Monday May 16th

8th Grade Math: 
Today students continued researching used cars and the costs associated with owning a car. In today's activity these centered on gas expenses which were calculated based upon the car's fuel efficiency, the number of miles driven per week and the current price per gallon of gasoline.
homework:  Finish Cost of Cars Research Assignment (due tomorrow)

7th Grade Math: 
Today students continued working on the cabin building project.  Today's focus was to finish building one of their group's walls. 
homework:  none

7th/8th Grade Science:
In science students continued learning about streams and stream health.  Students started class by finishing their data collection from last weeks practice lab.  They then completed a short quiz over healthy stream characteristics. 
homework:  none

Wednesday May 11th

8th Grade Math: 
Today students worked on a Geometry stations activity involving Transformations on a coordinate plane.  By the end of class students finished two stations and will finish the remaining two in tomorrow's class period.
homework:  none

7th Grade Math: 
Today students continued working on the cabin building project.  Today's focus was to finish the blueprint scale drawings of their different wall plans. 
homework:  none

7th/8th Grade Science:
In science students continued learning about streams and stream health.  Our focus today was on aquatic invertebrates and the habitat conditions that they need in a stream to survive. 
homework:  none

Monday May 2nd

8th Grade Math: 
Today students continued working on the spider population count project.  Students went outside the school and collected their "spider traps".  We then took photos of the spiders to help us identify their genus & species.
homework:  none

7th Grade Math: 
Today students continued working on the cabin building project.  Students worked on the construction of their model wall, including the window & window supports. 
homework:  none

7th/8th Grade Science:
In science, students had their final day to make modifications to their rockets before the competition tomorrow.  We tested each student team's rocket so that they could identify potential areas they need to improve before tomorrow. 
homework:  none

Thursday February 24th

8th Grade Math: Today students completed a warm up problem relating to Least Common Denominator of several fractions. We then started chapter 8 which covers Functions and Relationships.
Homework:
Finish Review #7 (due tomorrow)

7th Grade Math: Today students learned about drawing angles using protractors and then started a probability activity to illustrate the counting principle.
Homework:
Finish Review #7 (due tomorrow)

7th/8th Grade Science: Today in science students continued to learn about the physics of moving objects.  Specifically students calculated and graphed the acceleration of a moving object over time.  At the end of class we started a lab that illustrates negative acceleration.
Homework:
Finish acceleration lab worksheet

Wednesday February 16th

8th Grade Math: Today students continued working on the chapter 7 practice test.  Their main objective was to finish the practice test, do a self evaluation of their work using the answer keys posted around the room, and then identify which areas/sections of the chapter they need further practice and studying on before tomorrow's test.  
Homework:
Study for Chapter 7 test

7th Grade Math: Today in class  worked towards finishing the "TURTLE vs SNAIL" project. 
Homework:
Start studying for test over functions and relationships

7th/8th Grade Science: Today in science students focused on developing an understanding of velocity being a function of distance and time of a moving object.  Students calculated the speed of several individuals throwing snowballs at a wall. 
Homework:

• Finish front side of snow ball physics worksheet 
• Bring in 2 liter soda bottles for our rocket unit

Tuesday February 15th

8th Grade Math: Today students completed a warm up problem relating to section 7.6 (percent applications). We then discussed student's study habits and how individuals in our class prepare for tests.  The class then started our preparation for the upcoming test over chapter 7 by completing the  practice test at the end of the chapter.   We will continue the review tomorrow.  The test is scheduled for Thursday. 
Homework:
Review #6 is due Wednesday

7th Grade Math: Today in class we did a review problem about functions, slope and y-intercept as a warm up.  The class then asked questions about the height vs. arm span graph.  We then transitioned to our final work in functions and relationships, the "TURTLE vs SNAIL" project. 
Homework:
Review #6 is due Wednesday

7th/8th Grade Science: Today in science students discussed the factors that influence the motion of a snowball traveling through the air.  Students then wrote creative short stories relating the physics of snowball projectiles and a target (Mr. Watts).  Homework:
Bring in 2 liter soda bottles for our rocket unit

