Dear Parents,
I’m sure you’ve all heard from your students, but we had a
great time at our school’s official Jump Rope for Heart event on Friday!
Congratulations to our winners. Thank you also to all of you who donated to the
worthy cause of heart research in support of this event.
Our field trip is coming up, and I must say, I am impressed
and excited by all the parent interest in the event. So many parents
volunteered to chaperone that we couldn’t take all of you up on your generous
offers! However, if you would still like to participate, you can meet us at the
museum at 9:30am and stay with us for as long as you would like. You would have
to pay the full adult admission price and also bring lunch if you wish to eat
with the students. (Our students are going to the museum on a grant, so the $10
field trip fee is just to cover the bus.) All students will be traveling by bus
to and from the museum, so you will have to go back to school to pick up your
student after the event.
On a related note, please have your field trip admission
slips in ASAP—the official due date is today, but if you still have a slip to
turn it, please get it in! The students are all very excited for the trip, and
we want to have the whole class join us. Please get those slips in so your
students can come! I did send an email with a copy of the permission slip
attached, but if you didn’t get it or if you have any questions regarding the
trip, please let me know.
I am going to be making a few changes to classroom
procedures starting on this week. The first major change will be with “Try
Again” assignments. As most of you know, I have been handing back “Try Again”
assignments as I grade them, so when students receive the assignments varies.
In order to improve communication between parents, students, and teachers
regarding these assignments, I am going to change this procedure. From now on,
I will put “Try Again” assignments in the students’ Friday folders with the
rest of their graded work. That way, parents will be better able to help their
students keep track of what they have done well and what they need to redo. I
already handed back a few “Try Again” assignments in Friday folders this last
week, so be sure to keep your eyes open for them and encourage your students to
complete them.
The second change will be regarding online homework.
Students who do not complete their online homework are sent to homework club
during afternoon recess to complete it. This will still occur. However, in
addition, students who do not complete their online homework will receive a UPL
infraction as a reminder to students that homework is required and as a means
of communicating with parents regarding students’ online homework. Under some
circumstances, students will be given the opportunity to complete online
homework early at school. Under such circumstances, I will sign and date notes
for students who have completed their online homework early at school.
This week in math we will continue our study of fractions,
emphasizing the relationships between mixed fractions, improper fractions, and
proper fractions. In science class we will have a test on the geology learned
so far and on states of matter. The test will be on Friday. The study guide for
the test is below:
Science Test Study
Guide
1.
Groups of atoms bonded together are called
molecules.
2.
The three (main) states of matter are solid,
liquid, and gas. Matter changes states according to its temperature. A solid
that gets heated becomes a liquid, and a liquid that is further heated becomes
a gas.
3.
Heat gives atoms and molecules energy. Atoms and
molecules are always moving, at least a little, but when they get heated they
move more quickly. The hotter they get, the faster they move. The faster they
move, they more space they need in which to move. This need for more space
causes atoms to spread out from one another, which we experience as a change in
state from solid to liquid and then from liquid to gas.
4.
Cooling down has the opposite effect on atoms.
They slow down, and they need less space to move. As a result, the atoms are
able to stay closer together.
5.
Because the atoms n solids are moving so slowly,
solids keep their own shape. Because the atoms in liquids and gasses are moving
more quickly, liquids and gasses do not hold their shape. They take the shape
of whatever container they are in.
6.
The earth
is divided into three main layers, the crust, the mantle and the core.
7.
The crust is extremely thin compared to the
mantle and the core. In drawings of the earth, the crust is represented as the
outline of the drawing.
8.
There are two kinds of crust, oceanic crust and
continental crust. Continental crust is the crust found on land. It is mostly
made of solid rock covered by thin layers of dirt. Oceanic crust is the crust
found under the ocean. It is mostly made of solid rock covered by thin layers
of sand.
9.
The mantle is the middle of the earth’s main
layers. It is divided into the lithosphere, the asthenosphere and the
mesosphere.
10.
The lithosphere is composed of huge slabs of
solid rock called “plates.” The plates fit closely together, like pieces of a
jigsaw puzzle. The gaps between the plates are called “faults.”
11.
The plates of the lithosphere float on the
asthenosphere. The asthenosphere is made of hot, liquid rock called “magma.”
12.
The mesosphere is the lowest layer of the
mantle, beneath the lithosphere and asthenosphere. The mesosphere is made of
solid rock (not plates).
13.
The core is the innermost of the earth’s three
main layers. It is divided into the
outer core and the inner core. The outer core is made of super-heated magma.
The inner core is made of extremely hot, dense solid iron.
14.
The deeper into the earth you go, the hotter it
is.
15.
Earthquakes occur when heat rises from the inner
core and causes the magma of the asthenosphere to move and bubble. (Think of
water in a pot.) This moves the plates of the lithosphere, which float on the
asthenosphere. When the plates of the lithosphere move, they sometimes bump
into each other, causing earthquakes.
16.
Mountains are also formed by the plates of the lithosphere
bumping into each other.
17.
Volcanoes occur when liquid magma from the asthenosphere
bubles up through the faults between plates.
I know this looks like a lot of material, but your students should
already know it. These are exactly all of the things we have covered in class
in the last 5 weeks, no more, no less, so they have had a lot of practice and
review on these topics.
These are all the notes I have for you for the week! If you
have any questions, comments or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
Miss Wycklendt
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