Math
Students in Grade Level and AMP are finishing their study of dilations and similarity at the beginning of this month. Next they’ll explore how similar triangles can be used to find the slope of a line. Students will represent linear relationships using tables, graphs, and equations. We’ll discover how linear relationships can represent real world phenomena.
Science
We have shifted our focus from why we have seasons to the impact humans have on the environment with an emphasis on climate change. The highlights of this section include our cookie mining lab, greenhouse effect investigations, and a finale where the students look into a cause of climate change in a particular area of the world and come up with a possible solution or mitigation strategy. This part of the unit has a heavy emphasis on data and analyzing data so that the students may draw conclusions.
ELA
This month we are finishing the text I
nside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai and completing the first module centered around refugee experiences and the themes of identity and home. Students are writing a literary analysis essay where they analyze the title of the text and its relation to the main character as well as the experience of refugees worldwide. Students are continuing to read independent reading texts of their choice both in the classroom and at home each night.
Social Studies
Students are well into our unit on the Ancient Aztecs. They have been analyzing existing evidence from the period in order to create and support their own historical theories. Furthermore, they have been considering the perspective of those who write history and whose histories are remembered. Students will ultimately take what they learn about how the Aztecs and the Conquistadores valued human life and apply that to the debate that currently surrounds the use of the death penalty in many states.