Weeks of 12/12 and 12/19

I hope everyone was able to attend last night's Advent service that was led by the sixth through eighth graders.  They shared their talents beautifully, and hopefully, that helped all of us to calm our busy minds and refocus on the meaning of this often hectic season.  We lost some instruction time to prepare for that service, but we are jumping right back in to get some things wrapped up in time for our Christmas break.

Seventh graders have been working on their creation projects as a culminating project for our creation vs. evolution unit.  Projects are due on Wednesday, and we will begin sharing them at that time.  Students have had two class periods to work on this in school.

Eighth grade is finishing up Chapter 13 - possibly by break time.  We are learning about chemical bonding.  We are also learning a programming tool that will be used to share some of our new chemical knowledge sometime after Christmas.

May your family enjoy a safe, peaceful, and blessed Christmas holiday!


                               Mrs. Baarck

Week of 12/6

Eighth grade will be finishing their Periodic Table chapter and have a test on Thursday.  We will then move right into chemical bonding - one of my favorite areas of science!  Element projects are due on Monday, December 12.  There is no more class time to work on these, so plan accordingly.

Seventh grade is beginning our Creation vs. Evolution unit.  We will be discussing the history behind the theory of evolution and reviewing our knowledge of the account of creation in Genesis 1.  We will share our faith, but also learn some scientific proof for creation.  I want my students to be able to answer questions about why they believe what they believe and be able to give non-christians some scientific food for thought.  Creation has scientific proof behind it, and evolution is not the accepted fact that it is often taught as.

Week of 11/28

I hope everyone had a restful Thanksgiving break.  We have four solid weeks of time to accomplish lots of learning before Christmas.  Seventh grade will be building DNA models and learning a bit about mutations in DNA as they prepare for a chapter test on Friday.  Eighth grade is just beginning their study of the periodic table.  This part of our curriculum involves an element project.  Students will receive the two elements that they will be studying on Wednesday of this week.  Research for the project will be done in class, but the construction of their element "squares"  will have to be done at home.  Due date is December 12.

Week of 11/20 Be Thankful!!

So...we have lots to be thankful for...a beautiful community, a caring christian school and church, loving and active school families, and focused and motivated children!  But, I bet we're all thankful for the short school week as well. Here's what's keeping us busy this week:

Seventh grade will continue their study of heredity by starting an in depth look at DNA.  Eighth grade will be reviewing and taking a chapter test on atoms on Tuesday.  Wednesday, my homeroom will be working with their 1st grade buddies, helping them with an animal research project.

Have a safe and blessed Thanksgiving!!

Week of 11/14

You should be seeing work being done at home on the computer for both 7th and 8th grade this week.  Both grades are working through interactive websites which fit with the chapters we are working on.

Seventh grade is doing a project entitled "Simple Inheritance".  By following a teenager with cystic fibrosis, they will learn the way genes are passed through a family.

Eighth grade is learning the makeup of atoms and how every element has a unique number of particles within it.  They are using an interactive lab on www.sascurriculumpathways.com.

All instructions to get into each of these websites is posted in ebackpack for the students to access.

Week of 11/1

Good Morning!  After a busy week with the 8th graders in Washington DC, I've returned to a busy week at school wrapping up the 1st quarter.  Seventh graders will be doing a little bit of Ch. 4 review to get ready for a test on Thursday.  Eighth graders have to finish up their solution inquiry labs and will be getting ready for a Ch. 4 test on Friday.

Report cards will be handed out at next week's parent/teacher conferences.  See you then!

Week of 10/17

So...I've finally figured out a little bit of new technology and I'm able to share some of the things my students are able to create with our new MacBooks.  These kids are amazing with technology.  Give them the tool and they'll show you what they can create when they are motivated!  Please enjoy the videos to the right as a small sample of what's going on in our classroom.

Seventh graders are learning about the cell.  Each person was assigned an organelle and became an expert on it.  Then the students were combined to create one complete cell and each group compared a cell to something that would be familiar to anyone.  The results were very entertaining.

Eighth grade had to create a "States of Matter" project that covered the four states of matter very comprehensively.  Whether a keynote, blog, prezi, poster, or movie every students was able to create something that they felt comfortable with.  You may not even know what some of those technological terms are.  Ask your child to show you what they did!

