Monday October 10, 2011

8th Grade Math:  Today in math students began class with the problem of the day.  We then transitioned back into chapter 2 section 2 and the distributive property.  Students were introduced to the distributive property last Friday, and we revisited the concept today in class.  Mr. Olsen reviewed the rules that were introduced last week, and continued working with the students on example problems and the reasons for each step in the process. 

Assignments:  Review homework #10 is due on Wednesday. 

7th Grade Math:  Today in math students began class by using their flashmasters.  We began class by grading the 2.1 worksheet before we  jumped into chapter 2 section 2 on adding and subtracting decimals.  Mr. Olsen led students through the important rules of lining up the decimal points and filling in zeros in order to make sure that both or all numbers involved in the problems have the same number of digits according to place value. 

Assignments:  Review homework #10 is due on Wednesday.

Science:  This week in science students are beginning the rotation we have planned for our students here in the Aurora House.  Mr. Olsen's students are with Mr. White this week, and will be learning about the otilith bones in the salmon heads, in order to age them and search for copper wire tags that were inserted at the hatchery when they were reared.  In Mr. Olsen's classroom this week, Ms. Pasteris's students are working on learning about habitat and the water quality parameters associated with salmon rearing and spawning.  Today students were introduced to Mr. Olsen and given a rundown on what to expect over the course of the week.  Tuesday and Wednesday of this week will include guests from the Alaska Department of Fish & Game sportfish division, who will take students out to Switzer Creek and measure eight identifiable stream parameters as well as why these parameters are important to the salmon.  Students from Ms. Collins homebase should be prepared to spend the entire afternoon outside on Tuesday. 

Assignments:  Students can be spending some time furthering their knowledge of the physical parameters we are looking at here in science class.