Have a great long weekend!

Thank you to all those who came to last night's Open House!

If you weren't able to make it you are always welcome to email myself (lebowen@cbe.ab.ca) or Mr. Hillier (ruhillier@cbe.ab.ca) with any questions or to arrange a meeting to discuss how we can better support your student.

Math: 

We completed this week's Geometric Construction skill building with a Draw a 3D hole assignment.

Homework: If you did not complete this or were away you can click on this Draw a 3D hole link.

Science:

We built vocabulary this week for the Interactions and Ecosystems unit. 

Homework: If possible please finish your posters by Tuesday or early next week.

Open House Tomorrow!

Tomorrow night from 5-8pm we are having an Open House at Ernest Morrow School. 

I hope to meet many of the students' parents! We will share learning information, answer questions, and introduce you to new technology including Power School and our Class Blogs.

Math: 

Students learned to draw perpendicular bisectors and angle bisectors and tomorrow we will use our geometric construction skills to draw optical illusions and make art. Should be a lot of fun!

Science:

We went on an outdoor adventure to the disc gulf course and students observed as many abiotic and biotic things as possible and the interconnections between living and nonliving things. They were mostly very focussed and as a result they made excellent observations. Well done!

Does anyone know what kind of fruit is in this picture?

Is this lichen on the tree?
 
What is the relationship between lichen and the tree bark?
Check out this link to find out more

New Units

Math:

We started Geometric Constructions this week. There are lots of hands on activities in this brief unit. Students will learn to identify and draw:

• Parallel lines and line segments
• Perpendicular lines and line segments
• Angles (right, acute, obtuse)
• Perpendicular bisectors
• Angle Bisectors

To review the introductory concepts view this presentation: Line Segments and Angles

The week will end with an art project where students can demonstrate their understanding of these concepts while creating optical illusions and maps.

Science:

We began Interactions and Ecosystems this week. Students began by categorizing vocabulary into words they know well, they sort of know, and they have never seen before.

Each student is making a poster of one of the scientific words they do not know the meaning of. This poster will be due after class on Thursday.

Tomorrow we will be going outside to observe, write about connections, and sketch the Forest Lawn ecosystem. Please come with your visual journal and appropriate outdoor clothing.

Fun Fridays!

Today we tested our airplanes !!!


Math Link: students learned measurement skills when determining how precisely how far their airplanes flew. There was also good learning about using the correct units and the difference between inches and centimeters.

Students put their data into a table of quantitative observations and in order to systematically compare their airplane designs.

They also learned about writing a conclusion and including:
1) was the hypothesis correct or incorrect and why?
2) were there any experimental errors that may have impacted the results?

Each group handed in a completed lab write up at the end of class. Scientific Method Template

Thursday Smath Fun

Math:

Students worked on visually problem solving and representing numbers. We did the second activity from the Week of Inspirational Math (www.youcubed.org)

Science:

Today we designed a Science Experiment to determine "which paper airplane design will fly the furthest?"

Tomorrow we will test our planes, write observations, and conclusions. Should be a lot of fun!

*** Students who missed the Observations and Inferences assignment from yesterday can find the photos of the footprints storyboard in the presentation attached in the below link.
Mystery Footprints

Mental Math and Science Skills

Math:

Today we warmed up with our 9 times tables in order to learn tricks and observe patterns to make multiplying by 9 easier. Students were very observant and noticed many patterns including:

• in the answers the digits in the tens place increase by one and and the digits in the ones decrease by one (09, 18, 27, 36, 45, 54, 63, 72, 81)
• the digits of each answer add to nine (e.g. 9 x 2 = 18, 1 + 8 = 9)
• 9 doubled is 18, 18 doubled in 36, 36 doubled in 72 (all answers of 9 x tables)
• the answers have numbers that are in opposite order (e.g. 18 and 81, 27 and 72

We played Finko with our quick multiplication facts up to 12 x 12. Students were able to notice which times tables they needed to work on and the importance of learning some of these quick facts, while having a bit of fun!

Homework:

Practice one of your times tables that you find challenging using the computer or a stack of cards. 

*** Students are welcome to borrow multiplication flash cards from me

Science:

We reviewed 4 terms from yesterday's lesson (observations, inferences, quantitative, qualitative) and students finished their vocabulary sheets. We then practiced making observations and inferences using three powerpoint slides with footprints in a story board. Students had to make three factual observations and one inference for each slide. We finished the lesson with an activity where students made observations and inferences from pictures. 

Assignment:

These two observation and inference worksheets were collected at the end of class and will be marked. Sstudents will have extra time to work on them Friday if needed.

Great Start

Students engaged in today's activities with enthusiasm!

Math: 

we are doing activities from the Week of Inspirational Math youcubed.org

Today we did Four 4's. Both classes found this challenging, but worked hard to find new solutions.

Students from 7-3 described their experience with this learning task:
This was a challenging problem, because "it's almost impossible to get some numbers"
They enjoyed that "each answer had different strategies"
"You can be a genius in math, you just need the right mindset"

Homework:
- try to find at least one more equation for four 4's

Science: 

we learned about the difference between Observations (facts made using 5 senses) and Inferences (educated guesses based on observations). 

Students defined these terms and practiced making observations and inferences.

Homework:
- review terms, as tomorrow they will have a brief assessment at the start of class where they have to make one quantitative observation, one qualitative observation, and an inference from a picture.

First Full Day

Today I enjoyed meeting many more of my students. Both classes went really well. We did some housekeeping activities where we reviewed classroom expectations, fire and lockdown procedures, and the digital citizenship policy.   

Students also got their timetables (course schedules) today and had the opportunity to go to all A-Day classes.

Many students remembered their paperwork!!!

Those who have not turned in their yellow permission sheets should do so ASAP. Forms include:

-       Media Release 

-       Technology Consent

-       Athletic Tryouts Permission

We finished off with a little fun...

We learned to play a dice game called 30, which challenges students' mental math skills and we filled out a math get to know you questionnaire where they got to measure the circumference of their heads and measure their height. 

7-3 and 7-4 Math/Science Introduction

Welcome to Grade 7 at Ernest Morrow School!!!

It was wonderful getting to know many students today and I am looking forward to meeting the rest of you very soon.

This year I will teach Math and Science, otherwise known as Smath for the purposes of this blog, for 7-3 (Mr. Hillier's RG/homeroom) and 7-4 (my RG). You will find me in Room 1 inside the cafeteria.


This blog will contain important dates and notices as well as daily information about each course in case you miss class or want to connect to something we were doing in class or homework links.

There is NO SCHOOL TOMORROW (Friday, August 17th, 2018)

Important Upcoming August Dates:
August 30th, 2018, 5-8pm - Open House and Parent Information Night
August 31st, 2018 - PD Day

Ernest Morrow School Calendar

Please bring yellow consent forms back by Monday if possible.

See you Monday and have a fantastic weekend!