Mr. Van

SCIENCE

Just wanted to take a moment to touch base.  Our eighth grade will begin wrapping up a unit on the states of matter, gas laws, and fluid principles. A two part examination will begin Friday when the students are given the take home portion and conclude next week with the in class portion.  Take the time to discuss the following topics with your son or daughter: states of matter, phase changes (fusion and vaporization), density, pressure, Pascal's, Bernoulli's,and Archimede's principles, Charles's, Boyle's, and Gay-Lussac's gas laws, viscosity, cohesion, adhesion, and surface tension.  Speaking of surface tension, today marks the anniversary of the Bubble Boy's death.                                                              

                                                        David Vetter "Bubble Boy" 1973

Publicly identified only as "David", the "Bubble Boy" was born with the genetic disease Severe Combined Deficiency Syndrome (SCID).  "David" died of Burkitt's lymphoma after an unsuccessful bone marrow stem cells transplant.  Despite screening, the bone marrow from his sister contained the Epstein-Barr virus. This outcome led to the discovery that viruses could cause cancer.

 

On a lighter note, our seventh grade is currently finishing discussion of evolution and will soon begin discussing classification of living things.  Our sixth graders are finishing weathering and erosion podscasts and will begin discussion of plate tectonics.                                                                                                  

Students will be taking the Terra Nova tests next week.  We will continue to move forward academically.  Students will continue to be expected to review materials discussed in class and complete any assignments that accompany these discussions.                                                                                 

Have a great week.

Mr.V 

Thoughts....

Science Fair

WOW!!!  What a wonderful experience this year's science fair was for all who participated.  Last week's turnout was one of the best in my many years here at St. Francis.  Congratulations to all of our students whose efforts made this year's science fair an overwhelming success.  They continue to represent the best of our school, community, and parish.  Special congratulations to the students who were judged gold at this year's fair. They are now qualified to participate at the regional fair held on March 17 at Niles North High School.

I am often asked why we continue to announce awards.  The answer is quite simple, I believe it is important to maintain the competitive element of the fair.  Our students have multiple opportunities to compete and be recognized athletically, however, they seldom are given that same opportunity to compete academically.  Science Fair gives many of our students the much needed and deserved opportunity to showcase their abilities and achievements academically and the recognition they certainly deserve.

Third Quarter

We are now into the third quarter.  Now that Science Fair is behind us, we can once again turn our attention to our curricular focuses.  The Eighth grade with put the final touches on a machine unit that included the design and creation of a Rube Goldberg apparatus.  Our next unit will include the states of matter and the fluid laws.  Seventh grade continues to study DNA, genetics, and evolution.  This will be followed by an interesting unit on viruses and bacteria.  Sixth grade finishes with minerals, the rock cycle, and the types of rocks later next week.  This will be followed by weathering and erosion.            

SCIENCE FAIR

The Science Fair is here.  The Science Fair is a two day event consisting of a judging session and a viewing session.  Judging will be held tomorrow night from 6:00 p.m until 9:00 p.m.  Only parents who have volunteered to judge are permitted to attend this session.  However, all parents and friends are welcome to view projects and visit with the students in the gym on Wednesday night beginning at 6:00 p.m.  

Students have been assigned judging times, project numbers, and room assignments.  Sixth grade projects are always given priority and therefore judged during the first (6:15)or second (6:45) time allocations.  Seventh grade is judged third (7:15) or fourth (7:45) followed by the Eighth grade.  Ideally each project will require 30 minutes to judge.  However, many projects will run longer or end sooner. Students do not need to stay beyond their assigned time.  However, they will not be permitted to leave until we are assured they have arranged a ride home.

Students who score gold will be awarded medals Wednesday night following a short public viewing of the projects in the gym.  Please make an effort to attend this exciting and fun night.  

As always, Please do not hesitate contacting me with any questions.       

Mr. V

 

INTERESTING ARTICLE

The following article was passed along to me by Mr. Chevalier. I hope you find it as interesting as I have.   Enjoy 

Download WSJ 010512 - Solar panel tree

Happy New Year

 

 

 

 

 

 

Download 10 Nose to the Grindstone

Happy New Year and welcome back!  I am hoping that everyone had a happy, healthy, and restful break. It is, however, time to put our noses back to the grindstone.  The next several weeks will be very busy as we work toward completing science fair projects, papers, and presentations, and the second quarter.

This year's Science Fair will be held Tuesday, January 24 and Wednesday, January 25.  Junior high students will spend the next six or seven class periods working toward completion of their projects, papers, and Keynote presentations.  I will also be available after school every day should any student require use of the Apple laptops or additional time for working.  All students are expected to be ready to begin presenting their projects in class Thursday and Friday of next week and continue to do so until all have been completed.  Projects will be graded at this time and averaged into the second quarter grade.

