MidTerms

It's almost 2014 already! Woohoo! But, with the New Year also comes a time of reflection for students on the first semester of the school year. I've been thinking about my grades, how efficient I've been working, ways in which I could improve as a student, and of course how my midterms went! Midterms are exams that happen in the five core classes (Math, Science, Social Studies, Language Arts, and Spanish) right before Christmas break. They test your knowledge of all the material covered in the first semester of the year. Both seventh and eighth grade had all five exams this year while sixth grade had none. We had a new exam each day and the exams were an hour and a half with an hour of independent study time before hand. The eighth graders got to go home at noon when there exams were finished to study for the following tests. These tests factor into our overall grade greatly and are extremely stressful. Thankfully, though, in every class we received a study guide to answer the week beforehand which would help us complete the test. Never the less, I will admit that the exams were tough! Each exam had a new set of challenges but I was well prepared for them. By Tuesday of exam week it felt like midterms would never end but I pushed through along with my fellow students and remained confident in myself.  For the eighth graders, most of the exam grades have already been posted. How well did you do?

pH Lab

In Science, we have been doing a lab about pH. pH is the measure of how acidic or basic a solution is. It measures how many hydronium ions are present in the solution. The more hydronium ions, the more acidic. The less hydronium ions, the more basic. The pH scale ranges from 0 to 14, 0 being a very strong acid, 7 being neutral, and 14 being a very strong base. An example of a common acid is vinegar, or citric acid found in fruits. An example of a base is soap or an antacid.
In the lab we did, Ms. Miller gave us 18 different liquids and we had to determine if they were an acid or a base using blue and red litmus paper and cabbage juice. Litmus paper changes color according to whether it is an acid or base. Blue litmus paper will turn red if the solution is an acid and red litmus paper will turn blue if it is a base. We used both colors to help us test each solution. Cabbage juice has a natural indicator in it that reacts with different liquids. In addition to numbers, the pH scale also contains colors raging from red to pink, red being an acid, blue being neutral, and pink being a base. Cabbage juice will change the color of the solution you mix it with and match with the colors on the pH scale. After testing all the solutions with the litmus paper and the cabbage juice, we recorded all the data we collected about the pH of the liquids.

Spanish Culture Test

This Friday, we have a Spanish test. Now this is not some regular Spanish test, but a culture test. This means we are actually studying the culture of Spanish-speaking country. This test is all about Argentina. Now we haven't actually been taught the culture. We received the notes about it, but we did have to fill out some of it. We were given the notes before break, and told to review them throughout the week, since we are the Honors class. However I seriously doubt anyone actually did so. I did review but not to the extent I should have. See I learned, the way to study for culture, is to be apart of their culture. You must learn their attractions, celebrities, and any other fact about the country. I am hoping for a little bit of review before the test on Friday but I am going to have to study. Which reminds me, I should probably do that now. Wish me luck! Adios.

 

Separation of a Mixture Lab

     Recently in science, we did a lab about separating mixtures. The purpose of the lab was to separate a heterogeneous mixture, one that is not evenly mixed,  of different compounds. After separating the solution, the goal is to end up with the same amount of each substance we began with. Each group began by mixing 10 grams of salt, 10 grams of sand, 100 mL of water, 15 grams of corn kernels, and 5 grams of iron filings in a beaker. Using different tools and items found in the room, we had to separate each component.
     My group began by removing the iron filings with a magnet and coffee filter. Next, we used another filter and a strainer to remove the sand and corn. The salt was not removed because it had dissolved in the water. Finally, we put out beaker containing salt water and put it in the microwave. Most of the water evaporated away, leaving behind the salt. After completing the lab, we had to write a lab write-up and turn it in along with a table including all the data from our experiment.

