The May 20th Issue
7th and 8th Grade Science:
This week students will begin an online project about Roller Coasters. They will be required to research these "Scream Machines" at four different amusement parks: Cedar Point, Kings Island, Six Flags Magic Mountain, and Six Flags Great Adventure. They will also have to use roller coaster simulators to make three different rides that meet specific qualifications.
In addition, by reading several articles from "How Stuff Works", they will learn about roller coaster history, components of coasters, forces, physics, how the body reacts, what gives us that "sinking feeling", loops, types of coasters, and safety tips. Finally, they will investigate 12 of the world's greatest coasters.
Next week, the long awaited lab will begin!
7th Grade LA:Reading
On Monday, I will return the tests from The Devil's Arithmetic.
Students will then be introduced to their final novel, Avi's Nothing But The Truth. Written in documentary style, this book relates the events that destroy a dedicated teacher's career and result in a national scandal over nonexistent incidents. The very serious matters of a boy's rights to express his patriotism and of the destructive power of lying are treated thoughtfully, with no easy answers. With this timely theme of how the media is sometimes responsible for distorting the truth, Avi explores how individuals believe they are justified in perpetrating false claims in order to achieve their own social agenda. In doing so, they blatantly defy the core of the American justice system founded on the principle of telling 'the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God.'
12 days and counting! Mrs. W