Proportions Proportions Proportions

This week in 7th grade we are continuing to work on proportions and their uses.  We have done many, many, many real world situations that were all solved using proportions.  Today we learned about how to use proportions to solve scale drawing and similar figures type problems.  For the rest of the week, we will be working on two proportions projects.

Tomorrow, we will be creating a scale model of the entire solar system in class using proportions.  The basic measurement will be that the sun is one meter in diameter.  They will have to use that measurement to figure out the scale of all the planets in the solar system and create them to scale.  Next, we will make a scale for the distance of each planet and figure how far away each planet is from the sun.  

The next project we will work on is an at home project.  We will spend most of the day on Friday learning how to make a scale drawing of the math room at school.  The students will then be asked to make a scale drawing of their bedrooms at home.

Upcoming assignments:
POW Days on Other Planets due Tuesday March 1

Questions to ask at home:
What is your fibonacci group and what is something interesting you have learned?

After tomorrow's class.
What planet did you have to make a scale drawing of?  How did the solar system look?  What surprised you about the solar system?

Westward Expansion Review

This week, the 7th graders are finishing up their unit about Westward Expansion.  Today, they worked in groups to create an exciting way to review different events with their classmates.  They will teach each other about the Oregon Trail, the Texas Revolution, the Mexican-American War, and the California Gold Rush.  Next week, they will begin their unit about the Industrial Revolution.

Upcoming Date:

• Chapter 11 Test  Thursday, February 25

Question for you 7th grader:

• Did Westward Expansion have a positive impact on the United States?
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Week 24: 7th Grade Science

Week: 24

Respiration Project:  Get the Message Out

Project Timeline for this week:

Record three videos

2. Prepare presentation 

3. Create portfolio

The above should be completed by 3/3/16. Please check with your child to make sure he or she is on track to complete these assignments.  

Upcoming:  class presentation.

7th Grade Language Arts: Research Reports

This week our focus was on the revision process.  Students worked hard to improve their research reports for the final draft stage.  Each student conferenced with Mrs. Payne and worked on making thoughtful revisions to their reports.  Students will submit their final research report draft on Tuesday.

Seventh graders are also working on their A Midsummer Night’s Dream projects.  They are creating and performing a modernized version of Shakespeare’s script.  Students will perform their version of the play on Thursday, February 25th.

Mexican American War and Manifest Destiny

This week, the 7th graders are learning about how the United States expanded all the way to the Pacific Ocean.  Yesterday, they analyzed maps and paintings that idealized the image of Manifest Destiny.  Today, they participated in a simulation where they acted out scenes from the Mexican American War.  Later in the Week, they will learn about the California Gold Rush.

Questions for your 7th Grader:

• What does Manifest Destiny mean?
• Did the United States have a good reason to go to war with Mexico?

Week 23: 7th Grade Science

Week: 23

Respiration Project:  Get the Message Out

Project Timeline for this week:

Begin to design three videos

2. Chapter Project Worksheet 2 

Questions 4-5

The above should be completed by 3/2/15. Please check with your child to make sure he or she is on track to complete these assignments.  

Upcoming:  Final ads, and class presentation.

Proportions and Fibonacci

This week in 7th grade math we are continuing to work on our unit on Ratios/Proportions/Percents and Fibonacci.  The students will continue to work on researching and creating a keynote presentation for their area of interest for the Fibonacci Project.  This week we will also be doing several three act math activities that help show the real world application of proportions.  Three act math activities usually start with a video and I ask the class, "What is the question trying to be solved here?"  I then ask them to decide what information is needed in order to answer the question.  I then provide them with the information and give them time to answer the question.  We then watch a video that is the pay off and they get to see if their answer was correct.

No upcoming assignments.

Ask your student about the Fibonacci Project and what they are learning about their topic.

Fibonacci and proportions

This week in 7th grade math we are continuing our unit on ratios, proportions, and percents.  Last week, we learned about ratios and unit rates and this week we have have reviewed what a proportions is and how to solve proportion problems.  We have also been working on the Fibonacci Project.  The students have learned about the sequence, the golden ratio, where it comes from, and some number tricks that occur in the pattern.  We also created the Fibonacci spiral and have chosen groups for the projects.  The four group topics they could chose from were art, music, architecture, and nature.  For the rest of the week they will be in groups researching on how Fibonacci and the Golden Ratio fit into each topic.

