SHOOTING FOR THE STARS!

Hello everyone,

I hope things are going well for everyone! Trimester 2 just came to a close. I am finalizing grades on Friday. Students who have an "X" for anything in the grade book can still turn in that missing work for partial credit. Please check with your student to see if they have anything to turn in. They MUST turn it in by Friday.

We recently finished one of our longest units, the Weather & Climate Unit. Our test was last Friday. This week, I wanted to have a buffer week between Trimesters so students could prepare themselves mentally for a new unit. Therefore, Monday and Tuesday we watched the documentary "David Attenborough: Life on Our Planet". Today and tomorrow students are researching and preparing for a debate on Friday over some of the critical questions that the film proposes. One question is whether humans are responsible for the changes we see on our planet, and the other asks whether the world can 100% switch to alternative energy instead of fossil fuels for a sustainable future.

BELOW: The trailer for the documentary we watched, it is a really fascinating film. If you're interested in watching it, it is on Netflix. (Rated PG)

Each class was randomly placed into a group either for the affirmative or the negative for each of the above questions. Friday, two groups will debate while the other two are the judges. Then they will all switch roles! It should be fun and engaging. I'm very excited to see what research students have found and discuss whether any of their prior thoughts/opinions about these topics have changed!

Next week, we will be moving into our Astronomy Unit! Students are going to learn about space, Earth and Sun interactions, celestial bodies, planets, etc. Students seem to be pretty excited about this unit! It should last about 4-5 weeks and there WILL NOT be a big unit test. Astronomy will be similar to our Forces Unit and there will be TWO large quizzes for each "part" of the unit.

After Astronomy, we'll be finishing the year with our Natural Disasters Unit (previously called Catastrophic Events). This unit will focus on some geology and ocean science topics.

As always, if there are any comments/questions you can email me at curtis_silverwood@conestogavalley.org

Thank you,

Mr. Silverwood