Updates as of today are:
Today, students finished the labs that we began on Monday. Some students did a water lab on displacement, and others did two worksheets on waves and the ocean floor. When we finished those, we watched a Bill Nye video on Ocean Exploration. While I do not consider Bill Nye to be reputable Christian education, there were some good moments in there where he explored submersibles that are part of the subject matter for Chapter 15. Some of the basic information was also covered briefly. If students would like to rewatch the clip, it can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_luOEADzuvw&t=1026s I did not collect Chapter 15 homework officially. It will be collected on Monday. The "vocabulary" for this section is only the list of submersibles listed at the bottom of the homework questions. The quiz on chapter 14 will be first thing on Monday, probably about 20 minutes. Students need to study the Tides and Currents information well. They can prepare extra flashcards if they want, as long as they are handwritten. They should study the slides and homework, not the textbook. A couple questions may refer to concepts drilled during lab time. Next week I will be handing out a worksheet for their Science Fair project (due May 4). Because they will have to create a formal lab report for their project, I want them to start thinking through the first sections of that future report--the hypothesis, description, and data collection method(s). I will also have them give this to you for your signature so you can collaborate with them on that plan! We had lab day today in our new room, #201. The students were all great sports about it, and I think our lab time went really well. They were especially nice while I had almost no voice :)
Some of the students did not get to complete Lab #15B so we will be doing that again in class on Wednesday, followed by an introduction to Chapter 15- Oceanography. Chapter 15 homework will be due next week, on Monday, Feb 5. Hello! The quick update for this past week is:
This week in class we studied Chapter 14 material on Tides, Currents, and Waves. We watched a video clip on Tides--which the students love to make fun of, but it was actually pretty helpful. We went over a lot of slides and did an in-class worksheet review on Wednesday. We had done one of the labs on Currents last week, so there was no lab this week. We will do one or two on Monday, so have your students bring their lab manual. This semester I will be grading the manual to help keep them accountable for good work on lab days. I returned their Chapter 13 Quiz. It was only out of 19 points, so do not be discouraged if the grade was not as high as you wanted. There are lots of opportunities for points still ahead. Make sure your student is studying the answers to the chapter questions (online) and the Powerpoint slides (also online). Keep encouraging them to make good flashcards with the material on it since they can use any handwritten cards they make. The next Quiz will be on Chapters 14 and 15, on WED, February 7. I assigned Chapter 15 homework on Oceanography. It is an interesting chapter--more historical than scientific, in my opinion, but has some neat information. There is not a lot of vocab for that chapter, just the different kinds of submersibles. So students just need to know the basics for that chapter, not a lot of details. We will go over what is important in class and the rest is just for fun. I encouraged them to get into documentaries, especially if they are sick and end up with lots of time in the bed. You can get so much from a good documentary on the ocean! Netflix has a LOT online, including Planet Earth. There is also Treasures of the Earth and Full Force Nature! I have put information regarding the Science Fair on the Earth Science homepage. Just click the "Earth Science" tab itself, and it will take you there. I would really like students to cement their hypothesis and plan to research, experiment, invent, etc. I would like you as parents to be included in that process so you know what they are doing before they have to do it! I am encouraging them to lay out their hypothesis and experimentation plan (or other plan) in the next two weeks. I will be giving them a worksheet to help guide them through that planning, and asking at least one parent to sign it so they are in the loop. Thank you so much! Have a great week. The quick update is:
- I collected Chapter 13 homework today - I assigned Chapter 14 homework (due WED 24th) - We did Labs 13 and 14 in class today - Quiz on Chapter 13 is first thing Monday Homework Please have students turn Chapter 13 homework next week, if they didn't turn it in today. Some did not turn in vocabulary words or cards; please make sure they do one or the other for each of the chapters. Flashcards can be done instead of writing/typing them out, but they must be turned in with the chapter homework. I assigned Chapter 14 SRQs, which will be due next Wednesday (on Documents page). If students did not finish their lab pages today in class, please have them do that because I will be grading them for points on Monday. We covered Lab 13A and 14 on salinity and currents. Class Some students tried really hard today during lab time, but it was hard for others to focus. It is really important for students to take class seriously, even though it is winter and sixth hour! We will teach Chapter 14 with slides next week on tides and currents. This is a great time to let students max out on weather or ocean documentaries, as they will hear the information we're learning in class echoed on many of them. A good series is priceless to watch, especially if they are sick! Regarding that, please don't feel any pressure during this crazy flu season to make your kids come to class if they are sick--we will find ways to help them catch up or skip missed work if necessary, no problem :) Quiz 13 Students can use any hand written flashcards for the quiz on Monday. (I will provide the ones they have turned in to me). Students should study the slides and their homework answers carefully (posted on Documents page). The quiz will take up the first 20-25 minutes of class and includes 10 multiple choice, one diagram, 1 short answer, and two bonus point questions. The quizzes will not be curved, so do have them bring good cards! Science Fair: Please remind your students that their exact plan for the science fair will be due in the first week of February. This is to make sure they have a good project idea that they don't have to change last minute, and that all parents are in the loop!
There has been some reluctance to get going as we dive into the new semester, but I am confident that things will fall into place as we get our routine back. I am encouraged that the material this semester--water, weather, and space--are exciting! Please help me in motivating your students to stick with it :) We will be doing a lab on salinity on Wednesday, so please have your students bring their lab manual. It should be fun. The Chapter 13 quiz will be first thing the following Monday, about 20 minutes. They will need to study the slides and their Ch 13 homework, and know the basics about ocean basis and zones. They should also bring any flashcards they want to use--although I will bring the cards I already have if they turn them into me on homework day. After the quiz we will begin Chapter 14 on Tides and Currents. Homework for chapter 14 will also be due that Monday. The first day of class went really well! I passed back a few papers from last semester, including the two video essays. (They have no grades yet for this new semester.) Then we went over some important changes--including using this website to download homework and stay up to date.
Here are a couple of the other things I mentioned in class:
After going through all this, we started the new material. Today in class we started Chapter 13: Oceans (Yay!) We went through approximately 25 Powerpoint slides on ocean/sea basics. Tomorrow we will do more slides and watch two video clips. Thank you so much for all of your support! I am so looking forward to this semester! |
AuthorMrs. Riddle teaches Life Science, Biology, and Earth Science at Brighton Academy for 2017-2018. She homeschools four children and has 10 years of co-op teaching experience. Her family is part of Radiant Church in Overland Park, KS. Archives
May 2018
Categories |