Friday, May 7, 2010

Friday, May 7, 2010

General Announcements:
  • Friday, May 7: Music Festival at Helen Hills Hills Chapel, Smith College. Students should arrive at 6:15 p.m. as the program will begin promptly at 6:30. See you there in your best blacks and whites!
  • Share Your DC Pictures! Pick up to 20 of your best shots from DC to upload to the group account at Photobucket for official trip documentation. Sort photos into the albums for Monuments/Memorials, Museums, People, and Other. Email Grace if you need the login information or if you have trouble logging in. The account is private, but I have a separate guest password to pass along to parents, grandparents, etc. which grants view-only access.
  • You must have an independent reading book every day. If you are getting close to the end of one, have the next one at school and ready to go.
Your assignment for this weekend is to be ready for Math MCAS Monday morning: Review any areas where you need increased confidence, get a good night's sleep and eat breakfast. MCAS Schedule for next week:
  • Monday, 5/10: Math, Gr. 7 & 8, Session 1
  • Tuesday, 5/11: Math. Gr. 7 & 8, Session 2
  • Wednesday, 5/12: Science, Gr. 8 only, Session 1
  • Thursday, 5/13: Science, Gr. 8 only, Session 2
All sessions begin at 8:45 a.m. Moment of Zen:

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Thursday, May 6, 2010

General Announcements:
  • Friday, May 7: We will be meeting at 8:30 directly at Helen Hills Hills Chapel for a hip-hop rehearsal. There is an essential e-mail from Amy about coordinating transportation to and from Smith College. We need to know:
    • If you need transport from HCCPS to Smith at 8:15
    • If you can drive from HCCPS at 8:15
    • If you can drive from Smith to HCCPS at 9:30 - We need to transport the whole class back and, due to scheduling, the bus is not an option.
  • Share Your DC Pictures! Pick up to 20 of your best shots from DC to upload to the group account at Photobucket for official trip documentation. Sort photos into the albums for Monuments/Memorials, Museums, People, and Other. Email Grace if you need the login information or if you have trouble logging in. The account is private, but I have a separate guest password to pass along to parents, grandparents, etc. which grants view-only access.
  • You must have an independent reading book every day. If you are getting close to the end of one, have the next one at school and ready to go.
Math:
    Due Fri., 5/7:
  • 7th Grade:
      • Finish four-quadrant graphing exercise. You need to color at least one of your designs, and may color both.
  • 8th Grade:
    • Finish Inequalities sheet using symbolic method.
Social Studies:
  • None assigned
Science:
  • Due Fri., 5/7:
    • 8th Grade:
      • Finish the two open response questions (about the liquids in the cylinder and changes between the solid/liquid/gas phases.)
      • Complete all multiple choice questions on 2009 MCAS practice test
    • 7th Grade: Complete graph and percentages for "Inventory of Traits"
Language Arts:
  • Due Fri., 5/7: Make corrections in the passage handed out about the play you read yesterday.
Moment of Zen:

What's Your Caption?

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

General Announcements:
  • Friday, May 7: We will be meeting at 8:30 directly at Helen Hills Hills Chapel for a hip-hop rehearsal. There is an essential e-mail from Amy about coordinating transportation to and from Smith College. We need to know:
    • If you need transport from HCCPS to Smith at 8:15
    • If you can drive from HCCPS at 8:15
    • If you can drive from Smith to HCCPS at 9:30 - We need to transport the whole class back and, due to scheduling, the bus is not an option.
  • Share Your DC Pictures! Pick up to 20 of your best shots from DC to upload to the group account at Photobucket for official trip documentation. Sort photos into the albums for Monuments/Memorials, Museums, People, and Other. Email Grace if you need the login information or if you have trouble logging in. The account is private, but I have a separate guest password to pass along to parents, grandparents, etc. which grants view-only access.
  • You must have an independent reading book every day. If you are getting close to the end of one, have the next one at school and ready to go.
Math:
  • 7th Grade:
    • Due Thurs., 5/6:
      • Finish open response #39 if not yet completed -answers written out on separate paper as if in test booklet. You will need graph paper.
      • Percent worksheet handed out today, #1s only (both sides).
  • 8th Grade:
    • Complete 5.10, #1-10, using symbolic method.
Social Studies:
  • None assigned
Science:
  • Due Thurs., 5/6:
    • Finish the two open response questions (about the liquids in the cylinder and changes between the solid/liquid/gas phases.)
    • Review Ch. 7 in Physical Science book.
Language Arts:
  • Due Thurs., 5/6: Read for 20 minutes in independent reading book.
Moment of Zen:

Inane Legalities #527: Sr. Vera's Claim to the Moon

In 1954, Jenaro Gajardo Vera, a Chilean lawyer, filed a claim of ownership over the moon. Surprised critics found they didn't have legal grounds to dispute Vera's claim. It wasn't until 13 years later, in 1967, that the Outer Space Treaty specifically prohibited ownership of non-artificial celestial bodies. However, this specifically covers government ownership. The 1979 Moon Treaty specifically prohibits private ownership, but this document has only been ratified by a spare few countries (Chile is on that list but, interestingly, the US isn't). All sorts of tales have circulated about different fallout from Vera's claim, but it's difficult to tell to what degree they are based in fact, if at all, and how far removed from their kernel of truth they've come. Click the picture above to read more about these stories. However, what is possibly the most amusing punchline to Vera's claim is his reason for doing it: He was applying for membership to a club, but had been rejected because he didn't own property. This was his solution. (picture from 1902 French sci-fi "action" movie, Voyage dans la lune)

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

General Announcements:
  • Friday, May 7: We will be meeting at 8:30 directly at Helen Hills Hills Chapel for a hip-hop rehearsal. There is an essential e-mail from Amy about coordinating transportation to and from Smith College. We need to know:
    • If you need transport from HCCPS to Smith at 8:15
    • If you can drive from HCCPS at 8:15
    • If you can drive from Smith to HCCPS at 9:30 - We need to transport the whole class back and, due to scheduling, the bus is not an option.
  • Share Your DC Pictures! Pick up to 20 of your best shots from DC to upload to the group account at Photobucket for official trip documentation. Sort photos into the albums for Monuments/Memorials, Museums, People, and Other. Email Grace if you need the login information or if you have trouble logging in. The account is private, but I have a separate guest password to pass along to parents, grandparents, etc. which grants view-only access.
  • You must have an independent reading book every day. If you are getting close to the end of one, have the next one at school and ready to go.
Math:
  • 7th Grade:
    • Due Wed., 5/5:
      • Finish MCAS packet (Session 2) handed out today, except the final open response, #39.
      • Scientific Notation Worksheet (2.1) handed out today, #1-10, work on lined paper.
  • 8th Grade:
    • Due Wed., 5/5: Finish MCAS packet handed out today. Write out answers for open-response questions on lined paper as if writing in test booklet. Work for all other questions shown in packet.
Social Studies:
  • Due Wed., 5/5: Complete questions in packet handed out today analyzing 5 documents.
Science: None assigned Language Arts:
  • Due Wed., 5/5: Read for 20 min in independent reading book. Bring book to class.
Moment of Zen:

Tiny Census

Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference between an astronomical event happening on a huge scale from a tiny creature in the deep sea. The above picture is one of those cases (it's actually an amoeba). Click the picture above or below to follow to National Geographic's recent gallery of microscopic undersea life, featuring some spectacular, if a bit surreal specimens.

Monday, May 3, 2010

Monday, May 3, 2010

General Announcements:
  • Friday, May 7: We will be meeting at 8:30 directly at Helen Hills Hills Chapel for a hip-hop rehearsal. There is an essential e-mail from Amy about coordinating transportation to and from Smith College. We need to know:
    • If you need transport from HCCPS to Smith at 8:15
    • If you can drive from HCCPS at 8:15
    • If you can drive from Smith to HCCPS at 9:30 - We need to transport the whole class back and, due to scheduling, the bus is not an option.
  • Share Your DC Pictures! Pick up to 20 of your best shots from DC to upload to the group account at Photobucket for official trip documentation. Sort photos into the albums for Monuments/Memorials, Museums, People, and Other. Email Grace if you need the login information or if you have trouble logging in. The account is private, but I have a separate guest password to pass along to parents, grandparents, etc. which grants view-only access.
  • You must have an independent reading book every day. If you are getting close to the end of one, have the next one at school and ready to go.
Math:
  • 7th Grade:
    • Due Tues., 5/4:
      • Circle Graphs worksheet (back of "Range, Median, Mode" worksheet from last week), #1-6 work shown on line paper
      • Integer Addition/Subtraction Worksheet, first two columns (boxed in purple)
  • 8th Grade:
    • Complete even-numbered problems for 5.10, pp. 115-116. Show all your work on separate paper. Use the information at the top of p. 115 to assist you.
Social Studies:
  • Due Tues., 5/4: Finish worksheet on Bill of Rights, p. 16-18. You will need your Constitution.
Science:
  • Due Mon., 5/3:
Language Arts:
  • Due Tues., 5/4: Complete the typed monument descriptions if not completed during LA class time.
Moment of Zen:

A New Take on Looking Trashy

Some people define their many roles by talking about the many hats they wear. New York artist Gene Pool has suits instead of hats - and he's being literal. Pool's best known works have been those he's worn himself, a series of suits made of things you find on the ground and leave lying there from grass (the "Living Grass Suit" - made out of over 20 pounds of live sod) to small change ("The $uit", above, which weighs about 52 lbs). Pool says that the purpose behind his many suits is half awareness about things people throw on the street and half wanting to shake people—gently—out of their day to day mindset. Even in New York, someone walking down the street covered head to toe in cans is a bit of a spectacle still.