Jan 19-21: Rock Types & the Rock Cycle

Only 3 days, but lots of information this week!

Monday & Tuesday - NO SCHOOL!!!
Wednesday - Start rock type notes p3. How are igneous rocks formed? What are the 2 types of igneous rocks and how are they different from one another?
Thursday - Finish rock type notes p3. How are metamorphic rocks and sedimentary rocks formed?
Friday - Rock Cycle pg3 - How are rocks changed from one type to another?

Students will be looking at a lot of samples of rocks this week - please emphasize along with me the importance of being careful with the rocks that we'll be handling. If you have any cool rocks at home, it would be great to see some from "the field."

Jan 10-14: Minerals

Yes, we are nerds.

We've started a new unit - yay!!! We're moving on to geology (geo = Earth/rocks, -ology = study of). Some people may find rocks boring, but I actually really like geology. It's fascinating to me how the Earth formed all the amazing differences in rocks and structures that we can observe. Utah is a great place for studying geology - so many cool things to see (too bad we don't live closer to Moab...). Might I suggest Arches National Park as a fabulous place to go over spring break (that's where my family always went) - and your students should be able to tell you all sorts of cool things about the rocks found there. The pictures are of myself and my husband while we were dating a few years ago - ah Moab... how romantic!

To begin with, we're starting with the building blocks of rocks - MINERALS! Students will learn how we determine which mineral is which, and what tests help us to differentiate them.

An uncanny likeness, I think...

Monday - Take out important notes from old folder and make new geology notebook. There are some students who need to buy a new folder (I warned them at the beginning of the year to protect and take good care of their folders, but many didn't listen). I would prefer it if they got folders that are the same color as the one's given to the whole class (3rd - red, 4th - blue, 5th - yellow). They need to be thin and be able to put in three hole punched papers.

Tuesday - Begin mineral notes (p1) - what is a mineral, a rock, a crystal... etc.

Wednesday - Finish notes (p1) and practice performing mineral tests.

Thursday - Discover a mineral lab (p2) - students will perform tests to identify 6 unknown minerals.

Friday - Begin rock cycle notes (p3).. you remember... igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic :)

We will not have school Monday Jan 17th because of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Plus... no school on Tuesday for teacher-finalizing-second-quarter-grades day (I think there's a more official term for it, but that's the best I can do).

Jan 3-7: Endangered Animal Presentations & Make-Up Work

Ok, ok... I know I've been a bad blogger this last month. It's been a little crazy.

For those of you who don't know - I'm expecting our first baby this April, and found out on Christmas that it's a GIRL!!! Many of your students have been very "helpful" in picking out names for our baby girl. I hope they aren't too disappointed should I decide not to use "Scooby."

Last month we finished up our ecology unit. Students did a lot of research on an endangered species, and wrote a persuasive paper about whether or not to protect it. I hope they learned something about human impacts on the environment and how complicated it can be when we try to make changes concerning the use of habitats.

We took our ecology final just before Christmas, and I was very pleased with how almost everyone did. Every class had an average score in the B range, which is awesome! As a reward, we made ice cream on the last day of class before Christmas Break (a mess, but very fun).

This week we've been busy giving short presentations about the animal that they researched. Soon we will be getting rid of all our ecology stuff and we'll soon start on geology topics.

As a note to parents - I'm offering extra credit to students who can help me with some lab supplies. I have some great activities planned, but getting the materials can be costly. Spreading out the cost among about 100 students makes the burden much easier. So here's what I need within the next few weeks:

• Chocolate, white, and butterscotch chips 
• Fun sized candy bars (not solid chocolate or peanut butter cups - things like Snickers, Kit Kat, etc., something with stuff inside).

Thank you for your support!