Mixtures and Solutions

     The eigth grade science class is curenttly learning about mixtures and solutions. A substance is matter that is always made up of the same combination of atoms. There are two types of substances; elements and compounds.  An element is made up of only one type of atom such as Nitrogen (N).  A compound is matter made of atoms of two or more elements chemically bonded together, such as water (H₂O).  A mixture is two or more substances that are physically blended, but are not chemically blended together.  A good example of a mixture is air.  It contains seventy eight percent nitrogen, twenty one percent of oxygen, and one percent of other substances.  There are two types of mixtures; heterogeneous and homogeneous.  A heterogeneous mixture is a mixture in which substances are not evenly mixed, such as granite.  A homogeneous mixture is a mixture in which two or more substances are evenly mixed on an atomic level, but not blended together.  The individual atoms or compounds of each substance are mixed.  Another name for a homogeneous mixture is a solution.  In a solution there is a solvent, and a solute.  A solute is the substance that exists in the greatest quantity in a solution.  All other substances in a solution are solutes.

                                                               Heterogenous Mixture

Emma V. 

AMC8 Math Tests

Tomorrow we will be doing a test in math that we do every year. This test is called the AMC8 test. This test is a math test with 25 questions on it. Every student has to try to complete the test in the 45 minute class period. If you don't finish however, there's nothing you can do and you have to submit it as is. THe AMC8 test is like a math test to see how you rank up to other people throught your school and the country in math. So on Thursday we will take the AMC8 test. The AMC8 tests are all word problems that require lots of critical thinking and evaluation. After you take it, a few weeks later the school will announce the top 3 students in each grade. I can't wait for the AMC8 tests!

 

Thanks giving brake is coming up I am really excited.  hope everybody enjoys their thanksgiving with their families and friends.  be thankful and remember the true meaning of thanksgiving. 
this year for my thanksgiving brake I am heading off to Missouri to spend time with my mom's side of the family.  we have been celebrating thanksgiving with them for the past couple of years and I have enjoyed it every year we always have a blast and we have lots of fun.  where are you going for your thanksgiving brake this year.  I hope you all enjoy yourselves and have lots of fun. 

We Help Food Drive

For the next 2 weeks we have started a food drive. We are collecting cans to donate to the shelter. In the middle school we are having a completion against the 7th graders. Whoever collects the most cans , then there class gets to have a crazy sock day. In honor of our food drive next Thursday the 8th graders will head over to sort cans for the shelter, and make sandwiches. Also if you don't want to bring in just cans you can bring in eight dollars, which will provide a turkey for someone who can't afford a meal on Thanksgiving. Each turkey is worth ten points. This We help Food Drive, isn't just for the holidays it runs all year around. The food drive will end this coming Friday. Hopefully the 8th graders will win to get the crazy sock day! This food drive mainly is focusing on Thanksgiving meals for the families that can't afford a meal, or don't have the things that are needed to prepare it. 

Chemical Reaction Rate Project

This week in science we learned about the rate of chemical reactions and how to speed them up or slow them down. On Tuesday we were assigned a project where we would have to create and experiment that demonstrates a way to slow down or speed up a chemical reaction. For my demonstration I decided to use baking soda and vinegar. When the products mix they create a chemical reaction that causes the reactants to fizz. I demonstrated that you could increase the concentration of the powder and vinegar to increase the reaction rate, or decrease it to slow down the reaction rate. 

Science Chemical Reactions Lab

Over the past few weeks the 8th Grade a science class was working on a Chemcial reactions lab. We had 19 different compounds that we had to put together. All of them had different chemicals and substances within them. Most of them had to do with fizzing or creating a solid from a liquid. I enjoyed learning about chemical reactions and doing this really fun lab.

Next week we'll be helping with the We Help organization. The whole eighth grade class will be making sandwiches for the people who can't afford food for them to eat on Sunday. We had the president of We Help come talk to us yesterday about all the food they give out, and how much they do for the community. Sure it's not the funnest thing in the world, but it's a good thing to so for the community.      

Spanish grammar

In 8th grade advanced Spanish we are learning some grammar. We are learning demonstrative adjectives, which we have already learn in language arts class. They are, this, that,these, and those. Also the forms of them in Spanish depend on if the object you're referring to is close, not close, or far away. We did many practices with this in our books with pictures and we would say where the object was, and what it was. So for example if I were to say "That book" (referring to it close) it would be " este libro". So depending on where something is and if it is or masculine or not, that is where you would pick what form and the location of it. 

