Mr. Mathews

May 1, 2008

Good evening parents and students!

I have wonderful news...Here is a link to the Earth Science textbook online. Students, you no longer have to bring your textbooks home if you have access to the Internet.

Classwork

Today the students had a choice of two assignments.  The first assignment was a drawing assignment where they were required to draw an underwater representation of the topography of the ocean floor.  The drawings needed to have 6 ocean floor features labeled and described.  These features are the mid-ocean ridge, deep-ocean trench, the continental slope, the continental shelf, abyssal plain, and sea mounts.  The drawings must be colored.  The second assignment was to do basically the same thing, but write a descriptive/creative narrative about a journey from one continent to another by walking along the ocean floor.  They must include the same 6 features and describe them just like in the drawings. 

Homework

Study notes and vocabulary for test Monday 5/5/08 and define ocean topography vocabulary in own words.  They also need to finish their ocean topography drawing/essay.

Thank you very much,

Mr. Mathews

April 21, 2008

Good evening parents and students!

I have wonderful news...Here is a link to the Earth Science textbook online. Students, you no longer have to bring your textbooks home if you have access to the Internet.

Classwork

Today we reviewed the Chpt 13 Sec 3 review and reinforce sheet as a class and watched a review/preview Bill Nye video on Ocean Water. 

Homework

Read pages 458-464 and have parents sign agenda and review Ocean Topography vocabulary for 10 minutes. 

Thank you very much,

Mr. Mathews

April 17, 2008

Good evening parents and students!

I have wonderful news...Here is a link to the Earth Science textbook online. Students, you no longer have to bring your textbooks home if you have access to the Internet.

Classwork

Today we finished up the notes on "Ocean Water Chemistry" chpt 13 sec 3 over the topic "Ocean Topography."  I will attach those notes at the bottom of this blog.  Students also started chpt 13 sec 3 review and reinforce sheet.

Homework

Finish chpt 13 sec 3 review and reinforce and study vocabulary for 10 minutes. 

Download ocean_topography.ppt - Ocean topography notes

Thank you very much,

Mr. Mathews

April 15, 2008

Good evening parents and students!

I have wonderful news...Here is a link to the Earth Science textbook online. Students, you no longer have to bring your textbooks home if you have access to the Internet.

Classwork

Today students worked out of their Guided Reading books pages 158-160 questions 1-14.  When they finished they began a new vocabulary table over "Ocean Topography."  The sections that will be covered with this topic are chpt 13 section 3 and chpt 14 section 1.  Below you will find the list of new vocabulary words for this topic.  I also passed out the students vocabulary quizzes from 4/4/08 and updated iParent. 

Homework

Finish "Ocean Topography" vocabulary defining them from the back of the book and NOT in your own words.  The vocabulary words are: sonar, fathom, seamount, continental slope, continental shelf, abyssal plain, salinity, density, and topography.  Fathom is not in the textbook so it will have to be defined from another source such as a dictionary, encyclopedia, or internet.

Thank you very much,

Mr. Mathews

Good evening parents and students!

I have wonderful news...Here is a link to the Earth Science textbook online. Students, you no longer have to bring your textbooks home if you have access to the Internet.

Classwork

Today we completed part 2 and half of part 3 of our Science Court: The Water Cycle court case. 

Homework

Students are to finish part 2 sheet from Science Court and study their "Water Distribution" and "Water Cycle" vocabulary for their quiz that is on Friday 4/4/08.

Thank you very much,

Mr. Mathews

March 31, 2008

Good evening parents and students!

I have wonderful news...Here is a link to the Earth Science textbook online. Students, you no longer have to bring your textbooks home if you have access to the Internet.

Classwork

Today students began by copying their new vocabulary words, which I will post below in the homework section.  As they did that, I checked their agendas for the reading homework pages 360-366.  I took up their "Water Distribution" vocabulary homework from the weekend and we took a pre-quiz over the water cycle.  We then brainstormed "water cycle" and watched two short animations on the water cycle as an introduction to the topic.  With any remaining class time students began defining their vocabulary words.

Homework

Finish/start defining "Water Cycle" vocabulary from the back of the book.  Study for vocabulary quiz this Friday 4/4/08.  The vocabulary words can be found below:

water vapor, water cycle, evaporation, condensation, transpiration, and precipitation

Thank you very much,

Mr. Mathews

March 26, 2008

Good evening parents and students!

I have wonderful news...Here is a link to the Earth Science textbook online. Students, you no longer have to bring your textbooks home if you have access to the Internet.

Classwork

Today I passed out their tests from Chpt 5 Sec 1-2 and Chpt 6 Sec 1.  They then brainstormed all the ways we use water in our everyday life and pair shared their ideas.  I then did a demo of water distribution on earth.  We talked about the amount of water that most people use in one day and why its important to conserve it. 

Homework

Study/Review "Water Distribution" vocab words for 10 minutes and make sure the B.O.B. section is finished.  Students need to bring colored pencils, crayons, or markers to class tomorrow for extra credit.

Thank you very much,

Mr. Mathews

March 25, 2008

Good evening parents and students!

I have wonderful news...Here is a link to the Earth Science textbook online. Students, you no longer have to bring your textbooks home if you have access to the Internet.

Classwork

We had a last minute change of plans today due to 5th graders from Powder Springs Elementary being in the building.  Students simply worked on the Guided Reading Workbook pages 127-131 questions 1-33. 

Homework

Study/Review "Water Distribution" vocab for at least 10 minutes.  Make sure it is finished.  Bring colored pencils to class on Thursday, 3/27/08 for bonus points.

Thank you very much,

Mr. Mathews

March 24, 2008

Good evening parents and students!

I have wonderful news...Here is a link to the Earth Science textbook online. Students, you no longer have to bring your textbooks home if you have access to the Internet.

Classwork

I began class by passing out three different graded assignments including their vocabulary quizzes from 3/13/08 over Chpt 5 Sec 1-2.  Students then took 3 minutes to clean out their science notebooks of everything except dividers and blank paper.  I passed out the new syllabus, which will be attached at the bottom and discussed the new late work policy.  Students finally made a new vocabulary table using the following words: iceberg, glacier, aquifer, groundwater, permeable, impermeable, water table, saturated zone, wastewater, and desalination. 

Homework

Students are to finish the vocabulary table we started in class today with the words above.  They are only doing the definition from the back of the book.  The words iceberg and wastewater are going to have to be defined by some source other than the back of the book, such as the internet, dictionary, encyclopedia, or else where.

Download syllabus_4th_nine_weeks.doc - 4th nine weeks syllabus 

Thank you very much,

March 21, 2008

Good evening parents and students!

I have wonderful news...Here is a link to the Earth Science textbook online. Students, you no longer have to bring your textbooks home if you have access to the Internet.

Classwork

Students turned in Chpt 6 Sec 1 vocabulary words and were given 5 minutes to review for test.  They were then given 2 minutes to ask any questions about the test.  Finally, the students took the test.

Homework

Enjoy your evening

Thank you very much,

Mr. Mathews