Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Keep calm and ace those midterms!

This week in both biology and physics we will be participating in our first midterms tomorrow (Thursday) which are comprehensive covering all of the topics from the beginning of the year. It is hard to believe we have reached week 9!

This week in biology, the students will describe the concepts of osmosis and diffusion across the cell membrane with pictures from lab data and direct instruction. We have been using the terms hypotonic, hypertonic, and isotonic in our conversations when describing solutions separated by a semipermeable membrane.

This week in physics, students will describe and analyze motion in 2D from direct instruction and lab using vector addition by creating Oregon Trail vector maps. The Oregon Trail project was really fun, sadly we "lost" quite a few of our pioneers along the way and sadly not one group made the needed westward displacement of 3000 km to get to Oregon City. That being said, I think overall it was a great project and the students learned a lot!

I want to remind parents that the best way to monitor your child's grade is to log into Infinite Campus on a regular basis. The quarter ends this Thursday and the grades will be locked. The semester grade is a combination of 40% Q1, 40% Q2, and 20% for the final in December. Several students have been relying on the "Hail Mary Pass" to see what they can do to fix their grade now. Just like a baseball player, you don't want to let your batting average (aka your grade) drop early on as it becomes extremely difficult to catch back up. Missing assignments next quarter will only be taken if there is and absence and within the time frame established by OACP policy (for excused absence = a day + 1).

With that, please enjoy your fall break and your families! I am hoping we all return on the 24th ready to continue working hard and learning as scientists.

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