Notes from 11/26/14

Homework:

None

Notes:


Today was our Thanksgiving Feast! We had a great time and the students did a great job recognizing what they are grateful for!




Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving! See you all on Monday December 1st.

Homework and Notes from 11/25/14

Homework:

Math:

Square Roots Practice Work (3-1)
#s 1-12

Science:

Finish Geosphere work/written response

You are one of the five themes of geography—location, place, region, human/environment interaction, or movement. Write a monologue that explains to your fellow themes why you are important to geography. Be specific.

*Finish CLASSWORK*
Social Studies:
Native Americans in the Northern Area
Reading Comprehension
Circle the correct word worksheet


Notes:


Thanksgiving Feast is tomorrow. Mr. Giangaspro is bringing in his famous ziti. Can't wait to try all of the exciting food!



In English we took our Red Badge of Courage test. I will be grading and returning them before the Thanksgiving Day Break! Stay tuned


In Current Events, we learned about the history and logistics of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. What do you do on Thanksgiving morning? You might watch Macy's Parade. It is in New York City. This parade has floating, helium filled balloons. Snoopy will be there. You might see Dora. Kermit will be there. You might see Buzz or Shrek. There are giant floats. There are funny clowns. There are marching bands, too. The parade route is two miles long. Every year, about three million people are there. They watch it live. More than forty million Americans see it on TV. This parade began in 1924. There were no balloons or floats that year. It had live animals from the zoo. In 1969, the first floats were made. They are built in New Jersey. Some of them may be forty feet tall! They must be folded when they come into the city. The balloons are inflated the night before. Workers toil all night! They must be ready for the parade's nine o'clock start. More than four thousand volunteers help along the parade route. Macy's Parade is a tradition for many people. This packet is an informational that you will use to help you understand the tradition that entertains millions and millions of people!  (EdHelper)

We watched the 85th anniversary special and took notes. We wrote down 14 relevant facts and shared them with the class. Here is the link below.

We also had an activity where they had to design their own float/balloon for the parade and it had to meet a certain criteria. Here are the questions they answered.

Imagine you are in charge of creating the next big hit float in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. What would you choose? Why would you choose it? How can you justify it to your bosses that this float will have the longevity of some of the greatest floats in parade history.

Identify what movie, TV show or popular culture reference your float is from

_______________________________________________________________________

How much money would you need to build it?

________________________________________________________________________

What material would you make your float out of? Why?

________________________________________________________________________

Why would this balloon/float be relevant in 15 years?

_________________________________________________________________________

How many people are needed to guide it down the street?

__________________________________________________________________________

When would you want this float to debut?

____________________________________________________________________________

Why would people want to see this float in the parade?

____________________________________________________________________________

Would this be a live action float or a balloon?

Check the parade routes, what street would you like to go down?

____________________________________________________________________________

Would this float/balloon be advertising money for any product or good?

____________________________________________________________________________

Would this balloon/float make a company money? Which one?

____________________________________________________________________________

Name 3 cool features that makes your balloon/float unique

____________________________________________________________________________

Draw a model specific with color and design below.

Homework and Notes from 11/24/14

Homework:

Math

Finish Square Roots worksheet
Solve for n

English:

Study for Red Badge of Courage Test
We completed the Review Sheet in class.
(Test will look exactly like it)

Science

Finish Landforms Vocabulary Activity Sheet

Notes:

In Current Events, we read an article from Dogo News entitled Indonesia Announces Multi-Billion Plan To Save Jakarta From Sinking. Rising sea levels are a growing worry for many coastal cities around the world. While all are expected to be impacted, some like Indonesia's capital Jakarta, are more vulnerable. Located in the northwest coast of the Java Sea, Southeast Asia's most populous city lies on a low flat basin at the mouth of the Ciliwung River on the Jakarta Bay. Though its average elevation is 8-meters (26 feet), 40% of the city lies below sea level and is sinking by as much as six inches, annually. Experts speculate that if this pace continues, much of northern Jakarta will be underwater by 2030.

During school we baked Apple Crumb Cake with Mr. Mergl. We did a great job and can't wait to share it at the Thanksgiving.

Homework and Notes from 11/21/14

Homework:

None, Enjoy your weekend.

Notes:


Wednesday, 11/26/14 will be our Thanksgiving Feast. The students will enjoy an array of food and we will also discuss what we are thankful for on this holiday! We will be baking Apple Crumb Cake on Monday in school for the event. Can't wait.



