Well, once again, we have a wonderful weekend. It was only a short time ago that we had snow. I hope everyone got outside to enjoy this weather. We are beginning the last marking period for our 8th graders before they go on to high school. This year did go by quickly! There are lots of activities that go on at the end of the year for 8th graders so keep a watch for a letter to inform you from Mr. Campbell. I will also try to keep you posted on this blog.

We worked on our Science Fair experiments this past week and had some great class discussions. It was exciting and fun. Remember that our Science Fair is May 24th.

Monday, April 30th

Science

We will complete the first half of lesson 12 "What Makes One Substance Different from Another?" The key question that students will be addressing is,"What makes substances different even though sometimes they may look alike?" We will be reading pages 48-51 in class, taking notes and answering the Think and Write questions 1-7 as we go.

Tuesday, May 1st

Science

We will continue with lesson 12 from yesterday. We will begin on page 52 and complete the Think and Write questions 8 through 20 in class. If we do not finish in class, this will become homework.

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We will continue with the video, "Freedom Writers".

Wednesday, May 2nd

Science

Today we will be moving on to lesson 13, "Atoms in Equals Atoms Out: Decomposing Water".

We will be answering the following key questions: "How can atoms and molecules be used to explain the formation of new substances? How can they be used to explain the Law of Conservation of Matter?" In this lesson, we will be building models with marshmallows and toothpicks to show how reactants form products.

We will be working on a table to complete during class and also the Think and Write questions from page 62- 63. These questions are NOT homework so if they are not finished on Wednesday, we will finish them at the beginning of the hour on Thursday.

Thursday, May 3rd

Science

Finish Think and Write questions from page 62- 63 if need to. Then begin to complete the experiment for the class Science Fair Project.

Creation Station

Finish the video, "Freedom Writers".

Friday, May 4th

Science

We will complete any of our experiments that need to be done for the Science Fair and then work on creating our boards.

Happy Spring to All! I hope everyone is able to get out and enjoy the weather. It finally feels like Spring. This is Ms. Oudsema's last week with us and we wish her the best of luck with her future endeavors. If you haven't heard, due to unfortunate circumstances for some of our science teachers, we will be moving back the date of the Science Fair to May 24th. This will give students more time to work on their projects.

Those of you who participated in the school play, "Wonderful Job!" I'm so proud of you.

EXTRA CREDIT THIS WEEK! TAKE HOME ONE OR MORE ELEMENTS FROM THE CLASSROOM PERIODIC TABLE THAT IS NOT DONE YET AND RECEIVE 5 POINTS EXTRA CREDIT FOR IT BEING COMPLETED AND PUT ON THE BOARD WHERE IT BELONGS.

Monday, April 23rd

Science

Lesson 9 from the Student Pages (Chemistry). Students will be looking into the following key questions: Can invisible substances like oxygen and other gases be involved in chemical reactions in any other way (not just as products)? Students will explore this question through a lab in which they will create a closed system to create rust and another lab that will demonstrate that oxygen is present and takes up space.

Homework: Think and Write page 38 #1-5. Remember to copy the question into your journal and then write your answer in complete sentences.

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Work day for those who have not finished their Memoir (Due Thursday, April 19th). For those who have finished their Memoir, bring something to do quietly in class.

Tuesday, April 24th

Science

I will be at WMU working today so Ms. Oudsema will be our substitute teacher today. Collect Think and Write questions p. 38 1-5 at the end of the hour. Lesson 10 from Student Pages (Chemistry) p. 39, Does Rusting Need Air? Students will continue with yesterday's lesson and observe what happened to their steel wool and Erlenmeyer flask with the balloon on it. There will also be two teacher demos, that will help students with the big idea of air.

Homework: Finish questions 1-8 from page 40-42. These should be started in class with just a little to finish at home. Remember to copy the question into your journal and then answer it in complete sentences.

Wednesday, April 25th,

Science

Students will finish questions 9-11 from page 43 for their Threshold activity in class. We will trade papers in class and work on correcting them as a whole group today. This will allow for class discussion on what occurred and what their ideas are on air. After the Think and Write questions (40-43) have been answered, we will create a mind map to help students to write a paragraph on how the Law of Conservation of Matter applied to the reactions from the rust/flask/balloon and the two teacher demos from yesterday. Students should write and edit this in class and turn in their final copy.

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I am going to be looking into the viewing of the movie, Freedom Writers, for today. If I receive the okay, then we will be watching this today and for the next few class periods to help students see how powerful their own writing is and how writing can help communicate to others what is happening in their own world.

If we cannot watch the movie, we will begin to look at poetry. Students will begin the lesson on "Where Poetry Hides". They will look for places in their own life that they can draw upon to create poetry from. We will also be looking at their memoir to turn into a poem.

