7th Science 16-17 Winter Trimester Archive Page
Week of 3/20/2017 – 3/24/2017:
Monday 3/20: Healthy Relationships
Tuesday 3/21: Healthy Relationships
Wednesday 3/22: Healthy Relationships
Thursday 3/23: Healthy Relationships
Friday 3/24: Healthy Relationships
Upcoming Calendar Dates: Track Practice starts Monday 3/20.
Homework:
Announcements:
KK
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Week of 3/13/2017 – 3/17/2017: Finishing the Physical Science Unit, Spring Notebooks Setup, Human Growth & Development
Monday 3/13: Spinning Coil Motors
Tuesday 3/14: Spinning Coil Motors
Wednesday 3/15: Unit Review Activity
Thursday 3/16: Unit Test
Friday 3/17: Setup Spring Term Interactive Notebooks
Upcoming Calendar Dates: Physical Science Unit Test week of 3/13 – 3/17 (midweek). Track Assembly Monday 3/13. Family Movie Night Friday 3/17. Track Practice starts Monday 3/20.
Homework: None Assigned.
Announcements: Hello, and welcome to another week of 7th grade science! This week is the 2nd to last before the end of the term, however, this is the last week of work that will be on the 2nd trimester grade report. All of the work that we do the last week of the term will count towards the final trimester. The reasoning for this is so that if students have any last-minute make-up work to do, they have time to focus on it. Students need to bring in a new composition book for their spring trimester science notebook. These need to be brought in by Wednesday. Students will be taking the physical science final test on Wednesday or Thursday this week depending on where the classes are. After the test, we will be setting up our spring notebooks, and do our Human Growth & Development lessons and a solar cars “teaser” by working with electric cars for a few days before leaving for spring break. When we return from break we will jump right into our Earth Science unit which focuses on the weather and storm formation before we launch into the Solar Cars unit in May.
KK
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Week of 3/6/2017 – 3/10/2017: Investigating Electrical Energy
Monday 3/6: the Wet-Cell Battery, Measuring Current
Tuesday 3/7: Measuring Current, Voltage, and Calculating Resistance
Wednesday 3/8: Voltage & Magnetism
Thursday 3/9: Magnetism & Building an Electromagnet
Friday 3/10: International Day School Event
Upcoming Calendar Dates: Benito Juarez Event Friday 3/10 5:30-8:30. Physical Science Unit Test week of 3/13 – 3/17 (midweek). Track Assembly Monday 3/13. Family Movie Night Friday 3/17. Track Practice starts Monday 3/20.
Science Notebook: Notebook 5 (pages 58-64) make-up deadline Friday 3/10. Notebook 6 (pages 65-72) make-up deadline Friday 3/10. Notebook 7 make-up deadline Friday 3/24. Notebook 8 make-up deadline Friday 3/24.
Homework: None assigned.
Announcements: Hello, and welcome to another week of 7th grade science! This week we are investigating electrical energy with many different investigations into current, voltage, electromagnets, and spinning coil motors. These investigations should take us into early next week. After electrical energy, we will be at the end of our unit, and will spend a day of review before our end-of-unit test. After this unit, students need to bring in the notebook they are going to use for the spring trimester. We will spend some time setting these up the day after our test. In the last week or so before the break we will be working on electric cars (as an end-of-unit mini-project/intro to solar cars that we will do in the spring), and our short human growth & development unit. I am sending home a letter about the HG&D unit with students on Tuesday. Please sign and send it back if you do not want your student to participate. At 7th grade I focus on two things with our HG&D unit: what is HIV/AIDS – specifically what does it do to the body, and how does it and other pathogens enter the body – and we talk about what a healthy relationship looks like with friends, significant others, etc. as they relate to our emotional well-being. I hope you all have a fantastic week! Let me know if you need anything.
KK
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Week of 2/27/2017 – 3/3/2017: Sound Energy, Chemical Energy, Electrical Energy
Monday 2/27: Finish Sound Energy Investigation, Chemical Energy 8.1 – Chemical Energy & Thermal Energy
Tuesday 2/28: Chemical Energy & Kinetic Energy, Fuels
Wednesday 3/1: Chemical Energy Transformations
Thursday 3/2: Introduction to Electrical Energy & the Wet-Cell Battery
Friday 3/3: (Early Release, Periods 4-6) Periods 4 & 6 to catch up with periods 1 & 3.
