August 27 - 31, 2018

This week we will be diving further into energy.  Specifically, we will be looking at how potential energy and kinetic energy transform back and forth between each other.  We will also start talking about specific forms of energy.  Students will have the opportunity to practice some math skills while they calculate energy transformations using the formula kinetic energy = 1/2 * mass * speed^2.

Monday

Students will continue the Bouncing Ball Lab that was started on Friday.  Students will receive their menu and NTK 3.1 sheet and begin working towards the goal of answering the question “How do each of the forms of energy relate to one another?”  Student menus are due at the beginning of class on Friday.  Here is a sample of the menu.

Homework: Complete one item from your menu.

Tuesday

Students will continue to work on their menu.  Their focus should be to complete at least one activity per day, but two activities per day would be ideal.  Student menus are due at the beginning of class on Friday.

Homework: Complete one item from your menu.

Wednesday

Students will continue to work on their menu.  Their focus should be to complete at least one activity per day, but two activities per day would be ideal.  Student menus are due at the beginning of class on Friday.

Homework: Complete one item from your menu.

Thursday

Students will continue to work on their menu.  Their focus should be to complete at least one activity per day, but two activities per day would be ideal.  Student menus are due at the beginning of class on Friday.

Homework: Complete one item from your menu.

Friday

Students will review their menu work with the class.  They will also have a notebook check to be certain all of their notes are being maintained.  Finally, they will have a quiz on the various forms of potential energy and kinetic energy.

Homework: NO Homework!  

I hop you have a fabulous week! As always, assignments are subject to change and I will do my best to communicate those to you.  Please feel free to contact me with any questions, comments, thoughts or concerns!

Lisa Preston, MAT

6th Grade Science

www.lisareedpreston.com

lisa.reed-preston@mnps.org

Head Middle Magnet School of Math & Science

1830 Jo Johnston Ave.

Nashville, TN 37203

(615) 329-8160

August 20 - 24, 2018

We have been spending a lot of time on the engineering design process and the scientific method in order to strengthen those skills and get us ready for a year of hands-on fun!  This week we begin a unit on energy.  Work will involve experimenting, engineering design, writing, and reading to gather information.  

Monday

Students will rebuild catapults and document their repeated attempts to launch an object a far distance.  They will then use their data to create a graph. Using their graph, the data they obtained and the ACES writing strategy, students will write a scientific review of their experiment reflecting on the relationship between the attempt number and the distance their object went.  We will then begin working on the SM and EDP review sheet.

Homework: Complete the front of the SM and EDP review sheet handed out in class

Tuesday

Students will complete the SM and EDP review sheet in class.  Students will receive their updated Menus.  We will then introduce our new topic of Energy Transformations and students will use a number of resources to complete a Need To Know (NTK) sheet on Standard PS 3.2.  This sheet will act as a way to explore our new topic as well as a study guide once it is complete.

Homework: Study SM and EDP review sheet for quiz.

Wednesday

Students will complete the NTK PS 3.2.  They will then quiz on the Scientific Method and Engineering Design Process.  Upon scoring the quiz, students will receive either an enrichment activity or a small group activity.

Homework: List 3 real life examples of potential energy and kinetic energy that you see after school.

Thursday

Students will begin the marble run challenge to demonstrate their understanding of energy types and transformations as well as the engineering design process.

Homework: Research Youtube videos of other marble run challenges and write an ACES summary.  

Friday

Students will begin working on their NTK PS 3.3.  They will also begin working on their bouncing ball lab.

Homework: NO Homework!  

Have a great week! As always, assignments are subject to change and I will do my best to communicate those to you.  Please feel free to contact me with any questions, comments, thoughts or concerns!

Lisa Preston, MAT

6th Grade Science

www.lisareedpreston.com

lisa.reed-preston@mnps.org

Head Middle Magnet Prep of Math & Science

1830 Jo Johnston Ave.

Nashville, TN 37203

(615) 329-8160

August 13 - 17, 2018

It was a great first week in our class and I am looking forward to another excellent week!  On Friday, students had homework for the first time.  It was to simply label the tabs in their binder.  There should be eight tabs and they were given the opportunity to write the titles down in class on Friday.  In case students need them again, they are:

1. Work in Progress 
2. Skills
3. Energy
4. Ecology
5. Biodiversity
6. Natural Resources
7. Atmosphere & Weather
8. Portfolio

If tabs are not available, students were shown how to use sticky notes and a blank sheet of paper to engineer an alternate solution. This week we will continue to learn and practice classroom procedures as we begin to dive into more academic content, including graphing, the scientific method and the engineering design process.  

Monday

Students will build catapults and document their repeated attempts to launch an object a far distance.  They will then use their data to create a graph. Using their graph, the data they obtained and the ACES writing strategy, students will write a scientific review of their experiment reflecting on the relationship between the attempt number and the distance their object went.

Binder Notes - Skills section:

ACES writing Strategy

A ~ Answer the question!

C ~ Cite evidence, vocabulary or rules that prove your answer

E ~ Explain your reasoning!  How do you know?

S ~ Summarize what you are learning!

Homework: Complete graphing worksheet.

Tuesday

Students will review the catapult activity and be asked to identify parts of the activity in terms of the scientific method.  We will then engineer a marble run!  Students will have limited time and materials to create a marble run.

Binder Notes - Skills section:

Engineering Design Process

• Identify - What problem are you trying to solve?
• Investigate - What information do you know or can you find readily available?
• Imagine - Brainstorm ideas for possible solutions.  No idea is a bad idea at this point!
• Plan - Decide what idea you would like to try and figure out what steps to take.
• Create - Take those steps! 
• Test - Test to see if your creation worked the way you expected.
• Improve - Make changes to your creation to make it better.
• Communicate - Use the ACES strategy, summarize your process and results to discuss your creation.

Homework: Using the first 3 steps of the engineering design process, describe the marble run challenge as completed in class.

Wednesday

Students will review the marble run challenge.  Students will then use the Scientific Method and their marble run design to test varying sized marbles, collect data, and graph the results.

Binder Notes - Skills section:

Scientific Method

• Ask – Ask a question to which you plan to find the answer.
• Research – What background information do you have?  What can you find?
• Hypothesize – What do you think is going to happen?
• Test – Create an experiment to see what happens!
• Analyze Data and Draw Conclusions – Did the experiment work?  Did it support your hypothesis?  Why or why not?  Did it work partially?  Why? What new questions do you have now?
• Conclude and communicate – What do you think it all means?  Summarize your results and share the information in a written, visual, or digital way.

Homework: Using the Scientific Method, describe the experience of the marble run.  Use all 6 steps and the vocabulary on the Notes sheet to receive full credit.

Thursday

Students will review the marble run challenge once again to discuss forms of energy that they encountered.  We will create a list of questions that we will be working all quarter to answer.  Students will also get online in class for the first time to review procedures and get to know regularly visited sites including Clever, Microsoft Office Suite, and email.

Homework: Complete graphing worksheet.

Friday

Students will be introduced to Menus.  This will be the format in which their weekly work assignments will be delivered.  Over time, they will include more choices as students become used to the freedom and choice.  Activities will be focused on graphing and evaluating data.

Homework: NO Homework!  (This will be standard practice!)

Have a great week! Please feel free to contact me with any questions, comments, thoughts or concerns!

Lisa Preston, MAT

6th Grade Science

www.lisareedpreston.com

lisa.reed-preston@mnps.org

Head Middle Magnet Prep of Math & Science

1830 Jo Johnston Ave.

Nashville, TN 37203

(615) 329-8160