8th Grade Red Team

Image: Energy Conversion; Source: https://www.solarschools.net/knowledge-bank/energy/conversion

Mr. Nye

8th Grade Science

We have completed the Phase Changes Unit where students created their final models with an explanation of what happened to the Methane Lake on Titan. They acquired evidence about how the lake evaporated towards the end of a 7 year summer. Currently, students are working on a project for the Energy Transformations Unit. They can choose to create a rubber band-powered car, a catapult, a solar tower, a paper airplane launcher, a paper rollercoaster/Rube-Goldberg, or Car Crash Protection. Students will construct their contraption, test it out, identify the energy transformations involved, and demonstrate their project to the class. Afterward, we will be starting the thermal energy unit where students determine the best method for heating Bellefonte Area Middle School.

Image: Student work

Mrs. Bucha

8th Grade Social Studies

After returning from a much needed winter break, the students were ready to get back to studying the American government. Our lessons at the beginning of January centered around the origins of American democracy. After learning about the contents and principles that guide the U.S. Constitution, we took a step back in time to learn more about where these ideas came from. We learned that our founding fathers were inspired by ancient civilizations, philosophers of the Enlightenment era, and the brave steps taken by English colonists toward self-government.

To round out our study of Civics this school year, we will explore both the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. We completed a breakup letter activity to introduce The Declaration of Independence in an entertaining and engaging way. From this activity, the students were able to gain an understanding of what is stated in the document. We will further explore the words of the document with an upcoming primary source analysis activity. Toward the end of this month, we will transition to the rights and protections the Bill of Rights provides for American citizens.

When we returned to school in January, we also spent some time thinking about our goals and intentions for the new year. Each student made their own snow globe with their academic and personal goals, their one word for the year, some words of inspiration, along with a few other elements. Their beautiful creations are a bright spot on my classroom bulletin board.

Mr. McManus

8th Grade Math

Now that it is February, 8th graders will begin the process of scheduling classes for 9th grade. Please look back to last month’s newsletter for details on 9th grade math classes. As this time approaches, please feel free to reach out to the 8th grade math teachers if there are questions or concerns. As we approach the end of winter and beginning of spring we are looking forward to the standardized testing windows. All 8th graders will take the PSSA and all Algebra 1 students will be taking the Keystone Exam. Look for more information on this moving into March and April.

As for now, the Intro to Algebra classes are finishing up linear relationships and will be progressing into the geometry portion of the course. This will entail volume of three dimensional shapes and the Pythagorean Theorem. In Algebra I we are discussing and solving systems of equations & inequalities.

Before we get into the busyness of “testing season” a reminder about Get More Math is probably due. Your students complete the majority of their math work in Get More Math, which is an online program for providing problems in place of traditional worksheets or book work. All students have a unique login and password and the program can be accessed from any device. If you need that login information please contact your student’s math teacher. Also, their homework is usually done in this program. The homework is usually achieving a certain number of points for the week, and if you have your student login to the program it will be easily viewed at the top left of the screen.This is an easy way to track progress for your student on a daily and weekly basis. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please contact your student’s math teacher.

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Mr. Dowd

8th Grade ELA

Whether it was our recent visit to CPI or their MAP test scores from the end of January, students are likely to have high school classes on their minds. So as the we (hopefully) shake off some frost and move into February, students are going to be putting their argumentative, research, and writing skills to the test!

With the basic structure and elements of an argument under their belts, each class will be reading and evaluating arguments on real world events before working together to craft their own claim using the gathered information. Toward the end of the unit students will a topic they are personally interested in to research and write about, using all that they learned to make their claim as rock-solid as possible.

Classes will also be writing a text dependent analysis this month.This will give students a chance to test their analytical skills as well as putting the vocabulary and IXL lessons we have been working with each rotation to use. Writing like this will provide a good insight into how much their understanding of each topic has grown and what they may want to focus on for the second half of the school year.

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