Winter Trimester: Week of 3/14 – 3/18

Monday 3/14: Finish & submit case study project

Tuesday 3/15: Setup spring INBs, natural selection & speciation

Wednesday 3/16: Scientific argumentation part 2

Thursday 3/17: No School – End-of-trimester grading day

Friday 3/18: No School – Teacher in-service

Announcements: Welcome to the final week of the winter trimester!  Last week, the students got close to finishing their end-of-unit projects, but it seems that almost all of the students needed a little extra time to finish.  Monday in class will be given to finish these projects, and submit them.  Students will have until the end of school on Wednesday to submit them for credit as it is the last day of the trimester.  To wrap up the last day or so of the trimester, we’ll do the 2nd part of a lesson on scientific argumentation that we did the first part of in September, and we’ll also do a lesson on speciation and natural selection.  Students should bring their new INBs for the spring trimester this week on Tuesday.  Just like the last two trimesters, students need to use composition books for science.  I have some, so if your student needs to trade a spiral notebook for one of my composition books, I can help out with that.  I will also have students who have yet to take the test on tectonic plate movement do so during lunch this week.  I hope you all have a fantastic week!  Let me know if you need anything.

KK

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Winter Trimester: Week of 3/7 – 3/11

Monday 3/7: How is the Earth Changing? Case Study Site Assignment & Research

Tuesday 3/8: How is the Earth Changing? Case study site research & screencast.

Wednesday 3/9: How is the Earth Changing? Case study site screencast.

Thursday 3/10: How is the Earth Changing? Finish case study site screencast, and submit.

Friday 3/11: (AM school-wide field trip, periods 1-3 in the afternoon) Setup spring term INB, Natural Selection & Speciation. (If projects completed)

Announcements: Welcome to another week of 8th grade science!  This week we are finishing up the last project of the earth science unit on how the earth is changing.  Students have selected one of ten sites around the world, and are developing a basic case study on the geologic changes that are occurring at their specific site, and how these changes have impacted life in the region (including the human-environment interactions).  I introduced the project on Monday, and the expectation is that it is complete by the end of class on Thursday, and submitted.  At the end of the week we will setup our notebooks for the spring trimester, and (time permitting) do a lesson on Natural Selection & Speciation where we will look at how moth populations were affected by the Industrial Revolution.  Any student who has yet to take the test on tectonic plate movement needs to have this completed by the end of the trimester to receive credit – this also goes for any missing projects or notebook work.  As always, let me know if you need anything, and I hope that you have a fantastic week!

KK

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Winter Trimester: Week of 2/29 – 3/4

Monday: What do we know about how the earth is changing? Finish models, and use them to draft scientific explanations.

Tuesday: What do we know about how the earth is changing? Finish scientific explanations, and begin evaluating models & explanations.

Wednesday: What do we know about how the earth is changing? Finish evaluations.

Thursday: How can I explain how the earth is changing at a specific site?  Assign groups for case study site projects, introduce project requirements, and begin initial research.

Friday (Early Release, Periods 4-6): How can I explain how the earth is changing at a specific site? Continue case study site work.

Announcements: Welcome to another week of 8th grade science!  This week we will be finishing up the modeling of tectonic boundaries and geologic formations project, we’ll be drafting scientific explanations about how the earth is changing, and we will kick off the final project of the term where students will be examining how the earth is changing at specific case study sites around the world.  By Monday, Synergy will be updated with the most recent tests that students took as well as the last presentations that they made in class on specific tectonic boundaries and geologic formations.  By mid-week I will be able to start grading Notebook 6 (pages 51-60).  We are nearing the end of the term, and this unit will take us right up until the end before spring break.  When we come back from break, we will kick off the spring STEM project that Mr. Malcolm and I are working on.  We’re almost done with the work packets for the project.  Aside from the STEM project, the 3rd trimester will have us looking at a series of shorter units: a life science unit on heredity & genetics, a chemistry unit on how our bodies process food, and a physical science unit that will involve the use of a hill-climbing version of the solar cars that we had a longer unit with last year.  I hope you all have a fantastic week!