Monday February 14th

8th Grade Math: Today students finished working on a menu of assignments relating to percents.  By the end of class students were expected to have their stock checks turned in, as well as their stock percent change calculations.  There will be a test over Chapter 7 on Wednesday of  this week.  
Homework:
Review #6 is due Wednesday

7th Grade Math: Today students worked with their partners from last week to complete the graph for the arm-span/body height lab.  Students should have finished graphing their classmates data by the end of class today.  The next step is to draw a line of best fit.  Students will then use this graph to make predictions and answer questions on the worksheet.
Homework:
Review #6 is due Wednesday

7th/8th Grade Science: No science today due to early release.  In the afternoon students who needed more time to complete their MAPs test worked in Mr. Kovach's room. 

Homework: 

• Finish the graph and conclusion section of the roto-copter lab (due last Wednesday).
• ***BRING IN TWO 2 Liter Soda Bottles BY TOMORROW (for rocket experiments)***

Tuesday February 7th

8th Grade Math: Today students checked in on their stocks (from the Finances Unit).  We then applied our current work with percents by calculating the percent change their stocks have gone through since December of 2010.  Tomorrow we will finish this activity and continue working on 7.6 to practice percent applications.   There will be a test over Chapter 7 on Wednesday of next week.  
Homework:
Review #5 is due Wednesday

7th Grade Math: Today we completed a short quiz over graphing functions and determining the slope and y-intercept of a coordinate graph.  After we went over the quiz in great detail students continued working on the activity they started yesterday. 
Homework:
Review #5 is due Wednesday

7th/8th Grade Science: Today students finished the second roto-copter lab where they chose a variable to change (independent variable) and carried out an experiment to test their question.  Homework: 

• Finish the graph and conclusion section of the roto-copter lab (due tomorrow @ end of class).
• ***BRING IN TWO 2 Liter Soda Bottles BY MONDAY OF NEXT WEEK  (for rocket experiments)***

Thursday February 3rd

8th Grade Math: Today there was a very short math class due to Terra Nova Testing.  Students checked in their homework from last night and then continued working on section 7.5 Practice.  We will go over #13-27 odds tomorrow in class. 
Homework:
Review #4 is due Friday

7th Grade Math: Today we had a very short math class due to Terra Nova Testing.  Students reviewed how to find the slope of a line.
Homework:
Review #4  is due Friday

7th/8th Grade Science: Today students finished their roto copter labs that were started on Tuesday.  They collected data to answer the question does wing width effect time to fall from a fixed height?  They then graphed their average rate of fall as function of distance vs time in order to answer questions about how how far each model would fall after a large value for time, or how long would it take to fall a certain given distance. 
Homework:
Finish the graph and conclusion section of the roto-copter lab (due tomorrow).

Wednesday February 2nd

8th Grade Math: Today students learned about how to apply percent change (section 7.5 Practice).  We then had time for students to finish their quizzes from yesterday or work on tonight's homework, Section 7.5 Practice #1-11 odds.
Homework:

• Finish #1-11 odds on section 7.5 practice
• Review #4 is due Friday

7th Grade Math: In 7th grade math students completed a Alaska State GLE quiz and then continued working with functions.  Today their work focused on calculating the slope when given a line or line segment on a coordinate grid.
Homework:
Review #4  is due Friday

7th/8th Grade Science: Today there was no science so students could utilize a block period in social studies.
Homework:
none

Tuesday February 1st

8th Grade Math: Today the class students completed a quiz over sections 7.1-7.4.  We then had make up work time for students to complete make up "Division Mastery quizzes", Chapter 3 Make Up Quiz or missing homework.   
Homework:
Review #3 is due Wednesday
 
7th Grade Math: In 7th grade math students continued working in the area of functions and coordinate graphing.  Today they focused on using slope (rise/run) to construct the line from a single coordinate point.Homework:
Review #3  is due Wednesday

7th/8th Grade Science: Today reviewed the scientific method and then started the data collection phase of a lab involving "roto-copters". 
Homework:
none

Thursday January 27th

8th Grade Math: Today the class had some class time for the second test in the "Division Proficiency Tests".  We then introduced the percent equation as it is presented in section 7.4.  
Homework:
Review #2 is due Friday
 
