Presentation Day!

- No WOD/QOD
- Lateral Thinking Puzzle on the board

Students started their presentations today, they will be finished on Wednesday.  Students in the audience are responsible for listening and collecting information about each city-state.  They are allowed to ask questions of those presenting.  The students presenting are graded  over the preparedness, presentation, content and group collaboration.  All students were told ahead of time the expectations.  

Last day to work on group presentations

WOD: Narcissistic -  characteristic of those having an inflated idea of their own
importance

QOD: Draw a ziggurat with three levels and organize the social structure into the levels.

Students were given 25 minutes to finish their group presentations today.  Students are being graded over their participation, preparation and presentation.  Students will present the next two days, planning on starting the unit test on Tuesday or Wednesday.  

Group presentation workday

Excelsior celebrated the Olweus Olympics today. Due to shortened classes students used the classtime to complete their presentation. Students will be able to put the final touches on their project Monday.  Presentations start on Tuesday. 

Group Presentations

WOD - Murphy's Law - The idea that anything that can go wrong, will go wrong

QOD - Do you think Hammurabi's laws are fair? Explain your answer.

Today, students worked in groups to create a presentation on the city-states of Mesopotamia.  Students will work time tomorrow to finish their presentation.  Students will present on Monday/Tuesday.  Students can choose how they will teach the information to the rest of the class.

Finish Mesopotamia Packets

WOD - Imhotep 

First architect known by name, built the first pyramid, step pyramid of Sakara.

QOD - How does irrigation and agriculture help a city grow?

Today I will provide students with time to finish their Mesopotamia article packets.  Students that finish early will try a strategy activity.  Packets are due on Wednesday.

Mesopotamia Packets

WOD- Irrigation 

Any means of getting water to the land

QOD- what four rivers irrigate the Fertile Crescent?

Students worked on a searching for answers through a packet of articles about Mesopotamia. It will be due on Wednesday.  

Finish Mesopotamia Maps

QOD: Name 5 countries in the Middle East.
1. Syria
2. Iraq
3. Iran
4. Saudi Arabia
5. Kuwait

WOD: Stephen Hawking - 

Stephen Hawking was born on January 8, 1942, in Oxford, England. At an early age, Hawking showed a passion for science and the sky. At age 21, while studying cosmology at the University of Cambridge, he was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. Despite his debilitating illness, he has done ground-breaking work in physics and cosmology, and his several books have helped to make science accessible to everyone.

Students worked to complete their Mesopotamia maps in class.  If students are not finished it is homework and it will be due Monday.  Some students started their Mesopotamia packet assignment.

Mesopotamia Maps

QOD:   Describe the religion of Mesopotamia.

- ziggurats

- polytheistic

- king interprets the gods

- gods represent all parts of life

WOD:  Geiger counter - a device that detects radioactive emissions

After our warm-ups, we discussed the bartering activity. Students can continue to barter until Friday.  Students worked independently on maps of Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent. The maps are due Monday, students will have classtime tomorrow. 

Bartering and Graphing

Today, students started class with a question of the day, "What will the legacies of the U.S. be?" Next, we discussed and came up with a definition, synonyms, pictures and sentences for the word bartering.  Students received their grade sheets to graph their scores so far.  Some students are taking part in a bartering activity.  They are given a paper clip and have to barter with people to get up to larger items.  

Mesopotamia Extension and Powerpoint

Mods 1 and 3 are ahead of the other groups and will be watching a video to learn more about Mesopotamia.  Students in mods 4-6 will be finishing the PowerPoint and practice linking legacies to the seven characteristics of a civilization.  Wednesday we will graph our pretest and test data to show students their growth.

WOD: Easter Island - is over 2,000 miles from the nearest population center, (Tahiti and Chile), making it one of the most isolated places on Earth. A triangle of volcanic rock in the  South Pacific - it is best known for the giant stone monoliths, known as Moai, that dot the coastline. The early settlers called the island "Te Pito O Te Henua" (Navel of The World). Admiral Roggeveen, who came upon the island on Easter Day in 1722, named it Easter Island.

 

Mesopotamia Packet

Today, most classes will be finishing their Mesopotamia packets.  They will finish class by matching Mesopotamia's legacies with the seven characteristics of civilization. 

WOD - Demilitarized Zone - border that separates North and South Korea, because the war ended in a cease fire.

Mesopotamia PowerPoint Packet

Students fill in blanks and answered questions about Mesopotamia based on the seven characteristics of a civilization. We will finish the packet Monday. Grades are updated for students that have finished all the tests. 

WOD - Bioterrorism - An attack using diseases/viruses/germs to kill animals, people or plants

Mesopotamia - The Cradle of Civilization

Some classes finished learning the seven characteristics of a civilization. All classes progressed to learning about Mesopotamia and how it relates to the characteristics. For example, the wheel was an advance in technology and cuneiform was the written language. We will continue our notes on Mesopotamia tomorrow. 

Word of the day - Aboriginal 

The first Australians had the continent to themselves for 50,000 years, now they only make up 3% of the population 

7 Characteristics of a Civilization

Map skills and geography post test is almost completely graded and we will be discussing grades soon. We began learning about the characteristics of a civilization and we will continue to come back to them as we learn about Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome and Egypt.

Stable food supply

Technology

Government

Religion 

culture

Social structure 

Written language

Roger Bannister - First man to run a mile in under 4 minutes

Map Skills and Geography - Post test

Today, students that did not get 100% on the pretest will take the post test.  Anyone who received 100% will work on learning the Middle Eastern countries.  As we move into our Mesopotamia unit, we will study the present day countries in the Middle East.  The post test will be graded this week and returned to students for possible retakes.  We also added the word Nomad to our words of the day.  

Nomad - people that move from place to place, usually moving with a herd to seasonal areas.

Progress Reports for Fall will be printed on Monday and sent out.  

Mesopotamia Pretest and Map Skills and Geography Packet

Students took a pretest at the beginning of class that was not graded.  It will be used to understand student prior knowledge and skill level.  We spent time reviewing for the post test and organizing packets.  Students will turn in their completed packets tomorrow after the test.  Any students that got 100% on the pretest will be involved in another activity.  

Socials Studies extensions and interventions

Students that successfully passed the Latitude and Longitude quiz explored a website about Archaeology for an extension. Some students needed to finish their quizzes. A few students worked with the teacher on how to use coordinates and fixed their quiz mistakes. Post test for the unit will be on Tuesday.

Latitude and Longitude Quiz

Students put in a strong effort trying to locate cities, countries and continents today. Most people finished the quiz, however students will have time to finish their quiz and fix mistakes tomorrow. Students that were proficient in the skill will explore archaeology through an online resource. 

Note: Post test will be moved back to Monday

Latitude/Longitude Quiz Tomorrow

Today, students practiced finding cities, countries and continents using latitude and longitude.  Tomorrow they will be quizzed over this skill.  Students also practiced identifying absolute and relative locations.  This will be on the post test on Friday.  If students are still struggling with either skills they need to come in before or after school.  

Tomorrow students will put together a post test study packet.

Latitude and Longitude Quiz Practice

The word of the day was Geography (the study of the physical features of the earth and its atmosphere, and of human activity).  We practiced finding cities, countries and states using only latitude/longitude and an atlas. Most students were successful, we will practice more before the quiz on Thursday, Sept. 4.  Any students that are struggling can come in before/after/iExcel to get help.