December 7-11, 2009

Miss Martin- Gr. 7/8 D and Gr. 7C English, Gr. 7 A, 7B and 7/8 D Health

martinav@limestone.on.ca

Grade 7C and 7/8 D English- Miss Martin

Students are working on a Celebrations Compare/Contrast Assignment. They have to choose one holiday that they celebrate and compare/contrast it with another holiday. We have made these choices in the classroom. This is meant to be a really fun and interactive assignment. Here are the guidelines:

1) Research your celebration using books, magazines, the Internet, or interview people who participate in the celebration.

2) Complete the Venn diagram (this has been distributed in class) to compare similarities and differences for each celebration.

3) Complete a comparative writing piece (minimum 3 paragraphs and a maximum of 5 paragraphs) comparing/contrasting the chosen celebration to your own celebrations.   The comparative writing piece may be hand written or typed. Your final copy (that you are expected to hand in to the teacher) needs to have a bibliography. Please use the bibliography sheet you were given in class to help you.

4) Present your celebration to the class (presentations start December 11th). During the presentation, you need to present ONE interactive aspect of this celebration (e.g. type of food, craft, game, costume, song, etc.) for the celebration that you DO NOT celebrate. Maximum- 5 minutes

DUE DATE: Monday, December 14th (written copy and rehearsed presentation)

Students should be reading a minimum of 20 minutes every evening.  Students also need to ensure that they have a novel at school to read during independent reading times.

Gr. 7A and B Health- Miss Martin

Students need to complete "My Canadian Food Guide" Assignment- comparing their own food diary (previous week's activity) with the Canadian Food Guide- this is due:

7B- due Tuesday, December 8

7A- due Friday, December 11

Students are being given a sheet to record one week's intake of food/liquids (please try to be specific- rather than pizza, write 2 small slices of Hawaiian pizza). We will be using this information to compare it to the Canadian Food Guide and to help set healthy goals for the year.

Homework - Miss Richards - ENGLISH (7A, 7B, 8B, 8C), SCIENCE (7A, 7/8D, 8B), HEALTH (7C)

ENGLISH for 7A, 7B, 8B & 8C - We are completing a major project in English over the next few weeks. Each English class will be responsible for completing a Celebrations Comparison Project. They have to choose one holiday that they celebrate and compare/contrast it with another holiday. We have made these choices in the classroom and by Friday, December 4th, every student will know what he/she is doing for their project. They will have 5 periods in class to complete this project (and also use time wisely at home and complete it for homework) and then presentations will start Friday, December 11th. The entire project is due Friday, December 11th. This is meant to be a really fun and interactive assignment. Here are the guidelines:

1) Research your celebration using books, magazines, the Internet, or interview people who participate in the celebration.

2) Complete the Venn diagram (this has been distributed in class) to compare similarities and differences for each celebration.

3) Complete a comparative writing piece (minimum 3 paragraphs and a maximum of 5 paragraphs) comparing/contrasting the chosen celebration to your own celebrations.   The comparative writing piece may be hand written or typed. Your final copy (that you are expected to hand in to the teacher) needs to have a bibliography. Please use the bibliography sheet you were given in class to help you.

4) Present your celebration to the class (presentations start December 11th). During the presentation, you need to present ONE interactive aspect of this celebration (e.g. type of food, craft, game, costume, song, etc.) for the celebration that you DO NOT celebrate.

DUE DATE: Friday, December 11th (written copy and rehearsed presentation)

SCIENCE  for 7A & 7D - Science Quiz on Monday, December 7th, 2009 for 7D; Thursday, December 10th for 7A. The quiz will be on what we've learned so far in our Pure Substances and Mixtures Unit (pure substances, mixtures, mechanical mixtures, solutions (solvent/solute), hetereogeneous and homogeneous mixtures, states of matter and particle theory).

Science - 8B & 8D - No homework.

Health - 7C - No homework

A reminder:

Students should be reading between 15-20 minutes of English every evening. Students also are reminded that they are to have their independent reading novel at school and they should be bringing it with them to all English subject classes.

