Science Fair student resources

Prospect students have been working on their Science Fair topic for at least the last three Thursdays. They have brainstormed ideas, researched topic options, written a testable question and identified ways to measure independent (X) and dependent (Y) variables for their project. Most students presented their plans in front of the class and received feedback from me and other students on how to efficiently collect data.

Students are bringing home a letter they have written that outlines their Science Fair project. Everyone should bring back a signed copy of their letter no later than Friday, January 5th. This letter will outline their plan for proving their testable question, days available for working in science class, and after-school options. All students need to find time outside of the school day to work on their topics.

Students may demonstrate their current progress by showing you their Google Drive files we have created in Science class. Students should be able to give you a tour of the following files:

__Science Fair Packet 2017
__Science Fair Time Activity spreadsheet
__Science Fair Letter Home

I look forward to reviewing their documentation and consulting on their progress. Students will use alot of class time to present evidence or data to prove independent and dependent variable relationships.

I am excited for my next year at MMS and appreciate all the efforts it takes to contribute to our school-wide Science Fair.

Sincerely,

Duncan

You may also view other useful resources
Prospect Science at http://tinyurl.com/ProspectSci1718.
Letter from Milton Middle School Science teachers at:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uRDnXR7wRtlWAtwAp2Xg7-1TjYQtXEyIs7dv49vI_6o/edit

Friday Update, December 8th

Here is an update of what students on Team Prospect have been up to in their four core classes:

Science

Students are organizing their Science Fair Packet 2017 in their Google Drive. Background info may be found at http://tinyurl.com/ProspectSci1718.  Other studies include Earth Systems via Rock & Water cycles.

Math

7th Grade is continuing to explore the concept of similarity and exploring the effect of a scale factor on length, area, and volume. They also are learning how to construct scaled drawings of simple shapes. We should be finishing the unit and testing the week before the break.

8th grade has been working on finding slope of a line using graphs and the formal equation for slope. This requires them to be able to accurately identify points on the graph. They also are exploring how this presents itself in a linear equation. Next, they will work with equations in standard form and learn how to convert this into the slope-intercept form of a linear equation. 8th grade will be taking a test on this unit following the winter break.

Social Studies

Students have begun Unit 2: Immigration. We are covering the 4 major waves of immigration into the United States, plus the basic process of how a person from another country immigrates into the USA. Students will learn the basic vocabulary associated with immigration. We have resumed our Wednesday Gameday, and student engagement in their learning for these sessions has been strong! Currently students are reading autobiographical narratives of immigration- one is about a 12-year old girl who came from Russia in 1894. The other is about a boy who traveled from a refugee camp in Sudan to Chicago in the 1980's, eventually graduating from Harvard. Feel free to check our Google Classroom feed for assignments and additional video!

Language Arts

Students have been reading one of two books about the immigrant experience: either Crossing the Wire or The Day of the Pelican. Ask your students if they have reading homework! Those reading Crossing the Wire, about a boy trying to get to the U.S. from Mexico, should be to page 92. Those reading The Day of the Pelican, about a family fleeing Kosovo in the late 1990's, should be to page 56. Today, all students will take a spelling test on the words they've been studying for the past five weeks.