This IS Rocket Science!

SCIENCE
Is that a frog, a plane, a bird? No, it is a water rocket! This week was AMAZING! Your children were exposed to the exciting world of water rockets! We calculated the time, apogee (highest height), speed and acceleration of rockets with different quantities of water. Sir Isaac Newton would be pleased to observe that his Laws of Motion were applied and discussed too! The pictures speak volumes about how much fun your children had during this activity! I continue to be amazed at how intelligent your children are! They were able to stay on task, take over a variety of duties and do some complicated math applications!

This first launch was a basic rocket launch. This rocket was very simple in construction and the apogee was easy to calculate as the air pressure was low. Your children have spent the rest of the week learning about water rockets so they can re-design their rocket and test them again next week. They will be adding fins and a nose cone. Each student is required to create their own rocket. They will know this weekend what materials that they need to bring in for Monday or Tuesday. A sample material list would be a two 2 liter soda bottles, cardboard and duct tape. We are planning to have an advanced rocket launch on Wednesday. This launch will use their remodeled rockets and a rocket launcher purchased for us by Dr. Pillsbury. Our speeds and accelerations should be spectacular!

Embedded in the fun was the North Carolina State Writing Assessment. The seventh grade is responsible for submitting three writing assessments over the duration of the year. We did water rocket research in social studies, language arts and science. Your children were given an outline listing and describing what is needed to be included in our writing assessment. Their writing assessments will include background information on water rockets, creating a material list for their new rocket, a procedure that another person can duplicate, data table to record our launch and a conclusion comparing our basic and advanced water rocket launches. I want to thank all the seventh grade teachers for their dedication and help during this assessment time! Every teacher has contributed to the success of your child by helping with the writing process and helping me acquire resources. Thank you Ms. Kreit, Mrs. VonCanon, Mr. Hoover, Mrs. Westendorff and Mrs. Alter! You are all phenomenal!

MATH
This week we began our Algebra Unit of Study. In this unit, we will be focusing on the following concepts:
• Communicating with the "language" of algebra
• Evaluating algebraic expressions (combining like terms)
• Solving one and two-step equations
• Solving one and two-step inequalities
• Writing expressions, equations, and inequalities
• Identifying linear relations, sequences, and functions
• Using formulas to solve problems

To begin, we reviewed integers (whole numbers and their opposites; Ex: 4, -4). We also learned the meaning of absolute value (the distance a number is from zero). Both of these concepts were explored using a life-size number line drawn on the classroom floor. Different students volunteered to represent various points along the line. From this point, we learned about rules for adding and subtracting integers through a hands-on AIMS activity entitled, “Stepping Up Integers.” In this activity, students either moved their bodies or a figurine of choice along a number line (see pictures). They also had to translate words into equations.

Ex: Start at four; take away five backwards steps. Where are you? 4 – (-5) = 4 + (+5) = 9

The latter half of the week was spent on multiplication and division of integers. In another AIMS activity, “Multi-Charge and Split-Charge”, the students developed rules for how to deal with multiplication and division of integers through the array model (see pictures). Key Questions for the activity included:
• What does the problem 3 ● 7 mean? …3 ● (-7)? …-21 ÷ 3? … -21 ÷ (-7)?
• What patterns do you notice in the signs of the numbers in the problems and the signs of the answers to the problems?
• How could you use your patterns to do more difficult problems?

After exploring the conceptual reasoning behind operations with integers, I summarized the information by giving the students a flowchart to help them remember this procedural information. This is a situation where it is much easier to simply give the “rules,” but as always, my goal is for the students to conceptually understand what they are doing. Visuals and manipulatives are the keys to success in this endeavor! Let’s be sure to hold the kids accountable for this information by not being content with right answers, but by demanding explanations!  In order to deepen this understanding, I highly recommend practicing with the following games from the Virtual Manipulative website:
Color Chips Subtraction
Number Line Bounce
Circle 0

We can't wait to see where next week takes us!