Week 20: 8th Grade Science

Week: 20

Topic: Chemical Building Blocks:  The Atom 

Students will be able to: 

Describe the structure of an atom.

Explain how models are useful for understanding atoms.

Create a timeline to portray atomic history. 

Essential Question:

How did they find the atom?

This week the 8th graders will break down the atom into its major components, create an experiment to find the atom, and create a timeline to see how the atom was discovered.

Key Terms:

nucleus

proton

neutron

electron

electron field/cloud

Differentiated Instruction:

finding patterns 

building

predicting

inferring

observing

interpreting data

Upcoming:

The patterns of the periodic table

Finishing systems of equations unit

This week in 8th grade math we are finishing our fourth unit of the year on systems of linear equations.  During this unit we have learned about what conditions are required for two lines to be parallel or perpendicular, how to solve systems of equations using graphing, substitution, and elimination, and real world application of systems of equations.  Next week we will begin our next unit on inequalities.

Upcoming assignments: POW The Custom of Customs due tomorrow, Wednesday Jan 26
Alternative assessment due Thursday Jan. 28
Test on Thursday Jan. 28
Mid-year Final Monday Feb. 1

Questions to ask at home:
What must be true for two lines to be parallel?
What must be true for two lines to be perpendicular?
What method do you like to use best to solve systems of equations? Why?

8th Grade Language Arts

As the semester comes to an end, we are moving forward in our World War II book clubs. The students are already halfway done with their meetings! I have really enjoyed witnessing the meetings in action.  It is amazing to see how engaged in discussion students become when they have strong feelings about the characters’ actions and the development of the plot.  Friday is book club meeting #5.

The students are currently working on completing their fact cards for Monday, January 25th.  Students should be reading through their sources to find the most important information about the topic they are researching.  They will keep track of the facts they find by filling out note cards.  Next week, we will organize the fact note cards into categories and focus on how to best structure and organize the research report before creating an outline.

Upcoming due dates:

Book Club Meeting #5 on Friday, January 22nd

Fact Cards due Monday, Jan 25th

Week 19: 8th Grade Science

Week: 19

COMING SOON!  This week the class will finalize their Newton Projects and I will be sending them to you to view.  I am very excited to see them.

Topic: Chemical Interactions:  The Atom and the Periodic Table

Students will be able to: 

State what the periodic table tells you about the atoms and the properties of elements.

Essential Question:

How is the periodic table like a music store?

This week the 8th graders will break down the periodic table into its major components and like Mendeleev find the many patterns it has. 

Key Terms:

atomic number

atomic mass

element and its symbol

isotope

period

group

family

Differentiated Instruction:

finding patterns 

predicting

observing

interpreting data

Upcoming:

Exploring valence electrons and the electron dot formula.

Greetings from an Absentee Blogger

My apologies for my negligence in keeping you up to date on Advisory.  

Our advisory program generally consists of seven components and they are:

Adolescent “hot topic” discussions and lessons

Team and trust building

1:1 meetings with the advisor with goal setting

Gender specific meeting times

Lil’ Buddies  - working consistently with a younger grade

Service learning - global citizenship

Study and organizational skills

This year is our Service Learning Project which is part of the global citizenship component of our Advisory program fits in well with the school-wide humans of Chicago theme.  Earlier this year, middle school kids chose an area in which to focus: environmental issues, Literacy issues. Social Services issues (with particular interest in Special Olympics amongst other things) and Animal Welfare issues.  The students researched some of the local organizations that are involved with these areas and we have discovered that we have great resources in our parent community.  To date, we have had two guest speakers come in to represent some of these organizations and we will hear from two more.  After that, the groups will work on in-school projects that can benefit these organizations, culminating with an off-campus Field Day devoted to making a difference in the community.  It is a work in progress but we are excited about setting up a model that will take us into future school years.

Also new this year is a Social Emotional Learning curriculum that we are using to guide us through topics of interest to young people.  The curriculum is called Overcoming Obstacles and can be found here: http://www.overcomingobstacles.org/middleschool_curriculum.

What this all means is fewer trips to Starbucks……but the kids are benefitting from being more engaged and interested.

Math Mania Night and Systems of Equations

Looking forward to seeing everyone this evening from 6-7 for Math Mania Night.  I think it will be a lot of fun for everyone.  If you didn't get a chance to RSVP you can still join us.

This week in math we are continuing to work on systems of equations.  Yesterday we learned about real life situations using systems of equations and we will continue to due that tomorrow.  Today we learned a second way to solve a system of equations using substitution.  We will continue to work on graphing and substitution to solve systems for the rest of the week.  Systems of equations also gives us a chance to review how to solve complex algebra equations.

Week 18: 8th Grade Science

Week:18

Don’t forget to ask your son or daughter how their project is coming along.  They have completed their research, rough drafts, and are beginning to put their projects in motion ( no pun intended).  It always amazes me the creative ideas that the kids come up with when they are learning through “Project Based Learning.”  Some of the ideas to illustrate Newton’s Laws are using a bowling alley, dance, soccer, football, and a simple apple falling from a tree.  I hope you are as excited as I am for the final project.