Welcome Aqua Scientists!
Throughout the year, you will be able to access what is happening in Science and Language Arts through this website. There will be homework assignments, projects, web pages, practice pages, and what took place in class on a daily basis.
Wednesday, Thursday, February 1 and 2
Science: Introduction to genetics Vocabulary and outlining chapter section "Mendel's Experiments". Outlining was modeled in class for first two sections.
Language Arts: Finish reading the short story "The Treasure of Lemon Brown." Share and discuss elements of short story and review terms. Graphic Organizers were returned for chapter wheel presentations. Group discussed individual organizers to finalize the final one for presentation.
Tuesday, January 31
Science: Review guide passed on for test on atomic structure Tuesday, Feb. 7. Exchange Atomic math activity.
Language Arts: Assign new chapter groups for wheel presentations. Do graphic organizer for chapter. Due Thursday.
Monday, January 30
Science: Atomic Math activity practice. Create one of your own for sharing tomorrow. Fun with symbols.
Science (Skills period): Introduction to Genetics. Get Wet video clip on crime scene analylsis. Take survey of trait #1 in class.
Language Arts: Read Chapters 11-14 in "After the Dancing Days" for Tuesday.
Friday, January 13
Doughboy Boot Camp!!!
Thursday, January 12
Science: Discuss packet answers. Complete research for adopted element for typing of brochures next Wednesday in school.
Language Arts: Chapter wheel work period for After the Dancing Days. Chapters 3, 4, 5 due Wednesday; Chapters 6, 7, 8 due Thursday.
Wednesday, January 11
Science: Quiz #3 symbols. Students began working on a packet which explains the structure of the atom. Their color-coded Periodic Tables were used to help determine protons, electrons, and atomic weights for some of the questions. Due Thursday.
Language Arts: On-Demand Report writing ACES format.
Tuesday, January 10
Science: Unit Test. Begin work on structure of atom packet due Thursday.
Language Arts: Share out individual chapter organizers and decide on final presentation board pieces. Plan out board with group.
Monday, January 9
Science: Jeopardy review for test tomorrow on combinations of matter.
Language Arts: Work period for individual chapter graphic organizer due tomorrow.
Thursday + Friday, January 5 and 6
Science: Students adopted an element to research and create a brochure about and create a 3-D atom. Requirements for both were discussed and research began for the brochure component.
Wednesday, January 4
Science: In Get Wet, students shared and corrected their responses to the article Heat Transfer. We then conducted an experiment using conductometers, which help register the conductivity of metals. Hypothesis of which metal conducts heat best were made and Claims and Evidences were written.
Language Arts: After modeling Chapter 1 of After the Dancing Days in the group graphic organizer, students began work on Chapter 2. Sharing of the best recordings will be done in Skills today.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Happy New Year!!
Science: Students received study guides for their unit test on matter scheduled for Tuesday, January 10. The study guide is available in the Documents section to the right. We then were introduced to Heat Transfer through an article and graphic organizer, due on Wednesday.
Language Arts: After the Dancing Days, our new classroom novel, was introduced through music (Johnny, We Hardly Knew You) and be reviewing the elements leading up to WWI. We read Chapter 1 together and were introduced to Annie, who is the narrator of the story. Chapter 2 will be read tonight.
Monday, December 12
Science: Day 1 of a two day lab investigating physical and chemical changes.
Language Arts: Review and practice main idea and supporting details. Formative 2.1 tomorrow.
Monday, December 5
Science: We finished learning about all the combinations of matter, including mixtures (both homogeneous and heterogeneous) and solutions, which have a solvent and a solute. Today in class, students were given 13 different substances. They used their reference sheets to determine which category they fell into and supported their claims with evidence.
Language Arts: Writing period for immigrant autobiography.
Thursday, December 1
Science: Song about compounds and mixtures. Practice breaking down compound formulas into numbers of atoms for each element combined.
Language Arts: Finish up rough draft introduction to autobiography.
Wednesday, November 30
Science: Introduction to elements. Students listened to the "Elements" song as a Get Wet, then watched a video, recording notes and information about elements. They then worked in their groups to choose 9 of the characteristics listed that related to the term "element."
Language Arts: Writing a good autobiography introduction.