Thursday, April 26th

Science

We will be working on our class science fair projects today and tomorrow in class. Today and tomorrow we should be getting materials and doing the experiment.

Friday, April 27th: Today is a half day.

Science

Today, we will be finishing our science fair experiment and collecting data.

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! I checked the weather forecast for this upcoming week and it looks like we may see warmer temperatures. Hurray! Another piece of good news is that we have extended time for our science fair projects. Double hurray! If anyone has questions concerning this, please feel free to contact us. We are always here to help =)
Now let's check out our plans for this week:

Monday, April 16th

Science

Today we will finish the vocabulary quiz that we didn't get to last week. Then turn to our friends, Tim and Moby from BrainPop, to help us understand the measurement of matter. This will help us with certain parts of Lesson 7 (pgs. 28-30 in your Student Pages).





Tuesday, April 17th

Science

What does it mean when bubbles are formed in a reaction? What happens to the weight in a reaction if bubbles are formed? Today we will explore these two questions by doing four different experiments. I am loving chemistry!


Creation Station

As Thursday's publishing date approaches we must continue to work hard on those memoirs! Today we will have a chance to peer edit and type our memoirs.






Wednesday, April 18th

Science

Do you remember our periodic table? Today we will return to the periodic table by doing an exercise that involves coloring and researching. I can't wait!




Thursday, April 19th

Science

Man we are on a roll with weight and chemical reactions! So we can't stop now! Today we embark on our two day journey of Lesson 8 (pg. 31-35 in your Student Pages). Do gases have weight? How can you find out? How does the weight of the starting substances compare to the weight of the ending substances when gases are formed and given off in a reaction? I'm not telling... You will have to stop by or ask your child these fun scientific questions =)


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PUBLISH DAY!! Hurray! Today we will finish editing and typing our memoirs. Then we can upload them on the Internet to be published! We are becoming more famous everyday, so make sure you check out our first Published memoirs. I'm proud of everyone and keep up the good work =)






Friday, April 20th

Science

Today we continue with Lesson 8 (pg. 31-35 in your Student Pages). We will observe a chemical reaction, which forms a gas as a product, in an open and a closed system. What do you predict will happen to the weight between the systems? Use the aspects of a logical argument and provide evidence in your Think and Write answers. Man do I love chemistry!

Welcome Back! I hope everyone enjoyed their time off and the wonderful sunshine. We are hoping that some of you bring the warm weather home with you. Can you believe this snow?!

Before we take a look at our exciting upcoming week, I wanted to remind everyone that any late work will be due Monday. So make sure you use this weekend to catch up. Also, progress reports that were given out last Thursday are due Monday.


Now let's take a look at our week:



Monday, April 9th

Science

Remember the floating crayons? Today we will follow up brief discussion on density and take a look at our data. Then, we will begin our last set of vocabulary words. Which means this is our last set of word boxes. These will be due on Thursday before we take our Last vocabulary quiz.


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Today we will begin editing our memoirs. We will generate a Proofreading Checklist that will help us as we begin the editing process. We are extremely excited because as we progress as writers, so will our work. I can't wait to see the published results!






Tuesday, April 10th

Science

2 stoppered test tubes containing solutions, 100 ml beaker, stirring rod and a scale? Oh yes, today we continue exploring the wonderful world of chemistry by conducting our own experiment in the lab (pgs. 25-27 in your Student Pages). I can't wait!!






Wednesday, April 11th

Science

I hope everyone comes prepared to debate, discuss and prove their experiment. Today we deepen our understanding of the aspects of a logical argument and why it's so important in science. Let us roll our sleeves up and begin =)

Reminder:
~ Word Boxes are due TOMORROW- 30pts
~ Vocab quiz TOMORROW- 10 pts.

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Nancie Atwell (highly respected educator of writing) says that students write to be read and good writing deserves to be read and respected. We are adopting this mind set and working out any editing details as well as preparing ourselves for our first piece to be published.





Thursday, April 12th

Science

Word Boxes and Vocabulary Quiz at beginning of the hour. Then we transition to our next lab- What's Inside the Bubbles? (pg. 28 in Student Pages). What does it mean when bubbles are formed in a reaction? What happens to the weight in a reaction if bubbles are formed? If you're curious then come find us in the lab today!






Friday, April 13th

Science

Today we explore isotopes and compounds in a unique, kinesthetic and artistic way. We will be creating a giant classroom periodic table while expanding our knowledge on the different elements. So be prepared for an action packed day of chemistry =)


Creation Station

Today we will be using the laptops in the classroom to type and revise our memoirs. We can't wait until these are published!