Homework March 22-March 26

Vocabulary for the Week of 22-26 March Understand the meaning of each word. Pretend you work for an environmental action group. Use all words in a persuasive essay describing how and why we should protect the environment. Your test on Friday will be spelling only. acid rain aerosol animal welfare carbon monoxide climate conservation energy nuclear energy solar energy exhaust fumes global warming greenhouse effect (non)-renewable resources nuclear nuclear fallout nuclear reactor ozone layer pesticide pollution rain forest waste nuclear waste Puzzle of the Week In addition to solving the puzzle, students must also answer the four guideline questions regarding the metacognitive processes involved with problem solving. Puzzle: A Growing Proposition You may live for decades, but your hair won't. In fact, a strand of hair has a life-span of about four years for a man, and six years for a woman. If the average person has 90,000 hairs on his or her head, at any one time, what percentage of them must be replaced annually? Man: Woman: How many hairs are replaced annually? Let's say that you first started replacing your hair when you were four years old. Since then, how many hairs have been replaced on your head? Approximately how many hairs have you grown in your lifetime so far? If you live to be eighty years old, and you don't go bald-how many hairs will you have replaced on your head over that period of time? You may use a calculator for your computations and estimations. Don't forget to be reading nightly for at least 20-30 minutes!

Which study appeals to you?

Respond with your top three choices of desired study area including: global warming, wind power, hydro power, solar power, or fuel cell vehicles. Please include 1-2 sentences explaining why you are interested in this topic. Please respond by Tuesday, March 23, 2010. Thanks!

Go Green or Go Home! Unit Projects!

Go Green or Go Home Group Project Guidelines Due Date 4/16/2010 Individually respond to the class blog with your top three choices of desired study area including: global warming, wind power, hydro power, solar power, or fuel cell vehicles. After I have received all requests I will place you into groups. As a group participate in selected experiment investigations. I expect you to behave appropriately as if you are a scientist in a laboratory. Complete and submit OHEC worksheet. Write up brief description of your findings and how you and your group worked together. (4 points) Perform additional research on your study area. Use all avenues that are open to you to find out as much as you can. Try to use as many primary sources as possible. Read all you can about your topic. Do not forget to document sources in correct form. Do not plagiarize! Use the internet to gather information. You Tube videos, speeches, etc. Visit libraries or museums (if exhibits available) When your research is complete, create a visual (Poster, Science board, Magazine etc.) to support the marketing or selling of your topic. Present your group research to the class. (20 points) Introduce your topic Provide a minimum of three facts about your topic Explain why your topic is important Be creative and have fun! Prospectus for the Future: Research current developments in the scientific community using periodicals such as American Scientist, Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, Invention & Technology, National Geographic, etc. Find a concept that you find particularly intriguing. Formulate a concept for a future scientific invention that impact life as we know it. Synthesize information based on the research to support the hypothesis developed. Write a 3 paragraph essay about your findings and your product. You will be scored on your use of research materials and the quality of your writing.

411 of 216

Signals got crossed today, and I failed yet again to include the 411 of 216 in Thursday folders! Sorry--here is the information included: UPCOMING IMPORTANT DATES: MARCH 18TH CONCERT @ SKINNER MS 6:30 START TIME, STUDENTS SHOULD BE THERE BY 6:00 PM MARCH 26, HALF DAY MARCH 29-APRIL 2, SPRING BREAK ALPS Advanced Learning Plans were supposed to be enclosed in this week’s folder. I apologize for the delay, but I have been experiencing significant technical difficulties with Infinite Campus. I hope to have all issues resolved by next week, so they can be sent home. These documents are district mandated for all gifted learners and will remain in student files for next year and throughout a student’s academic careers at DPS. This was the first year of implementation, and there was a bit of a learning curve. Please anticipate earlier notification and more parent involvement regarding these documents for the next school year. Student Work: For the last few weeks, we have completed an author study on Chris Van Allsburg. In addition to reading a number of his wonderful books, students also worked in groups to create board games related to a book of their choosing. The games were required to include evidence of vocabulary, cause and effect relationships, and sequencing related to the story. The games turned out incredibly! The students were so creative, and worked very hard. We had a sharing time, where games were showcased and played. Fun was had by ALL! A common element among all Chris Van Allsburg’s books was a sense of open endedness that allowed the reader to form concepts and conclusions on his own. An additional element of our author study required students to fill in the blanks of a story by writing a prequel or sequel. Here are some of the student’s stories: A BAD DAY AT RIVERBEND (CONTINUED) By Sadie Buchanan After everything went dark, the sheriff could move again! The slime felt wet on his face and he was determined to escape the evil light. He rode on and on until finally light appeared. But, everything yet again froze. The sheriff was very afraid. Huge hands grasped the world and carried it away. The world dropped into a dark place. Then everything moved again. All of the sudden, the world was dumped into a huge mouth. The sheriff felt himself being grinded into sticky goo, and flattened. Suddenly, he had new memories. His name was Jasmine, and he was in love with a street boy. He yelled, “What am I doing here! I am the sheriff!” “Really?” said the boy, “I’m from Riverbend too!” Zathura Epilogue By Connor Ellertson As soon Danny and Walter got home, they started to play catch. After awhile, they got tired of playing catch. They went inside, but still couldn’t find anything to do. Meanwhile, Danny and Walter’s parents were just arriving home. They were worried about their sons. They got so worried; they were about to call 911, when the two boys returned home. The boys were sent to bed. The parents decided to take a walk in the park. They found a big box in the trash. They decided to take the box home. When they got home, they opened the box. The box contained board games. When they looked through the box, they found the following games: Jumanji, Zathura, and the Wild West. They both agreed to play the Wild West. Danny and Walter rushed downstairs. Walter shouted, “Mom! Dad! No!”, but it was too late, their parents had already started the game. Also included in the Thursday folders were guideline sheets for two of our upcoming projects. Please look over with your child. Almost all work will be finished in class on both of these projects.

Homework for the week of 15 - 19 March

Homework: Puzzle of the Week: Use tangrams. (provided) If the small triangle has an area of 1 unit, make a figure with the pieces that has an area of 9 units. If the medium triangle has an area of 1 unit, make a figure that has an area of 3 1/2 units. Make up a problem using the square, if it equals 1 unit. Make up a problem using the parallelogram, if it equals 1 unit. Answer the questions regarding how you solved the puzzle. Guidelines for Writing about the Puzzle of the Week 1.What is the puzzle about? Restate the situation in your own words. Check your writing: What are you trying to find out? Did you give enough information for someone else to be able to solve the puzzle? 2.What are your first impressions of this puzzle? How do you think you will solve it? Check your writing: What strategies do you think you will use? Might you draw a picture, act it out, make a table, chart, or list, use objects, or use some other way? Does this puzzle remind you of other puzzles? 3. Describe how you solved the puzzle. Explain your method. Check your writing: How did you start? What did you try that didn’t work? Did you learn n anything from those tries? What did you do when you got stuck? Did someone help you with this puzzle? Were they helpful or not? What steps did you use to find you your solution? Be specific so others could try your strategy. 4. How do you know your answer is right? Check your writing: How would you prove your solution is right if someone disagrees with you? Could there be more than one correct solution? Vocabulary: Homework: Please put the list in alphabetical order. Use odd numbered words in a sentence and find the definition of even numbered words. (Hint: Use your Social Studies Alive! book to help find definitions) geography scale map key coastal plain inland plateau basin diverse immigrant peak revolution canal lock (use meaning associated with chapter 4 of Social Studies book) mass production Constitution skyscrapers