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, November 15-17
Science: Students simulated the life cycle of an iceberg, measuring its mass, volume, and density over its "lifetime" in an ocean. This information will be used to create a poster detailing the scientific facts about why ice floats and how and why the Titanic floated and eventually sank.
Language Arts: Chapters 4 and 5: Titanic. Look for two problem/solutions in locating the sunken ship and write up the problem, the steps used to solve it, and the eventual solution. Students will then used any information covered in Chapters 1-5 to create a "Titanic Trading Card" due on Friday.
Monday, November 14
Science: Titanic Week begins with a demo of the Titanic sinking in an aquarium and an informational video clip of the forces which causes a ship to float and eventually sink.
Language Arts: Graphic organizer on immigrant autobiography.
Tuesday, November 1
Science: Lab Review Stations for Mass, Volume, Density and Properties of Matter. Test on Friday, November 4.
Language Arts: Summary Practice using 5-3-1 for Gary Soto's story.
Monday, October 31
Science: Students completed their Claims and Evidence and Conclusion statements for the Gummy Bear lab. Formative 1.2 was also given based on mass, volume, density.
Language Arts: Prefix Quiz.
Friday, October 28
Field Trip: Museum of Work and Culture
Have a great weekend!
Thursday, October 27
Science: Students used their own data and data collected in class based on density to make Claims and Evidence for their gummy bear lab. Additonally, they formulated conclusions as to why the bear reacted the way it did.
Language Arts: Dress Rehearsal: A Night at the Museum
Wednesday, October 26
Science: We checked our opening paragraphs for our Hurricane news reports and then looked at a model for writing paragraphs 2 and 3. Rough draft versions of these are due on Tuesday, 11/1
Tuesday, October 25
Science: Get Wet included a compare/contrast of two cans of soda: Coke and Diet Coke. After sharing the similarities and differences, the class did an observation and inference of the two cans submerged in water. A discussion followed explaining why the cans did what they did.
Language Arts: Review of prefixes, author's purpose, and vocabulary in context.
Monday, October 24
Science: Students' Get Wet included a secure skill check of the scientific method and a reflection of what they have learned in the past two weeks regarding mass, volume, and density. We then set up our hypothesis for the testable question: What effect does placing a Gummy bear in water overnight have on its mass, volume, and density? We will conduct the actual experiment tomorrow.
Language Arts: Sharing out of The Wave assessments.
Thursday, Friday, October 20-21
Science: Students began the liquid density lab investigation by reviewing all the densities of the solids and irregular shaped objects they did. Finally, they will determine the densities of vegetable oil and corn syrup and water to predict how the liquids will line up in a density column. Then, based on the densities of the screw and nylon spacer, will predict where they will fall in that density column.
Language Arts: Discussion of "All Summer in a Day". Selection Test on Friday.
Wednesday, October 19
Science: Get Wet was a sharing out by the 2 groups of students who conducted a new investigation with the pendulum and a different independent variable. Students then shared within their groups their plottings for their hurricane news article to be done for today. Wind speed and storm categories were carefully checked by another for accuracy. We then modeled paragraph 1 of our opening using a Hurricane Katrina article.
Language Arts: Students typed their final drafts for their name memoirs done in class this past week.
Tuesday, October 18
Science: Get Wet review of mass, volume, and density using 3 different sized wooden blocks. Students finished the lab begun yesterday on displacement.
Language Arts: Review Prefix 2 worksheet. Begin reading story, "All Summer in a Day" by Ray Bradbury. Finish reading story for Thursday for discussion.
Monday, October 17
Science: Students completed the density activity with the 4 blocks begun last Thursday. We then began an activity involving displacement to determine the densities of 3 irregular shaped objects.
Language Arts: Writing period for Name essay.
Friday, October 14
Science: Today we did a Popsicle Stick review of mass, volume, density, and matter. We then went over step by step the criteria for their hurricane plotting data. Copies of this are found in the Document file to the right.
Language Arts: Graphic Organizer was handed out for our Name memoirs. We began writing the introduction using the teachers' models. Four components that must be included in the memoir include primary and secondary resources, reflections, and an experience connected to my name. Rough drafts need to be completed by Wednesday next week for typing.