In Current Events today we read an article entitled Crafty Seals Follow Tracking Device Signals to Catch Fish from Dogo News. We discussed the benefits and possible reasons to use tracking devices on wild animals. The class came up with these reasons: to follow or trace an animal's lifestyle, follow their eating habits, track movements, provide protection and awareness to the dangers and study how far and where they go. Tiny monitoring devices have become an increasingly common way for scientists to study elusive animals that are difficult to track on a day-to-day basis. However, now it seems that smart seals have caught on to the trick and are using it to their advantage to catch fish! This stunning finding was revealed in a study published on November 19th, in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B by a team of researchers from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. The scientists decided to embark on the investigation after previous research indicated that while ultrasonic frequencies produced by acoustic tags (the kind used in fish) were imperceptible to the animals they were being used on,predators like seals and sea lions were able to detect the signal quite easily. To verify if that was true, the scientists selected a group of ten juvenile grey seals that had been born in captivity. This meant that the marine animals had never encountered the ocean, nor been exposed to any kind of acoustic tags. The researchers then placed the seals one at a time, inside a pool that contained 20 foraging boxes, only two of which housed fish - one with tags and the other without. (Dogo News)

Homework and Notes from 11/20/14

Homework:

Math:

Square Root Word Problems Questions #s 1-6

English:

Finish Chapter 24 (the Finale) Questions from Red Badge of Courage

Notes:



Today in English we finished the Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane. We will be completing a Review Sheet tomorrow with comprehension questions and vocabulary words. We will be taking the test on the whole book on Monday 11/24/14.



In Current Events, we read an article entitled World's Most Complicated Watch Auctions For Record $24 Million from Dogo News. The world's most complicated watch, a 1933 timepiece made by luxury watchmaker Patek Phillipe was sold for an astounding $24.4 million USD at a Sotheby's auction in Switzerland on November 11th. The historic price for the aptly named 'Supercomplication' masterpiece smashed the world record set by same watch in 1999, when it was bought by Sheikh Saud Bin Mohammed Bin Ali Al-Thani, a member of Qatar's royal family, for $11 million USD. According to Sotheby's, it took the anonymous buyer just 15 minutes to outbid the other five watch enthusiasts that were competing for the rare timepiece that started bidding at $16.8 million USD. While that may appear a lot for an old pocket watch, to collectors, the Henry Graves Supercomplication that is often described as "the most important watch in the world," "one of the wonders of the world," and "the collector's holy grail", is the best there is. (Dogo News)

Homework and Notes from 11/19/14

Math:

Finish Scientific Notation Worksheet

English:

Finish Chapter 23 questions for Red Badge of Courage

Science:

Tycho Brahe Reading Comprehension and Grammar Activity

Notes:



In Current Events, we read an article from Dogo News entitled Vampire Fanged Deer Sighted After 66 years. The recent report of the sighting of a few Kashmir musk deer has given conservationists hope that the species may be alive and well amongst the forests in Afghanistan.The study published by the World Wildlife Foundation in the November edition of the journal Oryx, states that a team of researchers scouring the country's Nuristan Province in 2008 and 2009, encountered the animals on five separate occasions. Kashmir musk are one of seven known species of the deer that can be found amidst the forests and alpine scrubs in the mountains of Asia. They were last seen in the area in 1948, by a team of Dutch researchers traversing across Afghanistan's Parun Valley. (Dogo News)

Homework and Notes from 11/18/14

Homework

Math:

Finish #s 1-16 on Scientific Notation on worksheet

English:

Finish Chapter 22 Red Badge of Courage Questions

1. Why do you think Crane describes guns and flags as if they are human?
2. Consider these descriptions of the battle. Does it seem organized or chaotic? What made you arrive at your conclusion?
3. What were the rebel forces hiding behind?
4.Based on the events of the battle thus far, what do you think will be done in response to this crisis?

Notes:

Field Trip

Today we took our trip to the Roosevelt Field Mall. We did a scavenger hunt and had to find specific items in the stores. We also enjoyed lunch in the food court. The class did a great job :)

Homework and Notes from 11/17/14

Homework:

Math:

Scientific Notation worksheet
Turning larger numbers into short hand numbers.

English:

Finish Chapter 21 Questions of Red Badge of Courage

1. Why might Henry feel he has the right to look down on his fellows?
2. Which officer attempted to defend the actions of the 304th?
3. Summarize what was said in this paragraph.
4. Explain in your own words why Wilson and Henry are suddenly so happy based on a rumor of a conversation. What importance would this hold for them?