7th Grade Math: In 7th grade math students continued working in the area of functions and coordinate graphing.
Homework: 
Review #2  is due Friday

7th/8th Grade Science: Today students turned in their Postcards Project and then watched a video on volcanoes of the pacific ring of fire.
Homework:
none

Wednesday January 26th

8th Grade Math: Today the class went over division in word problems.  We then continued working with percents and decimals.  
Homework:
Section 7.3 Practice due tomorrow @ start of class

Review #2 is due Friday
 
7th Grade Math: In 7th grade math students continued working in the area of functions and coordinate graphing.
Homework: 
Review #2  is due Friday

7th/8th Grade Science: Today students had their final class period to work on the volcano postcard project.
Homework:
Final drafts of volcano postcard project are due Thursday (tomorrow) at the start of class

Monday January 24th

8th Grade Math: Today students finished working on their division proficiency tests during the first half of class.  We then introduced working with percents as decimals (Section 7.3). 
Homework:
Review #1 is due Wednesday
 
7th Grade Math: In 7th grade math students finished their division proficiency tests.  The class was then introduced to coordinate graphing.  Students worked with a partner on a packet to introduce and reinforce skills with coordinate graphing and functions.
Homework: 
Review #1 is due Wednesday

7th/8th Grade Science: There was no science today due to early release
Homework:
Final drafts of volcano postcard project are due Thursday at the start of class

Thursday January 20th

8th Grade Math: Today students continued their division workshop.  Today's lesson focused on dividing with decimals and word problems with division.  Students then continued working with solving percent problems by setting them up as a proportion and then cross multiplying to solve for "x".  
Homework: none
 
7th Grade Math: In 7th grade math students completed a lab activity where they collected numerical and categorical data.  They worked with this data to help illustrate how to chose which type of graph to use when given a certain set of data (bar graphs compared to line graphs).
Homework: 
none

7th/8th Grade Science: Today students watched a National Geographic video on volcanoes and answered questions relating to the video. 
Homework:
At the start of class on Friday students need to have a rough draft of the writing (not the picture yet...) for their volcano postcards project

Tuesday January 18th

8th Grade Math: Today in 8th grade math students received their graded chapter 3 tests.  We practiced finding percents by having students calculate their percent score on the test.  Upon completing this activity it became very clear that students were VERY weak in their long division skills.  We will spend class time for the next week focusing on long division practice and we will complete a test to demonstrate proficiency in this area on Friday.  
Homework:Finish Section 7.1 Practice
 
7th Grade Math: In 7th grade math students used class time to continue/finish the average population density activity that we started on Friday of last week. 
Homework: 
Complete average population density worksheet.  Be sure to answer questions in complete sentences.  

7th/8th Grade Science: Today students focused class time on internet research for their volcanoes project. 
Homework:
At the start of class on Thursday students need to have a rough draft of the writing (not the picture yet...) for their volcano postcards project

Thursday January 5th

8th Grade Math: Today in 8th grade math students continued to learn about inequalities.  Specifically they learned how to solve inequalities with multiplication and division.  We will be having a test over Chapter 3 on Monday or next week.  
Homework:

• Review Homework #9 is due tomorrow
• Begin studying for test over chapter three (Monday)

7th Grade Math: In 7th grade math students worked on a chapter review activity to prepare for their test tomorrow. 
Homework:  

• Study for test over chapter 5 (tomorrow)
• Review Homework #9 is due tomorrow

7th/8th Grade Science: Today students continued to learn about continental drift and sea floor spreading.
Homework:
none

Wednesday January 5th

8th Grade Math: Today in 8th grade math students learned about inequalities.  We worked on section 3.4 Practice in class. 
Homework:
Review Homework #9 is due Friday
 
7th Grade Math: In 7th grade math turned in Review Homework #8 and then continued to learn about the "Customary Measurement System"  (English System).  Students worked on section 5. 6 Practice which covers conversions within the Customary system. 
Homework: 
Review Homework #9 is due Friday

7th/8th Grade Science: Today in class we checked in homework relating to continental drift and then discussed the movement of continents through time.
Homework:
none