Mathematics This past week students were tasked with recalling and discussing multiplication and division of rational numbers. By working through common denominators, reciprocal numbers, long division, and numerousf other skills, the students have pressed well into the grade 9 year. This week we will finish rational numbers as a stand alone unit by looking at the order of operations and then writing our unit final exam on Thursday! Science During the past week, we worked on our websites and getting our Reproduction Page up and running. Everyone should be well into this project and should have editable sites available to look at and assess. Have you showed your parents yet or recently? If not, do it! Be proud of your work! In the coming week we will be looking at deoxyribonucleic acid and not just from a "look, I memorized a cool name" perspective! Let's spend some time and figure out what it is, what a gene is, what a chromosome is, and let's get rid of vaguely saying "DNA and genes are the stuff that makes you who you are" without explaining that statement. When you read this, think: what is DNA and what is a gene? By the end of the week we will ask the same questions and compare our differences.
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Part 2 of our Website: Heritable traits are characteristics that organisms pass on to their offspring. Thinking of your organism, provide examples of heritable and non-heritable traits and publish them, and the following, in an applicable section of your website. In order to pass on traits, organisms need to reproduce. You need to provide a synopsis of reproduction, in general, before summarizing your organisms reproductive capacity. Within this, you need to: · Describe the different modes of sexual and asexual reproduction. · Identify and interpret examples of asexual and sexual reproduction in different species. · Describe examples of organisms that use both sexual and asexual reproduction. · Compare advantages and disadvantages of asexual and sexual reproduction. Checklist that should be included: Describe Binary Fission Describe Meristems Describe Asexual Spores Describe Budding Describe Bacterial Conjugation Describe Plant/ Animal Sexual Reproduction 6 Drawings/ models/ images for each type of reproduction Two organisms that use both asexual and sexual reproduction One advantage and disadvantage of sexual reproduction One advantage and disadvantage of asexual reproduction If you missed it or want to ensure that all of the first section is complete, the initial assignment is below...
Biodiversity is our most language intensive unit with at least 68 specific terms related to the curriculum. To keep track of these and to make them meaningful, we will create a website throughout the unit. For the website, we will be using Google sites and will be starting on it's creation this week. Part 1 of our Website: Select an organism that can be found here in Coventry Hills. With this organism in mind, you and one partner are to brainstorm a testable question that you can ask about the organism. A testable question is the type of question found in professional scientific papers and science fairs. They not only involve an inquiry but also have the potential for the scientist (you!) to conduct an experiment. After choosing a question and/or an organism that can be used to focus on your question, set up your homepage. On your homepage the following are required: 1. The name of your organism and an image. 2. The structural and behavioral adaptations of the organism. 3. The variation that can be found within the species. 4. The food web and habitat that the organism exists in. How important is it to the food chain? What happens if it is removed or if another organism is removed from the environment? 5. How does a high biodiversity benefit your organism? How might a low biodiversity harm your organism (relate this to #4). 6. On the page, include a classification of your organism (Kingdom, phylum, classes, order, genus, species) and a breakdown of how the naming system came to be (hint: investigate Carl Linnaeus). As we move forward in math, we will quickly draw to an end on our rational numbers unit. This includes looking at what a rational number is, adding and subtracting rational numbers, multiplying and dividing rational numbers, and finally the order of operations. Throughout this entire unit, having and being able to utilize a calculator are key. If you do not have one, please make sure that you get and bring one in soon.
As a reference to where we are, students can go through work from pages 127-128 (multiplication) from the textbook chapter posted above.
As a parent of two school age children, I definitely understand the desire to know how everything is going in school and can sympathize with the two report card system not being ideal in terms of keeping parents informed. The question then becomes, how do we get around this and ensure that parents, students, and teachers are all informed about the progress that we are making in school? I think that's where I come in! The Blog for AssessmentOn this blog, I will post when we have done any major assessment pieces. As students, we should be talking about these with our parents but sometimes we forget (or you are teenagers and talking to parents about school is usually low on the priority list!). The blog will help you remember to talk about your achievement and where you are struggling and excelling. As parents, we can check the blog to see what is happening and to see if there are prompts for starting conversations. As an example, it's probably easier to get a response from the question: how was the biodiversity quiz today? rather than, what did you do in school? I will endeavor to provide information about any marks or assessments that we have done so that you can check in with your children. I really don't get the stems still though and what about averages?The outcomes for the various subject areas are designed to show students where they can make specific improvements but that can be confusing. Is a 3 = 75% (No!!) or, a 2 is a fail, right (Definitely not!!) are things that pop up. Questions like these and similar ideas still creep in, even if we have had our system in place for a few years. It is ok to have questions and always feel free to shoot them my way.
