:

Monday night: Study guide of pg. 343 words: definitions and examples (no examples for FDA, EPA, and toxicologists), pg. 343-344 Multiple choice #1-9

Tuesday: pg. 354 Review #1-3, Reflect #1-2

Wednesday: Homework: continue the study guide of words in bold in the text from exposure to metabolism

Thursday: Fill in the chart completely with two other chemicals of your choice. The first two chemicals were completed in class as model examples.

Grade 5: Week of March 26th to 30th

On Monday we will go over the Landforms Nine Week test, especially the most missed questions. We will discuss important vocabulary and do certain hands-on activities to reteach concepts missed. Students may expect to receive back their test this day. We will also check on our plants and see if the limiting factors of temperature, sunlight, nutrient-rich soil, and water have any effect on the pea plants' growth. On Tuesday we will begin learning about biomes, or large ecosystems, such as the rainforest, grassland, tundra, taiga, and deciduous forest. We will read about these biomes, answer questions, look at pictures, create webs, and do various review activities to learn many aspects about each biome. On Wednesday those receiving less than 77% may retake a landforms quiz (the most missed questions from the Landforms Nine Weeks Test).

At the same time we are learning about ecosystems, we will begin reviewing for the EOGs. Mrs. Barbour has ordered our EOG books. In the meantime, we will learn about one lesson at a time during the beginning of class. Students will also have EOG vocabulary words and will write definitions, draw pictures, and make sentences for each one. 5A will do these vocabulary words during Thursday class time and for homework. 5B and C will have these vocabulary words for homework Wednesday and Thursday and will receive instruction on them Wednesday.

Homework for the week:

Monday night: Research the temperature and precipitation of each ecosystem: the rainforest, grassland, tundra, taiga (coniferous forest), and deciduous forest. See google images for each ecosystem.

Tuesday: Competitive Edge Pg. 66 #1-5; those retaking the Landforms test need to restudy tonight. Students will retake a mini test on Wednesday on those questions most students missed.

Wednesday: pg. 67-68 #10-15; Pictures and sentences for the words: abiotic, abrasion, air mass, air pressure, balanced forces, biotic, canyon (5B, 5C only). Students will receive a sheet with definitions.

Thursday: pg. 68 #16-20; Pictures and sentences for the words: carnivore, climate, cloud, condensation, dam, deforestation; 5A will have all words for homework they do not finish in class,

Grade 6: Week of March 26 to 30th

We have finished our sedimentary rock inquiries and are moving on to metamorphic rocks, which form from igneous and sedimentary rocks, but under great heat and pressure. We will explore how rocks recrystallize from heat and pressure and form new rocks. Then we will summarize the rock cycle by acting it out. We will do this as a class first, and then in groups. Finally we will work on a "rock story". Students will choose an igneous rock and describe the process by which it turns into sedimentary and metamorphic rock. On Friday we will be cleaning the school for the SACS visit which occurs April 3rd and 4th. It is an extremely important visit, as we get accreditation for our school.

Homework for the week:

Monday: Pg. 480 Review #1-4, Reflect #1, 2

Tuesday: Choose the rock for the "rock story" and either draw or print out the rock. Color the picture.

Wednesday: Make sure at least half the story is finished.

Thursday: Finish the rock story to hand in Friday.

Friday: Show parents the report card and returned signed envelope on Monday or Tuesday of next week to the homeroom teacher.

Grade 5: Week of March 19th to 21st

On Monday students will have a brief time to study for the Landforms Nine Weeks test and then we will begin learning about our last unit of the year: Ecosystems. We will learn that ecosystems are groups of living and non-living things interacting together, and examine various biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living) factors of ecosystems. On Tuesday students will have their Nine Weeks Landform test. Then on Wednesday we will explore the limiting factors on an ecosystem by planting pea pods in an area with no sunlight, with poor-nutrient soil (sand), in an undesirable temperature (the freezer), without water, and finally with all of the right factors for the pea plant to grow. This experiment has had surprising results in the past - we are looking forward to seeing how the pea plants grow in various conditions!

You will receive an email or letter from me this week about EOG coach books. I would very much appreciate if each parent could purchase an EOG coach book for Science. It will cost only $6.00 and students will use it on a regular basis to prepare for the EOG exam. It has mini-lessons, questions very similar to the EOG, and EOG practice tests. I will assign homework from the EOG coach book and we will do exercises in class and during remediation time. The cost break down of the book is the following: $4.99 + 12% for shipping + 6.75% NC sales tax/per book = $5.93 + 5.95 shipping and handling per order. I will pay the remainder of the shipping and handling so we can keep the book cost at an even $6.00. Please have the money in by Wednesday March 21st so we may order the books.

Homework of the week:

Monday: Study for the Nine Weeks Landform test

Tuesday: Read pgs. 83-85 and answer questions on pgs. 94-95 #1, 3, 4 in the Competitive Edge

Grade 6: Week of March 19th to 21st

We will continue to learn about sedimentary rocks this week and have learned about the sedimentary rocks shale, conglomerate, sandstone, limestone, and coal. On Tuesday and Wednesday we will do a sedimentary rock inquiry and examine the grain size, color, and other features of these sedimentary rocks.

*Please note that students only have until Wednesday to retake any Science test below 70% and then this grade will go on the report card.

Grade 8: Week of March 19th to 21st

This is our last unit on chemicals and students will explore various synthetic and natural made chemicals. We will discuss the risks and benefits of certain chemicals, including exposure, potency, and side effects. This week Mr. Wilkinson and I will coordinate so students can research a specific chemical in groups and present it to the class. Each group will research their chemical's Material Safety Data Sheet, level of toxicity, its status as a carcinogen, its risks and benefits, and if it is a preservative/sulfite/nitrate, etc.

You will receive an email or letter from me this week about EOG coach books. I would very much appreciate if each parent could purchase an EOG coach book for Science. It will cost only $6.00 and students will use it on a regular basis to prepare for the EOG exam. It has mini-lessons, questions very similar to the EOG, and EOG practice tests. I will assign homework from the EOG coach book and we will do exercises in class and during remediation time. The cost break down of the book is the following: $4.99 + 12% for shipping + 6.75% NC sales tax/per book = $5.93 + 5.95 shipping and handling per order. I will pay the remainder of the shipping and handling so we can keep the book cost at an even $6.00. Please have the money in by Wednesday March 21st so we may order the books.

Homework for the week:

Monday: pg. 329 Review #1-3, Reflect #1
Tuesday: pg. 333 all, start researching chemical

China trip

We will have our last doughnut fundraiser March 30th at 2:45 pm at carpool!

Unfortunately two people needed to cancel their trip to China, and we have two spots left. We will visit Beijing, Xi'an, and Shanghai over spring break from April 6th to 14th. Some highlights are the Great Wall of China, visiting a Chinese school, the world trade center in Shanghai, Terracotta Warriors, the Forbidden City, and eating a traditional dinner with a Chinese family.

If you are interested in visiting China with us you may contact me at crennie@neusecharterschool.org. The cost of the trip is approximately $3000 and includes flights, domestic flights, hotels, tours, breakfast, and dinner.