Science chemical lab

In science, we are doing a lab to see what reacts with what. We are testing and seeing what happens when we mix different chemicals together.  We started last week and finished today. My group was Lauren and Evan. It was fun to see the chemicals react with eachother. (By kyra)

Pic Collage

Last week in language arts, 7th grade had to do a project. We had to make a collage using pictures that represent ourselves. I put volleyball, friend, and pet pictures because those all represent me. We make the collage how ever we wanted to suing any app. I used Pic Collage and it worked great. It was really easy to use! It didn't take me very long to do, but it was hard trying to fit all the pictures in. I wish we could have presented them in class. I wanted to say what all my picture were. It was a really fun project and I hope to do something like that again!

Junkyard Ear

This week in science, we are doing a project on the human ear. The goal of this project is to make a model of an ear and see if all the parts will send vibrations through the whole ear when a loud sound is produced. I think my group will do very well on this project together. Sydney, Haiden, Abi and I have already come up with a plan in order for this experiment to work. So far, we will use a small dog cone for the pinna, which is the outside of the ear that funnels the sound into the ear canal. Then, we will use paper for the ear canal, and ceran wrap for the ear drum so that it will vibrate easily. Then, we will use toothpicks for the malleus and the stapes. The incus will be represented by the bottom of a small paper cup. These 3 bones are the smallest in your body, and we really needed them to vibrate well. We will use a balloon for the cochlea. Inside we will put dog and bunny fur to represent the hair inside the cochlea that plays a very important part in sound traveling through the ear. A straw will be inside the balloon to represent the auditory nerve which send the signal to the brain. Finally, we will use a monster straw to act like the Eustachian tube. We are very excited to test our model out. I hope it works!

Science Dimensional Analysis

It's that time of year again...mid terms! Even though they seem so far away it's only a little bit over a month until the semiannual exams begin. In Science class we recently did a lesson that took two class periods to complete that contained material only to be found on our mid term. What we learned in class is called dimensional analysis and the 8th graders already learned a form of it in math earlier in the school year. Dimensional analysis is the process of converting something from one unit to the other. For example, you could find out how many meters are equivalent to five kilometers. There's also a more difficult version of this called double decker dimensional analysis which is twice the work. I'm explaining this all in a nutshell because if the insane name didn't give it away: this is very hard! I'm not confused though because we went over numerous, in depth examples during class and I copied everything down to the best of my ability. I actually found dimensional analysis very interesting and know that it will help me in the real world. Let's just hope I understand it enough to do well on my Science mid term! Good luck everyone!

Lesson 2, Spanish Review

Tomorrow, in eighth grade Spanish Honors, we have an oral test. We have had many tests, but this test is a little bit different. An oral test is when she asks you question,in spanish, for a certain amount of time. The whole class sits outside and waits for her to call us one by one inside to take it. They are usually pretty mild but I am nervous for tomorrow.  Lesson 2 of the first chapter is all about past-tense verbs. So when writing, (of course for tomorrow it's speaking), the sentences you have to write the correct conjugation(form) and you have to have add a past tense adjective. Also, of course, it does have to make sense.  I am nervous for tomorrow because tonight is Halloween. This means I am going to have to cut my trick-or-treating in half to study for the test. However I still don't think it will be enough, but I have been preparing all week for it. Let's just hope I do good on it!  

Cinderella Stories

           Our homework for L.A. was to fill out a chart. First we had to read three stories. Each of them were twists off of the original Cinderella. My favorite story was the first one which was called "Aschenputtel". I really liked it because it was the most like the original.  The second story is called "Yeh Shen". There was a girl named Yeh Shen and her best friend was a fish. Her evil step-mother  found out about her secret best friend and put an end to her happiness. Then a man told Yeh Shen that the fishes bones were magical and to make a wish. So she wished she would go to a festival and it worked. She met the prince fell in love and got married.
          The last book we had to read was called "Interview". It was in the step-mothers point of view. She kept talking about how Cinderella was disrespectful to her family. Apparently Cinderella was spreading rumors. Just like the other stories Cinderella ended up with the prince and lived happily ever after.