Week of 9/19

As both 7th and 8th grade begin Chapter 2, all students are now using www.quizlet.com to manage their vocabulary lists. This free website allows students to create their own set of online flashcards to use to prepare for tests and quizzes. Mrs. Bresemann introduced this site to her 8th grade Lit classes and they have been using it for their vocabulary. It can be used in any subject. Your child should know their username and password and be able to show you their flashcards. I hope this tool will help students to better prepare for assessments.

Learning Lots of New Things!

Well, I have been so immersed in new technology, that I forgot to take care of some technology that I was already used to using! Sorry about the delay in the blog. Both 7th and 8th grades will be finishing up their chapters on Friday this week. Lots of study guides are in ebackpack for them to use to prepare.

Get Ready - It's Almost Time!

Well, it's time to get back into the swing of things! Wednesday is the big laptop rollout day. I can't think of a more exciting (or overwhelming :)) start to the school year. Can't wait to see all of you there.

A couple of items of note...I have updated all emails addresses for my homeroom. Please let me know if you think you are not receiving updates. After discussion with the faculty and administration, we will allow feathers for those who had them put in as long as they are the smaller variety that have been placed discreetly within the hair. Remember, as with all hair type things, the goal is to be modest and NOT an attraction. This means larger, more colorful feathers placed more on the top of the hair would not be acceptable as well as colored streaks of hair and other extreme hairstyles. Our goal here at St. Lorenz is to be focused on our Lord and our education, not the fashion sense of the students. We appreciate your help in this matter!

So - enjoy the last beautiful week of summer. I know I will.

Week of 6/6

Wow! How did it get to be the last week of the school year already?! Seventh grade will be wrapping up their plant studies. Eighth grade will be working with electricity and magnetism. No homework this week. Happy summer to all!

Week of 5/23

There are lots of activities competing for my science time this week, so it's important to stay on top of the assignments even when there is no class. Seventh grade should be focusing on writing their chastity essays. They were given all of the requirements last Friday, and the essays are due this Friday. Eighth grade is wrapping up their heat unit and will have a Chapter 10 Test on Thursday which is our last day for science this week.

Week of 5/16

Seventh graders will be wrapping up their human body presentations. We have also begun our sex ed unit. We will have a speaker on the ramifications of sexting on Tuesday. Thursday our class will be split into boys and girls for further discussion. Daily quizzes will be given on the system of the body that was presented the previous day. All powerpoints on the various systems are posted on GoogleDocs for review.

Eighth grade is working on Heat & Heat Technology. We will have a lab on Tuesday with presentation on Wednesday.

Week of 5/2

Seventh graders are well into their human body project. This will be their last week of work. Some groups may be ready to start presenting on Thursday. Eighth grade is wrapping up their study of energy resources and will test their knowledge of motion and energy transfer by designing a contraption to protect an egg from a 3 m or higher fall. Chapter 9 test for them on Thursday.

Week of 4/25

Let the spring madness begin! Academic bowl, track meets, science olympiad, baseball, softball, spring thing,... oh yeah, we are still supposed to be learning things in school! :) I will be trying my best to help my students stay motivated. Seventh graders are in the beginning stages of a large project on the human body. The first pieces are due on Wednesday (vocab, pictures, facts, letter), and they will have had three class periods of work time to prepare. You will probably see them doing some work at home, but if they seem overwhelmed, then they have not been using class time wisely. Eighth graders continue studying energy and will have quite an "eggciting" challenge by the end of the week.

Week of 3/28

Five days of intense work ahead of us! Got to get a lot accomplished before spring break. Seventh grade will be wrapping up their study of the animal kingdom by investigating birds and mammals. They will have a short test on each of these sections rather than a full chapter test on both topics. Eighth grade will be finishing up chapter 7 with a test on Thursday. Academic bowl qualifying test will be given on Wednesday so that participants for the bowl can be announced before spring break.

Week of 3/21

Even though it's a short week, we'll be very busy. Seventh grade is finishing up a chapter and will have a test on Tuesday. Eighth grade is study Archimedes' and Bernoulli's principles. Wednesday is the end of the quarter, so all students should make sure that they have turned in any absent or late work!