KK

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Winter Trimester: Week of 2/22 – 2/26

Monday 2/22: What do we know about how the earth is changing? Diagram scientific model labeling activity.

Tuesday 2/23: What do we know about how the earth is changing? Salt-Dough creation for large scientific models.

Wednesday 2/24: What do we know about how the earth is changing? Rough drafts of salt-dough Earth models

Thursday 2/25: What do we know about how the earth is changing? Finish rough drafts of salt-dough Earth models, start final models.

Friday 2/26: What do we know about how the earth is changing? Finish final salt-dough Earth models.

Announcements: Welcome to another week of 8th grade science!  This week we are concentrating on a project that will synthesize all the work we have done with different tectonic boundaries, geologic formations, and the other geologic phenomena that we have investigated over the course of this unit.  The students will be making salt-dough (basically homemade play-doh that we’ll make on Tuesday) to model the different types of tectonic boundaries, geologic formations, and other geologic processes.  After we’re done with this portion of the unit, we will begin focusing on specific areas of the world that are being directly affected by these processes that we’re investigating.  Students will do short projects over the last week or so of the term on a specific “case study site” and present their findings to the class.  I will have more on the format for this later.  Mr. Malcolm and I have also been actively working on the format, scope & sequence for the Spring STEM project.  The project will end up being a series of projects that the students will engage in that will lead to a variety of outcomes regarding seismic preparedness and emergency procedures in our building – and hopefully across 4J.  I hope you all have a great week!  Let me know if you need anything.

KK

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Winter Trimester: Week of 2/15 – 2/19

Monday 2/15: No School – President’s Day

Tuesday 2/16: How does new plate material form? part 1

Wednesday 2/17: How does new plate material form? part 2, Mid Unit Review II

Thursday 2/18: Mid-Unit Review II, Mid-Unit Test II

Friday 2/19 (Early Release, Periods 1-3): Synthesizing what we know about plate tectonics

Announcements: Welcome to another week of 8th grade science!  We have a short week this week, and we’re going to spend it wrapping up the 2nd portion of our Earth Science unit.  I am currently grading Notebook 5 (INB pages 41-50), and will have all classes finished by the end of the weekend.  Students will have until Friday 2/26 to turn in any missing or incomplete work from Notebook 5.   It took us a little longer to get through some material last week, but I also added in some work with the iPads to augment what we were trying to do in class.  I have started to use some software, called “annotate,” that allows me to mirror what I project on the smart board onto the individual iPads as well.  This is especially helpful in increasing engagement, using color maps (rather than black/white) for assignments & tasks, for note-taking, and for quizzes.  A good portion of Tuesday was spent getting students acclimated with the software, and getting logins setup.  I was going to have the students do exactly that this upcoming week, but decided to have it done earlier so students could begin to use the software.  One of the nice things about the program is that students can log into their account from anywhere that they have an internet connection, and they can see exactly what we did in class that day.  We used the software to take a quiz this last week (to let students know what they should probably study before our test at the end of this week), and students can also access their results and the correct answers by logging into the website.  I have already included a link to the site in the “links” section of my blog.  This week students will write and evaluate scientific explanations about how new plate material is formed, review for their test on the tectonic plates, and take that test.  If we have time (due to the shortened week) we will start the last two sections of our unit by synthesizing what we know about tectonic plates, their movement, and the geologic phenomena and formations that result from their movement.  For the last section of this unit, students will be working on small projects regarding specific areas of the world with unique geologic formations & phenomena that they will present to their peers in a science-fair type format which will occupy a lot of our time as we get closer to spring break.  There will be a lot more details about this that will be forthcoming in the coming weeks.  As always, let me know if you need anything or have any questions.  I hope you all have a fantastic week!