Upcoming Calendar Dates: Spring Play Day (1st Pilot Leader Training) on Friday 3/3 1:00-3:00. Physical Science Unit Test week of 3/13 – 3/17 (midweek). Track Assembly Monday 3/13. Family Movie Night Friday 3/17. Track Practice starts Monday 3/20.
Science Notebook: Notebook 5 (pages 58-64) make-up deadline Friday 3/10. Notebook 6 (pages 65-72) make-up deadline Friday 3/10. Notebook 7 make-up deadline Friday 3/24.
Homework: Sound Energy Reading due Thursday 3/2.
Announcements: Hello, and welcome to another week of 7th Grade Science! This week we finish our investigation into Sound Energy, spend a few days investigating Chemical Energy – specifically fuels, and how the chemical reactions from our chemistry unit relate to energy – before we start working with Electrical Energy which we will work on for about a week before a little bit more about Radiant Energy, and our unit review and test. I expect our unit test to be mid-end of the week 3/13-3/17. The week just before break we will setup our Spring Trimester notebooks, and get started on some of the Spring content. I hope you all have a fantastic week! Let me know if you need anything.
KK
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Week of 2/20/2017 – 2/24/2017: Finish Thermal Energy, Introduce Sound and Chemical Energy.
Monday 2/20: No School – President’s Day
Tuesday 2/21: Notebook Maintenance, Finish Thermal & Elastic Energy Data Analysis, Complete Thermal Energy & Radiant Energy Investigation
Wednesday 2/22: Introducing Sound Energy, Reading on Sound Energy Assigned (Due 3/2).
Thursday 2/23: Sound Energy Investigation, AVID-ize event at South Eugene HS (Kordon gone periods 4-6)
Friday 2/24: Michael Faraday & Electrical Energy (Kordon Gone)
Upcoming Calendar Dates: Spring Play Day (1st Pilot Leader Training) on Friday 3/3 1:00-3:00. Physical Science Unit Test around Friday 3/10. Track Assembly Monday 3/13. Family Movie Night Friday 3/17. Track Practice starts Monday 3/20.
Science Notebook: Notebook 5 (pages 58-64) make-up deadline Friday 3/10. Notebook 6 (pages 65-72) make-up deadline Friday 3/10.
Homework: Sound Energy Reading due Thursday 3/2
Announcements: Hello, and welcome to another week of 7th Grade Science! This week we will be learning about a variety of energy types as we are actually approaching the end of our Physical Science unit on Energy. Our unit test will be around Friday 3/10. After our physical science unit, we will jump right into our Earth Science unit on Weather before our Solar Cars unit in May. For an update on where we are at in the Pilot Leader selection process see the Pilot Leader Program website: http://blogs.4j.lane.edu/kordon_k/2017-2018-pilot-leaders/. This is a short week due to the day off on Monday. I am also gone towards the end of the week due to the AVIDize event on Thursday, and I have to be gone on Friday due to family business. As a result of the odd week, I will not grade Notebook 7 until next week. Once we are done with the physical science unit, students will need a new interactive notebook for the remainder of the school year. Just as before, these cannot be spiral notebooks, but need to be composition books. We will set these up around Monday, 3/13. If students want to bring these in early, they can put their names on them, and store them in the science wing until then. Track season is also coming up. If your student wants to participate, have them get their track packet in the office as soon as possible. I hope you all have a fantastic week! Let me know if you need anything.
KK
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Week of 2/13/2017 – 2/17/2017: Thermal Energy, Radiant Energy
Monday 2/13: Thermal Energy Models
Tuesday 2/14: Finish Thermal Energy Models
Wednesday 2/15: Thermal Energy: Liquids Investigation
Thursday 2/16: Thermal Energy & Elastic Energy Investigation
Friday 2/17: Thermal Energy & Elastic Energy Investigation
Upcoming Calendar Dates: Pilot Leader Applications due turned in absolutely no later than Friday 2/17 – zero exceptions. Kordon gone afternoon Thursday 2/23. Family Movie Night Friday 3/17. Track Assembly Monday 3/13. Track Practice starts Monday 3/20.
