Program Updates: Science and Math – May 2025
SCIENCE
Grade 6 (Kristin)
You push and push for 20 long minutes trying to get a car out of a ditch. You’re frustrated and exhausted when it hasn’t moved an inch. Imagine your dismay when your science teacher tells you that you haven’t done ANY work on the car: ZERO!
That’s because, in Science class, “Work” = Force x Distance. If the distance the car moved is zero… then no work was done on it.
Simple machines can make work seem easier, and the sixth graders have been learning how to apply this formula to the six simple machines: the inclined plane, wedge, screw, lever, pulley, and wheel & axle. Next week, they’ll harness what they’ve learned to build Rube Goldberg machines.
Grade 7 (Virgil)
Our unit on genetics started out with students noticing and wondering about photos of two cattle, one of whom has significantly more muscle than the other. The students then observe photos of other animals with similar differences in musculature: dogs, fish, rabbits, and mice.
After developing initial models for the possible causes of these differences in musculature, students explored a collection of photos showing a range of visible differences. Students used videos, photos, data sets, and readings to investigate what causes an animal to get extra-big muscles. They figured out how muscles typically develop as a result of environmental factors such as exercise and diet. Then, they worked with cattle pedigrees, including data about chromosomes and proteins, to figure out genetic factors that influence the heavily muscled phenotype and explore selective breeding in cattle.
We will be continuing to investigate selective breeding, and we will wrap up the year with an introduction to evolutionary biology.
Grade 8 (Kristin)
How can you tell if the Moon is waxing (getting bigger) or waning (getting smaller)? Eighth graders are wrapping up the year learning about the Earth - Moon - Sun relationship. They’ll look at pictures of different phases of the Moon to determine which direction it rotates on its axis and revolves around the Earth. They should be able to look at the Moon and know where it is in its cycle.
Why is it summer? A common misconception is that it’s because we’re closer to the Sun during the summer. In fact, we’re actually at our furthest!!! Meanwhile, when we’re having our glorious summer, Australia is having their winter, so the distance to the sun can’t be the answer. In the two weeks remaining, the eighth graders will explore the reasons for the seasons.
MATH
Grade 6 (Scott)
Have you heard about the Integer Banquet? Consider asking your favorite 6th grade mathematician to help you find something you can eat. Start by finding an integer sum for your name and then find integer sums for foods that might match. You’ll need a coded chart that turns consonants into positive integers and vowels into negatives.
Can you tell this is really just an exploratory opportunity to practice adding positive and negative numbers? We’ve been subtracting negative integers, too, and soon we’ll be multiplying and dividing them. But don’t make too big a deal about it, because, as the sixth graders can tell you, negative numbers aren’t really different from their opposites; they’re just further to the left on the number line.
We’ve also been thinking about negative numbers in terms of feet below sea level, temperature below zero, and dollars & debt, all logical continuations of the number line that will soon have us graphing points in all four quadrants of the coordinate plane. Why? Because pre-algebra with all of its elegant graphing is just four months away!
Keep your eyes peeled for the Traffic Light of Mathematical Confidence and the Summer Plan for Math, coming home for a signature the last week in May. It will take some support on the homefront if the summer is going to be used as a time to solidify skills or make up some necessary ground.
Grade 7 (Virgil)
Our 7th graders have been working on solving single and multi-step equations and inequalities. They began the unit by making sense of situations that involve both multiplication and addition. They represent such situations with tape diagrams and with equations. They saw that different diagrams and equations can represent the same situation, and they use diagrams to find solutions.
Our next unit begins by revisiting different representations of proportional relationships. Students create graphs, tables, and equations in order to interpret the constant of proportionality as the rate of change of one variable with respect to the other. Next, students analyze a relationship that is linear but not proportional. They see that the rate of change has a numerical value that is the same as the slope of the line that represents the relationship. Students also view the graph of a line in the coordinate plane as the vertical translation of a proportional relationship. Finally, they will be examining systems of equations graphically and solving them algebraically.
Grade 8 (Scott)
You may hear more melodies than the ones planned for Arts Night this week, because singing is really the best way to remember the Quadratic Formula. We’ve been completing squares and turning Standard Form quadratics into Factored and Vertex Form quadratics.
Eighth graders have been remarkable in their communication with and assistance of one another in this challenging last unit of Algebra 1. I wish I had a video of the small-group board work from Thursday and Friday! They can do some sophisticated manipulations of quadratic equations en route to graphing parabolas, and these soon-to-be-alumni hardly resemble the mathematicians who walked in back in September.
We still have that one last standard (applying the Quadratic Formula) to add to Solving Quadratics and Completing Squares for the final test of the year, and then comes a well-deserved summer break. If you have questions about preparation for successful start and completion of high school math, I (Scott) welcome conversations as we make our strong push to the finish.