Our class is trying out a new way of teaching/learning math: we learn the lesson at home, and do “homework” at school. This is a teaching model called a “flipped” classroom. Students watch videos on YouTube at home that contain the lesson for the next day. Then, at school, students do practice problems and projects related to the video lessons. Mr. Ohama then teaches short skill or concept lessons that will support the next video lesson. This model gives the teacher more time to work with students and students more time to work with each other.
You can watch the videos online by visiting Mr. Ohama’s Channel on YouTube, or you can click below to see a sample of the video lessons.
In chapter three, there are some hints that the boy will have to take over the role as the man of the house. There is also some evidence that the boy will not be able to fill this role. Take a moment and explain what the examples are that show that the boy is going to have to be the man of the house now. What shows that he is not ready to take on this role? Also, why do you think the author is giving us these hints so early in the novel? The man should be coming home soon, right?
The family in Sounder is running out of the most basic resources: food and money are scarce. They eat corn mush for supper; there is no meat to eat. One morning, though, the boy wakes up to the smell of ham and sausages. The father, miraculously, has brought home food for his family. We later find out that the father has stolen the food, and is later arrested and taken to jail. Sounder, the family dog, is shot by the racist sheriff’s deputy, and is missing.
Here is the question: Do you agree with the father’s decision? In a paragraph or two, explain why you agree or disagree with the father’s decision to steal the food.
Think about: Did he have other options? What does the future hold for the family now that the father is in jail? Will they survive? Will things return to normal once the father gets released from jail? Will he be released soon? After all, he only stole some food.
Don’t forget to use your best writing: explain your reasons, use examples, set the context for your writing, don’t use pronouns that haven’t been named.
The family in Sounder is poor. They have little money, they live in a dilapidated cabin, and struggle daily just to get by. They eke out a living by doing various things. If one of those things is removed, would they still be able to survive?
In your best writing, describe the kinds of things the family does to make a living. Predict what would happen if one of their sources of income suddenly went away.
When major events happen in novels, the author usually gives the reader hints about these events before they actually happen. This is called “foreshadowing.” In Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson, something tragic happens at the end of chapter ten, “The Perfect Day.” Name some examples of foreshadowing that Ms. Paterson uses to give us hints about the tragic event that happens at the end of Chapter ten.
Remember how Galileo noticed he could see more stars through a telescope than with his naked eye? Well astronomers are still doing the same thing!
This photo was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, which is a huge telescope built into a satellite. Because it’s in outer space, there’s no air or dust around, so it’s able to see things billions of times dimmer than what you can see with your eye.
The area of sky shown in the XDF, compared to the moon
This photo is called the Hubble eXtreme Deep Field (or XDF, for short). It is the deepest image we have ever taken of the universe. Only three of the dots in the picture are stars–the rest are galaxies, with billions of stars each. Over 5,000 galaxies are visible in the picture, which shows an area of the sky more than 100 times smaller than the moon!
For your report, you should research your element from several different sources. Some things to include are:
What does your element look like? What state is it in at room temperature? Can it take different forms? (for example, carbon can exist as graphite, which is pencil lead, or diamond!)
What are its properties? Does it conduct heat or electricity? Is it a metal, non-metal, or metalloid? How dense is it? (This is given as a number. For example, the density of water is 1 gram per cubic centimeter. If your element is less dense than water it will float, and if it is more dense than water it will sink!)
Where do we find your element? Is your element found lots of places on Earth, or is it hard to find? Where do we find it? (For example, is it found in a certain type of rock? Is it part of the air?)
What do we use your element for? Is your element useful for anything? Where might we have seen your element in everyday life?
Anything else interesting? Is your element unique or special in any way? Tell us about it!
Remember, your report should be in your own words–not copied from a webpage (we can tell!). Try searching on Google, or finding your element’s video on the periodic table of videos (search google or youtube for “periodic videos <element name>” to find it).
This week we’re going to start learning about the periodic table of elements!
What’s an element? Well, first we need to know what an atom is. Atoms are the incredibly tiny building blocks of everything around us. But not all atoms are the same. Some are big and heavy, and some are small and light. At the center of an atom is the nucleus, which is made up of tinier particles called protons and neutrons. Whizzing around the nucleus are even smaller particles called electrons.
It turns out that atoms that have the same number of protons in their nucleus all behave pretty much the same. So, we can sort atoms by how many protons they have! Scientists have given each type of atom a silly name so they can keep them straight in their heads. If an atom has 6 protons, for example, they call it carbon. If it has 8 protons, they call it oxygen. If it has 79 protons (no more, no less!) it’s gold, and if it has 2 protons it’s helium! We say each of these different types of atoms is an element.
On Earth, there are about 90 different elements. Scientists have created about 20 more in labs, but most of them aren’t stable and break apart into smaller atoms really quickly. That’s a lot of elements, so to keep them organized, a Russian chemist named Dmitri Mendeleev invented a way of categorizing them in a table. When he created his periodic table, he put similar elements together in columns, and realized that there were several gaps where he thought an element should be, but hadn’t been discovered yet. Mendeleev was a smart guy–later on, several new elements were discovered that filled in the gaps in his table, and behaved just how he said they should!
Although all the matter around us is made of elements, a lot of elements don’t like to be by themselves. In fact, most things are made of different types of elements connected together, kind of like different LEGO bricks stuck together to make a spaceship. If the elements are like LEGO bricks, the spaceship is a chemical, or a molecule.
Whew, that was a lot of information! Good job for making it this far! Now for some fun…
A crazy college professor in England has made a bunch of videos showing what different elements are like. You can see them here! Below is the video for oxygen. Bet you didn’t know that oxygen was magnetic! Or that fluorine (the element in fluoride toothpaste) is extremely dangerous when by itself!
If you have any questions about elements or the periodic table, leave a comment!
The textbook defines matter as anything with mass and volume. If you were to describe matter to someone who doesn’t know what mass and volume are, what would you say matter is? What is your definition of matter?
Write a few sentences about what you learned in yesterday’s lesson about engineering. Do you maybe want to be an engineer when you grow up? What kind of engineering sounds the most fun?