The House On Mango Street Foldable Book

In class we have been working on a foldable book. It was for a book we read throughout the past week. This particular foldable has many different elements. Some of them are literary elements, characters, theme, and setting. For characters we had to draw our four favorite characters and write a paragraph about each one. For literary elements we made a little foldable to go inside the foldable. For setting we made a little foldable and drew our favorite setting in it and write descriptive words about the whole book.

For theme we made another little foldable and we listed all the themes. We had at least eight parts to our mini foldable. This foldable was so much better than having a test because it was more fun and a lot easier to do. I like doing foldables and when we were assigned  to do them for homework we didn't have to a lot. It was just one foldable a night and I don't think it is that hard. When you make a foldable you have to know a lot about the book and this book was a very good book to read.

               Every year we have a student government. We elect who we think should be President, and our grade representatives. It is really fun! We just elected our President and our representatives. Our President, this year, is Annabelle. Also, our representatives are Lindsey, and Claire. I think our student government is going to be really good this year.

                There are many activities that you can do when you are in student government. They plan all the mixers, and they are very good at it. I haven't been in student government yet, but i might try to be president next year. Last year, our President was Jacqueline. I am almost positive that our student government is going to be the best this year. 

Word Study Foldable
By: Sydney Ahlquist

In class we had to do a word study foldable. It has envelopes in it for the note cards we make.  We have only done 4 units, but that's how many envelopes are in the foldable. I personally think it comes in handy because it can hold my notecards from all of the sections, and when mid-terms come, I will have them ready to go. It is an easy thing to have for any class. All you have to do is grab a folder, fold it about an inch from the bottom crease and about an inch and a half on the other side closest to the top. You get 4 envelopes and you take the first envelope, glue it on the side with the flap closest to the top. You glue all of the others like that but in a row. Then you can slide your notecards in it whenever you want. I think this is the most helpful foldable I have made all year.

Who Moved My Cheese?

As middle school students, adjusting to changes in our lives can be extremely difficult. Right now, the new LCC Life Center is being built and we have to make sacrifices to experience the ending product of months of work. Also, the eighth graders are getting ready to leave LCC and enter high school. These major changes may be extremely hard to adjust to, but after reading the book, Who Moved My Cheese?, my peers and I have realized that we should be open to new changes.

            The main characters in the book, Hem, Haw, Sniff and Scurry all love to eat cheese in Cheese Station C. Overtime; the amount of cheese in their cheese station begins to diminish. Sniff and Scurry have observed this change and are able to quickly adapt to their surroundings by searching for new cheese in the maze. On the other hand, Hem and Haw are comfortable in their cheese station and are surprised when the cheese disappears. After reading the book, I have learned that being like Hem and Haw will not help you achieve anything in life, but being open to change like Sniff and Scurry will help me move forward in life.

 

Pepsi and Mentos

    
     Recently in Science, we did a lab about the physical change that takes place when you drop mentos in a bottle of soda. The first part of our lab was designing a way our group could drop a whole pack of mentos, that's about 14 mentos, into a 2 liter bottle of Diet Pepsi. My group used three pieces of paper and rolled them up so they were just a little bigger than the circumference of the mentos. Then, we used an index card to create a barrier between the mentos and the bottle. After practicing many times during class, we finally learned how to slowly pull the index card away so that the mentos would all drop in the bottle at the same time.
     The next day during class, all of the groups walked over to the point so we could test our contraptions and see which group could make the highest gyser of Pepsi. My group went second to last, and our gyser was the highest! The only bad part was
we got sprayed with Pepsi!

Science Tuning Fork Lab!

