Tuesday, May 25, 2010

General Announcements:

• Important End of Year Dates:
  • Thurs., 6/3: 8th Grade Project Presentations
  • Sat., 6/12: Hilltown's 15th Birthday Party
  • Thurs., 6/17: Summer Celebration at Overlook
  • Fri., 6/18: 8th Grade Graduation
  • Tues., 6/22: Last Day of School
• 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., 5/26: Complete 3.1 Follow-up on p. 24-25.
• 8th Grade:
  • Due Wed., 5/26:
    • Do #8 on p. 16 and #10 on p. 17
    • Bring to atelier materials for cutting out letters, etc.
    • Make a detailed (in color w/labels) sketch of exhibit board & layout
    • Bring project binder and journal to school.
    • Have a good breakfast and night's sleep.

Social Studies:

• Due Tues., 5/25: (8th Grade) Final draft of political cartoons.
• Ongoing:
  • Continue working on newspaper assignments.

Science:

• Fri., 5/28: Test on plant studies/genetics. See gold review sheet handed out today for details about what material will be included.
• Due Wed., 5/26: (8th Grade) Finish your illustrated version of Goethe's "Metamorphosis of Plants" (section we memorized).

Language Arts:

• Wed., 5/26: In-house writing assessment this morning.

Moment of Zen:

More News You Didn't Hear

Two weeks ago, on May 11, a bomb went off in Florida in a crowded building. Even though no one was hurt, you would think this would be news, with our heightened anxiety about terrorist attacks - the bomb discovered in Times Square on May 1 didn't even have to go off to become major national news. I guess no one's interested when the place being bombed is a mosque. The bomb, which went off during evening prayers at the Islamic Center of Northeast Florida in Jacksonville, is being investigated as a "possible hate crime" and is thought to have been planted at least partially as a response to the appointment of Parvaz Ahmed, who attends services at the Center, to the Jacksonville Human Rights Commission. However, this is not the first time in recent history that prayer services in the same location have been interrupted. On April 4th, a white man walked in during services and started yelling, "Stop this blaspheming!" before being removed.

Monday, May 24, 2010

General Announcements:

• Tues., May 25: Bring acoustic guitars for music class.
• Important End of Year Dates:
  • Thurs., 6/3: 8th Grade Project Presentations
  • Sat., 6/12: Hilltown's 15th Birthday Party
  • Thurs., 6/17: Summer Celebration at Overlook
  • Fri., 6/18: 8th Grade Graduation
  • Tues., 6/22: Last Day of School
• 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., 5/25:
    • Be ready for a brief quiz on Inv. 1 & 2
    • Complete Reflections for Inv. 2, p. 23.
• 8th Grade:
  • Due Tues., 5/25: Do #3 and #5 of 1.3 Follow-up and #1 on p. 12

Social Studies:

• Due Tues., 5/25: (8th Grade) Final draft of political cartoons.
• Ongoing:
  • Continue working on newspaper assignments.

Science:

• Fri., 5/28: Test on plant studies/genetics. See gold review sheet handed out today for details about what material will be included.
• Due Tues., 5/25: (8th Grade) Finish your illustrated version of Goethe's "Metamorphosis of Plants" (section we memorized).

Language Arts:

• Tues., May 25: Bring acoustic guitars for music class.
• Quiz, Tues., 5/25: Quiz on sentence structure. Review practice sentences from the last few days.