Science Notebook: Notebook 4 (pages 51-57) make-up deadline Friday 2/17. Notebook 5 (pages 58-64) make-up deadline Friday 3/3. Notebook 6 make-up deadline Friday 3/3.
Homework: Potential Energy Reading (due Thursday 2/16)
Announcements: Hello, and welcome to another week of 7th grade science! This week we will finish talking about Thermal Energy, and spend a brief time talking about radiant energy – which I hope to introduce before the end of the week. Due to the early release last Friday, periods 1-3 will be ahead of period 4-6 for a bit, but will get caught up eventually. Pilot Leader Applications are due this Friday. Please be reminding your student to get these completed, ASAP. We plan to make decisions within about a week, and will notify students through the mail thereafter. As indicated on the application, those selected to be part of the Pilot Program need to be available on Friday, March 3 (an early release day) from 1:00-3:00 for their first activity – run by the WEB Coordinators (myself, Mr. Miller, and Mrs. Kimball). They will need to be picked up afterward. Please see the Pilot Leader Program page for more information: http://blogs.4j.lane.edu/kordon_k/2017-2018-pilot-leaders/. I hope you all have a fantastic week! Let me know if you need anything.
KK
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Week of 2/6/2017 – 2/10/2017: Energy Transfer, Conservation, Thermal Energy, and Potential Energy
Monday 2/6: Notebook Maintenance, Revisiting the Bouncing Ball
Tuesday 2/7: Racquetball & Basketball Demonstration, Energy Transfer
Wednesday 2/8: Energy Transfer & Energy Conservation
Thursday 2/9: Introducing Thermal Energy & Potential Energy
Friday 2/10: (Early Release, Periods 1-3) Thermal Energy & Solids
Upcoming Calendar Dates: KMS Barnes & Noble Fundraiser Saturday 2/11 10 am – 6 pm. Pilot Leader Applications due turned in absolutely no later than Friday 2/17 – zero exceptions. Kordon gone afternoon Thursday 2/23. Family Movie Night Friday 3/17. Track Practice starts Monday 3/20.
Science Notebook: Notebook 2 (pages 38-43) make-up deadline Friday 2/10. Notebook 3 (pages 44-50) make-up deadline Friday 2/10. Notebook 4 (pages 51-57) make-up deadline Friday 2/17. Notebook 5 (pages 58-64) make-up deadline Friday 2/24.
Homework: Potential Energy Reading (due Thursday 2/16)
Announcements: Hello, and welcome to another week of 7th grade science! This week we start the 2nd part of our physical science unit where we start to discuss energy transfer, conservation of energy, thermal energy, and potential energy. In short, it’s a full week! Anything that we simply can’t get to we will push to next week. I just finished grading last week’s physical science mid-unit test, and overall students did very well. I will be posting scores to Synergy by mid-week. Any student who scored low can do a test correction to earn half their points back up to a 90% after I pass the tests back (students who missed the test need to take it before I can pass it back). If your student was not at school to take the test they need to do so, ASAP while the material is fresh in their minds. Students may come in before school, at lunch, or after school basically any day in order to complete this. We’re just under two weeks away from the deadline to submit Pilot Leader applications. If your student is interested in being part of the program, they need to get started their application ASAP as there is a good amount of writing involved as well as getting teacher/staff recommendations. I hope you all have a fantastic week! Let me know if you need anything.
KK
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Week of 1/30/2017 – 2/3/2017: Elastic Energy, Mid-Unit Test
Monday 1/30: Investigating Elastic Energy, cont. 4.2
Tuesday 1/31: Determining the amount of Elastic Energy objects can have 4.3
Wednesday 2/1: Mid-Unit Review
Thursday 2/2: Mid-Unit Test
Friday 2/3: No School – Mid-Trimester Grading Day
Upcoming Calendar Dates: Pilot Leader Applications out on Wednesday 2/1. Pilot Leader Applications due turned in absolutely no later than Friday 2/17 – zero exceptions. Physical Science Mid-Unit test on Thursday 2/2. – will not impact mid-trimester grade. Mid-Trimester grading on Friday, 2/3.
Science Notebook: Notebook 2 (pages 38-43) make-up deadline Wednesday 2/1. Notebook 3 (pages 44-50) make-up deadline Thursday 2/9.