The way that I think of assessment in my class is that it is a reflection of our current understanding. If we struggle on a quiz today and have success on the same concepts by the end of the unit then it is not an average. The student understands the ideas and that is what will be reflected in the end. We should not be afraid to make mistakes as long as we use them as learning opportunities. A quiz in week three is a learning opportunity for us, not a final assessment. There are a few things for parents and students alike to be aware of as we move into the coming week: 1. Talk to your son or daughter (or show your parents) about their biodiversity website. The class has gotten their feet under them in developing a website and went through one round of peer edits this last week. For students, make sure that you have made the appropriate edits or have caught up with the content this week. We will be adding to the website based on our content from this week but won't do this until September 25. If you want to get a jump on this, as we cover topics, feel free to relate them to your organism and add tabs to your website. 2. Meet the Teacher Night is on Thursday. The evening starts at 5:00 and includes 3 sessions that will be identical in nature (5:00, 5:30, and 6:00 starting times for these). 3. There is a PD day on Friday and therefore there will be no school. As an approximate layout for the week, we will be looking at the topics listed in the table to the right. As the week progresses, any extra time needed will be factored in so we may end up with a slightly different layout but time will tell with that. With our biodiversity project underway, it's time to pay some attention to what has been going on in math. At the start of this year, we have been reviewing integers as a vehicle to our first unit on rational numbers. With that in mind, at the end of our first week we did a pre-assessment on addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of positive and negative numbers that are whole or fractions. The interesting component to our course this year is the addition of a new section to the grade 9 mathematics PAT. This section, designed to emphasize mental mathematics, will highlight the importance of numeracy beyond technology. At the bottom of this post, I have posted an excerpt from the Alberta Government regarding the mathematics PAT. What are we doing this week?This week is seeing the start of our rational numbers unit. Because of this, we are going over positives and negatives, fractions and number lines, and decimals. I am a big advocate of working within your comfort zone and since students usually have a preference in terms of working with fractions or decimals, being able to convert between them is essential. With that in mind, if you are wondering what can be done to supplement the course at home, working on conversions and then adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing the converted numbers before converting them back is a great exercise. As an example: Additionally, below is a copy of the workbook for rational numbers. We will be utilizing some of the exercises in class but doing them before hand is fine as we can always supplement lessons with additional or alternative questions.
Alberta Education Excerpt on the Grade 9 Math PATAdditional Test Administration Information:
During our first week of school we looked at laboratory safety and WHMIS which will be applicable throughout the year. After jogging our memories on that front, we are ready to move into week 2 and it's time to start our first unit in science; Biodiversity! Biodiversity is our most language intensive unit with at least 68 specific terms related to the curriculum. To keep track of these and to make them meaningful, we will create a website throughout the unit. For the website, we will be using Google sites and will be starting on it's creation this week.Part 1 Select an organism that can be found here in Coventry Hills. With this organism in mind, you and one partner are to brainstorm a testable question that you can ask about the organism. A testable question is the type of question found in professional scientific papers and science fairs. They not only involve an inquiry but also have the potential for the scientist (you!) to conduct an experiment. After choosing a question and/or an organism that can be used to focus on your question, set up your homepage. On your homepage the following are required: 1. The name of your organism and an image. 2. The structural and behavioral adaptations of the organism. 3. The variation that can be found within the species. 4. The food web and habitat that the organism exists in. How important is it to the food chain? What happens if it is removed or if another organism is removed from the environment? 5. How does a high biodiversity benefit your organism? How might a low biodiversity harm your organism (relate this to #4). 6. On the page, include a classification of your organism (Kingdom, phylum, classes, order, genus, species) and a breakdown of how the naming system came to be (hint: investigate Carl Linnaeus). Welcome to grade 9 at Nose Creek! We have an awesome first week planned out and you can find a mini-timetable to the left. This year, if you are in my math and science class, you will have Ms. Scott for humanities and if you are with Ms. Ocampo, you will be in Mr. Lafferty's humanities class. We are excited to get the ball rolling and look forward to getting to know you as the year progresses. As a reference, make sure that you check out the school website for important documents and for upcoming information. Additionally, there is a copy of the school handbook below if you are interested in any information, policies, or procedures for the upcoming school year. Remember that meet the teacher night is coming up on September 21 and don't forget to tell your parents about the first parent council meeting on September 11.
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Mr. GordonMath/ Science 9 Archives
June 2019
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