A total lunar eclipse during the winter solstice

Total lunar eclipse will take place this Monday... and Monday is an important day, because the northern hemisphere is receiving the shortest amount of sunlight.  This day (the day with the shortest amount of sunlight) is known as the the winter solstice.

Monday is also our next full moon!

Chapter 7 test practice.... Grade 7

Please take some time to look at the questions created by the makers of our science book...
Section 1 practice quiz (7 questions) Facts about the earth
Section 2 practice quiz (9 questions) Facts about the moon...these might be difficult, we haven't talked about all this information.
Section 3 Facts about the our solar system.  Items that should be known are the order of the planets, which ones are considered to be the inner planets (and which are the outer planets), what is an astronomical unit, what is the asteroid belt, and what other objects are within our solar system?  

Computers PowerPoint project

This is a small "project" that I created and could talk about... it has the basic information and you should be able to understand what you are being graded on and your main focus of this project.

Farming PowerPoint Example

PowerPoint

Winter Solstice

December 21st is the winter Solstice in the northern hemisphere and that means we will experience they day with the shortest amount of daylight.  During this day, the sun is shining directly on the Tropic of Capricorn (which is located at 23.5 degrees South Latitude).
Read-up and enjoy!

7th Grade Chapter 6 Test

Practice for the 7th Grade Chapter 6 Test
10 Question Section 1 Quiz
4 Question Section 2 Quiz
13 Question Section 3 Quiz
20 question chapter review quiz

We spent a decent amount of class time discussing why seasons occur.  One interesting fact is that during the Northern Hemisphere winter, the Earth is at its closest distance to the Sun (5 million miles closer to the Sun compared to the distance during summer).

8th Grade Chapter 6 Test

Practice for the 8th Grade Chapter 6 Test
3 question Section 1 quiz (Succession)
9 question Section 2 quiz (Biomes)
11 question Section 3 quiz (Aquatic Ecosystems)
10 question standardized test practice
20 question chapter review quiz

Chapter 5 test practice (7th and 8th Grades)

8th grade test practice-The Nonliving Environment

Ch. 5 practice problems

Here is 1 link to study for the chapter 5 test.  You can access the Section 1 Self-Check quiz- Section 3 Self-Check quiz, Chapter review quiz, Standardized test practice, and there are also websites that can be visited (in the Web links section) that talks about Photosynthesis (and cellular respiration) .... and Extreme environments found on earth.

The test will have the same format as the Ch. 2-4 tests.  True/false questions, Multiple choice, vocabulary matching, and an essay question.

7th grade test practice-Weather

7th Grade Chapter 5 practice problems

American Education Week 2010

What does an Elkhart Lake Education mean to me?

Extreme weather (Hurricanes and Tornadoes)

National Geographic Hurricane and Tornado information 

Watch the damage from each category of hurricane intensity
Follow the path of a real hurricane
UW-Madison website

Chapter 4 review (8th grade)

It would be helpful to use the following questions to practice for the chapter 4 test (which is scheduled for this Wednesday).

Section 1

Section 2

Section 3

Chapter review quiz

Standardized test practice

8th grade review questions

Here are some practice questions that would be beneficial to know for the chapter 3 test.

Section 1
Section 2
Review Quiz

A click and drag puzzle used to distinguish between Body Systems and Main organ of body systems.

Ch 3 test practice

Lab deomonstration for interactions of human systems

The purpose of this lab demonstration is to show the cell membrane function.
The materials used in this lab are dialysis tubing, cornstarch solution, iodine solution, and a beaker.
The preparation for the lab is... cut a strip of dialysis tubing (about 4 inches long).  It needs to be soaked in water for approximately one minute.  One end of the tubing needs to be tied shut.  The cornstarch solution should be added into the tubing and then tied off, so that the tubing has a fleeting resemblance to a water balloon.
The procedure demonstrates how iodine reacts with starch.  The dialysis tubing/cornstarch solution should be placed into the beaker of iodine solution.  The minimum amount of time to wait for results is 5 minutes.
If the dialysis tubing is sealed on both ends, so that none of the cornstarch solution leaks into the iodine solution, the tube of white starch solution will change to a dark purple color.
During the procedure, iodine passes through the dialysis membrane and reacts with the cornstarch.  This is called diffusion.  The cornstarch is not able to diffuse through dialysis membrane because the size of the cornstarch molecules are relatively big. This demonstrates that the cell membrane is selectively permeable because Iodine molecules can pass through the dialysis membrane, when the starch molecules cannot.

Exploratory computers

I would like you to create a formal business letter during class today.  There are certain ways you should write letters.  Each way is dependent on to whom the letter is being addressed to.  Here are directions, that I would like you to follow, on how to write a business letter. 

Here is an example of a business letter that you can also use to help you through the letter writing process.

8th grade Punnett Square practice examples

Here are 2 different places to practice Punnett Squares

Website #1
This uses Adobe Shockwave player. It has nice information that you can use to follow and use to work on the examples. The last example is pretty challenging. Can you figure it out?

Math Practice
This quiz was created by the makers of our science book. This is not as helpful as the first example, but you should already be familiar with all the information asked within the 10 problems.

Here are some practice questions for sections 1-3 along with a practice quiz and test for chapter 2.
Section 1 Quiz
Section 2 Quiz
Section 3 Quiz
Crossword Puzzle
DNA Information
Chapter Review Quiz
Ch 2 Test Practice

7th grade Chapter 2 Minerals

Minerals are the building blocks of rocks. They are non-living, solid, and, like all matter, are made of atoms of elements. There are many different types of minerals and each type is made of particular groups of atoms. The atoms are arranged in a network called a crystal lattice. The lattice of atoms is what gives a mineral its crystal shape.

Different types of minerals have different crystal shapes. Most minerals can grow into crystal shapes if they have enough space as they grow. But there are often so many different crystals growing in the same little area that they all compete for space and none of the crystals is able to grow very large.

There are two main ways that new crystals of minerals grow. Some minerals form when molten rock, called magma below a planet’s surface and lava above, cools and atoms bond together into mineral crystals. Other minerals form when water that has atoms of dissolved elements in it, evaporates away. The atoms get very close to each other and may bond together to form solid minerals.

The special shapes of minerals are not the only difference between them. Minerals can be identified by other physical properties (appearance, hardness, luster, specific gravity, streak, cleavage and fracture) as well. Each type of mineral has its own special characteristics.

Here is a nice time lapse video of crystal formation.


Here is a nice website that has a number of examples of minerals which are probably found in your home.

Here are some practice questions for sections 1-3 along with a practice quiz and test.
Section 1
Section 2
Section 3
Crossword Puzzle
Practice Quiz
Test practice

The Baking Soda/Vinegar experiment