Monday, April 30, 2012

7th Graders - Vocab Quiz has been posted to Engrade.  Use your password to complete it by Wednesday.  
For homework, complete Talking Drawing 2. Use the information that we got today from the book (on the online book, find it at Activity 38, pp. D-14 through D-18) to answer the questions at the top. 
Also, draw, color, and label the layers of the Earth.  Notice that there are 16 circles, one drawn   inside the other. Also notice that there are almost 15,000 km of depth below the surface.  If you round up any number over 300, that means each circle equals 1,000 km.  
Ex: the inner core is "5200-6400 km deep", so the color and label 7 of the circles as the Inner Core.  Start at the middle and work your way out.  The Outer Core would get  5  circles.


6th Graders-  Answer all questions on the worksheet "How Do Winds Form?" on an SPP.  Period 3 students, also answer AQs 1-3 on p. E-83.  

Thursday, April 26, 2012

7th Graders - Vocab Quiz has been posted to Engrade.  You have an extra day (until Wednesday to complete it).

Okay - lots of vocab work:
Gr. 7 -

  • Make sure you have your password for Engrade by tomorrow - vocab quiz opens tomorrow, due Tuesday at 7:35 am.   
  • Answer Questions: What is a Volcano? worksheet
  • Also, insert the following definitions in your vocab section:

1.      Active –  a volcano that is currently erupting, is showing signs (such as significant new gas emissions) that it is likely to erupt in the near future, or has erupted at any time during recorded history.
2.  Constructive forces - cause landforms; and include lithosphere deformation, volcanic eruption, and deposition of sediment. 
3. Destructive forces -  cause landforms; include weathering and erosion.
4.      Dormant – volcanoes that have not erupted for at least 10,000 years but may erupt again.. 
5.     Eruptions / erupted – The sometimes-violent release of magma from earth’s interior to the surface. Eruptions result from gas and magma pressure building up underground. Verb form: Erupt (past tense: erupted).
6. Extinct – volcano not expected to erupt ever again are considered extinct
7. Magma – Molten rock and minerals, containing dissolved gases including water vapor,  below the surface of the earth



Gr. 6 - insert the following definitions in your science notebook:

wind - The horizontal movement of air from areas of higher pressure toward areas of lower pressure.
Air currents – movements of air
Anemometer Instrument used to measure Wind speed.
Wind vane Instrument used to measure wind direction.
Per 2 only: Finish reading Activity 66, Atmosphere and Climate, write out main idea for each paragraph not read in class today, and answer the AQs on p. E-78. If you have the paper, write answers on the paper; if you do not have the paper, then write answers out on a separate sheet of paper. 
Per 3 only: each student must draw and label their own design for a wind vane and an anemometer. 
** No designs, no building tomorrow. ***

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Today is April 25, 2012.  History note:  On April 26, 1986, the world’s worst nuclear accident (before the March 2012 disaster at Fukushima) occurred at the Chernobyl plant in the Soviet Union (now, Ukraine).  An explosion and fire in the No. 4 reactor sent radioactive material into the atmosphere.  Winds carried the contamination over much of Europe, including Sweden, Finland and Belarus.  At least 31 people died immediately.  
6th Grade HW: on SPP, answer all questions with a circled number on the worksheet: "What is Air?"
7th Grade HW:  Answer Challenge Q, use at least 3 vocab words; copy Vocab definitions off of blog.
Challenge Question: What are the advantages and disadvantages of storing nuclear waste in Yucca Mountain?
Vocab: (write the vocab word in your Science notes & definitions in your Vocab section)
1) Earthquake - The release of energy in the form of waves that occurs
when large sub-surface masses of rock suddenly shift position.
2) Evidence - Information gained from direct observation or reliable sources
that can be used to form ideas about the world or to inform decision-making.
3) Nuclear Waste - Radioactive material that must be disposed because it is no longer useful.
4) Trade-off - Getting one thing at the cost of another; a balancing of factors, all of which are not attainable at the same time.
5) Volcano - A vent through which magma pours from below the earth’s surface, or erupts, on to the surface. The magma cools to form igneous rock that often builds up to make a volcanic cone or mountain.
6) Risk – The chance, probability, or likelihood that a certain action or event could result in something unfavorable, such as injury or death. Estimating risk is often based on whether a type of event has happened before in similar situations.  Risk analysis considers the type of risk, the frequency of the consequences, and the severity of the consequences, as well as the trade-offs involved (weigh level of risk against control, benefit/ severity of loss). Ex: sports increase risk of injury, but most people decide the risk is worth the benefits).  Most people prefer low levels of risk if they have little control or if the severity of consequences is great. Ex:storing nuclear waste.

Big Ideas:
  • Making decisions about complex issues involves trade-offs. Ex: nuclear waste disposal.
  • Identifying and evaluating relevant evidence is essential for thoughtful inquiry and good decision making.
  • Risk analysis considers the type of risk, the frequency of the consequences, and the severity of the consequences


Monday, April 23, 2012

Welcome back!!! / Home Stretch

Homework tonight:
7th graders: write a paragraph (5-sentence minimum) on where you, as a City Council member, think the new homes should be built.  Use evidence and examples from presentations.

Gr 6 / per 2: Answer Analysis Questions 1-3, p. E-75, Activity 65 on SPP (History of Earth's Atmosphere) with your data sheet attached. 

Gr 6 / per 3: Answer Analysis Questions 1-3, p. E-72, Activity 64 (Earth's Atmosphere) on SPP with your data sheet attached.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

4/10/12 - Just got done with my last CSI class, and it was fun!  We had a pizza and popcorn fueled murder mystery dinner.......
OK, so what about homework?

7th graders: keep working on those projects (where do we build in Boomtown?) - each group should have exchanged phone numbers and email addresses, and each person in each group has a self-directed homework assignment.  Projects due Friday.

6th graders: should have gotten homework pages from me this afternoon - why did the water drip faster through the gravel than through the sand in our Groundwater lab?  3rd period students also may complete the water concept map.

OK bye for now!

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

4/14/12 - 7th graders: Review your study guides.  Be ready for the test tomorrow.
6th graders: check out the following "water - words":

  1. body of water
  2. collection
  3. condensation
  4. cloud
  5. cycle
  6. evaporation
  7. fog
  8. glacier
  9. hail
  10. ice 
  11. lake
  12. ocean
  13. pond 
  14. precipitation
  15. river
  16. sleet 
  17. snow
  18. stream
  19. water
  20. water vapor

Make a concept map (web or graphic organizer) using the "water - words" above.

Monday, April 2, 2012

Homework for 4/2/12 -
Hi to all of my students and parents:
7th Graders should answer all questions on the Erosion / Deposition Review Sheet. Get ready for that test on Thursday (Take it Wednesday if you might miss school on Thursday).  Lab Reports are overdue, so those few students who have not yet turned in their lab report, you have til Thursday. After that, I won't accept it.

6th Graders - You have a reading packet.  Read and answer questions. :^)