8th Grade MP3 Campus

School Data is open on the 1st for parent reviews. These are due by the 5th. We hope the cut and paste grade level newsletter will be helpful to supplement your remote learning plan reviews. Thank you for submitting in a timely manner and if you need help, please reach out to your SLPC.

Topics: Linear Expressions

Activities: We have been working on reading graphed lines and drawing lines on a graph. This month has been cut short by Winter Break: The Sequel, so our topics were to find the slope of a line based on a graphed line, if given an equation, or if given two points. We then looked at y- and x-intercepts of a line; finding them if given a line on a graph or an equation. In our last week, we have focused on slope-intercept equations and using them to draw lines on a graph. Students have been challenged to take care of a zombie problem by graphing lines to eliminate them. As a challenge, one zombie is left without a line. Students will need to create their own equation that only hits it. Our next topic will be to write equations in slope-intercept form for lines already drawn on a graph.

Teacher Tip or Reflection Questions: Have students take a picture of their bedroom and print it out. Draw a graph over the picture and challenge them to draw lines that connect certain objects. Either you can give them equations to use to draw the lines or wait and have them come up with the equations once we've reviewed this material in the beginning of next month.

Teacher Info: Mrs. Alexander, halexander@meridian.wednet.edu

Topics: Writing Choice Boards, Where I’m From poems, iReady Testing, Argument Essays

Activities: We kicked off the new year by reactivating our writing muscles! Everyone picked a topic from a choice board and dove into writing. Then we started composing ‘Where I’m From’ poems. Using a template as a loose guide, students reflected on the places and people who have made them who they are. I was very impressed by the level of recall and introspection they engaged in. In an effort to make our memory poems look old, we utilized an antiquing process where we crumpled them up and soaked them in tea. The final product was quite impressive. One class day was spent on iReady testing and then we moved on to the preliminary work of writing argument essays. We learned that argument essays are not just opinion pieces - they need to include sound reasons and evidence. We practiced setting aside our own judgements and searching for evidence on both sides of an issue before making a definitive claim about it. Next we moved on to annotating an argument essay. We identified the hook, claim, evidence, reasons, counterclaim, rebuttal and conclusion in the paper. Each of these elements will be included in our work and it was useful to see how they are integrated in someone else’s. To wrap up the month we began the planning process for our own argument papers.

Teacher Tip: Our next round of book projects will be due on Wednesday, February 21. Feel free to reach out if you or your students have any questions!

Teacher info: Rachel Oscarson, roscarson@meridian.wednet.edu

Topics: Engineering and Design: Students create programmable models to demonstrate the knowledge and operation of digital tools and technological systems, adhere to criteria and constraints, build for balance and stability, investigated model design components that can provide an advantage, gear ratios for speed, and modify an existing model or program to solve a problem.

Activities: Specific Builds: Industrial simulated Robots Students worked with their partner to build and programed a model to complete a set of performance tasks with predictable movements, move forward/ reverse for specific distances and time, navigate a course that includes pivot turns, curved movement and movement forward and reverse for specific distances.

Challenge Project: Roller Coaster continued- Student teams continue to redesign their roller coasters to include more complex travel lines such as 180-degree revolutions, corkscrews, free fall drops. Student teams collaborated to problem solve issues and create the most creative and successful roller coasters. STEM projects provide hands-on learning. Curiosity is piqued and students investigate many workable solutions using critical thinking skills and explore by manipulating materials to design or solve a problem. STEM projects present opportunities to develop a mindset and a lifelong set of practices for asking questions, designing solutions, and communicating results. The roller coaster challenge is a multiple day activity.

Challenge Project: Ski Lift Chair and Rider- Students worked to answer, “How can you use the materials provided to design and build a ski lift chair and a passenger”? Collaborating with a partner, students generated ideas and drew diagrams for this two-part building project: #1 Ski Lift Chair, #2 Passenger. Constraints- Passenger must be a size that fits the chair and be wearing skis or a snowboard. The chair must hold the passenger. The chair must have a protective bar across the front to keep the passenger from falling out. The protective bar must raise and lower. The chair must have a way to attach to the ski lift line and hang so that the passenger is sitting in a seated position to safely travel up and down the lift line. Supplies available- clothes pins, craft sticks, tape, cotton swabs, tin foil, string, straws, and cardboard. As students worked, they tested their chair’s ability to hold the passenger and have the protective bar open and close. They modified parts and adjusted chairs to hang on the lift line correctly- without dumping the skier out.

Teacher Tip: Include Robotics, Engineering and Design Topics and activities in your independent Science Class review.

Teacher Info: Mrs. Brannen - lbrannen@meridian.wednet.edu

Topics: Trial days, closing statements, jury deliberations

Activities: In our final month of Mock Trials, we finally saw the case of Wright vs Play and Learn go to trial. These trials are always so much fun and once again, I was impressed by the super work each student did. Attorneys made opening statements and conducted superb witness examinations. Witnesses did an admirable job of responding to questions with confidence and without relying too much on their notes. There were some nerves and some anxious moments as direct and cross examinations unfolded. Both sides presented very compelling cases and delivered superb closing statements to try and sway the jury. In the end, after thoughtful jury deliberation, the jury found that the defendant, Play and Learn Childcare Center, was not guilty of negligence. However, they did hold Play and Learn accountable for the medical expenses incurred by the plaintiff. I was impressed by the collaborative work that was done throughout the semester and in this final month, everything came together nicely. Congratulations to both the prosecution and defense teams and to the jury as well.

Teacher Tip: Looking forward to continued hard work as we transition to WSH in the second semester!

Teacher Info: Don't hesitate to contact me if you have a question.

Jeff Caraco, jcaraco@meridian.wednet.edu

Topics: Continued to practice lab write ups, selective permeability, diffusion, osmosis

Activities: We began our “Eggsperiment” labs. In our first lab, students wrote hypotheses about how vinegar would affect an egg’s shell. In our second “Eggsperiment” lab, students wrote hypotheses about how distilled water or corn syrup would affect their shell less eggs. Water moved into the eggs placed in distilled water and out of the eggs placed in corn syrup. The eggs membrane (left after the shell dissolved), allowed water to pass into or out of the egg via osmosis. In the distilled water, the egg was more concentrated inside than outside. Osmosis always tries to reach equilibrium, so the water moved into the egg. In the corn syrup, the syrup was more concentrated than the egg, so the water moved out of the egg and into the syrup. Students than placed their eggs in new substances to test the results (salt water, colored water, corn syrup). These will be observed after break.

Teacher Comment: What a pleasure it has been to spend the past few months with these 8th grade students. Their interest, hard work ethic, humor, and effort made it a joy! I will miss each of them.

Teacher Info: Mrs DeWaard, hdewaard@meridian.wednet.edu