For the first time for seventh grade science we created our own labs! We were given a group and a tuning fork and were told to create an experiment that anyone could understand. Some of the results were shocking and I think the whole class was shocked on what a wave could do. It was fun and the entire class enjoyed doing it while we learned what a wave effects.
We learned things such as: how a wave effects a liquid and why it does what it does. My team had five liquids and we stuck the tuning fork into the liquid. Some of the liquids like the baking soda + water and the carbonated water splashed everywhere! But when we stuck it in thicker liquids it hardly reacted. My group determined that when a wave interacted with a thicker liquid the energy of the wave would be absorbed the liquid, but when the wave interacted with a thinner liquid the energy of the wave would be transmitted to the liquid.

LA extra credit- new gym

Right now in school the new gym is almost finished. They started around April I think and now it's finally done! All of us have been waiting for the day where we can have our own lockers, and no portables. When I drive by the gym at carline in the morning I always try and see as much of the inside as possible.

The thing I'm most excited about is having new classrooms and lockers. It gets too crowded with all the seventh and eights graders walking around an elementary campus. Plus we FINALLY get our own gym!! It kinda stinks I misted it for volleyball season, but we'll still have lots of other sports too. It's just gunna be good that we get more space, and all new stuff


I don't think I'm the only one who's excited about the new gym. All of the teachers are saying how cool it is when the go and see it. To be honest I'm a little jealous they get to see it and we don't. Sr. Bosco showed our class pictures of her room, and it's so much nicer than what's in the portable. Also Mrs. Mishall was raving about how all the carpets are in and that the bathrooms are so much nicer. The whole school is really excited.

There is only one thing that I'm disappointed about. We don't get to have our own lunch room. I mean they built this ginormous gym/classrooms, but they can't fit even one spot for lunch tables. We have to eat outside in either the cold or the really hot. Not to mention we can't do Funchie Lunchie anymore! I'm really gunna miss that. I just don't want to sit on the ground for lunch.

Mary Coleman Coats

In Science the 8th grade class is doing a Mentos lab. We had to get into groups and come up with a creative way to get all the Mentos into the Pepsi bottle at one time. Lauren Wittstruck, Kaitlin Carmichael and I are going to use string to do our experiment. We are tying all the Mentos to different pieces of string, and putting it in the Pepsi bottle at the same time and then drop them to make a huge eruption! We are presenting our lab in front of the entire class tomorrow.

Osmosis Lab

      We recently finished a lab about osmosis in science class.  Osmosis is the diffusion of water. The purpose of this lab was to see the exchange of water in and out of a gummy bear and to see how vascular plants obtain water. We gathered three cups, water, salt, and three gummy bears. In the first cup, there was no water or salt, just a plain gummy bear. The second cup was filled half-way with water and had one gummy bear. The third cup consisted of four tablespoons of salt, and half a cup of water and one gummy bear.

     My group chose to use red gummy bears. We placed the gummy bears in their cups over the weekend, and when we came back on Monday, there were some major changes. The first gummy bear stayed the same size, the second gummy bear grew a lot in size and volume, and the third gummy bear grew a little bit, but because of all the salt the gummy bear was unable to absorb a lot of water.  It was very interesting, to see the large gummy bears. The only downside of this lab was that the gummy bears were so fragile, that when we tried to scoop them out of the cup, they broke apart, and dissolved in the water.
   
                                         
                                                          


-Emma V.

Chemistry Review

In Science Class we have been doing a Chemistry review.  We have learned how to balance equations and we have learned all about atoms.  We learned about the cool water molecule that is a polar molecule.  We drew the process of ionic and covalent boding as well.  Last year, we started chemistry but this year we are going way farther in chemistry.  This section is just a warm up for what is coming ahead.  On Monday we have a test on our chemistry review.  The electron dot diagram was also another part of our review as well as reviewing what an element looks like on the periodic table.  I like chemistry a lot so I will be enjoying what we learn.  The labs we do in science with chemistry is also a lot more fun than our biology labs.  Science this year has ben very fun and I hope it gets even better!  Here is what our element symbol review looks like:

Math Foldable

I am doing a math foldable for extra credit. I'm doing mine to pull my grade up and I think you should to. Mrs. Rogers has offered 10 points of extra credit for doing this. You can do it on anything whe have learned so far. I'm doing mine on x and y intercept. It has to be something that we learned in 8th grade. Make sure to make it look good. The more effort you give the more points you get. It is due this Friday so hurry up and get it done. 8th grade math can be hard so if your looking for some fun and a little more points then I would try this.

