Week Update

Apologies for the lack of blog updates, here's a quick recap of the week.

In Science we are working hard on our responses to:

What Should be the purpose of innovation and technology.  Below is a link to the task sheet that includes a summary of the task, and the checklist that will be used to asses it.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1H8d-V2f6GVYZQQzCXcBconqRKOUYMITUINH9T3xPfZU/edit?usp=sharing

You should have your idea and be creating your piece of media.  We will be doing a check in and gallery walk early next week.


Math:

We are applying our knowledge of volume and surface area of 3D prisms by creating artwork that represents our Spark.  Check out this video that explains the concept of Spark




Below are the directions of the task



For now you should:

Have your Spark, and your 4-6 subsections chosen
Be ready to start building your shapes on Monday.

Science Journal Rubric

Next week you will be handing in your Science journal.

Today in class we created a checklist that will be used to assess your journal.  There are 2 checklists, one for each class, but they are almost identical.

Also included is a list of all the tasks or pages you should have in your book.

Here's a link to the checklist:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Z-TarICXwA555I4Q3pEm9knTccflZO8wmMaMZ9THALg/edit?usp=sharing

Here are the actual checklists and list of tasks.

Sorry about the formatting issues



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Here are the pages your book should include:

• 1st Telus Spark reflection
• Testing Levers
• 3 Lever station questions (Balance beam, Type 1 lever, Type 2 lever)
• 4 configuration of lever calculations
• Initial water testing
• Rivers of Calgary water testing
• Perfect machine web
• Purpose of innovation
• Surviving progress notes
• Machine Web - impacts of your machine
• 2nd Telus Spark reflection - 20 min for marble race, 15 min for action reaction.

The Purpose of Progress Part 2

We've finished our video about Progress and students have been tasked with creating a project that demonstrates and thoughtful, complex, and thorough understanding of the prompt we have been discussing:

What should be the purpose of innovation and progress?  Support your response

More details will follow about the project, but to start students have been asked to have a short conversation with someone they respect/trust about the topic to gather another perspective.

Some questions to think about:

- What are the positives of progress/innovation?  Can you think of examples?
- What are some negatives progress/innovation?  Can you think of examples?
- What is good progress?  What is bad progress?  Is that the same for everyone?
- Who should benefit from progress?  Who gets to decide what is good or bad progress?
- What are the dangers of letting progress/innovation go without any rules?
- What are the dangers of putting rules around progress/innovation?
- Is progress inevitable?  Can we stop progress from happening?  Can we shape how it grows?
- Do you have any thoughts about solutions to some of the challenges that progress poses?

The Purpose of Progress

We've continued to explore the impacts of machines

Our next step will be to make improvements to our machines. 

In order to do that we are going to spend some time exploring the question:

What should be the purpose of progress and Innovation?

You will be creating a small project that reflects your thoughts about this complex question.  

Start thinking by talking to someone at home about the video we watched in class.

- What were some things you found interesting?

- What were some things you learned?

- What were some questions you had?

- What was some of the bias from the film?  How do you know?

Area and Volume

We have been exploring the topic of measurement with a focus on volume and surface area.

In grade 8 we need to work with right prisms.  A right prism is defined as:

A right prism is a solid (or 3D) object with two parallel bases that are the same shape and several rectangular faces depending upon the shape of the bases. They are called right prisms because where the bases and rectangular faces meet are perpendicular lines that meet at a 90 degree or right angle.


We started by reviewing some key grade 7 concepts.  The area of triangles and circles.  These are formulas and ideas that you will need to refer to a lot in grade 8 here's a picture of our conversation.



Today we talked about the relationship between area and volume in right prisms.

In order to find the volume of right prisms we need to:

- Find the area of the base (using whatever formula matches the shape, e.g.  The area of a circle for cylinders)
- Take that area and multiply it by height to find the volume. 

This strategy works for ANY right prism.  The area tells us how many cubes would cover the base, and the height tells us how many groups of that exact area would be stacked on top of each other.

We will continue to explore and practice finding the volume and surface area of right prisms. 

Learning Intentions:

- I can identify a right prism, and explain how it's different from a non right prism
- I can explain what area and volume are, and what units we use to measure them
- I can explain what surface area is.
- If given a cylinder, right triangular prism, or rectangular prism I can calculate the surface area and the volume using accurate units.

Impact Webs

We've been exploring all the different ways that machines have impacted society, both intentional as well as unintentional.

Today we looked at our machine webs and did some self and peer assessment making sure our work is thorough, and includes all the necessary aspects.  Based on this reflection we set goals for our next steps in completing our webs.  You will have about 20 more minutes in class to improve your webs, and the rest will need to be finished in your own time.  They will be handed in as a part of your final project where you will "improve" your machine.  Details to follow.