Week of 3/14

Achievement testing week! I will only see 7th graders on Monday and Friday. Eighth grade will see me Monday, Tuesday, Friday (Mrs. Baarck's homeroom) and Monday, Thursday, Friday (Mr. Wascher's homeroom). Seventh grade will be reviewing for a test on Friday. Eighth graders have a lab which will require an empty 2 liter bottle with the label removed. I will need 8 total.

Week of 3/7

Whoa - another five day week ahead of us! We'll get so much accomplished (hopefully)! Eighth grade is creating movies to demonstrate their understanding of Newton's Laws of Motion. They will wrap up Ch. 6 with a test on Friday. Seventh grade is finishing up their study of invertebrates with a test on Tuesday. They will move onto the first three classes of vertebrates and possibly be ready for the perch dissection on Friday.

Week of 2/28

I'm praying for a five day week. It will be exhausting, but necessary, for me to get caught up! :) Seventh graders will be doing their first "official" class dissection of the year: earthworms. It's amazing what can actually be seen in such a small creature of God. They will finish the week learning about the last two phyla of invertebrates: echinoderms and arthropods. Eighth grade continues to study forces and will investigate Newton's laws of motion with some activities and videos.

Week of 2/22

Lots of catching up to do! Eighth grade will be wrapping up their friction lab and presenting their findings to the class. They will end Ch. 5 with some discussion on the force of gravity. Seventh grade begins their in depth study of the animal kingdom starting with the many phyla of invertebrates.

Week of 2/15

Oh, what a relaxing(and productive) 4-day weekend! I hope the kids are as ready to get back to learning as I am. Seventh grade will continue investigating their owl pellets and will wrap up Chapter 14 by the end of the week. Eighth grade will be designing and conducting friction experiments as they continue to learn about forces. Lots of action going on in the lab this week!

Week of 2/7

The two snow days were very welcome last week, but it put me a little behind. We will have a very busy week crammed into only 4 days! Eighth grade will be working on calculating speed and acceleration and will also begin constructing an investigation to study the effects of friction. Seventh grade is studying animal behavior and will end the week working on an owl pellet dissection activity. This pellet activity is really interesting!! Ask about it at the dinner table - as long as you don't mind discussing an owl regurgitating while you're eating! :)

Week of 1/31

So... Eighth grade has finished their chemistry units and now moves on to physics! We will begin our study of forces, speed, gravity and acceleration. Later in the week we will study the movement of dominoes. If anyone has some that we could use, students bring them in!

Seventh grade continues its study of the six kingdoms. We will have a test on protists and fungi on Tuesday. Their fungus poems turned out awesome!! We will then begin our look at the animal kingdom, saving the plants for some warmer weather!

Week of 1/24

So...it used to seem that things slowed down a bit in the winter. Not so much anymore!! Eighth grade is finishing up their unit on chemistry with a final chapter starting this week. We will be doing a really interesting lab on Friday which will have the students creating their own indicator for acids and bases.

Seventh grade is continuing their trek through each of the kingdoms. We are now focused on fungi. This week we will take a closer look at the lowly mushroom and will also work with our creative side to create poems about the many types of fungi! Test will be on Friday already.

Week of 1/10

Both 7th and 8th grades have very involved science activities to look forward to this week. Eighth grade is reaching the height of their chemistry unit by learning about chemical reactions. They will learn how to write and balance chemical equations. We will be doing activities and internet practice to help us learn these new concepts.

Seventh grade is beginning its study of each kingdom in the classification system. This chapter we will be focusing on bacteria. Ask your child if all bacteria is bad? Can bacteria be used as medicine? What area of the school used the most bacteria? They should know the answers to all of these questions by the end of the week!

Week of 1/3

Welcome back! I pray everyone had a restful and rejunvenating break. Hallelujah! Christ is born!!

Both 7th and 8th grades will have a chapter test on Thursday of this week. We will do some extra review to refresh our memories of things learned "last year"! The second qtr. ends in two weeks, so keep an eye on your child's grades and assignments.