7th-8th Grade- Speed Homework

Hello,
For those of you who didn't find a convenient car trip for this week's homework, use the following:

1. Distance from school to home: 8.5 miles Time from school to home: 20 minutes Average speed:
2. Slowest instantaneous speed: 0 mph Fastest instantaneous speed: 60 mph
3. Write a sentence or two comparing the average speed to the instantaneous speeds. Were all three about the same? Why or why not?

9th Grade: Week of April 27-May 1

Hello,
Our Invasive Species presentations are Monday and Tuesday as you know. Your paper is due one day after your presentation. The field trip permission slips are due on Thursday, the day of the trip. Final Guesses for the Mystery Class project are also due on Thursday and on Friday, May 8 the Mystery Classes will reveal themselves. The homework and DUE dates are as follows:

Tuesday, 28: Complete the Invasive Species paper (and Powerpoint presentation if necessary).

Friday, May 1: Write a 5+ sentence paragraph about what you learned from the Mystery Class project.

Have a great week,
-Mr. Pfiester

7th-8th Grade: April 27- May 1

Hello,
Tomorrow will be the last in-class day for our Mystery Class work (though Final Guesses are due on Thursday). Mystery Class groups will conduct web-based research using either laptop or desktop computers. I congratulate you on a great job for this project. The 10 Mystery Classes will reveal themselves on Friday, May 8. The homework and DUE dates for this week are as follows:

Tuesday, April 28: For your ride home today (or back to school tomorrow morning) in the car , I want you to record and calculate a few things related to our study of motion and speed:

1. Record the total distance of the trip. This is easiest by having your parents zero the trip odometer at the beginning of the trip. Record the total time with your watch or cellphone. Calculate the average speed of your trip. On your homework it should appear like this: Distance from school to home: Time from school to home: Average speed:
2. Record the slowest and fastest instantaneous speeds of the car. Did your parents ever go over the speed limit during the drive? Your homework should appear at this: Slowest instantaneous speed: Fastest instantaneous speed:
3. Write a sentence or two comparing the average speed to the instantaneous speeds. Were all three about the same? Why or why not?

Friday, May 1: Write a 5+ sentence paragraph about what you learned from the Mystery Class project.

Have a great week,

-Mr. Pfiester

9th Grade: Week of April 20-24

Hello,
We are continuing our Ecology unit this week. As a reminder, we are scheduled to pair up with an Ecology class on a field trip from CSI on Thursay, April 30. More information to follow. An important aspect of ecology in the modern world is invasive species. Each student will select a different invasive species, write a short paper, and conduct a 10 minute Powerpoint presentation. The paper and presentation are due on Friday (April 24). So, the homework this week is to conduct research and prepare for the paper and presentation. Have a great week,

-Mr. Pfiester

7th-8th Grade: Week of April 20-24

Hello,
Spring certainly is here. Check out our beautiful tulips growing near the school entrance. We are now moving on to the study of motion as related to our physics unit. As the Xavier secondary students are so amazing, the deadline for the Mystery Class guesses (city/town, country, latitude, longitude) is THIS Friday. We will spend Friday using the laptops to conduct the final research. The homework and DUE dates are as follows:

Wednesday, April 22: Answer the following questions

1. What is the difference between speed and velocity?
2. What is the takeoff speed of a Boeing 737 airplane? A Boeing 747 airplane? What is the top speed of the fastest Ferrari car? Why does an airplane go up into the air when at the same speed a Ferrari stays on the ground?
   

Friday, April 24: Conduct Internet research related to your Mystery Class. Go to http://www.learner.org/jnorth/mclass/ for any clues that you may need.

-Mr. Pfiester

9th Grade: Week of April 13- 17

Hello,
A few exciting activities are planned for this week related to our Mystery Class project, which is drawing to a close. As the last few Fridays have been disrupted we will catch up on our work this Monday (April 13). On Friday we will receive the last of our clues and will spend the period using the Internet (please bring in book atlases from home if you have them) and our clues to determine the city and country of your assigned Mystery Class. Here are some important dates:
May 1 Deadline for your Answers! By popular request, you have TWO weeks to prepare your answers. No late entries will be accepted.
May 8 Locations of the Mystery Sites revealed!

We will continue our ecology unit this week. Tuesday we'll finish up the owl pellet dissection. The homework and DUE dates are as follows:

Thursday, April 16: Complete Section 3-2 Assessment Questions, 1-5 (p. 73).

