Wednesday, May 4, 2011

General Announcements:

• If you ever notice something missing or wrong on the blog, comment to let me know about it - I don't always have the whole picture. -Grace
• Drivers Needed:
  • Fri., May 6 - To Hills Chapel at Smith College for a dance rehearsal in the morning. E-mail Deirdre if you can drive some Prisms there at 10:15 am or back at 11:45 am.
  • Fri., May 13 - To St. Mary's Monastery in Petersham, MA (click for directions/map). Leave HCCPS after All-School (about 9:30 am), return by 2:30 pm. Email John if you can help drive for this trip.
  • Thurs., May 19 - To the Islamic Society of Western MA in West Springfield (click for directions/map). Leave HCCPS 10:30 am, return by 2:30 pm. Email John if you can help drive for this trip
• Fri., May 6: Music festival, featuring the Prisms' hip-hop routine, at Helen Hills Hills Chapel.
• Mon., May 9: DJ meeting/workshop, 3:05-3:45 in the Tech Lab. Arrange transportation accordingly. If you want to DJ the dance, you must attend. Contact Grace if you have questions about the meeting. See DJ Guidelines.
• Fri., May 13: Your student-produced, student-DJed 6-7-8 dance, 8-11 PM.
• Eighth Grade Project resource page updated 4/27, including project deadlines through the end of the project. Page will be updated as I get new information.
• Download Ukulele Club documents (links fixed) here.

Math:

Grade 7
• Due Th., 5/5: Complete Ex. 5.6 on Percents. Show how you arrived at each answer on separate paper. Refer to examples at top of page.

Grade 8
• Due Th., 5/5:
  • Do 4.2 on pp. 43-44. Use area models for all possible arrangements in the 2 containters. There should be 5.

Language Arts:

• Due Th., 5/5: Read Ch. 16 & 17. Write a 1-page jounral entry of statements & questions to discuss. Be ready for quiz as usual.

Social Studies:

• Due Thurs., 5/5: More detailed color sketch of your fresco image on 12 by 12 drawing paper.

Science:

Grade 8 only
• Due Fri., 5/6: Answer all multiple choice questions in practice test packets from 2009 and 2010.

Spanish:

Grade 7
• Due Th., 5/5: Finish crossword of terms from Ch. 2 of Piratas, begun in class today.
Grade 8
• Due Th., 5/5: Find 5 examples of past tense verbs from Ch. 5 of Robo en la noche and sort into imperfecto and pretérito.

Moment of Zen:

"Atom Cars: Next Year or Never" (c. 1958)

The advent of atomic energy in the mid-20th century went hand in hand with the futuristic rhetoric of the time. This brought us a whole slew of deliciously cheesy sci-fi movies with titles like Bride of the Atom and constant proposals for developing new technology at a breakneck pace. This included concept designs for just about anything to be powered by self-contained small reactors. Pictured above is an image for a proposed nuclear car, the Ford Nucleon (some of the cars in the Fallout game series were modeled on this concept). One poster for the concept car claimed, "Next year or never." History is not without a somewhat ironic sense of humor. Click the image to see more visions of retro-futuristic atomic-powered products.