Moment of Zen:

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

With pollution in the Atlantic getting so much press these days, let's not forget the havoc we wreak in farther distant seas as well. What amounts to one of the world's largest landfills lives afloat the Pacific Ocean about a 1000 miles offshore from anywhere. About 10 million mi² composed of trash from at least three continents, approximately 80% of which washes out from land, the Garbage Patch is formed by a pattern of converging ocean currents called the North Pacific Gyre. The Garbage Patch, for all its concentration, presents a difficult cleanup. It does not cohere into an "island of trash" but instead floats lots of pieces of debris in close quarters, largely under the surface. Additionally, floating matter of this becomes an unhealthy habitat for a number of marine species, which further complicates cleanup. Click the picture above to read more from the National Science Foundation about the Garbage patch, or click here to read what Mother Nature News has to say. On a related note, here's an article from the UK's Guardian newspaper about efforts underway to have the term "ecocide"—referring to actions which lead to the large-scale destruction of an ecosystem—recognized and established as a crime (to be tried by the International Criminal Court in the Hague, Netherlands) on par with genocide. The Guardian also has a photojournal of its Top 10 ecocides.

Friday, May 21, 2010

General Announcements:

• Important End of Year Dates:
  • Thurs., 6/3: 8th Grade Project Presentations
  • Sat., 6/12: Hilltown's 15th Birthday Party
  • Thurs., 6/17: Summer Celebration at Overlook
  • Fri., 6/18: 8th Grade Graduation
  • Tues., 6/22: Last Day of School
• 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:

Fri., 5/21: End of Year computation evaluation
• 7th Grade
  • None assigned
• 8th Grade:
  • None Assigned

Social Studies:

• Ongoing:
  • Continue working on newspaper assignments.

Science:

• None assigned

Language Arts:

• None assigned

Moment of Zen:

Happy Birthday, Pac Man!

Thirty years ago in Japan, Pac Man was born. At the time of its release, the maze-chase game was a novel idea. The most popular arcade games (the only way to play video games at the time) were simple space shooter games, notably Space Invaders. The equally iconic Ms. Pac-Man, just like yours truly, was released about a year later, sometime in 1981. The games have become some of the most recognizable iconography of the early 1980s and inspired all sorts of goofy things, including Urban Pacman, played with real people. To commemmorate Pac-Man's 30th birthday, Google has made its first interactive doodle, a fully playable mini Pac-Man maze around the letters in the search engine's name. Insert Coin now at Google.* *no coin actually required

Thursday, May 20, 2010

General Announcements:

• Important End of Year Dates:
  • Thurs., 6/3: 8th Grade Project Presentations
  • Sat., 6/12: Hilltown's 15th Birthday Party
  • Thurs., 6/17: Summer Celebration at Overlook
  • Fri., 6/18: 8th Grade Graduation
  • Tues., 6/22: Last Day of School
• 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:

Fri., 5/21: End of Year computation evaluation
• 7th Grade
  • Due Fri., 5/21: Complete 2.2 and follow-up on p. 17-18 in Filling & Wrapping. Show all calculations. Remember the list of helpful strategies we made in class today.
• 8th Grade:
  • None Assigned

Social Studies:

• Due Fri., 5/21: 7th Grade: Final draft of political cartoons due.
• Ongoing:
  • Continue working on newspaper assignments.

Science:

• Due Fri., 5/21: 7th Grade: Complete Goethe poem with illustration.

Language Arts:

• Due Fri., 5/21: Complete character worksheet

Moment of Zen:

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

General Announcements:

• Important End of Year Dates:
  • Thurs., 6/3: 8th Grade Project Presentations
  • Sat., 6/12: Hilltown's 15th Birthday Party
  • Thurs., 6/17: Summer Celebration at Overlook
  • Fri., 6/18: 8th Grade Graduation
  • Tues., 6/22: Last Day of School
• 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:

Fri., 5/21: End of Year computation evaluation
• 7th Grade
  • No new assignment
  • Due Thurs., 5/20: Complete 2.1 on p. 16 in Filling & Wrapping, using the chart we set up in class today. You must sketch each possible arrangement, but sketches do not need to be part of the chart.
• 8th Grade:
  • None Assigned

Social Studies:

• Ongoing:
  • Continue working on newspaper assignments.
  • Continue working on political cartoons, utilizing the feedback from the group today.

Science:

• None Assigned

Language Arts:

• Due Thurs., 5/20: Complete "Seeds of a Play"
  • Complete at least 5
  • You may add a seed.

