Fractions, Decimals, Percents test Friday

Students are encouraged to review the following concepts for the test on Friday:

• writing mixed fractions as improper fractions
• writing improper fractions as mixed fractions
• placing fractions on a number line
• writing fractions, decimals and fractions
• comparing decimals and fractions
• writing ratios
• making equivalent ratios
• solving problems using the skills above

Ancient Athens test tomorrow

The study guide went home with students last week, but here is a copy in case anyone needs it:

Ancient Athens Study Guide

1. Structure of the government of ancient Athens:

· Assembly

· Council of 500

· Court

2. Citizenship, status and decision making in ancient Athens:

· Class structure (citizen, metic and slave)

· Gender roles (men, women, girls, boys)

· Rights and responsibilities

3. Equity and fairness of the government and society in ancient Athens

4. Direct democracy vs. representative democracy

*Don't forget to fill in your "cheat card" and bring it to class with you!

6-1 Computer Science due date

Final Scratch Projects are due next week in Computer Science. Presentations will start on Tuesday, March 3^rd for 6-1 and Wednesday, March 4^th for 6-5.

Weekly Update

Given last week was so short, we thought we would start off this week letting you know what we are currently working on.

Today in math, the students did their first practice PAT (provincial exam) for part A. Part A is based on a review of all operations and is a quiz of 15 questions. The students have 30 minutes to complete it. The questions are adding, subtracting and multiplying ( up to 2 digits by 2 digits) and dividing ( up to 3 digits by 1 digit divisor with decimal remainders). The one they did today will be used as a baseline (starting point) so that the students know what they need to be reviewing and practicing, along with their basic facts. The quiz will be sent home and they are asked to be getting a signature on the front page and to do the corrections in order to review their errors. There are a number of links on the blog (video tutorials and games to practice operations) that students can use as extra review at home as well. Please keep in mind that we are using this as their "baseline" (starting point) and expect after reviewing processes they haven't used in awhile, we will definitely see an improvement over the next few weeks :)

We will be working on ordering and comparing fractions, and placing them on number lines for the rest of the week.

In science, we wrapped up our air/flight unit with an open book test. The marks have been put onto Powerschool. Our next focus is on Evidence and Investigation. Students will be looking at their footprints this week and will then focus on a number of different stations this and next week, to learn how to look at different types of evidence, what these types of evidence mean and how to make inferences.

In humanities, we have finished our unit on the provincial government of Alberta. Students received their tests back last week and are to complete the corrections and get a parent or guardian signature by tomorrow. This was a challenging test but many students reflected on how they could have studied more thoroughly and would like to do so in the future. Please go over the test and self-reflection with your child.

We started our unit on democracy in ancient Athens today and are learning about the structure of their society. Ask your child about their "role" in today's class. We had a lot of fun with it!

Air/Flight unit test on Wednesday, Feb 12

Students will have an OPEN BOOK test on the following concepts:

• the four forces of flight
• parts of an airplane and their jobs
• parachutes and how they work
• the 6 properties of air
• independent, dependent and controlled variables
• the Bernoulli effect
• how a hot air balloon ascends/descends
• the make up of air

Although it is an open book test, students have been encouraged to take home their duotangs to ensure all week is complete and to review what they have learned.

Weekly update

Math has us exploring and reviewing fractions; proper, improper and mixed fractions. We have learned how to convert improper and mixed fractions and mixed to improper fractions. Next we will be looking at making equivalent fractions and ordering and comparing fractions by learning how to find common denominators. There are some video links and websites on the resources page that students can use to review and practice at home.

In science we learned adaptations birds have in order to be able to fly and also looked at the similarities between birds and airplanes. We just started looking at control surfaces and the different ways an airplane moves through the air; roll, pitch, yaw and bank! Next week we will be wrapping up their science fair projects, we hope you have Thursday, January 23 from 530-730 marked off on your calendars to come and take a look at all of their hard work!

We continue to learn about the provincial government in humanities and students are working hard on their campaign projects, trying to get their MLA elected. These projects are due on Monday, when we will watch the campaign videos and have our election. Students also wrote a journal entry about whether or not they think voting should be mandatory. Ask your child their opinion :)

Science fair and trifold information

It's that time for all of the student's hard work to be put onto their trifolds! We do have trifolds at the school that students can borrow but they will need to have them back in the same shape they received them (won't be able to glue etc) after science fair is over. If they decide to buy their own, the standard size is 48" by 36" and we are recommending that they buy a black trifold instead of white. Staples and Michaels both sell trifolds and Michaels has a 40% off coupon that you can get online if you buy it from there! Students are able to buy larger trifolds but cannot buy smaller than the above mentioned as those are the City science fair regulations.

