Thursday, March 8, 2012

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
• Hip Hop PE Thursdays from now until the beginning of May. Wear or bring clothes you can dance in and sneakers.
• Wed., 3/14 - π Day! Bring your favorite pi(e). Bring π songs, stories. There is a pie signup in the River Room to make sure we don't get too many repeats, but more pie is not a problem.

Humanities:

• Due Mon., 3/12: Read Lyddie, ch. 10-19 and complete reading log.
7th Grade Research Paper
• Due Wed., 3/14: Entire rough draft due
• Deadlines for 7th Grade Abolitionist Research Paper (updated 1/31)

Math:

• Graph paper link on the sidebar →
  All
• Due Mon., 3/2: Complete Math's Mate 3.2, including any attached N/A problems, according to usual protocol.
Grade 7
• Nothing else
Grade 8
• Nothing else
Algebra B
• Due Tues., 3/13: p. 435, #22-59, leftmost column only.
• Math's Mates Test TBA

Science:

• Nada

8th Grade Project:

• Due Wed., 3/14: Final outline due with details from notes
• Meeting with mentor
Complete list of project due dates (as of 1/25) here.

Moment of Zen:

We totally need one of these.

Possibly more than one.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

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
• Fri., 3/2 - Prisms Coffeehouse!

Humanities:

• Study for Civil War test on Friday, 3/9
• Due Mon., 3/12: Read Lyddie, ch. 10-19 and complete reading log.
7th Grade Research Paper
• Due Mon., 3/5: 500 words of rough draft
• Deadlines for 7th Grade Abolitionist Research Paper (updated 1/31)

Math:

• Graph paper link on the sidebar →
• Grade 7
• Due Th., 3/8: On p. 6-11, do #1 and #8. You will need graph paper.
Grade 8
• Due Fri., 3/9: Using π = 3.14, answer 1-4 Add'l Practice.
• Algebra A
• Due Thurs., 3/8: #1, 2
Algebra B
• Math's Mates Test TBA

Science:

• Due Thurs., 3/8: Answer questions 1/6 on Energy handout
• NOTE: you can watch these video clips a few times for free, then you must register to get full access

8th Grade Project:

• Due Wed., 3/14: Final outline due with details from notes
• Meeting with mentor
Complete list of project due dates (as of 1/25) here.

Speaking of gravity... Titanic Sunk by "Supermoon" and Celestial Alignment?

"R.M.S. Titanic went down on a moonless night, but the iceberg that sank the luxury liner may have been launched in part by a full moon that occurred three and a half months earlier, scientists say."

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

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
• Fri., 3/2 - Prisms Coffeehouse!

Humanities:

• Due Tues., 3/6: Finish annotating the timeline of the Civil War.
• Due Mon., 3/12: Read Lyddie, ch. 10-19 and complete reading log.
7th Grade Research Paper
• Due Mon., 3/5: 500 words of rough draft
• Deadlines for 7th Grade Abolitionist Research Paper (updated 1/31)

Math:

• Graph paper link on the sidebar →
  Grade 7
• Due Tues., 3/6: Complete 1.1B and 1.1B Follow-up, and on #2 on p. 9 in Moving Straight Ahead
Grade 8
• Due Wed., 3/7: Complete 4.2 and follow up.
Algebra B
• Due Wed., 3/7: p. 89-90, #7-19 odd
• Math's Mates Test TBA

Science:

• Due Wed., 3/7: Read Ch. 13.1, p. 263-268. Answer questions on p. 273, #1-6.

8th Grade Project:

• Due Wed., 3/14: Final outline due with details from notes
• Meeting with mentor
Complete list of project due dates (as of 1/25) here.

There's a Big Meteor in the Picture, Too

A large fireball was spotted streaking across the skies of Europe last weekend. Scientists speculate that it was a large meteor that skimmed the Earth's atmosphere, and though they suspect it was large enough that it may have landed, not totally burning up in Earth's atmosphere.

Here it is pictured flying over the Global Rainbow installation currently on the northeastern British coast. The installation, which is produced by an array of colored lasers and shines up to five miles offshore, was set up in honor of the coming 2012 Olympic Games in London. It will be traveling to different locations in the UK leading up to the beginning of the Olympics in July. It was originally installed in New York City in 2009.

Monday, March 5, 2012

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
• Fri., 3/2 - Prisms Coffeehouse!

Humanities:

• Due Tues., 3/6: Finish annotating the timeline of the Civil War.
• Due Mon., 3/12: Read Lyddie, ch. 10-19 and complete reading log.
7th Grade Research Paper
• Due Mon., 3/5: 500 words of rough draft
• Deadlines for 7th Grade Abolitionist Research Paper (updated 1/31)

Math:

• Graph paper link on the sidebar →
  Grade 7
• Due Tues., 3/6: Look over book for new math unit, Moving Straight Ahead
Grade 8
• Due Tues., 3/6: Complete all questions in Volume review packet.
Algebra B
• Due Wed., 3/7: p. 89-90, #7-19 odd
• Math's Mates Test TBA

Science:

• Due Wed., 3/7: Read Ch. 13.1, p. 263-268. Answer questions on p. 273, #1-6.

8th Grade Project:

• Due Wed., 3/14: Final outline due with details from notes
• Meeting with mentor
Complete list of project due dates (as of 1/25) here.

