Hooray Odey!!!

Congratulations Odey on getting the most correct answers on Friday's math challenge! You answered 6 out of 10 answers correctly! The next highest score was 3 out of 10 and the average score was 2 out of ten! You rock!!!

It's not break yet, 6th graders!

Here is the link to your homework for the week. This is handed out on Monday, but just in case you don't have it handy, you can always look at here too.

Homework March 5-9

And,
Watch these videos!!!

Video on Conduction

More science lessons on Heat & Temperature at NeoK12.com  

Video on Convection

More educational videos on Heat & Temperature at NeoK12.com  

Radiation Waves

More science lessons on Heat & Temperature at NeoK12.com  

After watching these videos, try this fun quiz, if you haven't already done so!

Fun Quiz!!

Comment on this post and tell me how you did on the quiz. Also, let me know what cool picture showed up when you finished the quiz and how you think it is connected to the topics we are studying!

Have Fun!

Friday Combined Class

Friday class started with 20 minutes to complete a math challenge. The winner will be announced later on the blog and in class! 

 After the math challenge, the students were challenged in a different way. "Build the Tower" is an initiative that involves team-work, problem solving, cooperation, and collaboration. I built a tower out of construction paper, tape, paper cups, and popsicle sticks and kept it hidden behind a tri-fold. The students were divided into three groups and each group chose one representative to look at the tower. The representative looked at the tower for about 30 seconds, was given a envelop full of supplies, and went back to their group to build an exact replica of my tower. My tower was made out of:

• 15 Paper Cups
• 25 Popsicle Sticks
• 5 sheets of Construction Paper
• enough Masking Tape to hold it together 

Group 1 received:

• 1 roll of Masking Tape
• 10 Paper Cups
• 25 Popsicle Sticks
• 4 sheets of construction paper

Group 2 received:

• 12” strip of Masking Tape
• 25 Paper Cups
• 15 Popsicle Sticks
• 8 sheets of construction paper

And, group 3 received:

• 6” strip of Masking Tape
• 10 Paper Cups
• 35 Popsicle Sticks
• 3 sheets of construction paper 

Together, the groups had enough supplies to build three towers that were identical to mine, but on their own, it was impossible for any one group to build a tower just like mine. The groups worked for a while and quickly figured out they did not have enough supplies to build the tower. Two groups decided to cooperate, but together could only build one complete tower. Despite not building three towers identical to mine, the students learned some lessons about communication, listening, and teamwork. During discussion, some great points were made about cooperation and collaboration. Aminata pointed out that some countries have some resources but may lack others, while another country may have what that country needs, but is lacking something else. In order for people to stay fed and comfortable, countries need to trade and work together. Another student pointed out that this is necessary, even if the countries don't agree about everything or like eachother. Mohammad Shaikh brought up the point that for a technology company to build something like a computer or a cellular phone, they need to purchase technology plans and parts from other technology companies. Mahmmud said that the one student in each group that was able to see the original tower was kind of like the teacher and the other students needed to listen and follow instructions in order to learn and be successful. I can't wait to do more problem-solving and team building with the middle school!

 Don't forget to do your Homework!
6th grade: try at home mini-lab and handout multiple choice questions
7th grade: coloring packet- "mitosis and cell division"
8th grade: coloring packet- "mammals" 

This is for you, 6th graders!

Watch this:  
Heat as Energy

More science videos on Heat & Temperature at NeoK12.com

And then try this fun quiz! 

Fun Quiz 

Leave a comment to let me know what you thought of the video, and how you did on the quiz!

Enjoy!

Radiation Experimentation

Despite a bit of wind, we enjoyed some quality radiation from the sun today!


8th graders went outside for another reading circle and fresh air. We finished the chapter on mammals and birds. HW over the weekend is a coloring packet on mammals.

6th graders went outside for a lab about... radiation! We wrapped one jar in white paper and one jar in black paper and put 250ml of room temperature water in each. Then, the jars were put in direct sunlight and the temperature was measured every two minutes for 22 minutes. I am interested to see everyone's results. Do not forget to answer questions in 2 complete sentences!

 

7th graders missed out on lecture today due to picture day, but we will continue with the mitosis presentation on Monday. I, however, got to spend some time with the 4th ad 5th graders, who are very sweet. 7th graders will receive a handout on cell division and mitosis tomorrow to complete over the weekend.

This week is going by swimmingly.