Here are some pictures of the students trying to figure out how Golden the are.  They had to measure certain parts of each others faces and bodies and create ratios to find how close they were to 1.618, the Golden Ratio

Westward Expansion

Today, the 7th graders began a unit about Westward Expansion in the United States.  Today, they researched and taught one another about the Oregon, Santa Fe, and Mormon trails.  Later in the week, they will learn about Texas Independence and the Mexican-American War.

Question for your 7th grader:

• Did the benefit of going west on the Oregon Trail outweigh the risks?

Week 22: 7th Grade Science

Week: 22

The 7th grade class has just begun the respiratory system and a part of this unit is to create an advertisement showing the health hazards of cigarette smoking.  

Respiration Project:  Get the Message Out

Project Timeline:

Interviews of people in the different age groups.

2. Chapter Project Worksheet 2 

The above should be completed by 2/26/16. Please check with your child to make sure he or she is on track to complete these assignments.  

Upcoming:  Rough draft of ads, final ads, and class presentation.

Ratios/Proportions/Fibonacci

This week in 7th grade math has been a busy one.  In the last week, the students took the hardest test of the year and a comprehensive mid year final.  They did a great job on both and are working hard.  This week we have started our next unit on ratios, proportions, and percents.  During this unit we will also be working on a Fibonacci Project.  Yesterday, we started looking at ratios, rates, and unit rates.  For the rest of the week, we will be learning more about ratios, their application, and how they fit in with the Fibonacci Sequence.

Upcoming assignments:  POW Buying Cola due on Monday Feb. 8

Questions to ask at home by the end of the week:

What is the Fibonacci Sequence?

Where does it come from?

The Age of Jackson

Over the past few weeks, the 7th graders have learned about the "Age of Jackson", or the time period around Andrew Jackson's administration in the 1820s and 1830s.  His administration was filled with controversial issues, so the student have been debating these issues all week.  They were broken into groups based on the three major regions at the time: the North, the South, and the West.  Then, they had to argue each issue according to how it benefitted or hurt their region.  They debated tariffs, the sale of public lands, nullification, and the legality of a national bank.  Later this week, they will read and analyze primary sources about Andrew Jackson's Indian Removal policy and the Trail of Tears. They will also create menu projects about the Age of Jackson. They will take their quiz over chapter 10 on Monday.  We have also been following the 2016 presidential election and discussed the Iowa caucus and what the results might mean as the campaign progresses.

Questions for your 7th Grader:

• Do you think Andrew Jackson was a good president?
• What are some of the controversial issues that the North and the South disagreed upon during the Age of Jackson?

7th Grade Language Arts

This month, we are wrapping up some big projects. The seventh graders are working hard on A Midsummer Night's Dream and just wrapped up Act III. We've had some very exciting and informative discussions, and everyone seems to understand the play pretty well! Hopefully, we will be finishing the play by the end of next week or early into the third week of February. 

The students will have a project based on the play, but I won't be introducing it until we are done reading.

Next, the students are working hard on their research papers. They just turned in their outlines and works cited page, both of which are essential to the final draft. Any errors they make on these should be corrected for the final paper. The final paper is due Tuesday, February 23rd.

The most important thing to remember for this month is that the students need to balance their time between doing work in class and at home. I often give them a lot of class time, so they should be using it wisely!

Upcoming due dates:

Research Report 1st Draft due Tuesday, 2/16

Research Report 2nd Draft due Friday, 2/19

Research Report Final Draft due Tuesday, 2/23

Week 21: 7th Grade Scieence

Week: 21

Topic:  The Respiratory System

Objectives: 

Describe the function of the respiratory system.

Identify the structures that air passes through as it travels to the lungs.  

Describe what happens during gas exchange and breathing. 

Essential Question:

How are the digestive and cardiovascular systems connected to the respiratory system? 

Key Terms:

respiration

cilia

pharynx

trachea

bronchi

lungs

alveoli

diaphragm

larynx

vocal cords

This week the kids will work in stations to understand the function of the respiratory system, the path of air, gas exchange, and how we breathe. 

Differentiation:

Predicting

Infer

Observing

Sequencing

Visualizing

Calculating surface area

Using models

Upcoming: Anti-Smoking Campaign Ad