Moment of Zen:

The Hypothetical Library: Real Covers, Imaginary Books

Beyond the hexagonal chambers of Borges' total library (not to mention all of his references to books that don't exist), beyond the breeding books in the wilds of the library at Terry Pratchett's Unseen University, is the Hypothetical Library. This blog, run by advertising exectutive Charlie Orr, who also designs covers for extant books, solicits ideas and titles for nonexistant books from notable authors, and designs covers for them. Since starting things up in February of this year, Orr has put up a new cover for a hypothetical book about once a week. This week's cover, for Neil Gaiman's If You Read This Book The World Will End, features a vintage lock to prevent you from reading the book and thus ending the world. Gaiman (author of Coraline, comic series The Sandman, and American Gods) said he had trouble with the idea of presenting an idea for a book he would never write, noting, "The trouble with imagining a book I would never write is that when I think of it, I think 'but I could WRITE that...'" Click the picture above to read more about Gaiman's vision for his verboten, nonexistant book and to see other covers for books that could exist, but don't.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

General Announcements:

• 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:

Wed., 5/19: Math's Mate Term 3 Test Fri., 5/21: End of Year computation evaluation
• 7th Grade:
  • Due Thurs., 5/20: Complete 2.1 on p. 16 in Filling & Wrapping, using the chart we set up in class today. You must sketch each possible arrangement, but sketches do not need to be part of the chart.
• 8th Grade:
  • Due Wed., 5/19: Complete 1.2 and 1.2 Follow-Up on p. 9 of Frogs, Fleas and Painted Cubes. Write answers in complete, well-edited sentences showing what the questions were. If computation is needed, show the computation.

Social Studies:

• Due Wed., 5/19: Finish political cartoons begun in class today.
• Ongoing: Continue working on newspaper assignments.

Science:

• None Assigned

Language Arts:

• None Assigned

Moment of Zen:

The New Mid-Life Crisis Mobile?

Unsure about your direction in life? Simply lose a bet? Why not follow the great tradition of trekking across the country? And while you're at it, add a modern twist: Do it on a Segway. Click the picture to follow to the blog of three guys segwaying across the US. (h/t Olivia F.)

Monday, May 17, 2010

General Announcements:

• 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:

Wed., 5/19: Math's Mate Term 3 Test Fri., 5/21: End of Year computation evaluation
• 7th Grade:
  • Due Tues., 5/18:
    • Complete 1.3 Follow-Up (A only) on p. 8 of Filling and Wrapping using data already collected from your box.
    • Complete 1.4 on p. 9 of CMP book for only the flat box plan handed out today.
• 8th Grade:
  • Due Tues., 5/18:
    • Read pp. 2-4 in new CMP book, Frogs, Fleas and Painted Cubes.
    • Read Investigation 1 on pp. 5-6.
    • Complete 1.1, "Staking a Claim" according to directions. If you have time, try the Follow-up.

Social Studies:

• Continue working on newspaper assignments.

Science:

• Due Tues., 5/18: If not finished in class, complete mapping skills sheet "Route to the South Pole." Read the article in Science World for information needed to answer the questions.

Language Arts:

• Due Tues., 5/10: Read for 20 min in independent reading book. Have reading book with you every class period this week.

Spanish:

• 7th Grade:

• 8th Grade:

Moment of Zen:

Gold Vending Machines

No, it's not a brand name - this new vending machine prototype, called "Gold to Go" was installed last week in the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi, UAE, actually spits out gold. An earlier prototype is in place in the Frankfurt, Germany airport, which only vends 1g or 10g bars and updates its prices about once an hour. The new model in Abu Dhabi accepts cash and credit card and dispenses 24k gold in 1g, 5g and 10g bars in addition to collectible gold coins from Canada, Australia and South Africa. The gold prices are updated online every few minutes and the machine takes about a 30% markup.