March UPDATE: In like a lion!!!

Science:  Here's the line up for MARCH:

Week of March 3rd:

Grade 7's: 
Quiz: Particle Theory and Mixture Review (same as last week's - STUDY PLEASE!)
Experiments: Evaporation and Condensation, finish Rate of Dissolving.

Grade 8's:
Quiz: All plant and animal organelles and function.
PRACTICUM: I will ask each student to prepare a wet mounted slide of a plant specimen and irrigate it with iodine. Watch for times to sign up for your individual PRACTICUM!
Experiments: Animal Cell lab and Osmosis (hypo/hypertonic) finished.
Theory: Learn about active and passive transport. Read this LINK to a note on my website.

Week of March 17 - March 28th
Grade 8's:
Looking at the major concepts in our Cell Unit and wrapping up with World connections and a unit test.

Grade 7's:
Two more weeks of Mixtures and Solutions and then one week in April to finish up with a test and a project ... THE GUMMY BEAR PROJECT!!!! AHHHHH!!!!!

Language: For the Month of March

Where did February go? We are steaming ahead, but we somehow missed our speeches! Novel studies will take up the first week of March. Make sure to hand them in completely by March 6th. I will mark them over the March Break and hand them back the first week following. That week, we will look at Public Speaking, descriptive writing and COMMAS!!!

7A, B, C and D: The Bridge Question!

Read the following and answer the question, using words like: molecules, solid, vibrate, etc.

THE BRIDGE QUESTION

Weekly Update: February 24th to the 28th

SCIENCE:

Class 7 b & c: you will have your since quiz on Day 1 instead of Day 3. STUDY!

Grade 7: 

• Continue to be able to give me the definition and an example of: solute, solvent, solution and mechanical mixture.
• Continue to be able to draw a 'normal' substance and water at a molecular level.
• KNOW: The Particle Theory of Matter 
•  All matter is made up of tiny particles.
•  These particles are always moving… they have energy. 
•  There are spaces among particles. 
•  There are attractive forces between the particles. 
•  The particles of one substance differ from the particles of other substances. 

Grade 8:

• Know the important organelles of cells and their function, including: cell wall, cell membrane, cytoplasm, nucleus, stomata, chloroplasts, vacuole, mitochondria, lysosomes, rough and smooth endoplasmic reticulum (what's the difference?) and ribosomes. Use this PAGE to help you. Make sure you know which are found only in plant cells, only in animal cells, or found in both.

7/8A Language Novel Study Assignment:

Novel Study Assignment: Due date - MARCH 6TH

You may read your novel at home, but all work must be done in class.
EACH STUDENT must:

• create a title page for your novel study

• create a prediction paragraph

• read each chapter

• do 3 summaries per book. Divide your pages by 3 and you have to do one summary for each third. Make sure to include the characters’ names, the main problem and the setting(s). Each summary should be 1 to 3 paragraphs long, containing important information that includes details from the text.

• 25 vocab words decided on by the group per book.

• Facebook page for one of your characters.

• One big project due on the last day to orally present. The choices are:
• Dust jacket
• Cereal box
• commercial for book
• comic book - bitstrips
• ????????? Make a suggestion! I'm open to new ideas!

Weekly update: Tuesday, February 18th to Friday, February 21st

SCIENCE

ALL grade 7's: be able to give the definition and an example of:

• solute
• solvent
• solution
• mechanical mixture

ALL grade 8's: be able to identify 

• the basic components of a plant cell, and their function, including:  cell wall, cell membrane, nucleus, stomata, vacuole, chloroplasts, cytoplasm.
• the definition of diffusion and osmosis, and an example of each.

This week, we will continue on with grade 7's experimenting to create solutions, including super-saturated solutions. Grade 8's will finish plant cells this week and be ready to move on to animal cells.

7/8A apostrophe and media literacy assignment!!!

Apostrophe and Media Literacy Assignment:

• Due February 20th and/or 21st
• Find 5 correct pictures of apostrophes on the internet
• Tell me if they are showing a contraction, possession or plural
• Find 5 incorrect pictures of apostrophes on the internet
• Tell me WHY they are wrong, and what they should be, then
• Tell me if  they are showing a contraction, possession or plural
• Take 5 to 10 pictures (around town!) of apostrophes with you IN IT!
• Tell me if they are correct or incorrect
• If incorrect, what should they be, then
• Tell me if they are showing a contraction, possession or plural
• These pictures need to be presented in a form of a slide show or another type of app, and shared with me on the Cloud. Some examples of apps are ShowMe, Haiku Deck, etc.

