This Week in Science & Homecoming Updates

TEST CORRECTIONS: Grades 6-8 were all offered test corrections this week to help improve their science grades. 8th grade’s corrections were due Friday, 9/25, 6th grade’s are due Monday, 9/28, and 7th grade’s are due on Wednesday, 9/30. To complete them, students were asked to fill out a blank notebook paper with (1) the number of the question missed, (2) why the selected answer was incorrect, and (3) why the new answer is correct. Test corrections are offered during formation, as the tests must stay in my room (unless another solution was previously worked out with an individual student due to a formation conflict).

8th Grade: This week, we continued to learn about tectonic plates and how they play a role in some of Earth’s coolest features. For example, tectonic plates are responsible for the formation of mountains, volcanoes, and earthquakes. Different boundaries (convergent, divergent, and transform) can be identified by looking at these features! We also used patterns of plate movement to predict what the Earth will likely look like in the future.

7th Grade: This week, we continued to learn about patterns of circulation in the atmosphere. A new concept we learned about was the Coriolis effect. The Coriolis effect describes how Earth’s rotation causes moving air and water to appear to curve as they travel across Earth’s surface, creating different patterns of atmospheric circulation.

6th Grade: This week, we began learning about thermal energy. Students started to become familiar with the vocabulary (ex: temperature, heat, thermal equilibrium, conduction, etc.) and began to identify how heat transfers from one object to another. For example, if you hold an ice cube, the heat from your warmer hand leaves your body to heat up the cooler ice cube. Your hand then feels cold because thermal energy was transferred to the ice cube, not because the ice cube “cooled” your hand.

5th Grade: This week, 5th grade took their unit test over The Nature of Science on Thursday. We spent the first half of the week reviewing, and the remainder of the time beginning our new unit: Design and Function. So far, students were introduced to different types of technology used in science and have begun considering their advantages and disadvantages. Test corrections will be introduced and offered to 5th grade next week in the same format as grades 6-8.

HOMECOMING SCHEDULE:

Monday, September 28: Hat Day

Tuesday, September 29: Wacky Hair Day

Wednesday, September 30: Decades Day (60s, 70s, 80s, 90s)

Thursday, October 1: No School. (Teacher in-service day)

Friday, October 2: Spirit wear (after mass).

*It is also First Friday, and our pep rally will begin at 2:50 pm. Homecoming parade and celebration: 5:00 pm-8:00 pm (includes parades, inflatables, and food trucks). 

Thank you for a great week! I look forward to seeing everyone again on Monday. 🙂

Mrs. Cappello