In Science, we have completed our first module on the Science Laboratory, covering topics such as laboratory tools, safety symbols, proper lab practices, and microscopy. Ensuring the safety of my students during all lab activities remains a top priority.
During our recent sessions, the students engaged in their first inquiry lab titled "Save Fred," where they applied problem-solving skills and the engineering design process to rescue the character "Fred." They also used microscopes to view several prepared slides and prepared their own wet-mount slides of onion and cheek cells under different objective lenses.
This week, we will start with Module 2, focusing on science skills. This module will involve honing their skills in observation, inference, and composing scientific explanations utilizing the structure of a claim, evidence, and reasoning. These skills will continue to be essential throughout the academic year. Additionally, we will initiate our lessons on experimental design, which will culminate in their second inquiry lab experience.
** Parents, weekly emails are sent to your child's gmail every Sunday to remind them of the upcoming assignments, assessment and due dates. It is crucial that they read those emails.
Last week, my students explored Agriculture as a fundamental technology. They participated in a hands-on foraging activity, learning about the impact of resource scarcity on well-being and understanding how agriculture provides a consistent and reliable food supply.
This week, they will use maps to investigate how geography influenced the growth of ancient civilizations and examine the origins of foods from the New World and the Old World, uncovering the effects of the Columbian Exchange. In addtion, we will study the history of chocolate as one of the New World foods, and students will get to taste different types of chocolate to determine if price is an indicator of better taste.
Over the past two weeks, students have been working diligently. The district assessment took longer than anticipated, but they remained focused and everyone completed it successfully. In the coming weeks, we'll shift our attention to constructing short responses, where students will learn to plan and write concise, organized answers to prompts. They will also engage in lessons that introduce both content and academic vocabulary, helping them incorporate this new language into their writing.
After an initial reading from the novel Monster, students will have the opportunity to generate their own questions about the text to deepen their understanding. They will use context clues to define unfamiliar vocabulary and demonstrate their comprehension by responding to questions with textual evidence.
Additionally, students will continue reading Ender’s Game daily, completing study guide questions based on the text.
We are finishing our unit on Transformations in the next two week. Students will be focusing on dilations and comparing rigid and non-rigid transformations. In lieu of a unit assessment, students will be completing an end of unit project.
After Transformations, we will be moving into angle relationships and triangles. Students will be identifying the 5 main angle relationships that occur when parallel lines are intersected. We will also finding angle and side values in triangles.
Last week we finished our Feudalism Simulation. It was a fun and constructive exercise and the students took it seriously, which was very encouraging. Now we are moving onto the settling of the original thirteen British Colonies in America. And the origins of the foundation of our country’s Government. Finally, we will go over and analyze why the Colonies decided to declare independence from the powerful British empire
8th Grade Team
Math ~ robyn.kindell@dvusd.org
ELA~ brittney.jensen@dvusd.org
Social Studies ~cody.rohlwing@dvusd.org
Website: https://www.dvusd.org/Domain/5737