Check out this note to see apostrophe rules.

Weekly Update: Feb. 10th to 14th

Science:

Grade 7's (except 7A and 7D):

• for you quiz this week, you need to: Be able to define the following terms and give examples of:  a mixture, a mechanical mixture, a solution, a solute and a solvent. See this note for help! 
• Also, you have homework: list 5 household solutions (NOT mechanical mixtures), like this:  
• Example: POP
• Solute: carbon dioxide (gas) 
• Solvent: water (liquid) 
• Solution Type: gas-liquid 
• Use: beverage

Grade 7A and 7D:
Due to snow days, etc. you are a week behind the other 7's. We might use a Language period to catch you up this week.

• For your quiz this week, you need to know:
• the seven steps of the scientific method
• the three states of matter
• the four changes of state (or 6!!! Bonus!)
• Be able to draw a 'normal' substance in the three states of matter and draw water (an anomalous substance) in its three states of matter.  Watch this video to help you understand what water looks like when it freezes:

Grade 8's: (except 8A)

Learn the definition of osmosis and diffusion. This is a fantastic resource: Diffusion and Osmosis. Read it and know the definitions, the difference and be able to give an example.

Grade 8A:

Please know: the 7 characteristics of living things, the cell theory and the proper way to store a microscope.

Week at a Glance:

Monday, Feb. 10 - Day 5

Candy Grams for sale!~ 1 for $.50, and 3 for a $1.00

7/8A Science - see above for quiz. 7A to do solute/solution experiments. See quiz above (7A & 7D). 

8A to do celery lab, Part A.

8B Science - see above for quiz. Do celery lab, Part A.

Tuesday, Feb 11 - Day 1

Candy Grams for sale!~ 1 for $.50, and 3 for a $1.00

8C Science - Osmosis Lab. See above for quiz.

Wednesday, Feb 12 - Day 2

Candy Grams for sale!~ 1 for $.50, and 3 for a $1.00

8D Science - Osmosis Lab. See above for quiz.

Thursday, Feb. 13 - Day 3

Candy Grams for sale!~ 1 for $.50, and 3 for a $1.00

7B and 7C Science - Solid experiment and Solution experiment. See above for the quiz.

Friday, Feb. 14 - Day 4

Candy Grams for sale!~ 1 for $.50, and 3 for a $1.00 AND DELIVERY!

7D Science - Solutions experiment. See above for quiz (same as 7A)

February Newsletter

February!!!

Science:

• Make Up Science Class: I have opened the science room up quite a bit more for extra science; far too many times to list here, so it is best if you look on the chalk board outside of my room every day. Any time you wish to come in and work on a lab, you are welcome to do so. 

• Extra work: Some students like to have extra work and/or more challenging work. This work is optional. I have two kinds available: 
• Daily Science - extended science: this is a pdf science book that works on general concepts appropriate for either grade 7 or 8. You can access it on my website: daily science
• Extended questions with Labs: this is for grade 8 students. After each Cell lab, I will offer up an extra lab or extended questions. These labs and questions are optional. They are for students who are planning on attending academic science in grade 9 and would like to broaden their knowledge for knowledge sake. You can find these extra labs and questions also on my website: Cell Labs

• Grade 7: You will continue to work on Mixture and Solutions, learning by participating in science experiments. You need to know the steps of the scientific method by heart. You will need to know many definitions - which you can find on the website. Each week, you will have a mini quiz at the beginning of class. You will know what the quiz is on because each week, on the weekly update I post on Sundays, I will tell you what to study. These simple facts and definitions will help you with your experiment for that week.

• Grade 8:  You will continue to work on Cells and Microscopes. I expect each lab to be written up, using the scientific method. These labs will be due either at the end of class or when assigned a due date during class. Each week, you will have a mini quiz at the beginning of class. You will know what the quiz is on because each week, on the weekly update I post on Sundays, I will tell you what to study. These simple facts and definitions will help you with your experiment for that week. There will be extra work that is optional. If you have any questions, please just come and see me.

Language:

• Media Literacy: This month, we will be looking at apostrophes. While looking at apostrophes, we will research and use different apps to show our work to the class in a presentation.
• Reading: We will be starting our novel studies. Each student has chosen a book from a few choices. We will be reading these novels in class. Home reading should continue and don't forget to fill in those book forms.
• Writing: we will be focusing on answering our novel questions completely, making strong and convincing connections.
• Oral Communication: it's speech time! More information.