Progress Reports

I had promised to send out progress reports last week but due to unforeseen circumstances, I could not. Today however, I will be sending out progress reports.

Sorry for the delay.

What is Going On: Week of 4/16 - 4/19

This week in science class, we are going to be working on a research project involving the greatest scientific discovery or technological innovation that has benefited humanity. Students will be first researching a topic and writing down the basic information. Once they are done with that, students will put the information in a powerpoint and present the information in a presentation for the class.

Delay in Progress Reports

Good morning. I regret to inform you all that I will not be able to send out progress reports today. I'm still in the process of completing grading the assignments. Rest assured, I will have progress reports ready to send home by Monday. Since we have had NMSBA for the past two weeks, there are only a few assignments on the progress report.

If you would like your child's report sent to you via email, please contact me at any of the email addresses below and I will send it to you over the weekend. Have a nice weekend.

mrchaudharysci68@gmail.com

schaudha@gmcs.k12.nm.us

What's Going On: Week of 4/2 - 4/6

Hello Parents,

I'm sorry I haven't been able to update my blog in a while....its been a hectic time. This week will see the end of NMSBA testing. Students have been working on several assignments and I will be sending out progress reports on Friday. If your child is missing any assignments or needs to make-up any assignments, please let me know. They can make up most assignments and pull up their grades. You can contact me through this blog, at mrchaudharysci68@gmail.com or at schaudha@gmcs.k12.nm.us.

This week, starting on Wednesday, students will be working on research on existential threats to the Earth. An existential threat is a threat to humanity or the Earth that could cause the destruction of a species or our Earth. Students will then be writing a persuasive essay on this topic and participate in a debate against their peers, convincing us their threat is the most dire threat to our world. I really am looking forward to their debates and essays.

Have a good week.

Wha's Going On: Week of 3/5 - 3/8

This week, we'll be finishing up the life cycle of stars by looking up high mass life cycles and looking at the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. Then moving on to refocus on measurement and conversion again, just before Spring Break.


The end of the third quarter is March 9th. The last day for students this week is March 8th, with March 9th being a teacher in-service day. The last day for students to turn in work, missing or late is March 9th. Please check your child's progress report and make sure they come see me if they have any missing work. I'll be available before school and during lunch. It is the responsibility of the student to make up work.

Life Cycle of Stars

For those interested in getting general understanding of stars life cycles, these pictures should help. We also used them last week and tomorrow in class.

Bill Nye: How To Talk To An Alien

I found this interesting video done by Bill Nye. It shows how we could talk to an alien who understands English.

Interesting Science News Articles

This morning, I searched the web and found several interesting articles on planetary science:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15863549 - From the BBC News website, this article entitled Most liveable alien world ranked. This article ranks alien worlds discovered by probes that humans could inhabit one day. This article does not rank any of the planets found by the Kepler probe, as those Kepler planets were discovered after the article was written.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17225127 - Another article from the BBC website; this article is entitled Oxygen envelops Saturn's icy moon. This article explains how a thin layer of oxygen envelopes the atmosphere of the moon Dione. Although we cannot live there, this does suggest that Saturn's other moons could support life.

Websites on Star Life Cycles

I'm posting links to different websites we have used and will use in class relating to a star's life cycle. If you have time, please check them out.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/space/birth-supernova-type-II.html - This links to a NOVA webpage which has an interactive animation where you discover what leads up to a supernova. Supernovas only occur in medium/high mass stars (10x the mass of our Sun).


http://mail.colonial.net/~hkaiter/life_cycle_of_a_star.htm - A very well done website which takes you into detail of a star's life cycle.

http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/teachers/lessons/xray_spectra/background-lifecycles.html - A webpage from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center which gives you a simple explanation of a star's life cycle.

Progress Reports

Because of the snow day yesterday in Gallup, progress reports will be sent home today. Parents who provided me with email addresses, I sent you all a copy of your child's progress report. If you would like to receive an electronic version of your child's progress report, please send me an email at:

schaudha@gmcs.k12.nm.us or  mrchaudharysci68@gmail.com.

Thank you.

What's Going On: Week of 2/27 - 3/2

This week, we'll be beginning by reviewing over Drake's Equation and the characteristics of habitable planets. Then go on into our last section in the space science unit, the life cycle of stars.

I will be sending out progress reports tomorrow.

