Last week, we finished up the Gravity Playlist by using your work with simulations to write your first claims in science this year. You supported those claims with evidence you gathered using the simulations and backed that evidence up with well-established scientific theory & reasoning. Learning to persuade others through your writing will convince them that your experiences and evidence are worth listening to. This is an important skill to have, no matter what profession you go into.
This week, we'll begin preparing for our first quiz (2 bars, next Tuesday - 11/5) and discuss strategies people use to study effectively. Memorizing and taking exams comes more easily to some, but understanding how you study most effectively and being successful on exams are skills that everyone can learn. We'll also begin looking at phases of the moon, lunar/solar eclipses, & how gravity effects on ocean tides this week. Stay curious and keep looking for answers! Last week, we finally came together as a whole class and discussed what we learned about how gravity can be manipulated. The videos you made of the simulations helped you explain what variables (ie. mass) can change the amount of gravity an object has. This week, you'll take what you learned to do your first formal writing assignment - using a style of writing called Claim, Evidence, & Reasoning. You will use the simulations & all the work you have created (Thinglink & simulation videos) as resources to help you build a graphic organizer in preparation for this writing assignment. You will have two full class blocks (both Monday & Tuesday) to complete this. Then on Thursday, you will have the whole block to work on your writing assignment (using your graphic organizer as a resource). The whole assignment is due at the beginning of class on Friday. On Wednesday, I will be out at a conference at Gillette Stadium - at which students from 8th grade last year will be presenting their work from science class. After school help is available Monday & Thursday this week and before school help is available upon prior request. Stay curious and keep looking for answers! Last week, you took your own understanding of how gravity works and used a simulation to explain it. This week you'll be expanding your understanding of gravity when you use a PhET Simulation called My Solar System by University of Colorado Boulder. Then with all of the experience you've gotten using simulations, you'll bring that knowledge of how gravity works back into the real-world by using balls & marbles of different size and mass & a spandex table cloth. After school help is available Monday & Thursday this week and before school help is available with prior arrangements (email the day/night before). Stay curious and keep looking for answers! Last week centered around your interests in astronomy, and although we do have specific standards we have to cover for science this year, you will have time to explore what you are curious about on Fridays during this unit. (More details to come)
This week is focused on one question, How does gravity manipulate the solar system? You will be using a digital tool called Thinglink to map out your thinking & show how your ideas evolve as you discover gravity through various computer simulations and labs. After school help is available Wednesday & Thursday, and before school help is available upon request. (just make sure to contact Mr. Bowles the night before). Stay curious and keep looking for answers because one idea leads to another and then ideas get big! |
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March 2020
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