Thursday, October 13
Science: Students in their newly formed lab groups made observations of 4 different rectangular shaped blocks of wax, transparent plastic, white plastic, and metal. They inferred which ones had greater mass and volume, and then predicted whether or not they had the same density. They then used quantitative observations to determine whether their predictions were true.
Language Arts: Final in class work day for The Wave Assessment. Finish tonight for tomorrow.
Wednesday, October 12
Science: Today we discussed the data and observations collected about solids, liquids, and gases and finalized our conclusions about the properties of these states of matter. We then practiced further with a graduated cylinder and determined the mass and density of water.
Language Arts: Work Period The Wave assessment.
Thursday, Friday, Tuesday, October 6, 7, and 11
Science: For the past three days, students have been investigating the properties of solids, liquids, and gases through a series of quick observations. They analyzed what they saw and ended the investigation with a table highlighting the important properties of the three states of matter.
Language Arts: Work Periods for The Wave end of book assessment.
Tuesday/Wednesday, October 4 & 5
Science: Students completed their investigations in the Pendulum lab regarding the length of string and movements in one minute's time. They began graphing their results and writing their PACES Conclusion during these past two days. Any unfinished work is to be completed for Wednesday, October 12.
Language Arts: Teachers shared their Name essays with the cluster, focusing on voice and primary and secondary sources contained in each. We also reviewed Summary Writing from Chapters 12-15 and looked at poor and good models of writing using a 10 Item Check list.
Monday, October 3
Science: Test on Hurricanes
Language Arts: Introduction to writing piece: "What's in a Name?" Read and share memoir by Sandra Cisneros "My Name" from The House on Mango Street. Go over primary and secondary sources to begin research on own name. Primary Resource interviews due by Friday.
Friday, September 30
Science: Jeopardy Review for Hurricanes Test on Monday, October 3. Study guide Jeopardy Questions and Answers are in the Documents File to the right.
Wednesday, September 28
Science: Students finished planning and then conducted the investigation regarding pendulums and the number of swings based on the independent variable of length of string.
Language Arts: Review ABC Summaries of Chapters 12-15 and mini-theatre presentations.
FAST: Literature Circle #1
Tuesday, September 27
Science: Get Wet--Clicker introduction for practice formative assessment to be given tomorrow. Students finished up their group PACES for the mentos lab and then proceeded to plan out the next independent lab activity on pendulums.
Language Arts: Prefix Vocabulary Presentation Games.
FAST: Science Ramp Up on Metric Conversions
Monday, September 26
Science: Get Wet: review of setting up an experiment and identifying the testable question, writing a hypothesis, and analyzing data. Students completed their group conclusions based on the mentos lab and shared them out to the class.
Language Arts: Vocabulary games introduced and shared based on prefix study last week. Games include Word Weavers, Academy Awards, Word Rap, Acrostic, Sketch to Stretch, and Charades.
Friday, September 23
Science: After reviewing the components of PACES, a conclusion writing guideline for a lab investigation, each group composed one conclusion for the independent variable tested. These will be shared will the other science classes on Monday to see if each group came up with similar conclusions.
Language Arts/FAST: Summer reading prompts were returned and individual conferences were held with those students who needed to repair certain parts of the essay. These will be completed in class on Monday, regraded, and given back. In LA, students shared in their groups their outline for the ABC Summary assigned to them. The best of each group was shared with the class.
Thursday, September 22
Science: Today we reviewed the components of a good graph using the BMS Yes Test. We practiced making qualitative and quantitative observations and inferences using a very unusual photograph (ask your child). Finally, we researched information from Mythbusters and on line about why Mentos acts the way it does in certain situations.
Language Arts: Selection Test and written response on two stories from Prentice-Hall.
Wednesday, September 21
Science: Share results from Mentos lab of all three classes.
Tuesday, September 20
Science: Assessment on metric conversion. Conduct lab experiment outside on mentos and soda. Record results in data table.
Language Arts: Prefix introduction. Do practice sheet in class. Work period for Chapters 8-11 "The Wave."
Monday, September 19
Science: Get Wet: Practice identifying independent and dependent variables and writing a formal hypothesis. Set up lab on soda and mentos based on 6 independent variables. Write a hypothesis.
