Friday, May 27, 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
• Mon., May 30 - Memorial Day (no school)
• Tues. & Wed., June 7-8: Presentations of 8th Grade Projects, Prisms' 3rd Floor room and Tech Lab, AM (6/7 & 6/8)and from 6:30-8:30 PM (Tues., 6/7 only). Open to community.
• Wed., June 22: Eighth Grade Graduation
• Thurs., June 23: Last day of School for students (half day)
• 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 & 8:
• Due Tues., 5/31: MM 3.6 according to usual protocol, including work for * problems on separate paper and any attached N/A problems from previous sheets.
• Test Wed., 6/1: Math's Mates Mid-Term 3 Test, covering material in ex. 3.1-3.4 - use those worksheets to review. Questions you got wrong make excellent review problems!

Language Arts:

Social Studies:

Science:

• Nada

Moment of Zen:

NASA Launches an Art Exhibit

...no, not into space

Opening at the Air & Space Museum in DC is a collection of art commissioned by NASA over the last 50 years to represent its varied explorations. The work ranges from classically representative (the collection includes a Norman Rockwell painting of astronauts getting dressed in their space suits) to much more abstract, as in Chakhaia Booker's sculpture commemorating the crew of Columbia, made out of salvaged rubber from the shuttle after it exploded in 2003.

Worth a look just to see what space research and exploration has meant to different people over the last 50 years.

Pictured above: Liftoff at 15 Seconds, 1982, by Jack Perlmutter/Courtesy of Smithsonian

Thursday, May 26, 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
• Thurs., May 26: Instrumental Music Festival featuring guitar/bass students, violin students/orchestra, and ukulele club.
• 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 Fri., 5/27: Do #1 on p. 9 and #5 on p. 10

Grade 8:
• Due Fri., 5/27: Complete 1.1 on p. 6, begun in class.

Language Arts:

• Due Fri., 5/27: Complete first draft of letter to Greens using friendly letter format, stating what you felt worked in their play about the Mill River Flood.

Social Studies:

• Quiz Friday, 5/27: On recent Renaissance topics, particularly power structures of Florence, the rise of the Medici family and the Gozzoli fresco.
  Panels from the fresco:

  • Main Panel

  • Panel 2
  • Panel 3

Science:

• Nada

Moment of Zen:

Exchange Rates Aren't What They Used to Be

The highest denomination bill ever printed is Zimbabwe's 100 trillion dollar bill (pictured above), which was released in January 2009 in response to hyperinflation of the Zimbabwean dollar as the country's economy continued to collapse. At the time of its release, the bill was worth about US$30. When ZImbabwe abandoned circulating its own currency several months later, it was virtually worthless, with Z$300 trillion being worth less than US$1.

These days, it's worth about five bucks — at least, that's what it's going for among currency collectors.

When first introduced in 1980, the Zimbabwean dollar was set even to the British pound, at about US$1 = Z$1.47. Economic collapse in the last few years, due to internal political instability and global economic pressures, triggered the shockingly high inflation of the currency, with inflation percentages estimated in the trillions of percent annually close to the end. Currently, all financial transactions in the country are conducted using currency from neighboring countries like South Africa and Botswana, or highly internationalized currencies like the British Pound, the Euro and the US Dollar. Zimbabwe does not have any plans to begin circulating its own currency again in the near future.

Wednesday, May 25, 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
• Thurs., May 26: Instrumental Music Festival featuring guitar/bass students, violin students/orchestra, and ukulele club.
• 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 Thurs., 5/26: Complete bouncing ball experiment packet if not already done.

Grade 8:
• Nada

Language Arts:

• Nada

Social Studies:

• Quiz Friday, 5/27: On recent Renaissance topics, particularly power structures of Florence, the rise of the Medici family and the Gozzoli fresco.

Science:

• Nada

Moment of Zen:

Your Daily Dose of Aww...What?

Most cats would look at a box full of baby chickens and see something akin to chicken nuggets. However, Niu Niu, a cat living in Suibing, China, saw her new babies. Since climbing into their box, Niu Niu has treated the birds much like she would treat kittens, grooming them and cuddling with them. In turn, the chicks have imprinted on her as their mother and are happy to follow her around, nestle and peep around her as if she were a hen.

Tuesday, May 24, 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
• Thurs., May 26: Instrumental Music Festival featuring guitar/bass students, violin students/orchestra, and ukulele club.
• 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 & 8
• Nada

Language Arts:

• Nada

Social Studies:

• Quiz Friday, 5/27: On recent Renaissance topics, particularly power structures of Florence, the rise of the Medici family and the Gozzoli fresco.

Science:

Moment of Zen:

13 Ways of Looking at a Jellyfish

There's a certain character to scientific illustrations, particularly those of a certain vintage. It seems I'm not alone in my fascination, as someone has devoted a Tumblr account to particularly interesting examples of scientific illustrations, ranging as far back as the 1600s. Click above to see many more.

Monday, June 23, 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
• Thurs., May 26: Instrumental Music Festival featuring guitar/bass students, violin students/orchestra, and ukulele club.
• 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 & 8
• Nada

Language Arts:

• Due Tue., 5/24: Read Ch. 31-35. Compose one fair and significant quiz question & answer per chapter (5 total).

Social Studies:

• Nada

Science:

Due Tues., 5/24: Complete questions 1-14 about bike gears on handout.

Moment of Zen:

Zombie Truffles

Click above for instructions to make them...if you can stomach it!