Drake's Equation

What's Going On: Week of 2/22 - 2/24

We'll be learning about Drake's Equation this week. Since most students will be reading either The Martian Chronicles or Ender's Game, it's a good opportunity to actually see what scientists have to say about alien civilizations. We'll discuss what factors would have to exist on a planet for life to occur. And then students will use Drake's Equation to actually calculate how many civilizations could exist in the universe.

What's Going On: 2/13 - 2/17

This week, the 8th & 6th graders will be reviewing our classifications of terrestrial and Jovian planets then moving on to learning about Drake's equation and the search for extraterrestrial life, which includes learning about the Kepler probe mission. The reason we're covering this topic is because, in collaboration, with the language arts department, students will be reading The Martian Chronicles and Ender's Game.

As a reminder, I sent out progress reports last Friday. Please make sure you get it, look over the report and sign it. Make sure your child brings it back Monday. It is worth 50 points as homework.

-Thank you,

Progress Reports and What's Coming Up Next Week.

Good morning parents.

I'm sending out progress reports today for both 8th graders and 6th graders.

Next week, the 8th & 6th graders will be reviewing our classifications of terrestrial and Jovian planets then moving on to  learning about Drake's equation and the search for extraterrestrial life, which includes learning about the Kepler probe mission.  The reason we're covering this topic is because, in collaboration, with the language arts department, students will be reading The Martian Chronicles and Ender's Game.

What's Going On: Week of 1/30 - 2/3

The 8th and 6th graders will begin learning about the planets. We'll be starting off with a test today on the computer on the last two units we learned about: the Big Bang and solar system formation. Then, we'll be creating posters with facts of the 8 planets. Using that information, students will compare and contrast planets based on mass, diameter, and etc... Students will also learn how to differentiate between terrestrial and Jovian planets and what planets in our solar system are Jovian or terrestrial. We'll then create scaled models of the planets and use those models to create a scale model of the solar system; this is to show distances between planets. Finally, students can unleash their creative potential, again, and create a fictional story of a planet, incorporating what they learned from their posters.

Remember, this Friday is a half-day.

What's Going On: Week of 1/23-1/27

8th grade students are creating short fictional stories or graphic novels about the formation of an alien solar system. A big thank you to the 8th grade Language Arts department for helping me and collaborating with me on this project.

6th grade students are creating posters of the 8 planets in the solar system.

Progress Reports

Unfortunately, I will not be able to distribute progress reports today. Progress reports will go out Monday instead.

What's Going On: Week of 1/17-1/20

The 8th graders will be finishing up our unit of solar system formation.

The 6th graders will be learning about how the solar system formed. They will be researching this topic starting today. Yesterday, they watched a Discovery Channel How the Universe Works episode called Solar System.

By the end of the week, students will be receiving progress reports from my class.

What's Going On: Week of 1/9-1/13

I'm sorry for this late post. Here is what is going on this week. Because of state-wide standardized testing, we won't cover as much as we need to this week.

8th graders will be starting a project on solar system formation. They watched a video from the Discovery Channel series How the Universe Works on solar systems, which gave an overview of how our solar system formed. This project will go more in-depth into that and introduce terminology relevant towards understanding how solar systems formed.

6th graders started learning about the Big Bang this week. They will create a timeline of important events that occurred from the beginning of the Big Bang to the present day, 14 billion years after the Big Bang. After that, the 6th graders will perform a lab on Hubble's Law. Hubble's Law states galaxies are continuing to expand away from each other, due to the force of the explosion of the Big Bang. We will complete a kinesthetic activity on Hubble's Law.

Free Science Education - From M.I.T. OpenCourseWork

Free Science Education

The link above will take you to the M.I.T. OpenCourseWork website, where in your spare time, you can get a free science education in any science topic of your choice.

Today in Science Class

The 8th graders have finished their timelines on the Big Bang, so we are moving on. We'll be completing two activities today. One activity will be on Hubble's Law and the other activity will tie in with the timeline that students created.

The 6th graders have finished their notes on motion and speed. They started a lab on finding speed yesterday and will finish that lab today. Afterwards, I have worksheet that will help them practice finding speed and acceleration.

Big Bang Timeline

Today, in 8th grade science, we are learning about the Big Bang. Here is a timeline that is a very good representation of how the big bang led to our universe today.

M.I.T. Game Changer - Free Online Education for All

The link above takes you to a Forbes.com article. This article describes M.I.T offering its courses online for free starting in the spring of 2012. Pretty cool!

What's going on this week: 1/2-1/6

This week, the 8th grade will be learning about the Big Bang theory and how the solar system formed. The 6th grade science class will be studying motion and completing a lab later this week.