8th Grade White Team

Image: student work

Miss Matush

8th Grade Science

In the month of February, students wrapped up their unit on Energy and Energy Transformations. This was a project-based unit where students had the opportunity to design projects that exhibit various energy transformations. It was awesome to see our students' dedication while building projects such as rubber-band cars, catapults, and paper airplane launchers. After days of designing, testing, and redesigning students got to show off their work to see if it met their group goal. See some of their work below!

Currently, students are determining the best method for heating Bellefonte Area Middle School. They will choose either a groundwater heating system or a water heater. Students will be investigating heat transfer and thermal energy with several hands-on experiments and simulation activities.

Image:Open Book; Source: https://simple.wiktionary.org/wiki/book

Mrs. Rogers

8th Grade ELA

The students will soon be wrapping up our argumentative unit. They have learned how to identify and use logos, ethos, and pathos effectively. Students have learned persuasive appeals such as overgeneralization, slippery slope, and logical fallacies. So parents watch out - they might have a few tricks in their next “persuasive conversation”! They have also applied close reading skills to evaluate the effectiveness of an argumentative text. We continue to work on vocabulary development with regular vocabulary practice. Classes have also started to focus on grammar skills by studying verbals, verb moods, and active and passive voice. We will continue diving into grammar skills as the year progresses. The students also worked hard on analyzing a TDA passage and constructing their own responses.

Mr. Friel

8th Grade Math

As we work our way through March, the Intro to Algebra classes in 8th grade will continue their geometry work with the Pythagorean Theorem and then with transformations on a coordinate plane. The Algebra 1 classes will be wrapping up their work with linear systems and then continuing into discovering exponential relationships.

Starting in March, we will also begin to review and get ready for your student’s last round of PSSA testing. We will continue to utilize the Get More Math website to focus on reviewing concepts from earlier in the year and to focus on areas of need for each individual student. If you ever want to see what your student is working on in GMM and need login information, please contact your student’s math teacher and we can provide that.

Source: https://wavelearningfestival.medium.com/how-tinker-v-des-moines-affects-you-now-926727a3c7a0

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/671740100661422879/

Mr. Jones

8th Grade Social Studies

Since the last newsletter, our students have moved on from the Colonial Era and are learning about the Constitution throughout the Bill of Rights and how it affects our everyday lives. Also, our students have been practicing their gratitude through creating gratitude chains as brain break activities.

To practice their learning about the First Amendment, students got to experience what it was like to be a Supreme Court Judge during discussion activities relating to the Tinker vs Des Moines Supreme Court case.

Meanwhile, our students have been developing their note taking skills in various formats so they can decide what works best for them. We are looking forward to having the school resource officers visit our classes to teach students about their job in the district and their rights if they were ever accused of a crime.

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