September 25 - 29, 2017

This week, we will begin a new unit on the relationship between and effects of the sun, moon, and earth.  We will be using a new website called Blendspace to help organize our station activities.  We will also start a new weekly learning format as designed by the students.  Based on their feedback, we will limit station rotations to Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday.  Wednesday will be a day for more independent thinking and processing the concepts through readings, writings, conversations and activities.  Friday will continue to be a quiz and stations clean-up day.

Egg Drop Update! The date has been changed.  We will now have the egg drop on October 3, 2017.  Projects will need to be turned in to me on October 2, 2017 for inspection.  Here are the updated Egg Drop Mission Instructions and Vessel Requirements by Grade Level documents for your information.

Monday and Tuesday
Students who did not complete their quiz on Friday will complete it today.  Once done with their quiz, they will begin working on this week’s stations.  Here’s a description of our activities for this week!  They can also be found on Blendspace.

Science - StudyJams: Watch and Quiz Yourself on both "A Day On Earth" and "The Moon."  Write your answers in your science notebook as well as your grade.  You may retake it as many times as you have time for to get your desired grade.

Technology - Seasons Simulation: Explore the Seasons Simulator and complete the online quiz.  Write your answers in your science notebook as well as your grade.  You may retake it as many times as you have time for to get your desired grade.

Engineering - Build Sun, Earth, Moon foldable to demonstrate rotation vs. revolution. Complete the worksheet and glue it into your science notebook.

Arts - Vocabulary flashcards: orbit, rotation, revolution, axis, tilt (Definitions are available on the Blendspace page.)

sMall Group - Modeling orbit, rotation, revolution, axis, tilt, and seasons with Mrs. Preston.  An explanation of the models can be found here!

Career - Learning Blade: Continue your previous mission and continue to focus on the people involved in solving problems. Access through Clever portal.

Wednesday

Students will use “graffiti walls” to review what they have learned so far this week about the Vocabulary, Rotation vs. Revolution, and Seasons.  After the review, we will work as a group to clear up any misconceptions or uncertainties.  Students will then complete additional activities, including a match game to help retain the information.

Thursday (remember no computers!)
Students will have the opportunity to complete stations that they have not yet finished. Specifically, they can work on the Engineering, Arts and sMall Group stations.  All work must be completed by the end of class on Friday.

Friday

Students will take a quiz on Rotation vs. Revolution and Seasons.  Once students have completed their assessments, they may finalize any work they have remaining for the week.

Homework

Monday: Practice Writing Hypotheses

Tuesday: Guided Notes - Rotation vs. Revolution

Wednesday: Guided Notes - Seasons

Thursday: Study Guided Notes and vocabulary flashcards for quiz!

Science Notebook

In order to help students stay organized, I will begin listing the table of contents entries they will be responsible for each week.  Because this is new, students will not be required to go back to previous pages and change theirs.  Moving forward it should match the example below.  The date of each activity may be different than below because of their choice of order.  The required elements are the Content entries.

Date                      Content                                               Page # (this will vary based on their previous notes)

9/25                       Study Jams: The Moon

9/25                       Small Group with Mrs. P

9/26                       Seasons Simulator

9/26                       Study Jams: A Day On Earth

9/27                      Graffiti Walls Review Reflection

9/27                       Seasons Vocabulary Matching

9/28                       Sun Moon Earth foldable   (I would also do vocabulary flashcards at this time)

9/29                       Learning Blade Responses

As always, please let me know if you have any questions, comments, thoughts or concerns!  I hope you have a wonderful week!

Lisa Preston, MAT

6th Grade Science

Head Middle Magnet Prep of Math & Science

www.lisareedpreston.com

1830 Jo Johnston Ave.

Nashville, TN 37203

(615) 329-8160

September 18 - 22, 2017

We have a new and exciting week ahead! Let's dive in!

Monday

Students will present their lunar colonies to the class.  Presentations will be limited to 5 minutes each and must include a model of their lunar colony, a marketing material for their colony and the Lunar Colony STEAM Notebook. 

Students must also complete peer critiques as other groups present using a rubric.  These critiques will allow them to critically analyze other projects based on a rubric and provide glows and grows. Finally, they will evaluate their own team members’ participation.

At the end of class, we will discuss the grand finale of the Engineering Design unit!  The Annual Egg Drop!  Students will receive information in science class, but here are links to the documents, just in case!  Egg Drop Information           Egg Drop Requirements by Grade Level

Tuesday – Thursday

Students will complete station rotations and cement their understanding of the Scientific Method, Engineering Design Process and the various tools, products and results involved.

Science – Small Group with Ms. Preston – Review Activity

Technology – Scholastic Study Jams – Students must complete all 4 videos, answer the quiz in their science notebook and record their score in their notebook next to their answers. http://studyjams.scholastic.com/studyjams/jams/science/index.htm?topic_id=si

Engineering – Engineering Card Sort – Students will work with groups to match pairs of cards and their meanings.  Once they have finished and checked their answers, they must write it in their science notebook.

Arts - Vocabulary Flash Cards – adaptive product, assistive product, bioengineering, unintended consequences, technology – These definitions appear within the card sort above!  Remember that including pictures and color helps the brain!

Math – Assignment Log – Students will find the percentage grade of each assignment on their new log and enter it to the right of the last column.  They will then prepare for the upcoming assessments.  Enter Assignment #11 – Science Methods Test.  Enter #12 – Engineering Design Process Test.  Finally, they will glue or staple the assignment log to the inside back cover of their notebooks.

