Back to School!

Welcome back everyone!

I can't tell you how happy I was to see all your smiling, happy faces today! To those of you who participated in the regional science fair, congratulations! It sounds like you had a really positive experience, learned a lot, and represented the school in a really fantastic way!

Today's schedule was a bit crazy with the BioVan, new daylight savings time Salat, and picture pick-ups, but it was a good day and we will be back in the swing of things soon.

The BioVan educators did a great job presenting information about the habitats along the entire Rio Grande. We looked at Bear and Mountain Lion pelts from the upper Rio Grande in Colorado, we learned about beavers, coyotes, owls, and spiders that live in the Bosque, we learned about cacti, snakes, scorpions, tarantulas, and vinagaroons in the Chihuahua Desert, salamanders and humming birds in the sable palms sanctuary, and sea turtles, sharks, horseshoe crabs, and kangaroo rats on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. The educators really enjoyed interacting with the middle schoolers and the middle schoolers asked some really great questions!

(The sleeping Kangaroo Rat was almost as cute as Gnasher, but don't tell him!)

We also learned about how humans are impacting each of these habitats and discussed ways that we can make a difference.

Speaking of... I am hoping that we can participate in the Sandia Foothills Spring Cleanup. Every Saturday in April, volunteers will be gathering at different trails to pick up trash and clean up graffiti. I think this is a great way to serve the community and the environment at the same time (you will also receive extra credit for participating). The first clean up is April 7th at Copper Trail Head. This is where I hike most and I would really like to help maintain this area. I will definitely be attending this event, and I would love for you to join me! We can carpool from the school to save space in the trailhead parking lot and to be a bit greener. Here is the official website: Foothills Spring Clean-Up
And the official schedule:
April 7 : Copper trailhead. East of Tramway on Copper Ave.
April 14 : Indian School trailhead. East of Tramway on Indian School Road.
April 21 : Menaul trailhead. East of Tramway on Menaul Blvd.
April 28: Piedra Lisa Open Space. East of Tramway on Candelaria Road and south on Camino de la Sierra.

6th Grade
I am sorry I didn't get to spend much time with you today, but you will have your chance to hang with the BioVan animals and educators on Wednesday! The take home test I assigned over break is an important assignment. If you did not do it for some reason, you need to finish it and hand it in ASAP. It is worth a full test grade! If you did not hand in your packets from before break WITH A PARENT SIGNATURE it is also very, very important that you do so. Lets finish this school year with a really fabulous trimester with really high grades!!!
Here is the link for the homework for this week in case you or your parents need it:
G6 Homework March 19-23

P.S. Gnasher got his own back pack :)

Regional Science Fair 2012

Dear Regional Science Fair Competitors!
The exciting weekend is here! You should have received this email from UNM, which has all the information you will need for the weekend. In case you have not seen this, I am copying it here:

Dear Exhibitor,                                                                         

Congratulations, you have been accepted to participate in the Central New Mexico Science & Engineering Research Challenge which will be held on March 15, 16 and 17, 2012. Attached is a Schedule of Events to review in detail.  Briefly, Junior Division and Senior Division students will setup at the UNM Johnson South Gym (West Ramp) on Thursday 3/15/12 between 3:00-7:00pm.  Please note that project set up ends earlier than in previous years.

All students must be at their projects for judging on Friday 3/17/12 no later than 9:15am.  Lunch is scheduled on Friday from 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm (not provided) and judging will be finished at 3:45 pm.  Please check with your school/teacher to see what arrangements (if any) have been made for students.  The UNM Student Union is open and students will be able to purchase lunch at one of the SUB’s food vendors (i.e. Sonic, etc.) if they wish to remain on campus during lunch. Public Open House will be held on Friday 3/16/12 from 4:00-6:00pm.  Exhibitors are strongly encouraged to be at projects, but it is not mandatory. 

