Ms. DANNO

March 21st, 2025

We have started our final unit of the school year, Weather and Climate. This trimester we will be piloting a new resource, Savvas. We would love any and all feedback throughout the process of this pilot, so if your students share any details with you, please share with us as well. We want to ensure we are making the best decision moving forward with the resources we use and adopt.

February 14th, 2025

8th grade science has concluded our space unit with an engaging week, watching the movie Interstellar! As a continuation of this unit, students will now transition into the Mars Colony Project. In this project, students will collaborate within their lab groups to design and construct a habitable colony on Mars. The project will result in the creation of a physical model of their colony. We are excited to share more details as students begin their work next week.

Additionally, we would like to remind you that the Illinois Science Assessment will take place on March 3rd, 4th, and 6th. To ensure students are well-prepared for this assessment, they have been participating in practice tests during class to familiarize themselves with the question formats and wording. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the state assessment, please feel free to reach out to me. 

January 17, 2025

8th grade science has been continuing with our Space Systems unit. We are half-way through! Students recently completed a CER explaining the role of gravity within our solar system. We also took part in some fun model activities to help grasp the size and distant comparisons of the planets within our solar system. Next week, we will be focusing in on the Earth-Sun-Moon system. Students will be learning about the sun & moon's path in the sky, moon phases, including eclipses. 

October 11, 2024

Students have continued to investigate different types of waves, focusing on sound and light waves. We have completed many different hands on labs investigating how these waves interact with different media and matter.  Students created two different types of instruments to produce and manipulate sound waves by altering the wavelength and frequency.  This week, we explored how light travels and used gummy bears and gummy worms to see how light can be transmitted, absorbed and reflected in matter as well as learning how water refracts light waves and made a penny "disappear".  In addition, we took some time to zone in on important vocabulary words and students are creating a book of "one-pagers" for each new word we learn. Students will have a summative assessment on October 22 and October 23.  They will also have a summative CER on October 25.