9/8/09 - 7th Grade - Heat Transfer

Here are a couple of interactive websites on heat transfer:

See if you can make the heat in the beakers equal in 5 minutes, using one of the materials (glass, aluminum, copper, or steel). Which one works the fastest? What does this mean?

http://www.explorelearning.com/index.cfm?method=cResource.dspView&ResourceID=388

Try this experiment, to heat up the water, using different metals:
http://www.chem.iastate.edu/group/Greenbowe/sections/projectfolder/flashfiles/thermochem/heat_metal.swf

What is more important? - Is it the mass of the metal, or the material you chose?


If you have come up with some questions, after these activities, do a little research on heat energy:

http://www.physics4kids.com/files/thermo_intro.html

1/30/08 - 7th Grade Exploring Immigration

Click on the blue tab that says 'meet the new americans', on the independent lens site: http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/newamericans/newamericans.html. Choose one of the stories, and read the introduction and one of the episode articles.

How did reading the story affect you? What do you think would be the most difficult part of moving to a new country? How could the US help people who are coming to this country for the first time? And, what advice would you give to someone who was new to this country?

When you are finished, click on the red tab to explore the art, music, food, and language that immigrants carry with them, and click on the yellow tab to take the immigration quiz.

12/12/08 7th Grade - Fractions!

Check out these sites:
Visualize a Fraction:

http://www.webmath.com/k8if.html

Identifying Fractions:
http://www.visualfractions.com/EnterCircle.html

Comparing Fractions:
Explanation:
http://www.visualfractions.com/Investigate/Compare/Compareframes.htm

Exercises:
http://www.visualfractions.com/CompCircle.html

http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/frames_asid_105_g_2_t_1.html

Reducing Fractions:
http://www.visualfractions.com/LowestCircle.html

Equivalent Fractions:
http://www.learningplanet.com/sam/ff/index.asp

10/16/08 7th and 8th Grade: Beginning Microsoft Word

The 7th and 8th grade classes came down to the lab, this morning, and began working with Microsoft Word. We went over opening the program, how to format a paper (name, centered title, date), double spacing, and saving a file. They practiced by writing a short essay. Many of the students were not too familiar with the new version of Word we have at school, but by the end they were more comfortable with how to use the new software.javascript:void(0)

10/3/08 7th Grade Culture of the Month: Italy

Ms. Boegel and I scoured the internet, after school, for resources to teach her class about Italy. We presented a PowerPoint presentation on Italy's most famous cities, landmarks, and foods, as well as the country's most important people. From our research on Saint Francis of Assisi, we shared an an abridged biography and discussed his life. Students were asked how they felt about his choices, and what the stages of his life would have been like. They contributed to a discussion about his change from a life of materialism to a Spartan life following God. We talked about Venice, and stopped to look at satellite images of the city on livemaps (http://maps.live.com). We took class polls to find out student opinions on their favorite Italian foods, had them guess which actors from a list are actually Italian, and which James Bond movie had scenes filmed in Venice. The votes from the class polls were quickly tabulated, and put into our presentation in the form of bar graphs (made using Microsoft Excel) to show the class data visually, and demonstrate how to make graphs using Excel.

Class ended with a treat, we watched a three minute behind the scenes segment about the taping of Casino Royale in Venice. Daniel Craig (the latest James Bond), Martin Campbell (the director of Casino Royale), and others talked about the challenges and triumphs of shooting scenes in Venice. (Other James Bond Movies with parts shot on location in Venice include From Russia With Love and Moonraker)

Resources:
Italy Power Point Presentation (from Cornell University website):
www.einaudi.cornell.edu/Europe/outreach/pdf/brosch/Italy.ppt

Saint Francis Of Assisi:http://www.americancatholic.org/features/Francis/who_was.asp

Live Maps: Venicehttp://maps.live.com

Italian Food Images (for poll):
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/regional_international/article/0,1000011,FOOD_32084_5922602_03,00.html

Casino Royale Backstage:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gK6m0_42CcI

Italian Vocabulary (We weren't able to get to this site, but it looks like a fun addition):
http://www.pocanticohills.org/italy/language.htm