Thursday

Our classes were very different today. First hour did the worksheet the other classes did yesterday. The worksheet was on the phases of the moon. Fourth hour was supposed to take ISAT tests, but the testing got behind and so we studied about stars. Fifth hour went to testing.

The important information is that the Scientist Reports are due on Thursday at the start of class. Most students turned in their rough drafts on time and so for them it will be easy. They just need to fix the mistakes and hand their paper in as soon as possible. For those who did not turn in their rough draft they need to get this paper written and turned in as soon as possible.

Sundials need to be done by May 14th as long as the weather is good.

All students should have finished the reading assignment by now, we will likely have a test on C 1-C92 on Thursday May 7.

Tuesday

The scientist report rough draft was due today. Anyone who didn't turn it in will earn half points tomorrow. We started learning about the planets today. We will continue this for the rest of the week.

ISAT tests are tomorrow. Make sure you get a good night's sleep and eat a healthy dinner and breakfast.

Monday

The scientist report's rough draft is due tomorrow. Today we learned about tides and eclipses and the moon phases. Tomorrow, after the reports are handed in, we will learn about the planets. The ISATs will be Wednesday, Thursday and Monday. During that time we will work on making our own solar systems

Students need to bring a hanger tomorrow.

Thursday

Today the students were given the class period to work on their rough draft. The scientist report rough draft is due on Tuesday. Some of the rough drafts were completed and handed in today. Students were given a rubric wherein they can check off all the requirements. They were also given a paper showing them how the references are to be done. The students were allowed to go to the library to find information. They also found some information on the Internet. If they cannot find some of the information for their references they can leave it off. But I want to be able to check their sources.

If it is sunny this week-end students should do their sun-dials. Also, for those who forgot, we need wire coat hangers by Tuesday.

Wednesday

A couple of things are coming up that students and parents need to be aware of. First, the rough draft of our scientist report is due on Tuesday, April 28th. Students will have tomorrow to work on their rough draft but they need to bring their information to class so they can spend their time writing.

Next, the sundial papers went out today. The due date on those is May 14th. This gives the students a couple of weeks to get them done and, hopefully, the weather will cooperate.

Last, we will be making planets next week. Each student needs to bring a wire coat hanger. If anyone has extras, please bring those because some students don't have any wire coat hangers.

Today we learned about the sun and the moon. We watched a power point presentation and a you tube short on the sun. Then we looked at pictures of the moon and Venus this morning. We talked about the difference between rotations and revolutions, and we learned about season. It was a busy day and quite fun.

Tuesday

Today we watched Bill Nye the Science Guy 51 on waves. We learned more about wavelength, frequency, amplitude and the different types of waves. The class then moved on to the next unit and wrote, in their teams, what is needed for survival on Earth and what is needed for survival in space. We will discuss the answers tomorrow. Posters were due today. No one came in at lunchtime to work on their poster so I will assume that everyone is as done as they want to be.

We discussed the upcoming sun-dial assignment. The information page will go home tomorrow. Some students still haven't turned in their parent information signature concerning the scientist reports. We will be working on the report in class on Thursday so any information that the student has should be brought in.

Next week we will be making the solar system. All students will need a wire hanger that can be destroyed.

Monday

We are beginning the last six weeks of school. The goal is to keep the students on task and learning. The soil posters are due tomorrow, Tuesday. Students have had time in class to work on these and many are done. The students were also reminded in a school-wide announcement at the end of the day.

We are starting Unit C, observing the sky. Today we discussed visible and invisible waves and discussed why light is knowledge. By the end of the week the students will have the assignment to make a sundial. They will have two week-ends to complete it because it isn't always possible to be home every week-end. Scientist reports need to be in progress.

