This week we will be finishing up the Weather Unit by checking out different types of weather fronts and preparing for a 3 bar quiz on Friday. To start off the week, you will be given class time to begin preparing flashcards to use as study materials. Although these flashcards are due to be handed in on Friday, my advice is to have them completed by Wednesday so you have time study them using the strategies from the beginning of the year. We'll review and practice these strategies during class throughout the week.
The last concept we will checking out before the quiz is weather fronts. A front is just the boundary between two air masses. It's the interactions between warmer and colder air masses at these boundaries that can cause all types of weather - from mild to severe. We will be playing small group Jeopardy to review on Thursday and prepare for Friday's 3 bar quiz. Stay curious and keep looking for answers! - Mr Bowles Business: - Grades close for trimester 2 next Thursday. Make sure to get in any missing work and check in with your teachers. - After school help is available on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday this week. With Super Tuesday happening tomorrow (and no school), we only have four days of class this week. Our main goal over the next few days is to use our rules (that we have developed based off of the class' data) to start making short term weather predictions - trying to figure out what the weather will be over a 24 hour period. Making these predictions accurately will not only help us figure out if our rules work, but will also help build our confidence that we can actually predict the weather.
This week we also be looking more closely at wind speed and the relationship between temperature and humidity. Stay curious and keep looking for answers! -Mr Bowles Business: 1. After school help is available Monday & Thursday this week. Before school help is also available upon prior request. 2. Trimester 2 ends Thursday, March 19th - make sure you are up-to-date with your grades. 66% of your total grade for the year AND whether you go into honors, CP1 or CP2 will be determined after this trimester. Welcome back! Hope you all had an incredible February break whether you traveled or kept it low key and local. You all did an excellent job presenting down in the library before break - it was great to see so many different topics from the whole year. Today, you will be checking out the feedback that students and teachers left you and will be filling out a feedback form to grade yourself based on the comments you received by others.
Before break, we also collected precipitation data - looking at how the air pressure, temperature, and humidity change as the amount of precipitation changes. This week, we will use this data to understand why specific types of weather happen and help us to create rules that can predict the weather. Stay curious and keep looking for answers! - Mr. Bowles Business: After school help is available Monday, Tuesday, & Thursday this week. Welcome back from the last weekend before February break! We've got three main things going on this week - finishing up the Weather & Climate Independent Study, creating some rules to help us predict the weather, & Google Site preparations and presentations.
The last in-class day for Independent Study work is today. You'll finish collecting & analyzing data/examples that show how your independent variable has an effect on your dependent variable. For example, the amount of air pressure has an effect on the wind speed of a tornado. Graded check-ins for this last independent study assignment can happen today, Tuesday, & Wednesday this week. Tomorrow & Wednesday, we'll using data from the location of your Precipitation Screencast (Assignment #2 on the playlist) to create some rules to help us predict the weather anywhere around the world. On Friday, you will be presenting down in the library. You are welcome to present anything you've posted on your Google Site this year. You may present your whole Google Site or just parts of it, but you must present at least TWO THINGS you've posted for science. It's extremely important that you understand and can explain the scientific ideas you are presenting on, so that when you are asked questions you feel confident answering them. We will be doing preparations & practice for presentations on Thursday. You are welcome to present with one other person if you did a project with them. Have a great week and please let me know if you have questions along the way. Stay curious and keep looking for answers! -Mr Bowles Last week, we began venturing into the question, Can we predict the weather? Our steps towards answering this question, brought us to analyze a specific area of the world that had precipitation and collect some data about that location. This week, we'll take step back to learn first hand how clouds are made & reflect on why precipitation formed during at a specific spot in the world during your screencast. We will also continue our Independent Studies on Friday in order to finish answering all three formatted questions and begin collecting data on your independent & dependent variables. Don't forget that last Friday's assignment needs to be completed before the end of the week. Make sure to get the graded check-in for your the Independent Study page of your Google Site before Friday. Stay curious & keep looking for answers! -Mr. Bowles Business: - After school help is available Tuesday & Thursday this week. Before school help is available upon prior request. Welcome back from a beautiful weekend (minus a little bit of rain). To kick start the Weather & Climate Independent Study we will continue our work on Monday & Friday this week to really get a chance to find some answers to those questions.
We've been invited to Dr. Pohlman's class for a gallery walk of work on her student's most recent project. Originally this was scheduled for Monday, but it has now been rescheduled for Tuesday because Dr. Pohlman is out sick today. So, can you predict the weather? Even meteorologists (weather professionals) have a tough time answering this - sometimes they get it right, sometimes they don't. But they do look for specific data and patterns in the movement of air pressure systems to help guide their decisions. This week and next, you'll be learning some of the strategies meteorologists use to predict the weather and will be figuring out why some of the strongest hurricanes (in recent history) behaved in the way that they did. Stay curious and keep looking for answers! -Mr. Bowles Business: * After school help is available Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday this week * Submit your Independent Study question today - see Google Classroom for details Hope you all enjoyed the long weekend and the long lost snow! Last Thursday we finished the week by trying to identify both high and low air pressure systems using Earth: a visualization of global weather conditions. This week we'll take some time to figure out the types of weather we can expect to experience from different types of air pressure systems. Friday independent studies are back! As before, you will be given time to research any question your curious about related to weather & climate. This time though, I'm asking you to focus your question around Cause & Effect - for example, What qualities or variables can cause an F-5 tornado? And why do those variables cause an F-5? Progress Reports for Trimester 2 come out this week and, as mentioned last week, it's a very important time to start thinking about what you need to do by the end of the trimester to get the grade you want. Knowing when to ask for help and setting your priorities are the keys to getting you focused on your goal. Don't let time slip by - stay on top of your work and your motivation will pay off. After school help this week on Tuesday & Thursday (before school help is available upon request). Stay curious and keep looking for answers! -Mr. Bowles With grades for progress reports due next Tuesday, it is important to take this week to check-in with your teachers if you have any missing or incomplete work. Next Tuesday also represents our halfway mark through the year. Are you the type of student you want to be? If not, what steps do you need to take to make sure you are? Don't forget that 10% of your mid-trimester grade is based on attendance, positive contributions, & organization. This week we'll be starting the weather & climate unit by doing an activity called the upside down water lab. It's your job to determine why the water doesn't fall out of the cup when it's upside down & prove your theory by creating a test to show your ideas are valid. After school help is available Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and mornings upon request. Stay curious and keep looking for answers! -Mr Bowles |
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March 2020
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