Hispanic Heritage Month Project

In technology class the eighth grade has to make a power point presentation on our own devices.  Everyone had to pick a different person in each class.  I chose Selena Gomez and I have alread started working.  We are allowed to use any kind of power point app as long as we make a power point.  We have to have a title slide, a life timeline, personal achievements, why I like that person, and a multi media slide included in the presentation.  We had to choose a person who had hispanic background because it is hispanic heritage month.  We also have to present our power point and talk while viewing the slides.  We have a grade sheet to know what to put on the presentation and how many points we get for each slide.  This project will be counted on our edline grade.  This is a fun little project to wrap up quater 1 and start quarter 2.

Spanish Heritage Week

The best week out of the year in Spanish class is among us! That is Spanish Heritage Week. This week is filled with dancing, arts and crafts, plus lots and lots of food! The entire month of October is Hispanic Heritage Month, but this is the one week dedicated to learning about the fascinating Hispanic culture. On Tuesday the fifth and sixth grade are having a Spanish feast at lunch time and on Friday the seventh and eighth grade are have their own feast. On Friday morning every student will bring in a different Spanish food which will collectively result in an array of different cuisine choices for the students to eat at lunch time. Kids are allowed to bring in foods ranging from tacos to paella, a Spanish rice dish. Last year, there was lots of guacamole! I brought in an array of Spanish sodas for last years feast and this year I will be supplying everyone with a popular Spanish drink called Jarritos. Not only does this exciting week include lots of fun experiences with fellow classmates, it is also a good learning opportunity. We get to discover a lot about Hispanic culture which will allow us to respect members of Hispanic ethnicity more now that we know some of their interesting traditions. Last week, the eighth graders began learning about Costa Rican culture which was a good introduction to the upcoming week of educational joy! This year we have been assigned to bring in a toilet paper roll for arts and crafts, I wonder what we are doing! This is going to be a great five days! Adios!

Anna Schecht
Mrs. Hartley
LA 7A
4, October 2013

Race for the Cure

       LCC did a coin/dollar drive for Breast Cancer and to make it interesting, we used Florida collages. Each collage (FSU, UF and USF), had a giant bottle with the collage logo to collect coins. Then at the end of about two weeks, all of the money was counted and which ever collage won, those school colors had to be worn on the Friday of that week. FSU has won for the past 3 years and this year... The Gators of UF. However, the money did go to a good cause. It went to breast cancer research and this Saturday my school is doing Race for the Cure. I won't be able to go but what my school is doing is very good. I happen to know someone who had breast cancer and I think she would be very proud of me and my school for doing something like this. Hey, maybe FSU will step it up and win next year.

State Shape Activity

         This week and next week in Social Studies, we are working on a State Shape Activity. It is a project where we are required to pick one of the states/provinces/territories in the U.S. or in Canada. We have to make a shape representing the state/province or territory that we are doing. Mrs. Mishall needs to see any visual that connects to the place we are doing, so we have to be very creative. We are also required to include information on our place. Some of the information may include the capital, population, total area, state facts, sports, and climate. Our boundaries are endless, so we all have to think carefully about what we are going to do with our state/province/territory and show off our creativity. Tonight for homework, we had to write down two states that we wanted to do for the project. There are plenty of places for everyone to do, so everyone should be able to have their own place. I picked Oregon and New Jersey because parts of my family live in those two states. I am really excited about this project and I can't wait to see how it turns out!
-Lindsay Wilson

7th Grade Cross

 This year in art we are making a cross out of sculpey. We first started off with the shape. We all had to draw what we thought it should look like, and then both classes voted on which one we liked the most. After we picked the shape of the outside, we had to divide it into 32 pieces. Then we had the finished drawing of the cross, and we had to cut out pieces of sculpey for each shape on the inside. Each one of us got one piece of the cross, and we had to design our piece with shapes and letters. Some people made stamps to press into them. When we finished designing them, we had to make sure all of the pieces fit, so we traced them. After that we pushed some of the pieces together to make it fit better. This cross design is similar to the one we picked.

