We had another busy week in Middle School and are excited for Thanksgiving next week.
Humanities
Sixth year Humanities students finished their descriptive writing drafts, Nature Through Writing, using photography as inspiration. Because they recently completed their class novel, Out Of My Mind, students watched a mini documentary on a 17-year old New Zealand teen living with cerebral palsy. She has a similar profile to Melody, the protagonist of the novel. Finally, they completed a unit of vocabulary.
7th year students finished their class novel, A Gift From Childhood. In preparation for writing original fables, similar to the ones told in the novel, students identified proverbs and metaphors throughout the book to use as inspiration. 7th years also completed a unit of vocabulary.
Finally, 8th years did a lot of reading this week in their class novel, If I Ever Get Out of Here. The protagonist, Lewis, is part of the Tuscarora tribal nation and the book centers around his experiences at a mostly white school. This week we spent time writing about and discussing some of the challenges he faces, the root of these challenges, and his perception of certain events in the story versus how others perceive them. 8th years also completed a unit of vocabulary.
Math
In Pre-Transition math class, students learned all about using fact triangles to find related facts for addition and subtraction problems involving integers and rational numbers. This class can identify linear pairs and vertical angles in a diagram. They can also recognize acute, obtuse, right, complementary, and supplementary angles. This class will learn all the Chapter 4 lessons before the Thanksgiving break and take the Chapter 4 assessment once we get back to school in December.
In Transition class, students had the opportunity to construct if-then statements, and they learned how to draw Venn Diagrams to represent the intersection and union of sets. This class is learning how to draw and identify basic figures of polygons, apply the properties of a good definition, and classify statements that are always, sometimes, and never true. Next week this class will conclude learning all the lessons for Chapter 4.
In Algebra class, students took two days to prepare for the Chapter 4 summative assessment. This was a cumulative test covering Chapters 1-4, and Ms. Sutherland is very proud of how all the students prepared for this test. They have started to cover the first few lessons of Chapter 5, which includes multiplying, simplifying, and dividing algebraic fractions, as well as multiplying and dividing rates in real world situations.
In Geometry class, students are learning how to identify images under a double reflection. This class can apply the Two Reflection Theorem for translation problems as well as find coordinates of reflection and translation images for points over the coordinate axes.
Math Joke: What do baby parabolas drink?……..Quadratic formula
Science
6th year Earth Science students are working on their unit, Earthquakes. This week, students created their own seismograph stations using a shoe box, rubber bands, a sports ball, and a marker. Students tested how density (material inside the shoe box) affects the seismic waves generated by dropping the sports ball on the shoebox, resulting in the marker moving.
7th year Physical Science students are continuing their work on molecules. Students are identifying how to determine an element’s number of protons, electrons, and neutrons based on the atomic number and mass. Students are learning how to read an atomic structure’s valence and total electrons in order to determine what the exact element is. Moving forward, we will learn about the similarities and differences each group (metals, nonmetals, halogens, noble gases) possesses.
8th year Life Science students have just finished their unit, Meiosis. Our next unit will be Genes and the Impacts of Mutations on Organisms. Within this unit, we will discover what a gene is and how they are passed down from generation to generation within our DNA. Students will analyze similarities and differences between one another while also looking at key traits associated with family members.
Thank you families, for sharing your child/children with us. Their flexibility, willingness to work, and thoughtfulness are traits we appreciate greatly. It is another week that we are beyond grateful to be with them in school!
