Week of Jan 14-18

Reminder!  No school Monday January 21.  It's Martin Luther King Day. 

Upcoming events: 

8th Grade POL's have been changed to Jan 28 thru Feb 1.  Parents, please come.  Individual student schedule will go out Tuesday.

Riley's Farm Revolutionary War Field trip on Wednesday Jan 30.  Cost $15.  A note went home Friday.  Please read it for details!

Report Cards will be going home on Friday February 1.

The Map

Traveling to the next coordinate

A sampling of the questions

Hard at work

Looking for treasure

Math:  This past week we honed our graphing skills. We practiced using linear equations to create a graph of a line, as well as using graphs to derive the equation of a line.  We compared parallel and perpendicular lines and their graphs.  As an assessment of the content they have been practicing, students participated in a Math Treasure Hunt.  Our school was put onto a coordinate plane and students had to go to specific coordinates on our school campus to find a math question.  Ten questions and treasure were found all over the school.  The students really enjoyed finding the "treasure" and answering the same type of problem that could have been easily given on a regular sit-down test in the classroom.  I was also able to assess students' ability to plot points on a graph as they used their map to walk to the points around campus.

Testing for simple sugars using Benedict's solution and heat

 Science:  We learned about elements, compounds and macromolecules this week.  As part of our murder mystery, students performed two of the four tests we will use to determine what type of macromolecule - complex carbohydrate, simple sugar, lipid or protein was found in the murder suspect's stomach at the time of the crime.  (Vomit was found at the crime scene and it was determined that it was not the victim's!)

Students chewed up crackers

Before

After:  Iodine was an indicator used to test for complex carbohydrates

LOOKING AHEAD:
Our main focus for the upcoming week will be preparation for POLs.  We will also continue our murder investigation in science, and students will learn about solving systems of equations in math.