5th Grade: Andrew Clements

The 5th graders finished up their first author challenge. In March, we read part of Andrew Clements' book, "Lunch Money" in our Journeys book. The challenge was for the students to read just one of Andrew Clements' books, take an AR test on that book, and get at least 80% on the test by March 31st. If the students met the challenge, they were rewarded with pizza and lemonade which was served today! I think the students learned a little about setting a goal and learning that the authors who write in their text books are also authors of full-length novels.

7th grade: Animal Adaptations

7th graders were to create an animal with adaptations. They then had to fully answer questions about their animal. For example, what adaptations did the animal have to eat, or would the animal be able to survive a serious climate change? What adaptations did the animal have to survive? Here are some pictures of some of the imaginary animals that the students had fun creating!

8th Grade: Cell Pamphlets

8th graders recently worked hard to produce pamphlets demonstrating what they learned about the parts of a cell. They created pamphlets with the different organelles of the cell, labeled clearly and explained. They are now hanging outside their classroom.

8th Grade: Models of Cells

This week the 8th graders were learning about the parts of a cell, focusing more on animal cells. We made models using jello for cytoplasm, but the other "ingredients" were left up to the students. Students had to discuss what food items represented the different parts of the cell.

7th Grade: Engineering Concepts with Bobsleds

Our ramp/ rain gutter

Bobsled

Most of the ideas and information to do this project came from the following website:

http://teachers.egfi-k12.org/build-a-bobsled-racer/#respond

We used a rain 10-foot rain gutter as our bobsled ramp, and used small containers, duct tape, batteries, and other materials to both increase friction and decrease friction. The students had to submit a design, learn about force and motion, and finally connect Newton's First Law of Motion with what they observed with their bobsleds.

Before taking on the creation of making our own bobsleds, we watched some of the bobsled races direct from Sochi. Here's Lolo Jones getting ready before going to Sochi.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49DaJuTI33U