Visual Mythology

In this piece, Brazilian-based artist Tatiana Blass takes on the story of the Odyssey from the perspective of Odysseus's wife, Penelope. Resolved to wait for him to return, though assumed dead, she puts off remarriage by saying she will consider it when she finishes weaving a burial shroud for Odysseus's elderly father, but secretly undoes some of the weaving each night so that the project goes on indefinitely.

Blass's piece picks up on this, with tangled red yarn entering the chapel where she lives and works through different portals, all leading to a loom seated on the chapel's altar. A long, red weaving extends from the loom and back out the door of the chapel. It is not entirely clear whether the piece depicts the shroud being made or dismantled.

Friday, March 2, 2012

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
• Fri., 3/2 - Prisms Coffeehouse!

Humanities:

• Due Tues., 2/28: Finish notes on events leading to the Civil War
• Ongoing Continue taking notes on your historical figure, using research materials you got at Forbes Library. If you go back on your own, remember to tell the librarian on duty that you're working on this project to get free copies/microfilm printouts.
7th Grade Research Paper
• Due Mon., 3/5: 500 words of rough draft
• Deadlines for 7th Grade Abolitionist Research Paper (updated 1/31)

Math:

• Graph paper link on the sidebar →
  All
• Due Mon., 3/5 Math's Mate 3.1, according to usual protocol
Grade 8
Algebra B
• Due Wed., 3/7: p. 89-90, #7-19 odd
• Math's Mates Test TBA

Science:

• Nada

8th Grade Project:

• Due Wed., 3/14: Final outline due with details from notes
• Meeting with mentor
Complete list of project due dates (as of 1/25) here.

Human-Powered DJ Setup

Last year's Coachella music festival showed its commitment to environmentally-friendly creativity in a unique way: by creating a totally human powered DJ setup. Requiring at least 20 people to power it up, it provides several different ways for people to generate electricity, from human hamster wheels to stationary bikes to see-saws. Sounds like a party all its own.

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

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
• Fri., 3/2 - Prisms Coffeehouse!
• Parents! - Click here to sign up for Coffeehouse Jobs on Google Docs!

Coffeehouse:

Due ASAP: Your finished craft to sell.

Due Thurs., 3/1: Circus costumes and props!

Humanities:

• Due Thurs., 3/1: Read chapters 1-4 of Lyddie and complete reading log.
• Ongoing Continue taking notes on your historical figure, using research materials you got at Forbes Library. If you go back on your own, remember to tell the librarian on duty that you're working on this project to get free copies/microfilm printouts.
7th Grade Research Paper
• Due Thurs., 3/1: 500 words of rough draft
• Deadlines for 7th Grade Abolitionist Research Paper (updated 1/31)

Math:

• Graph paper link on the sidebar → Grade 7
• Due Thurs., 3/1: Do practice problems on back of review sheet
• Test Thurs., 3/1: On operations using positive and negative numbers. Review notes on addition, subtraction, multiplication and division with positive and negative numbers.
Grade 8
• Due Thurs., 3/1: p. 29-30 #-6, 8, 4
Algebra B
• Nada
• Math's Mates Test TBA

Science:

• Due Thurs., 3/1: Graph data from acceleration experiment. Answer questions C and D on back.
• Retake (<60%) on Friday

8th Grade Project:

• Due Thurs., 3/1: Rough outline due (list of main topics with sections)
• Meeting with mentor
Complete list of project due dates (as of 1/25) here.

National Geographic: "Physicist Kenneth Libbrecht calls these new photographs by Patricia Rasmussen "better than any snowflake images that have ever been captured before." Wilson Bentley made the first photograph of a single snow crystal (what most people think of as a snowflake) in 1885. The self-educated Vermont farmer used a bellows camera attached to a microscope."

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

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
• Fri., 3/2 - Prisms Coffeehouse!
• Parents! - Click here to sign up for Coffeehouse Jobs on Google Docs!

Coffeehouse:

Due ASAP: Your finished craft to sell.

Tues., 2/28: Last day to have your act screened.

Humanities:

• Due Thurs., 3/1: Read chapters 1-4 of Lyddie and complete reading log.
• Due Tues., 2/28: Finish notes on events leading to the Civil War
• Ongoing Continue taking notes on your historical figure, using research materials you got at Forbes Library. If you go back on your own, remember to tell the librarian on duty that you're working on this project to get free copies/microfilm printouts.
7th Grade Research Paper
• Due Thurs., 3/1: 500 words of rough draft
• Deadlines for 7th Grade Abolitionist Research Paper (updated 1/31)

Math:

• Graph paper link on the sidebar →
  
  Grade 7
  
• Test Thurs., 3/1: On operations using positive and negative numbers. Review notes on addition, subtraction, multiplication and division with positive and negative numbers.

Grade 8

• Nada
Algebra B
• Nada
• Math's Mates Test TBA

Science:

• Due Wed., 2/29: Complete all question in "Part II" worksheet

8th Grade Project:

• Due Thurs., 3/1: Rough outline due (list of main topics with sections)
• Meeting with mentor
Complete list of project due dates (as of 1/25) here.

Heart Shaped Turtle

A 5-year-old Russian Steppe tortoise with two heads, six paws, two hearts, and one intestine in a heart-shaped shell. Click to read more about this species of tortoise.