Homework: Elastic Energy & the Rolling Can (due Thursday 2/2)
Announcements: Hello, and welcome to another week of 7th grade science! This week we reach the mid-trimester, and the half-way point of the school year (it’s hard to believe, I know!). We will also finish the first part of our physical science unit, and have our first test covering the types of energy that we have learned about so far, and basic energy conversion. The test will impact the grade in the 2nd half of the trimester, but not the 1st half – this will allow students to make it up if they need to without the immediate impact. Pilot Leader Applications will be available starting on Wednesday this week. Going forward, please see the Pilot Leader Program page for more information: 2017-2018 KMS Pilot Leaders Page. That application will be available to students at school, and I will also post a digital copy of it on the Pilot Leader page on Wednesday. Track packets are also available in the office – please have your student pick one up ASAP if they want to join the track team this season. Practice starts in mid-March and students who do not have a physical on file cannot participate until they have one. I have created a Track page on the blog for track information going forward: Kelly Track Page. I hope you all have a fantastic week! Let me know if you need anything.
KK
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Week of 1/23/2017 – 1/27/2017: Gravitational Energy, Introducing Energy Conversion, and Elastic Energy
Monday 1/23: Gravitational Energy & Energy Conversions 3.2
Tuesday 1/24: Investigating Pendulums 3.3
Wednesday 1/25: What Happens to a Ball as it Bounces? 4.1, Reading 4.1: Elasticity & the Body
Thursday 1/26: Investigating Elastic Energy 4.2
Friday 1/27: (Early Release, Periods 4-6) Happy & Sad Sphere Lab
Upcoming Calendar Dates: Pilot Leader Applications out on Wednesday 2/1, Pilot Leader Applications due turned in absolutely no later than Friday 2/17 – zero exceptions. Physical Science Mid-Unit test on/around Wednesday 2/1. Mid-Trimester grading on Friday, 2/3.
Notebook & Homework: Notebook 2 (pages 38-43) make-up deadline Wednesday 2/1. Notebook 3 grading begins Thursday 1/26.
Announcements: Hello, and welcome to another week of 7th grade science! Last week our wind turbine project was a great success. There were multiple groups across class periods that were able to generate more than 40 volts with their turbines in class. This week we will finish our initial investigations of gravitational energy, its link to kinetic energy, and begin to discuss elastic energy. We’re approaching the halfway point in the trimester, and also the release of Pilot Leader applications. Pilot Leader applications will be available following an advisory presentation from the current leaders on Wednesday, February 1, and are due completed no later than 4:00 PM on Friday, February 17 to either Mr. Denton, myself, or Mr. Miller. Decisions on acceptance will be made by Wednesday, March 1. Once applications are available, I will create a new page on the blog devoted to Pilot Leader information, and will keep that information separate from the science page. Also, I will be scoring the last notebook grade that will impact mid-trimester grades (Notebook 3) starting this upcoming Thursday, January 26. That way students can be free to take their notebooks home before the mid-trimester to fix things if they need to. We will also be having our mid-unit assessment in about a week (my goal is Wednesday, February 1). This assessment will be a more formal test than the previous two, but will also include the second benchmark for scientific modeling. Finally, track season is quickly approaching. Track sign-up packets are now available in the office, and should be filled out as soon as possible. Practices will be starting near the middle-end of March. All students need a physical on file in order to participate in track. Physicals are good for two years, so if your student had one last year, then that physical should cover your student for this track season as well. In my experience, appointment slots for physicals in the Eugene area tend to fill up quickly (with up to a month wait), and no athlete can participate without one, so try to get this taken care of as soon as you can – see the office if you have questions about this. I realize the announcements were long today, but I hope you all have a fantastic week! Let me know if you need anything.
KK
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Week of 1/16/2017 – 1/20/2017: Wind Turbines
Monday 1/16: No School – MLK Jr. Holiday
Tuesday 1/17: Wind Turbines – Coils
Wednesday 1/18: Wind Turbines – Initial Testing
Thursday 1/19: Wind Turbines – Investigation Design
Friday 1/20: Wind Turbines – Investigation Design & Testing
Upcoming Calendar Dates: Pilot Leader Applications out on Wednesday 2/1, Pilot Leader Applications due turned in absolutely no later than Friday 2/17 – zero exceptions.
