Saturday, October 17, 2009
Who's Your Mummy?
Science
Seventh grade science began this week by creating mummies. Mr. Hoover's Social Studies class has been studying Egypt and we thought it would be interesting to learn the scientific process the Egyptians used to preserve humans called mummification. We created natron (sodium chlorine, sodium carbonate, and sodium bicarbonate) and placed a chicken wing and an apple into the natron. We weighed the chicken wing and the apple and recorded the weights on a data table. We will continue to weigh and record data for the next two weeks. Your children will observe that the chicken wing and apple become preserved as the moisture is pulled from the cells of the chicken wing and apple. This activity also gave us an opportunity to learn about tissues of living organisms! We observed muscle tissue, tendons, joints, connective tissue and epidermis. Your children are very excited about our body systems and the upcoming units for discovery!
The rest of the week was dedicated to Motion and Force. We learned about gravity and Galileo by dropped balls of different sizes and masses at the same time. This was a lot of fun and proved that things to fall at the same rate despite their size or mass. While studying gravity, your children were very interested on how much they would weigh on other planets. We calculated our weight on Earth and the moon (the moon is 1/6 our gravity). Ask your child how much they would weigh on the moon and how much their mass would change on the moon? Here is an interesting web site, http://www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/weight/index.html. This web site will calculate your weight on each planet. It is exciting to see what you would weigh on Venus! We were exposed to Sir Isaac Newton and his First Law of Motion. You children were able to observe that a body in motion tends to stay in motion unless a force acts on it. We used rolling chairs and 13 books to demonstrate that when a moving chair is stopped by a force, the books continue to move forward. Inertia, force, and momentum were vocabulary words we used this week. More great science experiments will be coming next week!
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Pondering Percents
MATH
This week we began our unit on Percentages. This unit is particularly important because of its relevance to everyday life. No matter what walk of life the students may choose, all of them will have to deal with money in one capacity or another. Given our country’s current economic state, I feel strongly that it is my responsibility to seize this opportunity to teach the kids the basics of finance. Therefore, my Percentage Unit will revolve around the following learning objectives:
· Fraction/Decimal/Percent equivalencies
· Find the Percent of a Number
· Percent Increase and Decrease
This week we reviewed the concept of percent and how to procedurally convert fractions, decimals, and percents from one form to another. We also reviewed how to calculate the percent of a number and then practiced by playing The Thousand Mile Race, a card game in which students use this knowledge to “race” other students. Lastly, we learned about how to set up the “Percent Proportion” to solve for missing bits of information. Mrs. Alter added a great kinesthetic touch by getting the students out of their seats to actually set up the proportion in a physical way (see slideshow). After the proportion had been established, we spent time exploring various word problems and how to translate the words into mathematical statements. Often times students find this “translation” process to be the most challenging aspect of coming up with the correct answer. I gave them some very specific pointers and clues that should assist them in this process. I highly encourage ALL students to review this information which is posted on my website. (Click here to view the Powerpoint).
As the unit progresses, the students will be receiving practice on these concepts through class activities, the Larson’s computer program, and through homework. I also encourage you to weave these concepts into your family life as well. Involve your kids whenever possible. Here are a few ideas of appropriate ways to do this:
· Devising family or individual budgets
· Shopping – calculating taxes
· Dining out – calculating taxes and tip
· Banking – calculating simple interest
· Analyzing and discussing savings vs. debt
A Quick Word about Homework
This week there is no “Mixed Review.” Rather, the students are working on an “Error Correction and Analysis” of the cumulative test they took upon completion of the Green Home Unit. Part of this assignment is to obtain a parent’s signature. Please use this opportunity to touch base with your child about his/her affective side of learning as well. We’re working hard at school to promote healthy study habits. Hopefully this assignment will give you and your child an opportunity to discuss what these study habits “look” like at home. The kids are getting older, the material is getting harder, and the pace is brisk. We all need to be aligned so that we are providing the support necessary for the students to be successful. Please touch base with your child and talk about these things. Your support and involvement make all the difference!
This week we began our unit on Percentages. This unit is particularly important because of its relevance to everyday life. No matter what walk of life the students may choose, all of them will have to deal with money in one capacity or another. Given our country’s current economic state, I feel strongly that it is my responsibility to seize this opportunity to teach the kids the basics of finance. Therefore, my Percentage Unit will revolve around the following learning objectives:
· Fraction/Decimal/Percent equivalencies
· Find the Percent of a Number
· Percent Increase and Decrease
This week we reviewed the concept of percent and how to procedurally convert fractions, decimals, and percents from one form to another. We also reviewed how to calculate the percent of a number and then practiced by playing The Thousand Mile Race, a card game in which students use this knowledge to “race” other students. Lastly, we learned about how to set up the “Percent Proportion” to solve for missing bits of information. Mrs. Alter added a great kinesthetic touch by getting the students out of their seats to actually set up the proportion in a physical way (see slideshow). After the proportion had been established, we spent time exploring various word problems and how to translate the words into mathematical statements. Often times students find this “translation” process to be the most challenging aspect of coming up with the correct answer. I gave them some very specific pointers and clues that should assist them in this process. I highly encourage ALL students to review this information which is posted on my website. (Click here to view the Powerpoint).
As the unit progresses, the students will be receiving practice on these concepts through class activities, the Larson’s computer program, and through homework. I also encourage you to weave these concepts into your family life as well. Involve your kids whenever possible. Here are a few ideas of appropriate ways to do this:
· Devising family or individual budgets
· Shopping – calculating taxes
· Dining out – calculating taxes and tip
· Banking – calculating simple interest
· Analyzing and discussing savings vs. debt
A Quick Word about Homework
This week there is no “Mixed Review.” Rather, the students are working on an “Error Correction and Analysis” of the cumulative test they took upon completion of the Green Home Unit. Part of this assignment is to obtain a parent’s signature. Please use this opportunity to touch base with your child about his/her affective side of learning as well. We’re working hard at school to promote healthy study habits. Hopefully this assignment will give you and your child an opportunity to discuss what these study habits “look” like at home. The kids are getting older, the material is getting harder, and the pace is brisk. We all need to be aligned so that we are providing the support necessary for the students to be successful. Please touch base with your child and talk about these things. Your support and involvement make all the difference!
SCIENCE
Poor Mrs. Smith's family was infected with H1N1 this week! YUCK! Therefore, we did all math this week. Next week we catch up on science. We missed you Mrs. Smith and hope everyone is feeling much better!
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