Math:
The Meatballs tackled measurement conversions and percents this week. The 8th grade class continued to work with slope-intercept form. They had lessons on multiple representations where they wrote verbal descriptions, equations, tables, and graphs of linear functions. The Algebra class had a check in over direct and inverse variation on Monday then jumped into the system of equations unit. They can solve systems of equations by graphing and substitution. Next week we will cover the elimination method.
Humanities:
Our Humanities topic of Short Stories is getting longer! This week, we continued our look at the topic by reading stories that investigated conflicts and suspense. Students learned the defined types of conflict: man vs. self, man vs. man, man vs. nature, and man vs. society. We continued to use plot maps and short story reading guides to discover the story’s structure and action.
Our week also dove into character development. Using photo writing prompts, found poems, and an emphasis on traits, students began to create meaningful and well-developed characters for their short stories. Our quarter project to write our own stories will begin next week and students really enjoyed the opportunity to express and play with characters and their back stories.
Theme:
Theme class returned to the concepts of cell structure and function as students took the information from last week and turned it into creative writing, matching what we are also exploring in Humanities classes
Each student chose a cell organelle and built a super hero story out of its structure and function. The stories focused on the backstory of each character: how did they attain their superpower and how does it relate to the function within the cell. Next, they developed the superpowers to show how the organelle relates to the cell’s existence, protecting and generating the materials allowing the cell to live on. Lastly, students developed an “arch-enemy”, which counter-acts the superpower, even if it did not exist. The results were amazing, from Mr. Clean to Dirty Man Dan!
We also continued our weekly labs with our focus this week on DNA. Students followed procedures to extract materials from a strawberry, allowing them to see the materials through the microscope. Some saw success while others looked at changes in the steps that may have altered their results. We look forward to future experiments!
At top, Humanities students react to character descriptions during a photo writing prompt exercise to learn how to develop strong characters for short stories. Above, Meatball students work with measurement conversions.
At top, students work with measurement conversion dominoes. Above, Algebra students are solving system of equations by graphing.
Cell structure and function creatively gave way to superhero stories as Theme students develop tales of energy producing Mitochondria and waste-busting lysosomes.
At top, Theme students finish and publish their Cell Superhero stories. Above, students play Captain’s Deck in PE class, learning to listen to commands and follow procedures.
Theme students work to extract DNA material from strawberries during a weekly lab session. They used materials to chemically break down the strawberry’s skin to release the DNA.
Microscopic evidence of DNA strands from strawberries were on full display as Theme students experimented with extracting and documenting cellular structures after learning about cell structure and function.
