8th Grade Learning @ Lunch

Science Fair Update 2-16-12

Science Fair research projects are well underway.  A couple of research groups have finished collecting data and are now analyzing results.

Here are some upcoming dates:

2-21-12 (Tuesday)
Science Fair Lunch:  Find out how to create an effective display of the project.  Information on display rules will also be provided. (Researchers can begin assembling a poster even if the research is not yet complete).

Full information on the display requirements can be found at

http://www.societyforscience.org/page.aspx?pid=314


Tips on making a display and writing an abstract can be found at

http://www.societyforscience.org/page.aspx?pid=310

2-22-12 (Wednesday) during Period 6:  Come to E109 (the ELP room) for a seminar on statistical analysis of data.  Contact Mrs. Dixon if you are not able to come at this time but would still like a lesson on statistics.

2-24-12 (Friday)
All forms need to be complete by this date.  Anyone wishing to submit a seminar entry must have finished a research paper and given it to Mrs. Dixon.   Mrs. Dixon will make sure that all entries are registered online.  Data collection does not need to be complete. 

2-28-12  (Tuesday)
Mrs. Dixon will submit all of the paperwork (form 1, 1A, 1B...) to the Science Fair of Iowa on this date.

3-6-12  (Tuesday)
AHS Science Fair.  A "rough draft" poster should be assembled by this date.  Researchers should make sure that it is easy to make corrections and improvements to the poster.  The presenters will go to Ames High School during 7th and 8th periods to display their work and talk with the judges.

3-8-12 (Thursday)  No school until the week of the Science Fair.  Data collection should be completed by now, unless otherwise approved.

During the week of 3-26-12 (to be scheduled)  Poster sessions during activity period.  AMS students, teachers, and parents will be invited to view the projects and ask questions of the researchers.

3-30-12  and 3-31-12  (Friday and Saturday)
State Science and Technology Fair of Iowa at Hilton Coliseum.  Registration is at 8:15 on Friday morning, and participants can plan on two very full days.  More details will follow. 

February ELP Lunch: Attention Knit-Wits!

Attention Knit-Wits!  Come to 7th or 8th grade ELP lunch on Thursday, February 23 and Friday, February 24 to learn how to knit.  If you already know how to knit, bring your favorite project or help with our group project.  We will discuss the possibility of making a blanket of knitting squares and donating it to a local organization.  Bonus:  find out how math and knitting are connected.  Needles and yarn are provided.  There will be a limit of 24 people at each lunch.  If you want to get a hot lunch, please put your name on the sign-in sheet before you go to the cafeteria. 

Mini Medical School in Ames

Students that are curious about in a career in medicine may be interested in the Mini Medical School seminar put on by the University of Iowa. It is Monday, February 20th from 5:30-8:30 at the Scheman Building , Iowa State Center, on the ISU campus. Note that it requires registration.

7th and 8th WordMasters

Students should be learning  the new 25 vocabulary words and reviewing the first session words to prepare for the test on Monday, February 20th.

We have explored a number of strategies students could use to learn the words and prepare for the test in class. They include...

a.)  Having a friend or family member quiz the students by first saying the definition and having the  students determine the word. Next say the word and have the student come up with the definition.

b.) Studying is only as effective as the flash cards that are used to learn the word. To make sure students have a complete picture of the definition, students could use  the websites Visuword    or Visual Thesaurus to  look at definitions, synonyms and antonyms of the word. 

c.) Write down the words on a piece of paper. Now write down the definitions.

d.) Draw a picture of the word or a cartoon that includes a word to illustrate the meaning.

e. ) Create sentences for the words that are the trickiest to remember.

d.) Review definitions with activities on the Quia website.
7th: http://www.quia.com/jg/2382191.html
8th: http://www.quia.com/jg/2381497.html
Analogy patterns: http://www.quia.com/pa/202197.html or http://www.quia.com/cm/563003.html

e.)  Once the definitions have been learned, students need to compare and contrast the words to determine which words may be grouped together in analogies. How many ways can the words be grouped? Can you find words from each list that go together in some way?

In class this week, we will learn additional strategies that can be used to compare and contrast the definitions. Students will need to have their WordMaster folders, word lists and word cards to participate in the activities.

February 2012 Calendar

AHS Registration

ELP students have several opportunities to learn more about classes at Ames High School in the next few weeks. Registration for AHS classes is slated for the week of February 27th.

Honors Courses at AHS: Teachers from ninth grade honors courses (Honors English, Honors World Studies and Honors Earth and Space Science) will talk about the classes during third period on Friday, November 17, 2012 in the auditorium.

ELP at AHS: Mrs. Tellen Martens, one of the high school ELP teachers and the district ELP coordinator, will speak at a Learning @ Lunch on Friday, February 17th. Students will learn more about the ninth grade ELP seminar and other ELP opportunities.

8th Grade English Book Blogging Project

http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=721

   

In a collaborative project with ELP and 8th grade English, students were introduced to the history of blogging by viewing a short video created by Commoncraft.com . Reviewing a variety of book blogs from the internet and comparing and contrasting the content, format, and design helped students to understand what a blog looked like and important elements a good blog contained. This week students will create the first blog on Kidblog.org. Once the blogs are completed, they will be uploaded to the site. Stay tuned for some great book discussions! 

Computational Thinking Workshop

The Computational Thinking Workshop for K-12 students by the ISU Computer Science Department will be held on February 11 from 9AM until noon in 105 Pearson on the ISU campus.   Three AMS students attended the January 14 workshop and twelve AMS 7th and 8th graders have signed up for this workshop.  Six students will be attending the afternoon workshop on the programming language Scratch.  (Lunch is not provided.)  The Computational Thinking Workshop is an introduction to posing and solving the types of problems that computer scientists study. 

AMC 10 Competition February 7

The American Mathematics Competition 10 will take place during 5th and 6th periods on February 7.  Seventh and eighth grade students who received an invitation to take the test should check in with their 5th period teacher and then report to F102.  Sixth grade students invited to take the test should come to F102 at the beginning of lunch.  We will have lunch together and then begin the competition.  Contestants may pick up an ELP lunch pass if they would like to go to the cafeteria to purchase a hot lunch.