Some of you may not have included your Social Security Number on your entry form.  This information is not a requirement of participation; but without it, prize money cannot be issued by UNM.   If you do win a prize from the 2012 Research Challenge, please call us at 277-4916 and give us your SSN (we have voice mail on in the evenings, so if you leave a message, make sure you clearly identify your name, your school, and the number).  ALL required SSN’s must be received in our office NO LATER than May 1, 2012.  Students who have awards that require SSN’s for payment will forfeit those awards if we do not have their SSN by May 1^st.

Also enclosed are the Display and Safety Regulations.  It is STRONGLY encouraged that you review this information closely before registration. This will ensure a faster and smoother project set-up process for you. Please be sure to adhere to these regulations closely.  You may display any items not mentioned as unacceptable. Items listed as unacceptable should be photographed, charted, drawn or simulated other ways.  Don't forget to have your abstract (or a stack of several abstracts) available for the judges to pick up and read about your project. We recommend 10 to 15 copies. It is also important to note that your name and/or school CANNOT appear anywhere on the front of your board.

During the Research Challenge, please make sure that you report any incidents to Karen Kinsman, Erin Garcia, or James Vigerust, Exhibit Hall supervisors at the exhibit hall door or the Research Challenge temporary office in Johnson Center Room 118/120.  We try to make the Research Challenge a pleasant experience for all students.  Every student who comes will receive a Research Challenge pin, t-shirt, and a participation certificate.  Everyone who competes at this level is to be congratulated.  Good luck!!!  See you soon.

Sincerely,

Erin Garcia

Program Specialist Intern

STEM Education Outreach Programs

MSC02 1570

1 University of New Mexico

Albuquerque, NM 87131

Phone (505) 277-4916

Fax (505) 277-5592

Email scifair@unm.edu

Website stemed.unm.edu

 

Along with this email, a detailed schedule of events over the weekend was included. You can find that schedule by clicking on this link: Regional Science Fair Schedule

 

I am not sure when/if I will be able to attend the fair. I have yoga teacher training (5-10 on Friday, 8-6 Saturday, and 8-6 Sunday). I wish you all the best of luck and know that you will do an amazing job representing the school and yourselves! Please don't forget to bring anything and everything you need for your project (research report, extra copies of abstracts, etc....) If you have any questions or problems email or text me (parents should have access to my phone number, I am not going to list it here). Take lots of pictures and let me know how judging goes!

 

Good luck and I am so, so proud of you!!!

Mrs. Maggi

Break Assignments 6, 7, & 8th grade

6th grade

Your assignment over break is the take home test on chapter 6. Please be honest. You may use your textbook, notes, and internet, but you may not receive help from your parents, brothers and sisters, or friends.

Chapter 6 Take Home Test

You are also welcome to continue working on the periodic table of elements project for extra credit. I would really, really, really like to see that poster finished! You will continue to receive 1 homework point for each card completed, but you will only receive credit if you include all the necessary information and the cards are neat and good-looking.

Periodic Table Project Instructions

7th grade

Please complete your flip books and posters on the stages of mitosis. Bring them into class on Monday. I can't wait to see your creativity and artistic talent! I want to film the the flip books and hang up some of the posters, so make them awesome!

8th grade

You have a chapter in your workbooks to complete about animal behavior. Chapter 16 Animal Behavior pages 225-235. Please do all highlighting asked for, answer all questions in the margins, circle parts of the graphics when asked, and answer all questions at the ends of the sections. Basically do everything except make the foldables.

HAVE A FABULOUS BREAK!!! 

...Gnasher is. He went to the dog park and got a new toy today...

PE 3/6 Dodgeball and 3/8 Yoga in the Park

Boys played Dodgeball on Tuesday during PE. We only had one injury and it wasn't serious (just a couple scrapes after a trip and fall), so I believe the game was a success. Everyone seemed to have fun playing and I had fun watching. Teams were made by counting off 1, 2, 1, 2 so that teams were random and fair. We played with modified rules that allowed "out" players to get back "in" by catching a ball thrown to them by their teammates while they were in the other teams "jail".

Tomorrow (Thursday) Girls will be jogging to the park for yoga class in the fresh air!

I can't wait!!

*Please dress appropriately (sneakers and stretchy pants).

