Hi Everyone! Mr. Korchnak and I wanted to thank you all for the great student/parent conferences that we had with you last week. All of us working together will truly make the difference for our kids. Thank you again!

Our trip to Saugatuck was fabulous! The weather wasn't the best, but it didn't even matter. Seeing the kids helping one another to make the hike and then to experience the huge waves on Lake Michigan and all the wonder that goes along with it, is quite a gift that I will always cherish. Sharing a cook out together was fun too. We had some perfectly grilled hot dogs from Chef Washington along with chips, pop, fruit, warm cider and donuts. It was FUN!

Our MEAPS were finally finished on Thursday and we are looking forward to some uninterrupted learning again. This week we will have an assessment in science over all that we have learned so far. Watch this blog for the review sheet or game to help your child get ready. Also, all student science journals should be completed and turned in by Friday, after the assessment.

Here's our schedule:

Science

Monday, October 22nd
Today we will be working a lab exploring the force of gravity. We will be testing the shear strength of different kinds of papers by testing how much weight they can hold. For this lab we will need to understand the formula F=ma to find the weight of the sand each paper sample can hold before ripping. We will be working as tables to do this experiment the lab hand out can be found on the link below.

HOMEWORK: The data sheet will be turned in the following day as homework

Gravity%20Lab%20Data%20Sheet.pdf

Tuesday, October 23rd
Today, we are going to work on a vocabulary activity to help students get ready for their assessment on Friday. Students will use a Kagan strategy to work with their team to draw a picture to represent each of the vocabulary words. After 20 minutes, teams will switch tables and look at another teams pictures and work as a team to label that team's vocabulary pictures. After 5 minutes, teams will switch again and work on another team's pictures. We will work on this as long as time allows.

Vocabulary-for-Assessment-1.doc

Wednesday, October 24th

We will complete the chapter 3 review in the Physical Science book on pages 89-91. Students will work on Reviewing Vocabulary 1-10, Checking Concepts 1-10, Understanding Concepts 11-15 and Thinking Critically 16-20.

Thursday, October 25th

We will finish the chapter 3 Review and check in class. 7th period did not have class yesterday so they are to finish this at home tonight. See Wednesday's assignment.

Friday, October 26th

Jeopardy game today to review for the assessment which has been moved to Monday. Be sure that your journal for science is complete and ready to turn in on Monday.
Jeopardy%20assessment%201%20physics2.ppt
Jeopardy-assessment-1-physics3.ppt
Ecosystems

Monday, October 22nd
Today we will be exploring the idea of ecosystem succession. This will be done with a teacher guided presentation on over the projector. We will be using forest succession as our example and we will discuss the stages that is goes through to become a climax forest. During the presentation students will fill out a worksheet based on the information provided this will be turned in at the end of class and the information will be needed for use during the rest of the week. The notes worksheet is linked bellow.

HOMEWORK: At the end of class a chapter of the book The World Without Us by Alan Weisman will be handed out. This should be read for next class period.

Succession%20Handout.pdf

Wednesday, October 24th
Today we will be looking at the chapter from the book The World Without Us and how succession occurs at an abandoned house. We will be discussing what is happen over time and what the main players are as the house is reclaimed by nature. We will also be connecting this information with content from previous weeks. There will be a quick write at the end of class asking about what was most interesting about the succession occurring at the abandoned house and how does it tie into what we have been talking about. There will be a worksheet we will work through during class. A link to it can be found below.

The-World-without-Us-Worksheet.pdf

Friday, October 26th
Today we will finishing up our unit on succession. We will tie up any loose ends from Wednesday and talk about how succession is a process that is always occurring. We will go through some more examples and students will be coming up with their own example of succession by explaining what would happen to the school if we were to abandon it. Student will work on this in pairs and during next week we will present our stories and posters with drawings about succession happening in an abandoned school.

HOMEWORK: Write a short story of what would happen if the school was abandoned over an extended time period.