KK

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Winter Trimester: Week of 2/8 – 2/12

Monday 2/8: Volcanic and non-volcanic mountain range formation

Tuesday 2/9: Volcanic hotspots, Annotate

Wednesday 2/10: Annotate, hotspots

Thursday 2/11: Geologic evidence & predicting tectonic plate movement part 1

Friday 2/12: Geologic evidence & predicting tectonic plate movement part 2

Announcements: Welcome to a new week of science, and (officially) the 2nd half of the school year!  We have a pretty full week before the long weekend, and the beginning of end-of-unit projects. This first part of the week we will be discussing Volcano formation at plate subduction boundaries as well as hotspots.  After that, we will look at how to predict plate movements based on geological evidence.  We will wrap up the week with work related to how new plate material is formed (the students already know where material is formed, but we have not covered the “how” just yet).  I received word that the science iPads will be re-imaged with the software that I wanted by the end of the week, so if any student still needs to finish the wind turbine screencast, they need to make sure it is finished ASAP – even though these are long overdue.  I anticipate us getting through at least page 50 in our notebooks this week, and I will begin grading Notebook 5 as soon as that occurs. A couple of reminders that there is no school on Monday 2/15 due to President’s Day.  After President’s Day, we will have a review of the material we’ve covered the last couple weeks on plate tectonics, and then will have our 2nd unit test.  Mid-Trimester grades were submitted this weekend.  If your student still has work to make up from Notebook 4, they have until 2/19 to submit it for credit.  As always, please let me know if you need anything or have any questions.  I hope you all have a fantastic week!

KK

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Winter Trimester: Week of 2/1 – 2/5

Monday 2/1: Finish Scientific Explanations for Metamorphic Rocks lab

Tuesday 2/2: Ring of Fire

Wednesday 2/3: When Tectonic Plates Move

Thursday 2/4: When Tectonic Plates Collide

Friday 2/5: No School – Mid-Trimester Grading

Homework: Formation of Metamorphic Rock (40), Ring of Fire (42)

Announcements: Welcome to the last week before mid-trimester grading!  This week marks the halfway point of the 8th grade year.  It seems like just yesterday that your students first entered my classroom as 7th graders.  We have learned a lot together, but we still have a lot of great projects planned for the rest of the school year.  I will be finishing up grading through notebook 4 no later than Wednesday this week.  As far as content goes, we will be taking a closer look at some of the patterns of volcanic and seismic activity around the Pacific Ocean, and will more closely examine how the tectonic plates move now that we’ve learned about what causes their movement.  If we have time we will start talking about volcano formation, but I believe that we will start that discussion next week. I anticipate that our next test will be around February 12 before we have the 3-day weekend for President’s Day.  After that the students will start to work on some group projects that involve the geologic activity in certain key areas (case study sites) around the world.  The students have had a lot of hands-on work using the iPads to construct scientific models & explanations lately.  I have advocated for a new application, Explain Everything, to be added to the iPads that would allow students a less complicated time setting up, recording, saving, and editing their screencast videos for these, and I have been told that they will be added shortly.  I personally use the application frequently to record math tutorials for my math class, and I would like to begin using it to record lab instructions so that science groups could jump right into their labs while I am able to give specific groups and students 1-on-1 help as they need it.  As always, let me know if you need anything.  I hope you have a fantastic week!

KK

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Winter Trimester: Week of 1/25 – 1/29

Monday 1/25: Complete & Submit Wind Turbine Scientific Modeling Videos

Tuesday 1/26: ES Activity 4.1 Part 1 – creating a convection model to demonstrate the cause of Continental Drift.

Wednesday 1/27: ES Activity 4.1 Part 2 – creating a convection model to demonstrate the cause of Continental Drift.

Thursday 1/28: ES Activity 4.2 – the formation and movement of metamorphic rock.

Friday 1/29 (Early Release Periods 4-6): Finish ES Activity 4.2 – the formation and movement of metamorphic rock.