Career – Learning Blade (available through Clever) – Students will explore a mission of their choice, focusing on the people involved in the solutions to learn about the roles each career plays in the solving the problem.

Friday

We will take our Science Methods Test and Engineering Design Test. Because of the length of each test, we will be taking a break in between!  Tests will be timed in order to prepare for future timed-tests.

As always, let me know if you have any questions, comments, thoughts or concerns!

Lisa Preston, MAT

6th Grade Science

Head Middle Magnet Prep of Math & Science

September 11 - 15, 2017

Last week students began an engineering design challenge that I had anticipated lasting just one week, but students have been so excited about the research aspect of this project that we are extending it!  This week, students will continue to work on their Project Lunar Base Student Notebook and create their own lunar colonies.  In addition to understanding the implementation of the Engineering Design Process, students are learning to use digital collaboration through the cloud, sharing documents with me and their team members via Office 365.  Last week's vocabulary words will be extended to this week as well as we make connections between the academic language on assessments and how to apply them in science.  A reminder of our words: support, develop, explicit, ambiguous, identify. We will quiz on those words on Friday.

Monday
Students must complete their plan.  This plan includes a list of materials, a step by step protocol, and a diagram of what their model will look like.  Once students have submitted their plan for approval, they will receive their exact materials and a permit to build.  Any changes to their materials, plan, or process must be written and re-approved. Students may still bring in their own materials, but those materials must be included in their plan.  Donations of extra materials are humbly accepted. 

Tuesday
Students will continue to build their lunar colonies.  Some students may begin to finish their construction. The next step of the process has students discussing sustainability and scalability of their idea.  They will reflect on whether their solution is a long term or short term solution.

Wednesday
As students are finalizing construction details, they must begin to prepare the presentation of their colony to their classmates.  This presentation may include:

  Option 1: Create a brochure inviting people going to the Moon to visit your lunar base.

  Option 2: Create a list of instructions with pictures showing how the lunar base looks and functions. What are the key features?

  Option 3: Create a video showing explaining the lunar base and how it functions.

  Option 4: Create an advertisement for lunar base and mission.  

Thursday
Students will complete their projects.  Groups may begin practicing their presentation.  Presentations will occur on Friday.

Friday
Presentations!  We will learn about each group's amazing research and efforts as they share their lunar colony.  We will also reflect on the Engineering Design Process and its importance in our project.


Homework:

Monday 9/11 - In two sentences, tell me how your lunar colony works and why it’s a viable option?

Tuesday 9/12 – Write about the glows and grows of the day today.  Did you make as much progress as you thought you would?  What had an affect on that?

Wednesday 9/13 – What is the difference between support and develop?  Use an original example to explain if you can.

Thursday 9/14 – Write about your group experience on this project.  Specifically reflect on each member of your groups’ participation. Were they helpful?  Did they contribute ideas, work, etc? 

September 5 - 8, 2017

Last week was unexpectedly shortened due to the local flooding.  I hope you and yours are well.  This week is also a short week because of the Labor Day holiday.  Hopefully, you were able to get outdoors and enjoy the beautiful weather! 

We were supposed to take a short quiz on Friday on the vocabulary of the week, but instead of moving it to Tuesday, I will add the vocabulary to our quiz this Friday and keep moving forward.  Additionally, this week we will not be working in our station rotations as we will be focusing all week on understanding the Engineering Design Process.  To do this, we will be completing some engineering of our own through Project Lunar Base: Build a Colony Base on the Moon!  Students will be asked to keep this Project Lunar Base Student Notebook up to date as they complete their work. Some will be completed as a whole group and some will be completed in small groups.  Each student will be responsible for documenting everything in their notebook.  They may choose to print the Student Notebook out if they prefer a paper copy.  

As we do these projects, I may ask you to be on alert for random objects you may have laying around the house.  For this project, we will be using: Tape, Cardboard, Different types of cups, Pipe Cleaners, Empty water bottles and tops, Bubble Wrap, Paper Plates, and other random supplies.  Feel free to send them in with your child if you have any you would like to get rid of!

Our vocabulary this week will help us to strengthen our ability to ask and answer questions scientifically.  They include: support, develop, explicit, ambiguous, identify.  Definitions can be found here as well as other words that are helpful to practice!

Tuesday

Students will be introduced to Project Lunar Base: Build a Colony Base on the Moon.  They will also receive their group assignments, materials list, and Student Notebooks. Groups will begin to brainstorm ideas while completing pp 1-9 in their notebooks.

Wednesday

Groups will begin to narrow down their brainstorming by providing pros and cons to their groups.  Students should decide on a plan by the end of the class.

Thursday

Students will begin to build their creations, documenting their process in their notebook as they work.

Friday

Students will present their work to the class and complete a critique of their peers’ projects.  They will also complete a 10 word vocabulary quiz.

Homework

Tuesday - What is the biggest problem you see with a lunar colony?  How are you going to fix it?

Wednesday – What change have you had to make to your plans today?  Was it a major change or a minor change?  Why did the change occur?

Thursday - In two sentences, tell me how your lunar colony works and why it’s a viable option?

As always, feel free to contact me with any questions, comments, thoughts or concerns!

Mrs. Preston