Science Newsletter

Honors Science 8

~ January 26, 2018 ~

Good afternoon parents, guardians, and students and welcome our18th science newsletter of the 2017-2018 school year. This week we continued with our study of Earth’s hydrosphere by wrapping up our learning of the water cycle and fresh water.

THE RECAP: Where have we been?

As a quick recap of the past week, we started off Monday by having students create a comic strip about their incredible journey through the water cycle from the perspective of a drop of water. On Tuesday, we discussed the key concepts of chapter 11 – the water planet. In our discussion, we recapped the water cycle (evaporation, condensation, and precipitation) and how fresh water flows and collects on Earth’s surface and underground. We also discussed the processes of eutrophication and lake turnover. On Wednesday, during our shortened time together, students watched Bill Nye’s episode on the water cycle. Students also started working on the hydrosphere vocabulary packet. In this vocabulary assignment, students had to define, provide an example and characteristic of, and draw a visual representation of each key term from chapters 11 and 13. On Thursday and Friday, we wrapped up first semester by having students complete the lab skills post-test. This assessment measured student understanding of various lab components, including writing a hypothesis, identifying variables, analyzing data and interpreting graphs. After the lab skills post-test, students read the first 2 sections of chapter 13 – the ocean system. In their reading, students learned about the different layers of the ocean (surface layer, thermocline, and deep water) and also about the various features found on the ocean floor (continental shelf, submarine canyons, continental slope, ocean trenches, abyssal plain, mid-ocean ridge, seamounts, and volcanic islands). Students also learned about deep ocean currents (downwelling and upwelling) and also how ocean currents influence climate and weather (El Nino).

THE FUTURE: Where are we going?

  • Monday 1/29: Sections 13.3 and 13.4
  • Tuesday 1/30: Chapter 13 Mini-Labs
  • Wednesday 1/31: Chapter 13 Review
  • Thursday 2/1: Hydrosphere Test Review
  • Friday 2/2: Video: The Mariana Trench

EXTRA INFORMATION:

I am enclosing copies of the following documents:

  • January 26thScience Newsletter WORD Document
  • Week of January 22ndEarly Work Power Point Presentation
  • Chapter 11 Power Point Presentation
  • Chapter 13 Power Point Presentation
  • Hydrosphere Vocabulary WORD Document

LAST MINUTE REMINDERS:

  • 2nd semester starts on Monday, January 29th.
  • The hydrosphere unit test is scheduled for Thursday, February 8th.
  • Study tables are after school on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays for extra help or just a quiet place to complete homework.
  • The 8th grade Earth Science curriculum has an awesome website ( to help students learn – please check it out!
  • Feel free to contact me via email or phone if you have any questions about your student’s progress so far – hopefully by working together, we can keep our students on track and primed for success!

Thank you for your continued support. Have a wonderful weekend and ask your student to share with you the similarities and differences between surface and deep ocean currents.

Sincerely,

Mike Harris