Week 11: 8th Grade Science

Week 11

Topic: “The Tortoise and the Hare”

Students will be able to: 

Determine when an object is in motion.

Calculate an objects speed and velocity.

Demonstrate how to graph motion.

Essential Question:

Why did the tortoise win the race?

This week the kids will graph and rewrite the fable of “The Tortoise and Hare” as if a physicist had written it. 

Key Terms:

motion

reference point

speed/velocity

instantaneous and average speed

slope

Differentiated Instruction:

inferring 

math integration/graphing

kinesthetic

measuring

Upcoming:

How do forces work? and the The Laws of Newton.

Lacrosse in PE

"I think that Lacrosse was really fun. I learned how to properly hold a stick, cradle the ball, and aim my passing and shooting so that it would go to my teammate's stick or into the goal. Lacrosse was probably my favorite unit this year because we had never done it before and it was really fun. If I went to this school again next year I would hope we would play it again."

-Max W

The Treaty of Versailles

Last week, the 8th graders talked about the end of World War I.  On Friday, they participated in a simulation of the Treaty of Versailles.  Each group represented a different country from the Allies (The United States, Great Britain, France, and Italy) and argued about how the treaty should deal with Germany.  They answered questions like should Germany have to pay for the war, should they take full blame for the war, and what should be done with its overseas territories.  Then, during the next lesson, the students compared the treaty that they made with the actual Treaty of Versailles.

Upcoming Dates:

• Monday, November 9  World War I Menu due
• Tuesday, November 10 World War I test

Questions for your 8th grader:

• Who did you represent during the Treaty of Versailles simulation and how did they believe Germany should be treated?
• Was the Treaty of Versailles a good treaty?

Environmental art at the nature center.

With the monster project finished (look for work to be hung up in the hall next week) the 8th grade moved on to our annual nature installation project at the North Park Village Nature Center. We look at the work of the artist Andy Goldsworthy and then we go out in the field to create and photograph temporary installations using only what we find in nature.  The only tools allowed are scissors, trowels and water and once complete these designs will dissipate back to nature.  Here are a few images of them working and a few of the completed pieces. These works will be made into a set of greeting cards that will be available for purchase at the auction.

Here are some of the beautiful finished pieces.

Calder Mobile's and City Streets

This week in 8th grade math we are working on our Calder Mobile's.  The students were broken into pairs and they are working on the math portion of the project fair project.  In the pictures posted below the students are using wooden dowels and alligator clips to find balance.  They are asked to add clips to both end and the slide the fulcrum around to find the balance point.  They then measure the distance from the fulcrum to the clips and count the number of clips.  This is called the moment and what they find out is that the moment on one side should be equal to, or close to equal to, the moment on the other side.  We will continue working with the clips for the next two days and then they will apply what they learned to building an actual Calder Mobile in art class.  When we finish the Calder Mobile's we will again work with the Chicago city street grid system.

Week 10: 8th Grade Science

Week 10

Topic:  Motion:  Describing and Measuring Acceleration

Students will be able to: 

Describe the motion of an object as it accelerates.

Calculate an objects acceleration.

Describe what graphs are used to analyze the motion of an accelerating object.

Essential Question:

What does a meter per second per second mean?

This week the kids will expand their knowledge of velocity by finding out that acceleration is the speed within a speed.  They will be conducting an experiment to calculate and graph acceleration and see how acceleration is the change of speed and/or direction.   

Key Terms:

acceleration

Differentiated Instruction:

inferring 

math integration

kinesthetic

measuring

graphing

Upcoming:

How would a physicist write the fable, “The Tortoise and the Hare?”

1st Quarter Grades Posted 11/9 by 5:00 pm

Today marks the beginning of the 2nd quarter for middle school students. Grades for the 1st quarter will be posted to Net Community by 5:00 p.m. on Monday, 11/9/15.