Happy Friday! We had a great Halloween in Middle School. Costumes and spirits were great, and we enjoyed all of the themed Halloween treats that parents provided. Thank you! Additionally, 8th grade leadership was excited to plan a fun Halloween photo scavenger hunt for the rest of the middle school. While they were completing it, the 8th grade set up for the Halloween party and set up a surprise caramel apple station for the students! 8th grade leadership also ran an installment of FWM Monthly for students in Kindergarten through 7th grade.
Math
In the Pre-Transition math class, students have been learning how to round numbers to a given place value. This class has also been practicing how to convert fractions to decimals and vice versa. They ended the week with creating equivalent fractions and understanding how to find a percent from a decimal value.
In the Transition math class, students are excited to explore fractions, decimals and percents in a more complex way. This class is able to understand how to compare values in different forms, correctly use raised-bar notation for repeated decimals, and calculate the percent of a quantity from a given word problem.
In the Algebra math class, students are able to use linear equations and inequalities in the form ax + b = c or ax + b < c. This class also discovered how to clear fractions and decimals in an algebraic expression. They concluded their learning of Chapter 3 and will begin learning Chapter 4 next week.
Math Joke: Why was the math teacher suspicious of prime numbers? …..They were all odd.
Humanities
6th grade Humanities class began the week with some creative, Halloween writing. They chose from prompts that either had them write in the perspective of a pumpkin about to be carved or imagine their stuffed animals came to life. Next, students continued their reading and class book discussions with Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper. The class is more than halfway through the novel, and they are doing well with making connections, writing about personal reactions, and analyzing specific quotations. Finally, students worked on their current events presentations.
7th grade Humanities class also began the week with some creative, Halloween writing. They chose from prompts about an imaginary friend from their past coming to life, ending a story with, “…and that is why I never returned there again”, and waking up as someone else. In continuing with their China study, students learned about the British-Chinese trade relationship, which led to the Opium Wars. They also studied the Taipei Rebellion, one of the worst instances of Civil War. Finally, students worked on their current events presentations.
8th grade Humanities class continued with their study of the colonization of North America and its effects on the Indigenous people on the land. Last week, students drew what they imagined the landscape of what is now the United States looked like before colonization. This would use students’ previous knowledge and assumptions. Similarly, students drew untouched landscapes that included mountains, trees, tall grasses, and some animals. What we read about the actual landscape in Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz’s An Indigenous Peoples’ History for Young People had some variations. Native Nations had cities, road systems, governments, farms, etc. Why didn’t any of their pictures include these? We then talked about how books, media, and American culture frame our ideas of what Native American life looked like. While there was, of course, more untouched land, the infrastructure is usually omitted. Then, students began studying the settlement at Jamestown, the Powhatan, and the Virginia Company. Finally, students worked on current events.
Science
6th year Earth Science students worked this week on identifying the main layers of Earth. Students were assigned a partner to research a layer of the earth (inner/outer core, mantle, and crust) and later present their work to the class. Students were asked to include the depth, temperature, thickness, and fun facts about each layer in their presentation. From this research and the information found within their tech-books, students will begin creating a stop motion video depicting tectonic plates and the influence they have on shaping our planet.
7th year Physical Science students have continued working on identifying physical and chemical properties of matter. As a part of this unit, students conducted an experiment which tested how temperature influences solubility. Students were provided with three different temperatures of water, adding recorded amounts of sugar to them until the sugar no longer was able to dissolve in the solution. Each student formulated their hypothesis beforehand, anticipating the warmer water (solvent) to allow more sugar (solute) to be dissolved in the water. Now that the experiment has concluded and their data has been recorded, each student will format the information as a formal lab report.
8th year Life Science students are just finishing their unit, Structure of Life. This week, students continued their research and class discussions around data and information regarding what cancer is and the work that is conducted to address this disease. Students learned about certain factors that influence the mutation of cells within the body, such as smoking or exposure to high levels of uv radiation. Students have been able to apply our past unit, Cell Theory, to our current unit as it relates to the behavior a cell might undergo when exposed to detrimental factors.
We hope everyone has a peaceful weekend.