National History Day

All of seventh and eighth grade have been working on the annual National History Day project for over a month now. The project began on the second day of school and will be graded on October 3rd. The grading will be done by Mrs.Hartney and Mrs.Mishall who will be judging the projects on many elements including but not limited to: quality, appearance, historical accuracy, and how well the project follows the National History Day guidelines. The following day, anonymous judges will arrive at LCC and critique the projects based on similar elements. A select number of participants from each of the five categories will be chosen to bring their project back to school in early November to be judged yet again. Out of the remaining contests, one individual and one group from each category will then move on to the county competition in March. There, they will present their project to a new set of judges who will be picking a select number of lucky winners to move on to the next round. Eventually, projects will be presented at a national competition level to compete with kids across the United States. Winning National History Day would be a huge accomplishment but for now, most kids are just concerned with turning their projects in by the deadline! Seventh grade is required to work individually but eighth grade has been given the privilege of working on this project with a group. The five categories that you can submit your project to are exhibit, documentary, website, performance, and research paper. Since the beginning of school, students have gone to a National History Day class on Tuesdays and Thursdays in order to get directions on how to approach the project. As a cooperative middle school, every child including myself has completed a process paper, research paper, and an annotated bibliography. We have also taken a field trip to our local library in order to gather more extensive research. By this point all that's left to do with our projects is actually create what we'll be showing next Thursday. Good luck everyone!

Wheel Speech Project

Wheel Speech Project:
In Wheel we are  learning how to compose a compelling, and interesting speech. There are many ways to organize or structure a speech.  There are the sandwich, cause and effect, chronological, acronyms, and mind map techniques. We also learned about the "power of three" when you write a speech.  If you address three topics, multiple times in your speech, chances are that people will remember what you talked about later on.  If instead, you talked about ten different topics in one speech, the listener would remember less.  Another way to enhance your speech, is with your body language.  If you have good eye contact, and a lot of voice variation, chances are that people will be intrigued with your speech and want to hear more.  The eight grade class, was given the option to write a speech on their NHD topic, or a breakthrough. The breakthrough could be historical, environmental, medical, entertainment, or anything else that is a significant breakthrough.  I chose to write my speech on the development of the ultrasound machine. Our speeches have to be between three to three and half minutes long. These speeches are due on either October 23 or October 30th, depending on which date we signed up to present our speech.  Overall, I learned a lot about how I can improve my speech and make it more interesting.  I can't wait to her everyone's speeches!

-Emma V.

 

Science Fungus Lab

For the last week in science, we did a Fungus lab. The five main types of fungi are Sac fungi, Club fungi, imperfect fungi, zygote fungi, and lichens. For the first part of our lab, we examined a common type of zygote fungus under a microscope. The fungus we looked at was a bread mold. Next, we did some research on two common types of imperfect fungi, athlete's foot and ringworm. They are actually the same type of mold, but they infect different parts of the body. For the club fungi, we looked at the gills of four different types of mushrooms under a microscope. The gills are located underneath the cap of a mushroom and hold the reproductive spores. We also did a spore print of a mushroom by putting a mushroom cap on a piece of paper and covering it with a beaker. The mushroom will them release its spores onto the paper after sitting for a while. Lastly, we added yeast, an imperfect fungus, to warm and cold water to see the reaction. We were not able to do a section on lichens because of the rain. The labs were due today, September 25th. The lab was very interesting and was a lot of fun too! The only problem was that the mushrooms began to stink after a few days!
-Kalen H.