The Third quarter will begin with review and completion of the following units:

    Eighth Grade will finalize their Rube Goldberg machine design and begin assembling their             apparatus'.  Each group is required to incorporate each of six simple machines into their design with       the purpose of completing a simple task.

    Seventh Grade will continue to discuss DNA, Genetics, and Evolution.

    Sixth grade will complete an abreviated study of the rock cycle and types of rocks.  

I am looking forward to a very busy, exciting, and enlightening second sememster.  As always, please contact me with any questions or concerns.

Respectfully,

Mr. V

Attention

Being that this will most likely be my last blog for the year, I wanted to take a moment to wish all a very blessed and Merry Christmas.

Just a few notes.   It has been brought to my attention that last year the science fair paper was not turned in until after Christmas break.  Many of the students have also expressed the need for addition time to complete this project.  As a result, I have decided to extend the deadline to January 4, 2012. That is the day we return from break.  Any students that have finished their projects and would like to turn it in to me before break can fell free to do so.  I will gladly take it and review it over the break.

We will begin putting together the keynote aspect of the project when we return on the fourth.  It is very important that the students come prepared to work on this at that time.  All pictures, videos, and information should be in hand.  

If you would like to be a part of a judging team or know somebody would, please contact me here at school via phone or email.  It is always a very positive and interesting experience. 

Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year

Mr. V

Test Time

Junior High grades six, seven, and eight will be given an exam this coming Monday, December 12. Topics are as follows:

    Sixth grade:  Earth's structure and minerals.

    Seventh grade:  Sexual and asexual cellular reproduction and DNA.

    Eighth grade:  Energy.

Final Science Fair papers are due Tuesday, December 20.  This is the written version of a finished project and includes research, experiment, and analysis of data.  If students are in need of help they should seek it out sooner rather than later.  Friday, December 16 will be the last day that I will make myself available for this purpose.  Myself and several other junior high teachers are available nearly everyday. The longer this is put off the harder it will be to find time to assist.  

Please contact me with any questions.

Mr. V 

Technical Forms

The following are the technical forms needed for the science fair paper.

Download IJAS Abstract Form SFX

Download IJAS Human Endorsement SFX

Download IJAS Non-Human Endorsement SFX

Download IJAS Safety Sheet SFX

 

Hello

Let me take a moment to welcome all back from what I hope was a very happy, restful, and safe Thanksgiving holiday weekend. The Christmas season is always very busy and exciting.  Many wonderful things are always happening here at SFX and in science.  Our Eighth grade finally launched rockets today!!  Always an adventure and always fun, I am happy to announce that it was a success.  All middle school students will be working on science fair papers during class this week. It is important that each comes prepared to do so. I can only justify the use of class time and will only provide this time if it is put to good use. Other than science fair, students will be working toward the completion of the following units:

        Eighth grade will be completing a unit on energy and starting a short unit on machines.  An exam is         planned for December 12. We are considering adding the Ruth Goldberg model to this machine         unit if time permits. 

        Seventh Grade is working toward completion of our unit on cell reproduction and DNA.  Having         finished meiosis will will be start our discussion on DNA later this week.  An exam is scheduled for         December 12.  Our next unit will cover Genetics and Evolution.

        Sixth grade continues to discuss the Earth's structure and minerals.  An exam is also scheduled for         December 12.  The unit that follows covers thr rock cycle, rocks, and weathering and erosion.  

Entering this busy holiday season it is important to remain focussed and continue to work hard.  I have scaled down the quantity of work students bring home in an effort to allow them the time needed to review their notes and other materials.  It is through this constant review that they will become comfortable with the material and come prepared for class. It is expected that students will take advantage of this time and do just that.  As such, students should expect a quiz everyday.  

Mr V

 

 

 

New Quarter

A very heart felt thank you to all who have kept Paddy in your thoughts and prayers.  He is doing well and is expected to be back in school next week.  While this unexpected event has been very trying, the outpouring of love has been very comforting.  It is truly a blessing to be accepted as part of this wonderful St Francis Xavier family.

 Download 01 Danke Schoen

On a lighter note, I am amazed at how quickly the first quarter of our school year has passed. The unseasonably warm weather has played tricks on my sense of time. Is it really November?  The new month brings with it cooler temperatures, a new school quarter, and even cooler units of study.  Topics currently being discussed include Newtonian (Isaac not Wayne) laws governing energy and motion, the cell cycle, and the structure of the earth.  

We continue to work toward completion of the science fair review of literature.  The students will be turning in a completed first draft on Monday November, 7.  Time has been given to them in school to work on this.  Please take the time to check that they have what they need to complete this task.

If their are any questions please do not hesitate contacting me.

Mr V