Homework: Notebook 1 (pages 28-37) make-up deadline is Friday 1/20, Gravitational & Kinetic Energy Reading Wednesday due 1/18. Notebook 2 (pages 38-43) starting Wednesday 1/18 (make-up deadline Wednesday 2/1).
Announcements: Hello Everyone, and welcome to another week of 7th Grade Science! This week we will be working with Wind Turbines. We will be winding electromagnet coils on Tuesday, constructing the turbines on Wednesday, designing investigations on Thursday with the Turbines, and then testing them on Friday. This part of 7th grade physical science is typically one of the highlights of the unit for students. Just a reminder that I will be grading Notebook 2 midweek from pages 38-43. My apologies for getting this to you a little later than normal. I only just got back in town at 1:30 this morning while visiting my wife’s father who is in an Alzheimer’s care facility in San Diego. It was an exhausting trip, but we’re ready to go! Let me know if you need anything. I hope you have a fantastic week!
KK
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Week of 1/9/2017 – 1/13/2017: Kinetic Energy & Gravitational Energy
Monday 1/9: (No School – Hazardous Weather)
Tuesday 1/10: Notebook Score Review, Investigating Kinetic Energy (2.2)
Wednesday 1/11: Predicting the Amount of Kinetic Energy in Scenarios (2.3)
Thursday 1/12: Investigating the Connection between Elevation & Energy (3.1)
Friday 1/13: Early Release, Periods 1-3
Upcoming Calendar Dates: MLK Jr. Holiday Monday 1/16 (No School ), Wind Turbines mini-unit Week of 1/16-1/20, Pilot Leader Applications out on Wednesday 2/1, Pilot Leader Applications due turned in absolutely no later than Friday 2/17 – zero exceptions.
Homework: Notebook 1 (pages 28-37) make-up deadline is Friday 1/20, Gravitational & Kinetic Energy Reading Wednesday due 1/18.
Announcements: Hello Everyone, and welcome to another week of 7th grade science! I feel like this trimester has hardly been allowed to start due to the weather. Needless to say, we will have a lot to talk about when we get to our Earth Science unit on the weather after we finish Physical Science. I hope that you all have been able to stay warm & safe while all manner of snow and ice have been accumulating around town. This week we will (finally) be finishing some investigations on kinetic that I wanted to get to before winter break started which we also had to move back because of the weather. I’m still planning on having our classes working with wind turbines next week which is often one of the highlights of year for many students. I hope you all have a fantastic week! Let me know if you need anything.
KK
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Week of 1/2/2017 – 1/6/2017: Engineering Design, Kinetic Energy
Monday 1/2: No School – Winter Break
Tuesday 1/3: No School – Winter Break
Wednesday 1/4: (No School – Hazardous Weather) Engineering Design Challenge & Notebook Score Review
Thursday 1/5: (No School – Hazardous Weather) Investigating Kinetic Energy (2.2)
Friday 1/6: Predicting the Amount of Kinetic Energy in Scenarios (2.3)
Upcoming Calendar Dates: Wind Turbines mini-unit Week of 1/16-1/20, Pilot Leader Applications out on Wednesday 2/1, Pilot Leader Applications due turned in absolutely no later than Friday 2/17 – zero exceptions.
Homework: None Assigned as of 1/3
Announcements: Hello, and welcome to a new week of 7th grade science, and the beginning of 2017! It feels like it has been forever since I’ve had your students in class, so we will kick things off on Wednesday with a short Engineering Design Challenge, and we will go over how they did on their notebooks for their first notebook grade. After that we will jump back into our physical science unit. I have just confirmed that we will be doing a week-long extension to our physical science unit with wind turbines. This will be happening the week of January 16-20 (Week of MLK Jr. Holiday). This is one of several STEM units that we’re able to do because of 4J’s grant partnership with EWEB. The other major STEM unit that we’ll do this year is Solar Cars during the month of May. Just a reminder that PILOT Leader Applications will be given to 7th graders starting on Monday 2/6 (the Monday after mid-trimester grades), and that they will be due back to either myself, Mr. Denton, or Mr. Miller by the end of the day on Wednesday 2/22. More information about the application process and the program will be available closer to the start of February. I hope you all have a fantastic week! Let me know if you need anything.