Thursday

Science was very busy today. The students that had not finished their graphs rushed to get them done. Most of them were successful. The students were given time to work on their posters. We checked science journals to make sure the students had all their notes completed. Then most of the students chose their scientist. We are starting our scientist reports. Each student was given a paper for parents to read and sign. This way the parents know what is expected in the paper. The rough draft is due April 28th, the final copy is due May 7th. The minimum length is one page double spaced for typed reports and two pages double-spaced for hand written reports. All of the necessary information is on the hand-out. Students that return the bottom of the hand out signed and dated by Monday's class will receive 10 extra credit points. Reading is now in section C. By next Thursday all students should have read pages C1-C41.

Wednesday

We finished the movie, "Beyond the Big Bang." Then the students had different activities to do. Some worked on their graphs, some worked on their posters and those who were finished with both began working on their reports. The reports are about a scientist of the student's choosing. They will be bringing a paper home on Friday for the parent or guardian to read and sign so everyone understands what is expected. The rough draft will be due April 28th and the paper will be due May 7th. More information with be forth coming.

Tuesday

We are nearly done with the movie, "Beyond the Big Bang." Today we learned how different scientists worked for many years to come up with the theory. We learned that Albert Einstein didn't like the theory even though it was his work with relativity that helped prove it to be true. We learned about Fred Hoyle's steady state theory of the universe and that Father George Lemaitre's Big Bang Theory was nearly rejected because he was a religious man. We learned that Arno Penzias and
Robert Wilson found proof of the big bang when they couldn't avoid the static noise of radiation. Tomorrow we will finish the movie and have a little time left to work on our posters and choose our scientists for the next report.

Monday

We are starting a new section this week. We will begin by three days of the movie, "Beynond the Big Bang." Today we learned about heliocentrism, the effect of the fall of Rome on scientific discovery, ancient calendars, and how scientific theory changed over the years due to better technology. We just finished with Galileo. Tomorrow we will start with Sir Isaac Newton.

Thursday

We were able to complete our lesson on Friction today. We also learned about Newton's three laws of motion. Then we went into the lab and practiced the three law of motion. We used a glass, card and a quarter, a slinky and a metal ball. For the second law of motion we raced a car and figured out what the force would be by multiplying the mass times the acceleration. The last law we crashed cars into each other and then repeated it with balls so we could observe that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Students were treated to a National School Assembly today and watched Skip the Magic Man. He used some of the laws of Science to perform his magic tricks.

Wednesday

With the school Internet down, this post is a little late. Today we finished our study of simple machines and then, in the first two classes we started on friction. The students in 5th hour worked on their posters as the Internet was down.

Students are still trying to finish their graphs. They will have until next Thursday to get them turned in. They must be correct.

Reading covers F-1 / F-92, this will allow us to finish this section. We will begin on the Big Bang Theory on Monday.

Tuesday

Today the students started working on their posters for Bear Lake Soil and Water Conservation. Only a few students finished the posters, so we will try to get them done a little here and a little there. The posters are worth 50 points.

Reading should be done to finish the chapter. So all students need to finish to F-92 by the end of this week.

Monday

Today we began learning about simple machines. We discussed the incline plane, the wedge and began on the lever. Tomorrow we will work on our posters for Bear Lake Soil and Conservation. Students will have one day in class to work on the poster. If they do not finish in class they will have to take the posters home and finish there. Posters are due April 21st.

Thursday

There is a meeting tonight at the middle school for any parents who want to meet with the State of Idaho Superintendent of Schools, Tom Luna. The meetings will be held from 5-6 p.m. in the auditorium. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss education issues.

In class today we figured out some acceleration problems. Students were able to understand that to find the velocity they need to know the formula for speed and know the direction the object is traveling. Then the realized that if you can find velocity you can also find acceleration.

We will be working on our posters on Tuesday. A good site for ideas is //forces.si.edu/soils/ The theme for the poster is Digging It - The Secret of Soil.

Those students who did not pass their graphs will have another chance. They took their papers home and they will be due again on Monday. We will keep at it till they are successful.

Wednesday

We re-did our graphs today, a few will need to take them home for homework over the week-end and try again. Then we reviewed on Plato the formulas that deal with speed, velocity and acceleration. We are now reading to page F-45. We hope to finish the entire chapter next week.