In PE, Girls and Boys classes practiced circuit training. The circuit included wall sits, jumping up on the curb and then off again, arms straight out in a "T" making small forward or backward circles (depending on the station), jumping rope, jumping jacks, jogging in place with high knees, lunge steps, and holding a plank (top of a push-up) position. Oh yes, and there was one station for rest. Students spent one minute at each station and then had about 10 seconds to move to the next station. Good work everybody! This was challenging, and you did not give up!
...I am wondering if anyone will be sore tomorrow...

Reminder: Girls have yoga on Thursday.

In 6th grade science, we are studying heat and temperature. In class on Monday and Tuesday, we read chapter 6 section 2. In class today, we completed a lab activity about how molecules behave when they are heated or cooled. We  put one drop of food coloring in very cold ice water, room temperature water, and very hot water just off a boil. In the very cold water, the food coloring sunk straight to the bottom and remained in a puddle at the bottom of the jar. Isa pointed out that it looked like a jelly-fish. The food coloring did not turn all of the water pink. In the room-temperature jar, the food coloring spread out slowly, and over time, all of the water eventually turned pink. In the very hot water, the food coloring spread out super fast and all the water was pink within a blink of the eye! This experiment showed us that warmer molecules move faster or have more kinetic energy and colder molecules move slower and have less kinetic energy. We also measured the circumference of 3 balloons. One balloon was then kept at room temperature, one was put in a cooler full of ice, and one was blasted with a hair dryer. The circumference of the balloon in the cooler decreased by about 1cm, the circumference of the balloon blasted with heat increased by about 1cm, and the circumference of the balloon left at room temperature stayed the same. This experiment showed us that as you warm molecules they move further apart and when you cool molecules they move closer together! Cool!

Please remember to do a really amazing, awesome job answering the questions!

Tomorrow we are outside for another lab activity studying radiation (the transfer of heat through waves, in this case light waves from the sun).

8th Graders (and 7th graders) studied some relevant current events on Monday. Rio Rancho is facing the possibility of not having enough water to support its population in the future. To counteract this, the city is considering a "toilet to tap" program that will inject treated waste water back into the aquifer. Students wrote a one page response to a newspaper article chronicling these events using the article itself and the information they gained from the guest speaker from the water authority, their trip to Albuquerque's water reclamation plant, and information they have picked up from me or the documentary we watched last Friday. On Tuesday, we finished our lecture on fish and drew diagrams of cartilaginous fish (chondrichthyes) that illustrated all their differences from bony fish (osteichthyes). Some of these included denticles instead of ctenoid scales, a ventral mouth, a heterocercal tail, internal fertilization and live birth, a large fatty liver instead of a swim-bladder, and many more. On Wednesday, we took our chairs and books outside for a vocabulary quiz in the sun and a reading circle.

In 7th grade, we spent Tuesday doing one last fun invertebrates project. Students cut out names of phyla and a bunch of different characteristics describing organisms in the phyla. After grouping the characteristics into the proper phyla, everything was glued to construction paper and is now proudly displayed in the cafeteria! On Wednesday, we started talking about mitosis, which is the division of the eukaryotic cell nucleus.

P.S. Gnash says hi!

6th Grade HW page

For any parents or students that may need to see the homework page and don't have the hard-copy handy.

6th Grade HW Feb27-March2

7th grade Lecture Notes

7th graders,

I am giving you a link to a google document that is the powerpoint presentation on Mitosis and Cell Division. You can print this presentation and take notes on the printed slides, or you can take notes in your notebook and then look at the slides when you study your notes. It is up to you!

Powerpoint Presentation on Mitosis and Cell Division

Videos for 6th and 7th graders

Hey 7th graders!

Watch these two videos about mitosis and cell division. This is what will be studying next and lecture on the topic will start on Thursday. Watching these videos will give you a head start and help you understand lecture!

Mitosis

More science games & videos on Cell Division at NeoK12.com  

Cell division on contrast microscope

More science games & videos on Cell Division at NeoK12.com  

Hey 6th graders!!

Check out this video that describes the difference between temperature and heat! It is a cute cartoon, like the ones about energy, that uses some great examples to make the difference between temperature and heat very easy to understand!

Temperature vs. Heat

More science videos on Heat & Temperature at NeoK12.com  

ENJOY!

Tapped!

In Friday combined class today, we watched the documentary "Tapped." This documentary describes how bottled water is pumped, bottled, distributed, and where the billions of plastic bottles actually end up. The main points illustrate that tap water is much better regulated than bottled water and that the production and disposal of billions of plastic bottles is having a huge environmental impact. Take home points: tap water is healthier and safer, bottled water is destroying the environment.

For more information visit the official website: Tapped the Movie