Mitosis Online Quizes

7th graders!
Test your knowledge!
Try these fun quizzes!
Fun Quiz 1
Fun Quiz 2
When you are finished, comment on this post and tell me how you did on the quiz! And, let me know what picture showed up when you finished!

Have fun!
:)

G6 Atomic Bomb Discussion

We had a really awesome discussion about the atomic bomb in class today. Our textbook includes a "connection to language arts" section in each chapter. In this chapter, the reading was a summary that explained how the atomic bomb works and the effects it had on Japan and the end of WW2. We discussed the physics of the bomb as well as the social and political implications it holds. Our conversation included current issues between Israel and Iran and what we think would happen if a nuclear war ever did break out. The atomic bomb releases massive amounts of chemical energy in an extremely exothermic reaction. Potential chemical energy is stored in chemical bonds and in the stronger "bonds" that hold together actual atoms. Here are some short videos that explain the atomic bomb in history.

One of the students asked if it would be worse to have an atom bomb dropped or to blow up a nuclear reactor. The worst disaster at a nuclear power plant in history was in 1986 at the Chernobyl nuclear reactor in the Ukraine. I am posting a link to a site that has straightforward information about the accident and an interesting slideshow:

Information and Photos

Here is a video about the Chernobyl accident:

Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster

More social studies lessons on World Events at NeoK12.com

I really appreciated everyone's contributions to our discussion today. I am impressed with how attentive and thoughtful you were!

 

Please remember to do your HW on the textbook website and write down anything from this chapter that you do not completely understand so that we can review it before break.

I will be posting your takehome test on this blog on Friday. 

 

8th Grade Grizzly Unit

Hey 8th grade!

You did a great job continuing our discussion about grizzly bears today. I am posting the two clips we watched today and some of our discussion points in case you would like to review them.

Before watching this clip, I asked you to think about some of the changes in the relationship between humans and bears that may be coming about due to the increase in bear population in Yellowstone park. After the clip, we discussed whether your predictions were accurate. Some major points discussed were the bears bringing lots of tourists to the parks and people not respecting the personal space of the bears, people being irresponsible and leaving garbage at campsites, and other people working really hard to make sure that bears cannot get into garbage.

In the second clip we saw that as the bear population s expanding, bears are moving out of the park into towns in the surrounding area. Bears are not able to understand an imaginary line that says this side is protected land and this side isn't. Bears are getting into farms and killing cows and horses for food. This food source is easy and tasty for the bears, but it is really bad for the farmer. Cows and horses cost more than $1,000 each. If a bear kills 100 head of cattle, the rancher loses over $100,000. This is a lot of money. If bears are protected by the endangered species act, they are fitted with a gps collar and released when they make trouble for ranchers. We talked about whether this was right or fair and what each of us feels the right thing is to do with the bears. Several of you thought that the bears that kill cows should be killed. Junte made a point that the bear should be killed, but only after it has come back several times, in other words, it deserves a second chance. In the clip, the rancher decides to move his cattle onto different land. Most of us felt like this was the right choice. I agree. The bears were here first, after all!

Gnash got a bath!

Gnasher had a bath before school today. He pretends like he hates it, but he secretly loves it. After the bath he loves being towel dried and babied. When he gets outs of the bathroom he runs in manic circles with a huge puppy smile. Here he is still looking a bit unsure:

And here he is really happy and excited about being clean:

This is Bilal.

This is Bilal learning about chemical energy during our outdoor reading circle on one of the most beautiful spring-like days of the season so far!

Just for 8th graders!

Hey 8th grade!

I really enjoyed our discussion in class today. Each of you had some really great, thoughtful, and thought-inspiring ideas and I appreciate all of your input!

Here is the link to complete the homework: Grizzly Bear Information 

Remember to click on "Part 1: Bear Ecology" and complete the handout you received in class today with nice complete sentences and quality, thoughtful responses.

In case you would like to review the short video we watched in class today, it is included here:

Tomorrow, we will be going over your homework assignment and continuing to discuss the issues surrounding Grizzly Bears in and around Yellowstone park.