This was a very short 3 day week for the middle school students. We hope everyone has a safe and restful President’s Day long weekend. We celebrated Valentine’s Day on Wednesday February 12th with fun snacks and drinks brought in by the middle school parents association. Thank you to everyone who helped contribute the tasty treats. The students really enjoyed the celebration. 

In Humanities this week, 6th year students began reading The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder. Inspired by the text, students will learn more about Ancient Egypt. Next, 7th year students worked on European geography. They are studying the rise of Hitler and the qualities that made him such a powerful leader. Students began reading Four Perfect Pebbles by Marion Blumenthal Lazan, a memoir of her and her family’s experiences during the Holocaust. Both 6th and 7th years completed vocabulary units as well. 8th years spent some time moving forward with their expert project research and received feedback about next steps. They are also finishing the overall scene outline of our play that we will begin writing next week! 

6th year Earth Science students have been constructing wind turbines as part of their unit on natural resources. Students were tasked with designing and creating a windmill that will be able to lift a weight. Students have built their designs using popsicle sticks, cardboard, and 3D printers. 7th year Physical Science students have conducted several labs as part of their unit on chemical reactions and equations. Students performed a laboratory experiment requiring them to find a ratio of baking soda, citric acid, and water, resulting in the coldest temperature. Students were required to write a formal lab report concluding this experiment. 8th year Life Science students represented concepts relating to gene mutation along with the presentation of their DNA model. Students performed an in class activity on the punnet square which demonstrated what genes (dominant/recessive) are passed down from one’s parents. 

In Pre-Transition math class, students are learning how to multiply mixed fractions with whole values and other mixed fractions. This has been a challenging skill to master and will continue to be our focus next week. The students had great success with being able to identify if the product of two numbers will be a positive or negative outcome. Keep studying as the next chapter assessment is Thursday, February 20th.

In Transition math class, students are learning about multiplication as shortcut addition (collecting like terms), multiplication with negative numbers, and the rate-factor model for multiplication. Students are able to identify the properties used to solve these arithmetic operations and can successfully complete the word problems by setting up the cross out method for rate multiplication. 

In Algebra 1 math class, students are learning about the important exponent rules. Students have created a single unique note sheet to keep all their formulas and rules in one key area. Students are practicing how to simplify expressions with square roots, cube roots, powers of products, and quotients. 

Math Joke: Why was the equal sign so humble?……Because she knew she wasn’t greater than or less than anyone else.