If you have any questions, please contact me at richardssh@limestone.on.ca

Lego Robotics
Tuesday, December 8th - Practice - After School - 2:40 - 3:40
Wednesday, December 9th - Lunch Practice - 12:15-12:50
Thursday, December 10th - Practice - After School - 2:40-5:00
Friday, December 11th - Lunch Practice - 12:15-12:50
Saturday, December 12th - Kanata Tournament - Be in Kanata by 8:00 am!!! (Tournament runs from 8:30-6:00 pm)

Girls Volleyball

I  am very proud of the girls volleyball team this year. They played with such heart and improved SO much over the season! Well done girls! PIZZA  PARTY  on Thursday!

Ms. VandenHoek's Science 8C (prev.8D)

-- For December 7, 8 & 9, we will be finishing our cells unit with an experiment on DNA extraction. No, we're not creating Frankenstein; we're looking at kiwi DNA! Any remaining work and assessments will be returned. Parents should note that two tests from last term were already sent home in October and November for your perusal and signature. Homework for Tues.Dec.7th: Create a suitable statement for your "Kiwi DNA" hypothesis, using your background knowledge of plant cell structure.

-- Students are working with partners to research and prepare an informational display (poster board or brochure) for our Health-Sciences exposition on Wednesday, November 25th. The critical issues being explored are genetic testing, membrane technologies, stem cell research, cells gone wrong, and advances in microscopy. Your informational display should give an overview of what the topic is, who the topic involves, why it is important (specifically, how can we link it back to our study of cells), any controversial views/aspects, and where we hope to go in the future with this topic. Information should be well-organized with titles, subtitles, and graphics to enhance visual communication. Students have submitted their notebooks on Thurs., Nov. 19th for assessment. Previously both assessments (quiz and test) were sent home for parental perusal, signature and immediate return to the teacher.

Previous Homework notices: Before Tuesday, November 10th, students must make some decisions about their 3-D cell structure. First, will it be a plant or animal cell? Second, will the project be completed individually or with a partner? Third, what materials will I/we be utilizing to construct the cell? A written plan (sketch, list of materials, draft procedures) of your cell's design must be submitted to Ms. V. at the end of Tuesday's class. The plan may be completed and submitted in class OR may be completed ahead of time, submitted in class, and construction begun on Tuesday. In any case, Wednesday's class will be used for construction and/or collaborative purposes. Bring to school whatever materials that you require. We have construction paper, bristol board, glue sticks, scissors, some clay, paint, markers, chalk, and crayons. Oral presentations will be next Tuesday, November 17th.

Test on Cell Structures & The Microscope on Wed. Nov. 4th

From October 20th to 22nd, there was no assigned homework. Our in-class investigations involved observations of slides with the microscope, including identifying its parts and their functions. While waiting to view the slides, students responded to the Chapter#1 Review on page 36 of the science text, questions #1 to 10. Students had 3 periods to complete the work. Only a few students were absent all three days. Here are those questions.

1. In your notebook, match each cell function in column A with a cell structure in column B.

A: B:

– the “power-houses” of the cell – nucleus

– carries out photosynthesis in plant cells -- cell membranes – gives plant cells strength and support – chloroplast – a moving fluid that distributes materials – mitochondria – controls the cell’s activities – cytoplasm – a thin, protective “skin” – vacuole – stores materials – cell wall

-- chromosome

2. Is an earthworm unicellular or multicellular? Explain your answer.

3. Describe two differences between the cell membrane and the cell wall.

4. On a microscope, which adjustment knob must you use to focus the medium-power objective lens? Explain why.

5. Which part of a cell allows it to exchange substances with its surroundings?

6. Where would you find the substance chlorophyll in a cell? What is its function?

7. Which of the following would you expect to find in an animal cell? Give a reason for each.

(a) nucleus (b) chloroplast (c) vacuole

8. Is each of the following statements true or false? If false, write the correct statement.

(a) Plant cells have a cell wall but no cell membrane.

(b) The cell nucleus contains chromosomes.

(c) Mitochondria and chloroplasts both absorb the energy of the Sun.

9. Draw a Venn diagram. Where the circles overlap, list characteristics that living things and non-living things have in common. In the left circle, list characteristics shown only by living things. In the right circle, list characteristics shown by only non-living things.

10. Draw another Venn diagram. Where the circles overlap, list parts that plant cells and animal cells have in common. In the left circle, list parts that only plant cells have. In the right circle, list parts that only animal cells have.