KK
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Week of 12/12/2016 – 12/16/2016: Surprising Devices, Kinetic Energy
Monday 12/12: Observing Surprising Devices
Tuesday 12/13: Objects in Motion
Wednesday 12/14: Investigating Kinetic Energy
Thursday 12/15: Predicting the Amount of Kinetic Energy in Scenarios
Friday 12/16: Winter Fest, Fall Trimester Grade Level Awards, Finishing up Introduction to Kinetic Energy
Upcoming Calendar Dates: Winter Fest Friday 12/16, Winter Break 12/17 – 1/3, Wind Turbines mini-unit Week of 1/16-1/20 (probable), Pilot Leader Applications out on Wednesday 2/8, Pilot Leader Applications due turned in absolutely no later than Wednesday 2/22 – zero exceptions.
Homework: None assigned as of 12/11.
Announcements: Hello, and welcome to another week of 7th grade science! Believe it or not, this is the last week of school before winter break. We’re going to finish up our initial investigations on Kinetic energy this week. Because of the lost day of school last week, we were unable to get to the point I wanted to get to for the first notebook grade by the weekend. As a result, Notebook 1 will be graded by Thursday of this week, and will simply be larger than typical (12-14 points). Students will be able to take their notebooks home over the break if they have work they need/want to make up. It’s a long ways off, but PILOT Leader Applications (for Ganas & WEB Leaders) will be available starting on Wednesday 2/8. Students interested in the program will have until Wednesday 2/22 to turn in their application, and will be notified within a week or so if they were accepted or not after the applications are reviewed by the Pilot Leader Program Committee. There will be no exceptions made to the deadline – which is why we’re informing you so early. Several announcements/presentations will be made to the 7th graders through advisory and my class (as I am one of the WEB Coordinators at Kelly) with more details about the program. Let me know if you need anything. I hope you all have a fantastic week!
KK
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Week of 12/5/2016 – 12/9/2016: Start of the Winter Trimester, and the Introduction to our Physical Science Unit
Monday 12/5: No School – Teacher In-Service
Tuesday 12/6: Trimester 2 Notebook Setup & Expectations, Radiometer Demonstration and Goldberg vs. Newton
Wednesday 12/7: Radiometer Demonstration and Goldberg vs. Newton
Thursday 12/8: Observing Surprising Devices
Friday 12/9: Early Release – Periods 4-6: Catch-up for periods 4 & 6.
Upcoming Calendar Dates: OBOB Kickoff Assembly Friday 12/9, Winter Fest Friday 12/16, Winter Break 12/17 – 1/3.
Homework: None assigned as of 12/2.
Announcements: Hello, and welcome to another week of 7th grade science, and the start of the winter trimester! This week we will be starting our physical science unit with some demonstrations of some basic devices, and making observations on how/why they move the way they do. We will also begin investigating kinetic energy. Periods 4 & 6 are currently a day behind the other classes – as a result of the last early release schedule – and they will catch up with periods 1 & 3 on Friday. As a reminder, this trimester, and going forward, we are going to be using my former method of grading notebooks. Every week (my plan is for Thursdays) I will be grading notebooks. Each item that students are to insert in their notebooks will be scored out of 1, but assessment items will still be scored separately. This will appear on Synergy as “Notebook 1, 2, 3, etc.” and the assignments included will be listed in the description. This means that each week the notebook score total could be different. Some weeks it could be out of as few as 4 points, and some weeks more on the grounds of 8-10 depending on what we’re working on at that time. If students miss points on their notebook it will be due to either non-satisfactory completion of an assignment (missing sections, completely off-topic answers, etc.) or they are missing an assignment altogether. Again, if your student is not earning close to full points on their Notebook scores, it is typically because they have not completed/submitted assignments. Students who miss work due to absence, etc., will have two weeks from the Notebook grading date (those Thursdays that I mentioned) to re-submit their notebooks for grading – the same goes for projects/assessments. The way that students indicate to me that they need me to re-grade something from their notebook is they put a post-it note on their scoring sheet, write on it what they want me to re-grade (because they have input new material), and their notebook gets turned in to the basket rather than the notebook crate. If you are looking for any of the blog content from the fall trimester, it has been “archived”in one stand-alone post – if you look on the right side of the blog page you’ll notice archive posts from last year as well as from this last fall trimester. I hope you all have a great week! Let me know if you need anything.
KK
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