Science:

Crater of Doom
(Vocabulary Activity)
Circle the correct spelling of the word
25 questions

Notes:


In Science we read an article entitled The Crater of Doom from EdHelper. Have you ever seen a shooting star? Shooting stars, also called meteors, are pieces of dust and rock that burn as they fall through Earth's atmosphere. Many of them are as small as a grain of sand. Larger chunks that don't burn up completely are called meteorites when they land on Earth's surface. Earth gets many of these surprise visitors each day! How many? Thousands of tiny, sand-grain-sized meteorites fall on Earth's surface every day. About 100 larger ones, maybe the size of a soccer ball, fall every year. On average, one meteorite about the size of a house hits the Earth about every 100 years. These make pits in the ground called craters. At different times in Earth's past, a really big meteorite has hit the Earth. One of these is thought to have caused the extinction of the dinosaurs about 65 million years ago. (EdHelper)




Field Trip
On tomorrow, Tuesday November 18th, our class will be going to Roosevelt Field Mall for Orienteering Activity run by Gersh Academy Transition Department. Can't wait!!

In Current Events, we read an article entitled Central London Hotel Draws Harry Potter Fans With "Wizard Chambers" from Dogo News. Though the last book of the spectacular Harry Potter series was released seven years ago in 2007, the young wizard continues to be extremely popular with both kids and adults. Over the years, Potter fans have been able to experience numerous aspects of the young wizard's life, right down to his favorite drink - Butterbeer. Now thanks to a British hotel, they can also spend a night in the wizard's Hogwarts Castle dormitory room. The four-star Gregorian Hotel in Central London, which recently revealed its two "Wizard Chambers", is ideally suited to reproduce J.K. Rowling's school of wizardry.That's because the hotel, which is still run by the descendants of the original owners, dates all the way back to 1851. And though it has been retrofitted with modern amenities, not much has been done to its external appearance. (Dogo News)

Homework and Notes from 11/14/14

Homework:

No Homework

Happy Friday!


Notes:



On Tuesday November 18th, our class will be going to Roosevelt Field Mall for Orienteering Activity run by Gersh Academy Transition Department. Can't wait!!



Today in Social Studies, we read an article that continued to talk about Westward Expansion. We talked specifically about the wagons used to travel across the country to settle in states like Oregon and California. Your excitement and plans are exactly the same as a family would have experienced in 1843 before leaving for the Oregon Trail. The first step in their plan would be arranging transportation. Your father would either make or buy a wagon. There were three different types of wagons: a light wagon (about 8 feet x 4 feet), a medium sized wagon with sloping sides and ends (about 10 feet. x 4 feet), and a Conestoga wagon (about 16-18 feet x 4 feet). Many people think this was the wagon used by most of the pioneers. This is not true. Conestogas were freight wagons used to transport goods. (EdHelper)



In Science we talked about Comets and specifically Comet Lovejoy. Our part of the solar system welcomed a new visitor in late 2011. On November 27, 2011, Terry Lovejoy of Australia reported it as "a rapidly moving fuzzy object" in the nighttime sky. A few days later, the comet sighting was confirmed by a team using the Mount John University Observatory's telescope. The comet, estimated to be the size of two football fields placed end-to-end, was zooming toward the sun. On December 15, it flew within 87,000 miles of the sun's surface, the photosphere. Nobody thought it would ever be seen again. Scientists thought the comet would vaporize from the estimated two million degrees F. temperature near our star. But Comet Lovejoy proved them wrong. It reappeared after circling the sun. On December 21, the comet could again be seen by anyone in the Southern Hemisphere as a naked eye object. (EdHelper)



In Current Events we talked and watched a video about the Rosetta space mission sent from ESA in Europe. We used the article from BBC, Rosetta: Battery Will Limit Life of Philae Comet Lander. Their goal was to able to land on a comet while in orbit. The lander bounced twice, initially about 1km back out into space, before settling in the shadow of a cliff, 1km from its intended target site. It may now be problematic to get enough sunlight to charge its battery systems. Launched in 2004, the European Space Agency (Esa) mission hopes to learn about the origins of our Solar System. It has already sent back the first images ever taken from the crumbling, fractured terrain of a comet.  Philae got to the icy 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on the back of Esa's Rosetta satellite after a 10-year, 6.4 billion-km (4bn-mile) journey, which reached its climax on Wednesday with a seven-hour drop to the surface. After showing an image that indicates Philae's presumed location - on the far side of a large crater that was earlier considered but then rejected as a landing site - the head of the lander team, Stephan Ulamec, said: "We could be somewhere in the rim of this crater, which could explain this bizarre… orientation that you have seen."(BBC News)