The science fair will be held on Thursday, January 23 from 5:30-7:30. We hope to see you all there to check out all of the hard work the kids have been doing over the past few months!

Happy Holidays from MacFarrell

There is no homework over the break, unless you want to work on your science fair project. Enjoy your time off and see you in the new year.

Math quiz - Tuesday December 17

There will be a quiz checking for understanding of decimals next Tuesday. They will need to review:

• place value of decimals to thousandths and beyond
• ordering and comparing decimals
• writing decimals in standard form, expanded form and word form
• ability to preform all operations including decimals; multiplication is with a 1 digit multiplier and division is with a 1 digit divisor
• solving word problems

Weekly Update Dec 2 - Dec 6

Thank you so much for your donations to the Season of Giving, it is very appreciated. Donations will be accepted until Friday, December 13. If you want more information, please check on our home page.

In math our focus continues to be on decimals. We have explored decimals less than one thousandth in standard, expanded and word form. Students have also compared and ordered decimals and had a review of adding and subtracting decimals, remembering the importance of lining up the decimal points. There are a number of links on the blog resource page that can be used for review and practice. Next week we will move onto multiplying and dividing decimals and finding decimal remainders.

In science we have been learning about the 6 properties of air. So far we have learned that air takes up space and has weight. Ask your child how much weight one inch holds up!

In humanities, we have been discussing and learning about the roles and structure of the provincial government, what it is like in the Alberta legislature and how a bill becomes a law. We will have a mock legislative assembly on Thursday. Students have also been doing some activities to follow-up the completion of our novel, Between Heaven and Earth. They did a book review and are writing a letter, and will write a news article next week. Ask your child about some of the mini lessons we have been doing in class (your, you're/there, their, they're/to, two, too) and some of Mrs. Farrell's NO GO's :)

Weekly Update

Thank you to everyone who brought in a jacket to donate to our Jacket Racket Fundraiser! We collected over 200 jackets!!

In humanities, we finished our unit on Local Government. Check PowerSchool for updated marks and comments. We have a short week, so will be doing a mini unit/focus on reading. Students will be responding to our novel by creating a character analysis (report card or emotions/senses journal page) and doing a fun picture book activity. If you have any short, easy picture books at home that you no longer want, please bring them to school. Please be aware that these books will not be returned...at least not in the same way :)

Science fair was introduced to the students on Friday and we are doing a "blitz" on it this week (no math this week) with finalizing topics, doing the base research and making hypotheses for those groups working on an experimental project. The science fair will be on Thursday, January 23. Students were given a timeline with dates so that they can keep track of approximately how much work they should have done in order to complete it on time.

Local Government Quiz - Thursday, November 14

Students will need to know the following:

· What is local government and what are some of their responsibilities (Ex. Bylaws, services, taxes, making decisions)

· What are bylaws and why are they created?

· What are some of the services that the local government provides for us?

· Who are the elected representatives for this level of government?

· What are some different types of local government (municipalities)?

· How are different local governments structured? What are some differences between rural and urban settings?

· What is the role of school boards and trustees?

· What are some ways in which citizens can participate in local government?

Trees and Forests quiz on Friday, November 15

Student's will need to show an understanding of the following:

• abiotic vs biotic factors
• the levels of the forest
• producers, consumers, decomposers
• what is photosynthesis?
• the water cycle including transpiration
• the anatomy of a tree (layers of the tree) and their jobs
• leaf classification
• similarities and differences between coniferous and deciduous trees
• what do different tree rings tell us about trees? (tree cookies)
• the nutrient cycle
• the parts of the tree

Students have been encouraged to take their duotangs home to review what we have done in class. There are also several sites on the resources page that they can use to review including a jeopardy review game for trees and forests.

W(EEEEK)ly update October 28 - October 31

This week we finished looking at order of operations and learned a couple of games that we can play to help practice the process. Students made a journal page where they created an acronym for BDMAS in order to help remember the order of the process. There are also several games online posted on the resources page that students can use to practice and review at home. Next week we will look at integers and compare and order them accordingly.

In science we learned that leaves are a main way for how trees can be classified. We looked at the 3 important parts of the leaf and looked at margins, leaf shape and arrangement in order to classify different types of leaves.

We continue to learn about municipal government in humanities and students are finishing off their stories based on if a government service no longer existed. Students should now know what types of local (municipal) governments there are, what the local government does/provides for us and how representatives are elected at this level.

