MATH 6

MATH 6+

ELA

• Students grapple with the question “Do the benefits of DDT outweigh its harmful consequences?” In the first half of the unit, students use a guided researcher’s notebook, research folder, and a WebQuest to research informational texts about DDT’s benefits and harmful consequences. The researcher’s notebook requires students to cite their sources, assess the credibility of each source, paraphrase the information relevant to their research question, and decide if the evidence from their research changes the focus of their inquiry. Students also analyze an author’s presentation of information and ideas and then compare and contrast that presentation of information and ideas with the presentation by another author. Additionally, students revisit strategies they have learned throughout the year to address new vocabulary: context clues, affixes, and resource materials such as dictionaries and thesauruses. In their mid-unit assessment, students read two unfamiliar informational articles about DDT. They complete a page identical to their researcher’s notebook for one article, as well as a graphic organizer in which they compare and contrast the presentation of ideas in these two articles. In the second half of the unit, students work toward making a claim based on the evidence of their research, a similar skill to the work of Module 2 in which students made a claim on which they built a literary argument. Students learn the important skill of sifting through all the materials they have thus far encountered, deciding what is relevant to their research question and what is not. They use a Cascading Consequences chart, visually tracking the chain reaction of a decision, and a Stakeholders chart, tracking who is affected by a decision, as integral tools in making their claim. After reviewing research, considering a particular decision’s consequences, and who it affects, students draft and revise a claim about the use of DDT. In their end-of-unit assessment, students are asked to orally present their final claim to an audience and include the use of multimedia components such as charts and graphs. This claim will launch students in their argument writing of Unit 3.
• Students will also be reviewing to prepare for the EOGs.

SCIENCE

• This month in science, we will be wrapping up our study of plants and ecology with an exciting biome research project. Students will investigate a specific biome to better understand how organisms grow, survive, and interact in different environmental conditions. After completing this project, we will begin our space unit! Students will explore the relationship between the Sun, Moon, and Earth, including why Earth experiences seasons, why we have tides and eclipses, and why the Moon appears to change shape throughout the month. We’re looking forward to a fun and engaging month of discovery!  

SOCIAL STUDIES

• The Social Structures unit introduces students to social hierarchies of ancient civilizations and societies. Students will learn ways that social structures affect how people interact politically, economically and socially. They will also learn how people were treated differently based on their role in society and the impact this had on their lives

MATH 7

Math 7+

ELA

• Students will continue to conduct close readings and then engage in independent research into the ways that the developing adolescent brain may be affected by screen time. Students will keep a researcher’s notebook in which they document their research findings, generate supporting research questions, and analyze the credibility of their sources as they determine how different authors use evidence to prove their points. Part 1 of the mid-unit assessment will ask students to analyze and evaluate two arguments: one presented in text and the other presented in a video. Then, in Part 2, students will engage in a simulated research task focused on adolescents and screen time. The assessment will incorporate selected responses and short-constructed response questions in order to assess students’ ability to research.  ​​After the mid-unit assessment, students engage in a structured decision-making process to address the question: “Should the AAP raise its recommended daily screen time from two hours to four hours?” The process guides students to consider the information they gathered while researching, as well as the consequences and impact on stakeholders of each possible position. This leads students to the two-part end-of-unit assessment. In Part 1, students engage in a Fishbowl discussion about the possible positions they can take. In Part 2, students formally present their position.
• Students will also be reviewing to prepare for the EOGs.

SCIENCE

• Students are starting the month by finishing our Genetics Unit. They will be completing a Disease Detective activity to apply what they have learned about genetics to real world scenarios, and then taking the end of unit summative assessment by mid-May. 
• Our students will then move into their final 7th Grade Science Unit: Human Body Systems. This unit will build on content they have learned about the body's systems in previous years, and focus primarily on the interactions between systems and how the body maintains homeostasis. We will wrap up the year with a frog dissection lab. This is an exciting, hands-on opportunity for students to investigate many of the same organs that we will learn about!

SOCIAL STUDIES

• The Rise of World Powers Imperialism, Nationalism, and World War I unit examines the reasons that World War I began by learning more about the acronym MAIN (Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, and Nationalism). Students will also learn about how the assassination of Franz Ferdinand connects to World War I. After learning about the causes of the war, students will learn a bit more about the war. Students will learn about trench warfare as well as some of the new technologies that are used during the war. During the last part of this unit, students will learn about how the war ended by examining the Fourteen Points as well as the Treaty of Versailles. 

MATH 8

MATH I

ELA

• Students research in order to help them make a decision to answer this question: Which of Michael Pollan’s four food chains would best feed the United States? They make a decision to answer this question by researching the consequences and stakeholders of each food chain. Students use The Omnivore’s Dilemma as a starting point to identify the consequences of each of the food chains. They work in research teams to create a Cascading Consequences chart for each food chain that begins with consequences listed in the text; then they expand their research and consequences by searching for appropriate articles and resources through a child-safe search engine. Teams then use their cascading consequences to identify the stakeholders who will be affected by the consequences, and from there, determine which food chain they would choose to feed the United States. At the end of the unit, students present a position speech answering the question.
• Students will also be reviewing to prepare for the EOGs.

SCIENCE

• Students are beginning the month of May with our final 8th Grade Science Unit: Populations & Ecosystems. This short unit will bring together concepts from 6th and 7th grade Science, as well as topics we have discussed earlier this year related to the hydrospshere, physical science, and changing life & land forms. Students will be learning more about the cycling of carbon, nitrogen, and energy, the carrying capacity of an ecosystem, and the predator-prey relationship.
• We will then shift our focus to begin reviewing for the Science EOG on May 18th. There will be dedicated review time for each of the units that we have covered this year, as well as test-taking strategies and practice.

SOCIAL STUDIES

• In Unit 7, students explore major global events through a North Carolinian lens, focusing on the impact of World War I, the Roaring Twenties, the Great Migration, expanded rights for women, the Great Depression, the New Deal, and World War II, including U.S. war policies and the atomic bomb. In the World Stage: World Wars, Boom and Bust unit, students analyze the United States’ shift from isolationism to global involvement, investigating why the nation entered both World Wars and how these conflicts affected American life. Building on prior knowledge from seventh grade, eighth grade instruction emphasizes the U.S. role in the wars and the profound effects on the homefront, which sparked significant social and economic change. Students will demonstrate their understanding through several summative assessment opportunities as this unit is 5 weeks long.