Friday, April 17: Let's pretend you are a Mystery Class. Create four separate written interdisciplinary (history, geography, or cultural) clues for Twin Falls with the first clue being national/regional and the last three about Idaho/Twin Falls.

Have a great week,
-Mr. Pfiester

PS. I am inviting you to the event below:
Bill Akersten, Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at the Idaho Museum of Natural History in Pocatello, will talk about "Idaho's Ice-Age Saber-Tooths: A Tale of Two Kitties" at the next Herrett Forum. The free event will be at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 15 at the Herrett Center.

7th- 8th Grade: Week of April 13-17

Hello,
A few exciting activities are planned for this week related to our Mystery Class project, which is drawing to a close. As the last few Fridays have been disrupted we will catch up on our work this Monday (May 13). On Friday we will receive the last of our clues and will spend the period using the Internet (please bring in book atlases from home if you have them) and our clues to determine the city and country of your assigned Mystery Class. Here are some important dates:
May 1 Deadline for your Answers! By popular request, you have TWO weeks to prepare your answers. No late entries will be accepted.
May 8 Locations of the Mystery Sites revealed!

We will be finishing up simple machines this week with a pre-test on Wednesday and short test on Thursday. So the homework and DUE date for this week are:

Thursday, April 16: Study for Simple Machines test.

Friday, April 17: Let's pretend you are a Mystery Class. Create four separate written interdisciplinary (history, geography, or cultural) clues for Twin Falls with the first clue being national/regional and the last three about Idaho/Twin Falls.

Have a great week,
-Mr. Pfiester

PS. I am inviting you to the event below:
Bill Akersten, Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at the Idaho Museum of Natural History in Pocatello, will talk about "Idaho's Ice-Age Saber-Tooths: A Tale of Two Kitties" at the next Herrett Forum. The free event will be at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 15 at the Herrett Center.

9th Grade: Week of April 6-10

Hello,
Parent-teacher conferences are scheduled for the half-day on Thursday (2 pm-6 pm) and Friday morning 9 am- 12 pm. We are having a guest speaker on Thursday for 3rd (starting of course in Mr. Loosli's room) and 4th period to talk to your class about credit scores, credit cards and other personal finance topics. As instruction was canceled last Friday due to the Dance-a-thon, that homework is due Tuesday morning (April 7). So the homework and DUE dates for this week are:

Tuesday, April 7: Ecology involves the study of the environment. The movie "Wall*E shows a possible future for us. In a single 5+ sentence paragraph, select one of the Native American quotes below and write about how we can use it to prevent such a future.

Ancient Indian Proverb:
"Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children."

Qwatsinas (Hereditary Chief Edward Moody), Nuxalk Nation:
"We must protect the forests for our children, grandchildren and children yet to be born. We must protect the forests for those who can't speak for themselves such as the birds, animals, fish and trees."


Have a great week,
Mr. Pfiester

PS. I am inviting you to the event below:

Bill Akersten, Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at the Idaho Museum of Natural History in Pocatello, will talk about "Idaho's Ice-Age Saber-Tooths: A Tale of Two Kitties" at the next Herrett Forum. The free event will be at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 15

7th-8th Grade: Week of April 6-10

Hello,
Parent-teacher conferences are scheduled for the half-day on Thursday (2 pm-6 pm) and Friday morning 9 am- 12 pm. As instruction was canceled last Friday due to the Dance-a-thon, that homework is due Monday morning. So the homework and DUE dates for this week are

Monday, April 6: The ancients made great use of simple machines. This will be a short research homework that we will begin in class on Thursday, April 3 using laptops. Your assignment is to pick one of the following ancient structures: Great Pyramid of Giza (the only surviving member of seven ancient wonders of the world), Stonehenge, or the Theater at Epidaurus, Greece and research the likely simple machines that went into their construction. Details:

1. Paragraph 1: Desribe the physical characteristics of the ancient structure. What culture built it? What was its purpose? How many people worked on it and for how long?
2. Paragraph 2: What simple machines were used in its construction? Include at least 2 color hand-made drawings of the structure and involved simple machines.

Thursday, April 9: Locate the Section 3: Simple Machines packet I gave you. Complete all the assessment questions 1-3 using complete sentences.

Have a great week,
-Mr. Pfiester
PS. I am inviting you to the event below:

Bill Akersten, Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at the Idaho Museum of Natural History in Pocatello, will talk about "Idaho's Ice-Age Saber-Tooths: A Tale of Two Kitties" at the next Herrett Forum. The free event will be at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 15