NCS - October 24^th is Car Free Day

On Thursday, October 24th, the Green Team is having a car free day. We are encouraging all students to find an alternative way to school that day (walk, bike, scooter). We have also set up 6 drop zones around the community. Please use the attached map or see zones below.

Drop Zones:

1. If you choose to drop the student at one of the 6 drop zones, please note the time as the group will be leavingON TIME.

2. There will be teachers at each drop zone waiting to walk with the students. They will walk with them to school and back to the same drop zone after school.

3. Students will be responsible for finding the same teacher after school. Teachers will meet students outside at the front doors. Teachers will not be taking attendance and will be leaving to the same drop zone at3:10.

Drop Zone 1: Starbucks parking lot (130 Country Hills Rd NE

Distance to school: 1.2 km

Leaving at 7:45 (about a 20 minute walk)

Drop Zone 2: Coventry Hills Drive NE and Covehaven Link (the traffic circle west of School)

Distance to School: 550m

Leaving at 7:50 (about a 10 minute walk)

Drop Zone 3: Covemeadow Road and Covemeadow Road NE (near the small park North of school)

Distance to school: 500m

Leaving at 7:50 (less than 10 minutes)

Drop Zone 4: Covepark Drive NE and Coventry Hills Way

Distance to School: 850m

Leaving at 7:45 (15 – 20 minute walk)

Drop Zone 5: Coventry Drive Ne and Coventry Hills Way

Distance to School: 1.5 km

Leaving at 7:40 (30 minute walk)

Drop Zone 6: Coventry Way NE and Coventry View NE (first road east of Coventry Hills Blvd)

Distance to School: 1.0 km

Leaving at 7:45 (15 minute walk)

Why are we doing this? We are hoping to encourage more students to green commute to increase safety for pedestrians and drivers as well as to save energy!

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Julie Rudolph at 403-817-3360 or email atjurudolph@cbe.ab.ca.

Hunger Lunch date change for next week

“Dear Parents/Guardians,

This is an important message regarding the DATE CHANGE for next weeks Panago PIZZA FUNLUNCH. We will be serving this meal on TUESDAY – Oct. 15^th – first day back after Thanksgiving. The date needed to be changed as all the Grade 5 and 9 students are on field trips Wednesday and Thursday of next week.

You can still place an order for Panago Pizza by this Friday midnight. Thank you for participating in this fundraiser! We hope the change provides a great way to start the week – no packing lunch Monday night!

Thank you for your time,

F.A.N.S.

Fundraising Association of Nose Creek School”

Weekly Update Oct 7 - Oct 10

This week in math we explored factors, prime numbers and composite numbers. We also learned how to make a factor tree in order to find the factors that are prime numbers. Next week we will work more with prime and composite numbers along with solving problems with factors.

In science we watched a video on the "secret life of trees" which was a quick introduction to a lot of topics we will be looking at over the next month. One of those was the layers of the tree. Each student became an expert on one layer of the tree and then made groups with all of the other 7 "layers." They then made visual sketch notes about all of the layers.

We continued to learn about democracy in humanities and students finished their democracy comic strips. These were due this week, so please get them finished this weekend, if you haven't already done so. We also looked at maps and used different maps to follow directions using a compass. We reviewed the provinces and territories and introduced the different levels of the government. Ask your child about the three levels and what they have learned so far. They should also be able to tell you some of the things our government does for us :)

Weekly Update Sept 30 - Oct 4

We have started to do weekly speed drills in order to work on the ability to quickly recall basic facts to 9x9. They will do them once a week and track their results to see improvement. You will find the site that I use to create their drills. They can be printed off at home for extra practice if you like! Just go to the additional resources blog to find them. The current focus in math is multiples, factors, prime and composite numbers. There are a number of games on the additional resources page that can be used to reinforce and review these concepts at home.

In science we are looking at trees and forests. They have explored the different parts of the tree and their jobs, the layers of the forest and the organisms living in them, the important uses of trees and abiotic and biotic factors. They are currently working on a visual project (due on Monday, Oct 7). Ask them to bring it home so you can check it out!

In Humanities, we have introduced democracy and talked about the pillars that our democracy is based on (representation, equity, justice and freedom). We have also talked about rights and responsibilities and the rights that we have as Canadian citizens. Students are working on a comic strip that is based on one of the concepts of democracy. On Monday, we learned about Orange Shirt Day and residential schools and students designed an "Every Child Matters" journal page.