Homework and Notes from 11/13/14

Homework:

Math:
Scientific Notation worksheet
#s 1-12 on (2-10) worksheet

English:

Finish Chapter 19 Questions from Red Badge of Courage 
(started in class)

1. Paraphrase the central point of this paragraph

2. What actions started the advance again?

3.Why do you think Henry is so anxious to lead the charge?

Science:

Finish John Glenn
Grammar Activity
Circle the correct spelling of a word

Notes:



Clubs tomorrow.


Pizza money tomorrow (2 dollars a slice)



Smart Board:

Today was the first time that our class was able to utilize the Smart Board for our Social Studies lessons. We took turns writing the definitions on the board and culminated with a Google Earth activity showing the different places where the Gold Rush in the West took place. The students had a great time and we are so excited to learn more about how using the Smart Board in our class can help!



In Science today we talked about the famous astronaut John Glenn. The countdown began at T - 390 minutes. At 6:06 in the morning, on February 20, Glenn boarded the spacecraft. There were a few minor delays to make last minute adjustments, but then the countdown continued. Finally they were down to the last few seconds before liftoff. Five, four, three, two, one -- Glenn was blasted into orbit. His successful flight orbited the Earth three times. It reached a maximum altitude of 162 miles and a maximum speed of 17,500 miles per hour. When it was time to reenter the Earth's atmosphere, the astronauts had a scare. They thought that the heat shield was coming loose. Glenn saw chunks of material that might be part of the heat shield flying by the window of the capsule. In the final minutes of the flight, everyone was nervously waiting to see if he would be able to return home safely. They were all relieved to see Friendship 7 splash down in the Atlantic Ocean. After four hours and 55 minutes in space, John Glenn was home. Seventeen minutes after splash down, the capsule was picked up by a U.S. destroyer. After it was brought aboard ship, Glenn stepped out. He had returned safely! (EdHelper)

Homework and Notes from 11/12/14

Homework

Math:

Working with Exponents Word Problems

Science:

Finish Columbia Space Shuttle Writing Prompts

What type of person do you think would make a good astronaut? Write about the characteristics that you think a good astronaut should have. What are some of the qualities and skills that you think a good NASA engineer should have? Write about what a person might need to do to prepare for a career at the space center.

English:

Finish classwork and questions from Chapter 18 of Red Badge of Courage Who was shot? Why might there have been confusion about the location of a stream? What does this final sentence suggest about Henry and Wilson's perception of what happens in war? Compare the earlier assessment of the 304th's fighting prowess given by the lieutenant with the assessment in this paragraph. Why do you think Henry and Wilson did not share the fact that the officers think they will be annihilated? Notes: In Science today we learned about the Columbia Space Shuttle. In the 1960s, the Space Shuttle program was in the planning stages. Scientists envisioned a vehicle for space transportation that could make dreams come true. It would have the capability to orbit the Earth and then return just like a jet plane - ready to go again. It would carry satellites into space, and it would even carry astronauts back and forth to a space station. By the 1970s, the first shuttles were being built. The first one, Enterprise, was an experimental model. After that, five more were built: Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavor. Over the years, the shuttles had many successful flights. Still, NASA engineers were concerned about the safety of each mission. Blasting off into outer space was always dangerous. (EdHelper) In Current Events we read an article from NewsEla entitled Baseball worries fan are singing "Take me out to the faster ball game" For 150 years, baseball has been played without a clock. It is the only major sport without a time element, but that could change soon. Football has a play clock, and basketball has a shot clock. Now, Major League Baseball (MLB) is testing new clock rules in the Arizona Fall League (AFL), a minor league run by the MLB. Baseball could have a pitch clock, a pitching-change clock, and an inning-break clock. Umpires could soon penalize pitchers with automatic balls and batters with automatic strikes. The rule changes are intended to address the increasing periods of inactivity during the game that some fear could turn away younger viewers. (NewsEla) We answered these questions. Questions: 1.   How would you change baseball to shorten the game? 2.   Why do you think games being too long are a problem? 3.   What does Clint Hurtle mean when he says ““If it’s all about a clock, go watch another sport.”? In Social Studies we talked about the expansion of the United States by adding Alaska, We read a chapter from EdHelper "Alaska For Sale" The United States was growing. In the second half of the 1800s, many people felt that it was the "manifest destiny" of the United States to spread from the East Coast all the way to the West Coast. A few people had even bigger dreams. Secretary of State William H. Seward was one of them. He hoped to see the U.S. expand to the northern edge of the continent too. So, you can imagine that when he heard that Russia might be interested in selling Alaska, he jumped at the chance. He negotiated a purchase price with Edouard de Stoeckl, the Russian diplomat. They settled on $7,200,000. This came to 12.5 cents per acre for a plot of land twice the size of Texas. (EdHelper)