Language Arts: Model ABC summary using Chapter 7 from "The Wave." Begin reading Chapter 8 and finish reading 8-11 for Friday. Assign one chapter to do a summary.
Friday, September 16
Science: Get Wet reflection question. Hurricane notes check-up with group (Power Point). Introduce/review formal hypothesis writing in preparation for our first lab activity next week.
Language Arts: Chapters 5-7 The Wave. Mini-Theatre in the Round as various students acted out important scenes from the chapters. Students observing then asked questions of the characters based on what they were feeling at the time.
Thursday, September 15
Science: Get Wet Metric Practice. Observations and Inferences Photo Acitivity (continued from yesterday). Connections between observations and appropriate inferences based on those observations were practiced and reinforced.
Language Arts: We watched a video on the Hindenburg, and then read a non-fiction article about the event.
Wednesday, September 14
Science: Get Wet conversion based on the measurements taken in class yesterday. Identified the independent and dependent variable in the testable questions from yesterday. We then looked at 8 photographs and made qualitative and quantitative observations, leading to inferences about both.
Language Arts/Skills: Discussion of Chapters 1-4 in "The Wave." Shared responses within groups and then to class. Chose particuarly good visual vocabulary for displays. Quick Write based on a quote from one of the characters in book, Eric. Begin reading Chapters 5-7 in Skills. Due on Friday.
Tuesday, September 13
Science: After practicing measuring items in our Get Wet activity, students watched a clip from Harry Potter. They were asked 5 questions afterward. Specific observation questions were then provided and they watched the clip again. A much better focused observation led to 100% correct responses. In order for observations to mean something, we must know the question in a lab, the testable questions. Lab groups were then provided with a list of questions. Their task was to locate the 12 true testable questions.
Language Arts: Read and introduce the short story "Three Century Woman" in class. Finish in Skills period. Discussion then took place.
Monday, September 12
Science: Get Wet-metric conversion practice. A video clip of how hurricanes form was presented, followed by a "Read Around the Text" for an article about hurricanes to be read this week.
Language Arts: Meet the Author--Richard Peck video clip and discussion. What are some differences and comparisons between fiction and non-fiction?
Friday, September 9
No classes today: Survivor Day! Have a great weekend. Remember to keep up with Katia, Maria, and Nate this weekend.
Tuesday, September 6
Science: Welcome back, Aquarians! It's been quite an interesting week, and surprisingly, our first topic of study in Grade 7 is hurricanes! How appropriate to be able to discuss first-hand some of the experiences and observations you have made thanks to Hurricane Irene's arrival to Rhode Island! Today in class, we set up our binders, did an overview of topics to be covered this year, and learned how to access the National Hurricane Center website to begin recording information about upcoming hurricanes.
Homework: Plot the 8 coordinates for Hurricane Irene on your hurricane map. Due Wednesday. Check the status daily for Hurricane Katia and record the data from Mr. Mac's webpage (Link: National Hurricane Center) daily until Katia is no more.
Wednesday, September 7
Science: After doing our second Get Wet based on our hurricane tracking map homework, students worked in their newly formed lab groups to see if they could match up important events with the time it took to complete them. This served as an introduction to metric conversion which will be introduced tomorrow.
Language Arts: Students used their summer reading notes to respond to an on demand prompt based on either the non-fiction or fiction book selected. Students should bring to class on Thursday the copy of The Wave if they purchased it to use. Book Approval deadline for the first book conference is Tuesday September 13.
Thursday, September 8
Science: Get Wet involved a video segment introducing and reviewing the metric system. We then used a ladder method to help learn how to convert from larger to smaller and vice-versa.
King Henry died unexpectedly drinking chocolate milk
....is the sentence we have come up with to help remember the correct sequence of Kilo, Hecto, Deca, Unit, Deci, Centi, and Milli. We also corrected the Time sheet from last night's homework. Finally, we learned that two new tropical storms have developed: TS Marie and TS Nate. These are to be added to the daily update chart along with Katia.
Language Arts: Introduction to The Wave: We discussed the terms "community" and Aqua cluster's characteristics of a community. We watched a video clip of WWII highlights, and the question arose: How and why did an entire nation (Germany) follow the ramblings of Hitler? This is the focus of our novel.