Announcements: Welcome to another week of 8th grade science!  Believe it for not, the mid-point of the trimester (and of the school year) is quickly approaching.  Next Friday (February 5) is Mid-Trimester grading day.  The last assignments that will be added to the midterm grades will be notebook 4, the most recent test on plate tectonics, and the scientific modeling videos on wind turbines.  I will start grading notebook 4 by the end of this week depending on when we complete through page 40 in our Interactive Notebooks.  Students will have until the end of school on Thursday, February 4 to submit any makeup work through what is listed above for credit.  They will not be accepted after that.  We will be starting back on our earth science unit this week.  Initially, I had planned on transitioning back to it this last week, but I became ill midweek, and had to miss some time at school.  At presently, this earth science unit will be completed right around spring break as we transition into our spring project.  I am in the process of ordering the parts for our seismometers, and have already started assembling the parts for our earthquake simulation machines.  Let me know if you have any questions.  I hope you all have a fantastic week!

KK

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Winter Trimester: Week of 1/18 – 1/15

Monday 1/18: No School – MLK Jr Day

Tuesday 1/19: (1-3): Scientific Modeling: Wind Turbines, (4-6): Finish Turbine Competition, Begin Scientific Modeling: Wind Turbines

Wednesday 1/20: Scientific Modeling: Wind Turbines

Thursday 1/21: Scientific Modeling: Wind Turbines, 3rd period & Lunch – NEHS Information Fair.

Friday 1/22: ES Activity 4.1 Part 1 – Creating a convection model to demonstrate the cause of Continental Drift.

Announcements: This week we will be finishing our work with wind turbines.  Last week the kids built basic wind turbines, and then modified them to maximize the amount of volts they could generate.  This week, our focus is on constructing scientific models that explain the scientific processes at work in the wind turbine that converts motion energy (wind) into electricity.  The students will have their first opportunity to do this on the science iPads.  Each student will create his/her own screen cast video during which they will explain what is happening in their model.  Being that this is the first time that they will have used this software, I expect it to take a little bit longer than when the students are using it in the spring for the STEM project.  It’s hard to believe that we are nearing the mid-way point of the school year.  Mid-Trimester grading day is on Friday, February 5.  I expect to have graded through Notebook 4 (pages 31-40) by that time, but don’t think that we’ll be completely through Notebook 5 by that point as students just input page 33 at the end of this last week.  I will let you know if that changes.  I hope you all have a great week!  Let me know if you need anything.

KK

Winter Trimester: Week of 1/11 – 1/15

Monday 1/11: How Can I Smell Things From a Distance? Critiquing & Revising Models

Tuesday 1/12: Wind Turbines

Wednesday 1/13: Wind Turbines

Thursday 1/14: Wind Turbines

Friday 1/15: (Early Release, Periods 1-3): Wind Turbines

Announcements: Hello, and welcome to another week of 8th grade science!  We have an exciting week lined up this week.  After we finish our scientific modeling work on Monday, EWEB will be coming to help us with wind turbines for the three days thereafter.  This is a great opportunity for the kids, and they will be able to work with models in a high tech and hands-on manner.  I also received word on Friday afternoon that a grant request that I had authored in order to purchase materials to construct two seismometers was accepted.  This is great news for our science class, and our school as a whole.  We will be able to build these seismometers in conjunction with our spring STEM project, and hopefully have the data collected by them to be added to the University of Oregon’s seismic detection network – an opportunity that not many middle school classes will be able to say they were able to take part in.  Kelly Middle School will be scientifically significant to a data collection network that multiple universities and countries use – which in my opinion is amazing.  By the end of the week, I am planning on having us jump back into our earth science unit.  I am spending today and tomorrow updating grades on Synergy, so be on the look out for an update.  I plan to have through notebook 3 graded by the end of this week.  I hope you all have an amazing week, and let me know if you need anything.