Spanish Review

This week in Spanish Honors we have been learning about direct an indirect object pronouns.  We have started reviewing for our test on written Friday.  We also have a test on Monday that we are asked questions in class and we have to answer them orally.  To review, we do many different activities.  Listening to someone speak and answering matching up to who did what on a sheet of paper is one example.  At the end of each section of a chapter, we always do the review.  We usually review for a test during block schedule so we have enough time to get through the entire review.  The review is very helpful because it gives us examples of what the test will be like.  We also get new vocab along with grammar.  This section is all about taking a trip and the different objects in the airport as our vocab.  To study for the test, I usually study with a friend and make flashcards.  I hope I do well on my test!
by, Annabelle

 

 

Science Pollution Experiment

 

For the experiment we had to do for pollution we had to make a "pollution catcher." This is basically a piece of poster or cardboard with a sheet of wax paper with Vaseline on it. You make it and put it somewhere outside where you think there is air pollution. You can put it anywhere. I decided to put it on my porch outside. So far nothing has happened. But in a few days I can see if any dirt or anything blows onto it and sticks. I personally think that there might be some "pollution" on my "Catcher." There might be little to none though because it is not a busy part where there might be a lot of pollution. I personally think that this experiment is fun. But I also think it can be disgusting depending on how much " pollution" gets stuck on the Vaseline.

This is my "catcher" 


by: Sydney A.



We Beat the Streets

This year all seventh and eight grade students read We Beat the Streets - the story of three doctors who beat the odds and worked together to succeed against the odds.  Students discussed the many lessons in the book.  In addition to learning and studying to become doctors, the three also tried to develop a career in the music industry rapping.  Following this idea, students used rap as a medium to review the lessons that were taught in the book.

"I used to think all I had is the streets
Nothing left but drugs and fights I couldn't defeat
That no hope was there
That no one cared
Except for ME

Realizing stuff
truly made me believe
That I can do it
Push through it
Make it rain

With my success came millions and fame
Where you come from doesn't determine where you go
For all you people  out there
I hope you know
You gotta strive your best to be the best

There really is
success out there
hope out there
It is really true
The only one who can make it happen is you!"
 ~ Kyra B.


"One thing, I understand why
It really does matter how hard you try
Keep that in mind, I designed this rhyme
To explain in due time
(To Persevere)
Time is a valuable thing
Watch it fly by as the pendulum swings
You need to realize even though it gets hard
To push through all the way
(Its so unreal)
You can be a better person
You just keep trying and believe in yourself
Try to hold on and don't waste your time
You can do anything if you set your mind to it
One thing, I understand why
It really does matter how hard you try
Keep that in mind, I designed this rhyme
To remind myself how
I tried so hard
In spite of the way people were mocking me
I persevered until I turned out to be
A much better person in the end
I'm surprised I got so far
Things aren't the way they were before
You wouldn't even recognize me anymore
I'm such a changed persons because I tried
You can change too, just push through
Until the end"
~ Kalen H.


As a conclusion to our unit, students wrote essays explaining one of the lessons and applying it to their personal lives.  The overwhelming topics were to believe in your dreams and with hard work you can accomplish anything!

Spirit Day

As part of our 8th grade unit, Who Am I?, students are talking about what makes them unique and special in the modern world that we live in.  As part of this study, we have learned that we are all valuable members of our community and they have decided to continue the tradition of giving back!  This year we will have teams participating in both the Race for the Cure Breast Cancer Walk and the SPCA Pet Walk.  As part of their fundraising efforts, students are sponsoring a coin drive.  All proceeds will be split between the SPCA and the Susan G. Komen Foundation. 
Today, students dressed in their college team colors to support UF, FSU, and USF.  The middle school celebrated at a tailgate party during break.  Currently, based on the dollar bills (not counting coins yet) that have been donated USF has raised $57, UF has raised $201, and FSU has raised $243.  Everyone is doing a great job and we have lots of reasons to celebrate!

PANTHERS LIVE TO GIVE!!!!