nativityscience

Study Guides for Final Tests

Nativity Science — Wed, 30 May 2012 19:43:43 +0000

Hello!

Things are getting busier as the year is coming to a close! Final field trips, days in class, and….final tests.

Students have been logging ten minutes of studying this week to prepare themselves, and each class recently received a study guide to help guide their studying.

Below I have provided links to these study guides by grade. The tests will be multiple choice, fill in the blank, true/false, short answer, and essay. The study guide is written in the format of short answer, as I anticipate those being the hardest to provide the ideas and concepts asked for.

Finals are about two weeks out and the sooner the studying starts, the better! Please encourage your student to study every night and begin to prepare. The more studying and preparing, the more confident students feel going into the test.

Another form of preparation that will be taking place is students will be partnered up (or grouped depending on the class) to create their own review game. These can be structured based off different TV shows or board games or other review strategies students have seen.

Also, pictures of the 8th grade performing their recent Electricity Lab have been included. Please let me know if I can answer any questions or if you have any comments/concerns at kmiller@nativityportland.com.

Thanks!

Ms. Miller

Click to view slideshow.

8th Grade Final Study Guide

7th Grade Final Study Guide

6th Grade Final Study Guide

Happy Mother’s Day

Nativity Science — Tue, 15 May 2012 21:40:38 +0000

I hope you had a great Mother’s Day weekend! The students enjoyed planting the flowers and creating special wrapping unique for each mom.

Many thanks to Ms. Jeanne Prier for donating the supplies for our 2nd Annual Mother’s Day planting. If you would like to get involved or help with next year’s planting, please let me know as kmiller@nativityportland.com.

Thanks!

Ms. Miller

Click to view slideshow.

LivingWise program closing

Nativity Science — Tue, 15 May 2012 20:08:54 +0000

Thank you for your support of the LivingWise program! Thank you for your time in helping your student install the different tools in the kits, such as the aerators and the lightbulbs. Hopefully your students passed on some good information as well as helped your household save some money.
As our unit closes, I have attached the study guide for the Thursday test. Please let me know if you have any questions at kmiller@nativityportland.com

LivingWise Study Guide

Thank you!

Ms. Miller

Field Trips this week :)

Nativity Science — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 15:20:36 +0000

Wednesday the 7th grade is going to PSU to participate in green living games created by PSU students.
Thursday the 6th grade will be gone all day to Bull Run to learn more about where Portland’s water comes from.
Please let me know if you have any questions about these field trips.
Happy May!
Ms. Miller

The floor is mopped, the test tubes are cleaned, the posters are taken down…

Nativity Science — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 22:26:06 +0000

Thank you so much for all of your support and help with the Science fair! Whether you had a student participate, donated items, or attended, I would sincerely like to acknowledge all those who volunteered with the Science Fair.
The 8th graders had great experiments, the 6th and 7th grade performances were entertaining, and the PTA provided excellent refreshments.
Please let me know if you have any suggestions for the future.
Blessings,
Ms. Miller

Take a poll here:

Pictures from the evening:

Dr. Seuss' Oobleck

Science Fair 4/18

Nativity Science — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 20:53:52 +0000

The Science Fair is taking place April 18th from 6-8pm. The 8th graders are presenting their projects from 6-7pm and then the 6th and 7th graders will take center stage for their performances.

All activities are free, including the refreshments. Activities include sheep heart and lungs, lung capacity, milk magic, tornados, and many more!

See the flyer at:

sciencefairgeneralflyer

The science fair is quickly approaching!

Nativity Science — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 18:48:39 +0000

Just a reminder that next Wednesday from 6-8pm in the Community Center, the Science fair will be taking place. There are going to be a variety of different activities including:
8th grade experiments
6th and 7th grade performances
Green Living Project mobile RV tours
Portland Police Forensic Department
Milk Magic
Tornado in a Bottle
Static Electric Ball
Sheep and Heart Lungs
Lung Capacity
Robotics
Refreshments
PTA booth
and many more!
Please let me know if you have any questions or comments.
Ms. Miller

Welcome back from Spring Break!

Nativity Science — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 19:42:19 +0000

Welcome back to the students and families! School starts back up during Holy Week, with no study hall on Thursday and no school on Friday.
In the world of the science classroom, things are just getting started again.
The 8th graders are hard at work with their science fair experiments and report papers. The science fair is on April 18th! An update on the science fair, the Green Living Project is coming to St. Andrew Nativity. They have a RV filled with cool things for green living, such as a biodiesel engine.
The 7th graders are learning about changes over time including Charles Darwin, evolution, and the fossil record. They are finishing up the Carbon Game this week and will turn in the information needed on Thursday at the latest. I am excited to see what they have collected and compiled.
The 6th grade is working hard learning about climates, climate regions, global climate change, finishing off with watching the popular documentary by Al Gore called An Inconvenient Truth.
Please make a note of date and time of the Science Fair. All students will have a role to play, either presenting their experiments or providing a performance.
Please let me know if you have any questions or comments.
Blessings,
Ms. Miller

Properties of Water Penny Lab

Nativity Science — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 17:19:52 +0000

To learn about surface tension, students performed a lab called the “Penny Lab.” During this lab, students used four different liquids to explore the different surface tensions as well as the scientific method.
Check out a cool video to see a similar lab:

6th grade units

Nativity Science — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 17:16:21 +0000

Dear 6th grade parents,
The wonderful world of the water cycle is almost at an end! The sixth graders are finishing up their unit on water and the water cycle. In this unit, students learned about three main areas:
Water:

• Where water is found
• How we use water directly and indirectly

The Water Cycle:

• Evaporation
• Transpiration
• Precipitation
• Condensation
• Groundwater

Properties of water:

• Water as a solvent
• Surface tension
• Capillary action
• Changing states of matter (solidliquid, etc.)
• Specific heat
• Why ice floats

Students worked on reading comprehension through the use of reading strategies during this unit as well, including identifying main points, creating a learning log, author’s chair, and presentations. There were two major labs during this unit including the capillary action Easter eggs and the surface tension Penny Lab. During these two labs, lab safety was emphasized as well as following step by step directions.
Please feel free to use this letter to quiz your students about vocabulary words or main ideas this weekend to prepare them for the test.
Our next unit will continue nicely from where we leave off from, going into layers of the atmosphere, water in the atmosphere (clouds), and climate (climate change causes and long term affects). This will be a six section unit, one of the longer units we have done. Part of this unit will be independent learning on the student’s part over Spring Break. There is no need to bring the textbook home or on your trip, as the information has been consolidated and copied for your student. Check out http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/kids/impacts/index.html for more information and interactive reading.
Thank you for your support! Please contact me with any questions or comments at kmiller@nativityportland.com or ext. 17.
Blessings,
Katherine
Science