SPACE EXPLORATION

Hello everyone,

Welcome back to our science blog! I’m excited to share the incredible adventures your students are embarking on in our classroom. As we dive into the mysteries of the universe, I can already see their curiosity shining bright! Let’s look at what we’ve been exploring and where we’re headed next.

Where We Are:

Lately, we’ve been focused on space exploration and the expansion of the universe. Our journey began with the question: How do we learn about distant stars, galaxies, and celestial bodies? The answer lies in incredible tools like the James Webb Space Telescope, other telescopes, and various technology.

Students have been investigating how telescopes can help us study electromagnetic radiation—think visible light, radio waves, infrared, and more—to uncover the secrets of the cosmos. We’ve learned about types of telescopes and Visible Light using spectroscopes, which gave us some understanding about how telescopes use electromagnetic radiation to study the universe. Students have begun to grasp the concepts we've been discussing and are making great progress!

Below are images from our Spectroscope Activity. We looked at a light source, red, blue, yellow, and black objects to see which colors appear in the visible light spectrum when observing these object. We also looked at different element's spectra to figure out what elements were present in unknown objects. Something that Astronomers use to tell which elements are found in a distant object.

Where We Are Going:

We’re embarking on our “Origins of the Earth” project! This hands-on exploration will take us into the fascinating history of our planet, examining how the sun, solar system, and Earth came to be. The students will research various topics related to the formation of our planet and what makes Earth habitable.

For this project, each student will create a poster board presentation. They’ll research their assigned topic and then share their findings in a gallery walk format, where classmates can take notes on the 8 selected topics that contribute to Earth becoming habitable. It’s a wonderful opportunity for collaboration and creative expression, and I can’t wait to see the impressive displays they come up with! (Pictures to come!)

Following the “Origins of the Earth” project, we’ll shift our focus to exploring galaxies and other large-scale astronomical phenomena. This will set us up nicely for our first unit test, scheduled for mid-October. I encourage everyone to engage in conversations at home about these topics; your support means the world!

If you have any questions or want to connect further, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at curtis_silverwood@conestogavalley.org. You can also follow our journey on Instagram at @classwithcatwood, where I share updates and snapshots of our exciting classroom activities.

Thank you for being such an integral part of our learning community!

Mr. Catwood (formerly Silverwood)

WELCOME TO 8 GOLD SCIENCE!

Hello everyone!

This is the first blog post of the year! I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know all the new students this year! We have a great bunch, and we have been diving into thinking like scientists already! 😊

8th grade has converted to ALL Earth Science as we undergo curriculum changes, which happens to be my area of expertise and my favorite type of science!

Our units include:

• Astronomy

• Earth's History

• Earth's Processes

• Earth's Waters

• Weather & Climate

• Earth's Resources

You can learn more about the course here in my Syllabus.

Students have been doing activities in our Pre-Unit to Astronomy, Intro to Earth Sciences. This is to build some excitement and introduce topics we'll explore throughout the year. When we move into Astronomy next week, we'll start by learning how scientists study space and the universe!

Each year, I try to reduce printing, and this year, we will be using Digital Notebooks. They are guided notebooks, but they help reduce paper, and best of all... STUDENTS DON'T LOSE THEIR NOTES! It is so helpful to have notes this way. I've researched the effectiveness, which it is more effective than traditional handwritten notes. This is because digital notebooks allow for some customization by adding slides, images, gifs, and notes that help students understand a topic better. There will be a learning curve for some at the start of the year, but students quickly get the hang of it and enjoy using them.

Some non-science-related notes! I run the On Wednesdays We Wear... Campaign at school. Here is a calendar of the organizations we will raise money for throughout the year. Students do not need to donate but can during school lunches on Wednesdays. This month, we are wearing Blue on Wednesdays and raising money for the Boys & Girls Club of Lancaster.

If you ever have any questions, feel free to reach out to curtis_silverwood@conestogavalley.org 

Families, please note that I got married this summer. We are combining our last names, and the legal process for the change is definitely going to take some time. In class, I've been going by what my name will be, Mr. Catwood, but my contact info at the school still has my former last name. Eventually, this will change, but for now, it is still curtis_silverwood@conestogavalley.org.

You can follow @ClassWithCatwood on Instagram to see pictures of the classroom and photos of our class activities.

Below are images of a post-it note activity we did at the start of last week to discuss "What is Science?"

Thank you,

Mr. Catwood

(formerly Silverwood)

AND THE WINNER IS...

8 GOLD! Congratulations to our awesome students who have worked hard ALL year and did PHENOMENAL during our Color Wars event. I'm so proud of each one of them! They are all such great students. It's bittersweet that we're near the end of the year, but it is not a final goodbye yet—although it is the last blog post of the year.

Families, I would love feedback on the blog posts and what could help improve them for future years. If you have some time to complete this form it would be greatly appreciated: https://forms.gle/tsrkjz4UEGquPhWM7

Now... as we wind down for the year, in science we have debated, discussed, and explored environmental science topics within the last few weeks related to reducing human environmental impact on the planet. We looked closely at the geographical regions of Pennsylvania and we debated what type of energy could be best for the state that would cause the least harm. Students enjoyed debating and we have some great quick-witted minds on the team! It was fun observing and watching as they used what they learned to argue and discuss.

Over the next few days, the team will be running special schedules. There are some final academic things to do for some classes. In my class, if your student has any missing work I expect to have it turned in by tomorrow (5/31) but if they need more time, depending on the assignment, I'll allow until Monday. Students reading this, please check PowerSchool for missing work, I also gave out missing work sheets in class the other day.

Finally, I am going to miss the Class of 2028 a lot! This year has been fantastic. We have had a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to seeing them all graduate. This was my second year teaching, my third year at GHMS, but they have all made a huge impact on me and I hope that they have grown to love science a little bit more each day this year. Thank you families for your support and thank you to all my students for a great year! Good luck 8 Gold on your transition to High School!

Below are some photos/videos from before and after Color Wars:

Have a great summer,

Mr. Silverwood