KK

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Winter Trimester: Week of 1/4 – 1/8

Monday 1/4: No School – Furlough Day

Tuesday 1/5: No School – Teacher In-Service

Wednesday 1/6: How Can I Smell Things From a Distance? Individual Models

Thursday 1/7: How Can I Smell Things From a Distance? Group Models

Friday 1/8: How Can I Smell Things From a Distance? Critiquing Models

Announcements: Welcome back from winter break!  I hope you all had a restful couple of weeks.  This week we are going to take a step back from our earth science unit to finish our discussions on how we are able to smell things from a distance.  Specifically, students will be working on their scientific models & the particle nature of matter.  Next week we will be doing another short unit with the help of EWEB on wind turbines before we really jump back into our earth science unit.  After that, the earth science unit will keep us occupied to right around spring break, and our spring STEM project that Mr. Malcolm and I are building together.  Just a reminder that the deadline for any make-up material from Notebooks 1 & 2 will be this Friday 1/8 when I will also start grading through Notebook 3.  This is when the next update to Synergy will happen for science. As always, let me know if you need anything or if you have any questions.  Have a great week!

KK

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Winter Trimester: Week of 12/14 – 12/18

Monday 12/14: Finish Discussion on Sea Floor Spreading

Tuesday 12/15: What is the Composition of the Earth’s Surface?

Wednesday 12/16: Models of Tectonic Plates

Thursday 12/17: Learning Set 1 Test Review: Intro to Volcanoes, Earthquakes, and Tectonic Theory, Learning Set 1 Test.

Friday 12/18: Edible Tectonics

Homework: None

Announcements: Welcome to the last week before winter break!  The winter trimester is off to a great start.  The presentations that students gave on the evidence that supports the theory of Continental Drift were excellent overall.  There were quite a few students gone towards the end of the week.  The presentation will reflect on Synergy as “missing” until they come in to deliver it – they won’t be penalized for having to give the presentation solo, and have until the end of the week to do so.  Students can come in before school, at lunch, or after school any day this week to make it up if it is missing – I only ask that they let me know of their intentions prior to coming in.  I hope to have Notebook 2 (INB pages 11-20) graded by the end of the week in case students want to work on anything over the break.  Any makeup work from Notebooks 1 & 2 will have a hard deadline of Friday, January 8.  We will be finishing the first major section of our Earth Science unit on tectonic theory this week, and will be having a test to assess what we’ve covered so far.  Shortly after we return in January, EWEB will be helping us with a short unit on wind turbines.  I will keep you informed of any updates.  I hope you all have an amazing week!  Let me know if you need anything.

KK

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Winter Trimester: Week of 12/7 – 12/11

Monday 12/7: No School – Teacher In-Service

Tuesday 12/8: Continental Drift Readings & Posters

Wednesday 12/9: Finish Continental Drift Posters & Begin Presentations

Thursday 12/10: Finish Presentations, Pangaea & Sea Floor Floor Spreading

Friday 12/11 (Early Release: Periods 4-6): How can I smell things from a distance?

Homework: Volcanoes & Earthquakes (12), What is Continental Drift? (17)

Announcements: Welcome to the first week of the winter trimester!  This week we will be discussing the different forms of evidence that support the theory of Continental Drift both above sea level and on the ocean floor.  On Friday we have an early release day, so we will be doing a chemistry lesson on how we are able to smell things from a distance.  This week I will also begin to grade Notebook 1 for the winter trimester.  I will grade notebook 2 over the course of the first few days of the winter break or just before we go on break.  After the break, EWEB will be helping us with a short unit on wind turbines.  I expect our earth science unit to take a good chunk of the winter trimester before we transition to the spring STEM project that Mr. Malcolm and I are working on.  One thing that you will notice above is a new homework category.  This is where I will put digitized homework assignments, and indicate which notebook page they go on when completed.  I will be posting the homework assignments for notebooks 1 & 2 on Tuesday.  I hope this helps everyone keep track of when assignments are expected to be completed outside of class.  I hope you all have a great week!  As always, let me know if you need anything.

KK

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Welcome to the winter trimester!

We have two weeks of school until the winter break.  I expect that we will be able to get through the first three major sections of our new unit before we head off to break.  Just a reminder that if you’re looking for any of the posts from the first trimester that you need to go to the main page of my blog, click in the archive on the right-side of the screen for posts in December 2015, and then open the archive post for 8th grade science.  Everything that was on our main science page was transferred there so we can keep all information organized by trimesters.  Let me know if you have any questions.

KK