Monday:  No School!

 Tuesday:  Early Man      **All Region Paragraph Rough Drafts are Due TODAY!**

            We will begin our study of early man with a K-W-L to determine what we know, think we know and want to learn about the lives of early man. Students will then move on to a vocabulary activity where they will be asked to match this week’s vocabulary words with their definitions.   As a group the students will discuss the questions:  What is prehistory and why does history change?

            Students will then explore the lives and diets of early hunter gatherers.  We will explore the ideas of shelter, bands, and migration.  Students will then watch a discovery channel video comparing the body and brain size of the Neanderthal to the modern human, and look at collected evidence that helps scientist deduce the diet and lifestyles of the earliest humans. 

            *Homework:  Complete your glogster poster for your assigned region.  Due Thursday

Wednesday:  No Social Studies 

Thursday:  Development of Tools and Culture

            We will explore the development of tools used by early man. Students will be asked to think about and discuss how tools gave early man control over the environment. We will then take a look at our modern society and the tools we use to explore and control the environment. Students will then focus on the importance of mans ability to control fire, and discuss this a pivotal event in the course of human development.

            We will take a look at modern American art as a way to assess what we value as a culture. We will then explore the caves of Lascaux France in a virtual tour.  These caves give us amazing insight into the values and lives of early man. 

            *Homework:  Please type the final draft of your region paragraph.  These should be sent to me in an email attachment and are due on Monday

   Students will watch the video A Way Forward: Facing Climate Change and answer questions based on the video.  The video can be accessed by clicking on http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/index.html.  Next, click on the Global Warming link found on the far left of the page.  The video A Way Forward: Facing Climate Change is the second video on the page and shows a picture of a growling polar bear.  Make sure you are watching the correct video!  Check the title, and make sure that the video you are watching has a running time of 7 minutes 43 seconds. 

    As you watch the video complete the sheet:Friday 9-3 Virtual.  The assignment is due on Tuesday.  I will be available to answer questions via email or chat from 8-12 am on Friday and through email the rest of the weekend.  Have fun!

Monday: Are People Getting Taller?   

-Math Minute completed and corrected.  

-Students will look at data collected around 1900 by statisticians Karl Pearson and Alice Lee.  The focus of the survey was to determine whether or not male children grow taller than their parents.  Working in groups students will look at the data collected and answer questions based on their observations of the data.  Even though students are working in groups, each student is required to do their own work and complete the assignments in their math journal.

                *Homework:  Charts: Hollywood Winners and Losers. Extras can be found on the “extra math” folder at the front of the room. Mother daughter data collection.

Tuesday:   Scatter Plots  ***CHANGE OF PLANS***  Please disregard the below lesson plan.  We were not able to complete Monday's class work, so it will be continued today!!!  THE HOMEWORK HAS ALSO BEEN CHANGED!!

-Math Minute completed and corrected.  

-We will continue to explore the Pearson and Lee data, this time in a scatter plot format.  Students will work with their table groups to complete the scatter plot activities.  Even though students are working in groups, each student is required to do their own work and complete thee assignments in their math journal.

           *Homework: Mean, median, and mode sheet.  Extras can be found on the “extra math” folder at the front of the room. 

 Wednesday: Scatter Plots

-Math Minute completed and corrected

-We will continue to explore the Pearson and Lee data, this time in a scatter plot format.  Students will work with their table groups to complete the scatter plot activities.  Even though students are working in groups, each student is required to do their own work and complete thee assignments in their math journal.

              *Homework:  Scatter plots: Fast Food or Slow Food?  Extras can be found on the “extra math” folder at the front of the room. 

 Thursday:  Stem-and-leaf Plots ***CHANGE OF PLANS***  Please disregard the below lesson plan.  We were not able to complete Wednesday's class work, so it will be continued today!!!  THE HOMEWORK HAS ALSO BEEN CHANGED!!

-Math Minute completed and corrected

-Today we will look at the ages of the presidents at the time of inauguration and use the data to create a steam-and-leaf plot.  Again students will be working with their table groups to answer the questions related to the graph but are required to record all their answers in their math journal  These journals will be collected and students will earn class points based on the work completed.

                *Homework: Students are to work on ixl. com.  This is not a free choice!  Please work on the section titled Divide whole numbers - 2-digit divisors.  Please note--- students are required to solve all problems on a piece of binder paper.  Each problem should be numbered and all work shown.  Students who do not follow directions will not recieve credit for their work!!! 

Friday:  Students are asked to gather data on the heights of mother-daughter pairs.  Remember, the daughters should be at least 18 years old.  We will use this data to create a chart modeled after Pearson and Lee's.   

Monday:  Region Project Continued

            Today students will finish answering the questions on the region project guideline sheet.  Students will use their answers to these questions as a guidline for writing a well structured complete paragraph that addresses each question on the guideline sheet.  Students are required to turn in their completed answers by then end of class today.  Any student who is not finished answering the questions will have to take them home and complete it as homework.  Students who take their work home must turn in their questions Tuesday morning.

 Tuesday:  Glogster

          Students are registered with glogster and will use class today to begin working on a poster that represents their assigned region.  The instructional focus of today will be teaching the students how to link a photograph from the web to gloster. 

Wednesday:  No Social Studies 

Thursday:  Region Continued

            I will return the questions that were collected on Monday.  In class today students are expected to write a complete paragraph, incorporating all research questions. Students must also include the vocabulary words geography, climate, temperature, precipitation and vegitation in their paragraph. 

       *Homework:  All rough draft paragraphs are due on Tuesday! 

Monday:  Theme # 4 Movement

            Movement includes the interaction of people, places and things.  We will discuss movement in terms of travel, communication, trade and the sharing of ideas and information.  As a class we will discuss human made transportation (cars, trains, boats etc) as well as natural forms of movement (Weather, erosion, tides).We will also discuss how information is traded and question what would happen if communication between areas was stopped.   Finally, we will look around the room at the resources we use on a daily basis and question where they came from, how they got here, and what it took to manufacture them.

 Tuesday:  Theme #5 Region

            “Region is the area on the earth’s surface that is defined by certain unifying characteristics. The unifying characteristics may be physical, human, or cultural. In addition to studying the unifying characteristics of a region, geographers study how a region changes over times.” National Geographic. 

          Today we will begin work on a project that explore the theme of region. In groups students will be assigned to a physical region on earth (grasslands, deserts, rain forests, mountains, polar regions). Students will first use the internet to research the region. Students will then list items that they would need to adapt to the environment when visiting their assigned regions. (Items might include food, clothing, insect repellent, ice ax, etc.) How many of the items do they have to buy? After the individual groups conclude their research, they will present their findings to the class. What kinds of items do people who live in rain forest regions have in common with people who live in mountainous regions? What items are unique to one region? What items are manufactured in their region? What items are imported? What items are absolutely essential?

This project will continue on Thursday.

A copy of the students guideline can be accessed here:Regions Project

Wednesday:  No Social Studies 

Thursday:  Region Continued

            We will continue the project begun on Tuesday.  Students will use glogster.com to create posters depicting their assigned physical region and including the research points outlined in the project handout.  This poster will be a group project, but students will recieve individual grades based on their ability to work as a group and their contribution to the end project.  These posters will be a part of the student presentations that will take place next week.