In Math we are shifting our focus towards 3D shapes, specifically working on finding the volume of cylinders and right triangular prisms.

We've started by talking in general about measurement (see picture below) and talking about the relationship between the area of the bottom of a prism and its height.  Can you explain that relationship?

Next week we'll be focusing on calculating volume and surface area.  To do that we need to review what we know from grade 7.

What do you know about:
- The area of triangles?
- The area of circles?

Updates

Roots/Squares/Pythagorean Math assessment was returned today.  Share them at home and try to identify where you made mistakes?  How might you avoid making those mistakes next time?

We are exploring the impacts of machines on society.  Take a minute to tell someone at home what your machine is.

         - Can they think of any impacts you may have missed?
         - Are your impacts detailed and thorough?
         - Have you included multiple perspectives?


We've also had some interesting conversations about innovation and what the purpose of machines are.

The conversation prompts we've used are:

Technology and innovation are necessary and good for humanity.  Discuss

and

To me, the perfect machine is ......

Rivers Of Calgary

In order to gather data for our upcoming (likely in the Spring) exploration of the relationship between Calgary and the rivers that run through it we collected some fall data about the water in the Bow, the Elbow, and the Bow river after the Elbow runs into it (post confluence).

We collected water samples and analyzed them for pH and conductivity.  Below is what your journal page should have for for this Field Study:

1) Start with jotting down your observations what did you notice about the river or the river bank at each of the 3 locations

1 - Bow

2-  Elbow

3 - Post confluence Bow

2) Test and record the pH and conductivity of the 3 samples.

3) Provide a general summary of each sample.  For example:

The water from the Bow sample had a pH of _____ this means ____

4) Analyze your results.  

- What did they tell you about the 3 water samples?

- How were the samples the same?  How were they different?

- What are at least 3 questions that have about the water quality of the rivers of Calgary based on your results.

Squares/Roots/Pythagorean Theorem Independent Assessment

Next Tuesday we will be doing a check in for all the work that we've done so far with roots, squares and the Pythagorean theorem.

This check in will just one piece of your overall mark, but will help give you a sense of what you understand and what you need to practice.

Here is the checklist of learning intentions for this topic:

I can Explain what an exponent is
I can explain what a square root is using a visual (array)
I can Identify numbers that are perfect squares to 200
I can Calculate the square of one and two digit numbers in my head or on paper (no calculator)
I can  Calculate the square of any number with a calculator
I can Find the square root of perfect squares (without a calculator to 200, with a calculator beyond 200)
I can estimate the square root of non-perfect square  Determine which whole numbers it is between   Determine which whole number it is closest to Provide a reasonable estimate to 1 decimal place with reasoning.
I can use visuals to explain the relationship between the 3 sides of a right angled triangle
When given ANY 2 sides of a right triangle I calculate the 3rd side, and estimate its length. This includes calculating the opposite or adjacent side when I know the hypotenuse.  I can do this without a calculator with side lengths to 15 and with a calculator for any number.
I can solve problems by applying the pythagorean theorem.
I can use the Pythagorean Theorem to determine if a triangle is a right angled triangle or not.

Here is a video that might help review some key ideas:

Practice

If you want some practice try these things:

I'd be happy to check over your work to see if you're on the right track.

- Choose a number between 1 and a hundred - can you square it?

- Choose a number between 1 and 200 - can you estimate it's square root with an explanation?

- Draw a right angled triangle.  Choose 2 side lengths and calculate the third.  Make sure to try some where you know the hypotenuse and need to calculate the opposite or adjacent.

- Draw a triangle and choose the lengths of the 3 side lengths.  Is it a right triangle?  How do you know?

- Can you make your own word problem that includes the Pythagorean Theorem.

Physics

We've been exploring how we can use levers to make work easier as a way to demonstrate the concepts of work and mechanical advantage.

Here are a couple learning intentions for this topic:

- I understand what work and mechanical advantage are.

- I can calculate the amount of work and mechanical advantage of a lever (and eventually other machines).

We jotted down some key info and vocabulary:

Pythagorean Theorem

We've been exploring the relationships between the sides of a right angled triangle, and discovered that if we create squares using each of the 3 sides, the two smaller squares will always add up or exactly equal the size of the third square.

This is the the Pythagorean Theorem, and we're spending time applying and practicing this relationship.

The learning intentions for this topic are:

• I can use visuals to explain the relationship between the 3 sides of a right angled triangle

• When given ANY 2 sides of a right triangle I calculate the 3rd side, and estimate its length. 
• This includes calculating the opposite or adjacent side when I know the hypotenuse.

• I can do this without a calculator with side lengths to 15 and with a calculator for any number. 

You need to complete the garden problems in your book. That includes drawing 5 triangles that have an opposite side of 7m, and finding the largest area triangle you can make that have a hypotenuse of 13m.

Here's a couple videos we watched