Homework and Notes from 11/10/14

Homework:

Science:

Sputnik Vocabulary Grammar Activity
(Fill in the letters)

English:

Finish Chapter 17 Red Badge of Courage

Social Studies:
Cattle Drive Vocabulary Grammar Activity
( 3 x each)

Notes:



No school tomorrow! Happy Veteran's Day



In Current Events, we read an article entitled More Sea Turtles Are Nesting in Florida from Newsela. This year the number of sea turtles nesting on Florida beaches is making scientists hopeful. There are, however, many things they don't understand about the numbers of turtles laying eggs in the sand. Welcome to the mysterious world of sea turtles. They spend much of their life facing fishing boats, oil spills, plastic trash and many other dangers. Loggerhead, green and leatherback are three types of turtles that nest along the state's coast. Over the past five years, their numbers have generally gone up — but from year to year they have shot up and gone down. (NewsEla)



In Life Skills we talked about how to tip in a restaurant. A server in a restaurant has a hard job. It is his or her job to keep the customer happy when he is eating out. This isn't always easy. Customers can be rude and hard to please. Servers are not paid minimum wage. They are paid less because some of the money that they make comes from tips. A tip is a small amount of money that a person is given for doing a job. How much you want to give for a tip is up to you. A person usually does not tip in a fast food restaurant. Most of the time tips are only given in restaurants where a server comes to your table and takes your order. The amount that is given for a tip often depends on how much the bill is. An average amount for the tip is fifteen percent of the bill before tax. But whether or not you give this much is usually up to you. (EdHelper)



In Social Studies, we continued to talk about Reconstruction. We talked about the Cattle Drive from Texas to Missouri. Texas was a perfect location for raising Spanish longhorns and other cattle. The climate was just right, and the land was perfect for grazing. In fact, it was so good that, by the 1800's, there was more beef than the people of Texas knew what to do with. The price of cattle began to drop.Cattle ranchers had to find a new market for their cattle if they wanted to keep ranching. They knew that people in other parts of the country would buy the cattle, but the problem was how to get the cattle to them. Railroads were in use in many parts of the country, but not yet in Texas. One of the closest rail yards was in Kansas City, Missouri. Look at a United States map and you will see that Kansas City is a long way from Texas. (EdHelper)



In Science, we talked about Sputnik I. There are many great inventions you use every day. One you probably use every day is the Internet. You use it to communicate, to read, to study, and even to watch movies and television. You may use GPS, too. That's a system that helps locate people and places. The Internet and GPS both work because of satellites. Modern satellites all started with one little ball that flew into space. The little ball's name was Sputnik I. In the 1950s, the Soviet Union and the United States were working on space travel. Both countries wanted to find a way into space. Both countries started working on a satellite. They also had to find a way to take the satellite to space. The Soviet Union started working on its satellite called Object D. Object D became a big problem for its builders. Different groups made different parts of Object D. Some of the parts didn't fit together. The Soviet Union stopped working on Object D. They began work on a much smaller and simpler satellite. (EdHelper)

Homework and Notes from 11/7/14

Homework:

English:

Finish Chapter 16 Questions from Red Badge of Courage

What is Wilson doing while they wait?

Why would Henry feel guilty saying this?

Why is Henry so upset by this remark?

Consider how Henry and Wilson behaved before their first battle and how they relate now. What has changed?

Summarize the events in this chapter.

Notes:

Today we had Clubs and the students had a great time to end our week!

We also had Cafe Clean Up and the students continued their weekly work schedule by leaving the cafeteria immaculately clean! Great job!



On Tuesday November 11th, we off for Veteran's Day.