Qatar Academy Sidra Middle School 2014 - 15
January 2015
In the Middle
“Roots to Grow - Wings to Fly.”
Donation Drive
for Workers in Qatar:
As part of an assessment for Language &
Literature, 7th grade students are
organizing a donation drive to help the
workers in Qatar. All students are
encouraged to bring in the following items
to contribute to this drive:
• books
• toys
• bath products
• clothing
• bottled water
• blankets
• canned foods
Students should bring any of the above
items to their homeroom teacher. Thank
you for your help!
Ms. Sarah & Ms. Lauren
Parent Information Times: Tuesday, February 17, 2015 at 7:00am, 1:00pm, and 7:00pm
Qatar Academy Sidra Middle School – Learn more about MYP Assessments
Qatar Academy Sidra
An International Baccalaureate
Middle Years Programme (MYP)
Candidate School
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QA Sidra – In the Middle
January 2015
Egg Challenge
Grade 9 students embarked on their first engineering challenges – the Car Egg-stravaganza. The challenge tests the
ninth graders’ engineering skills, designs, and concepts of propulsion with a car built to carry an uncooked egg, in
timed trials, a distance of at least two metres.
The engineering project is an inquiry-based, hands-on activity that allows students to discover concepts related
to their physical science curriculum, specifically Motion and Force. Students apply the concepts to construct a
real-life solution to the engineering challenge. Working in small groups, the ninth graders are provided with a
restricted set of materials to use to build a mode of transport for an uncooked egg. The goal is to have the
completed vehicle successfully travel within a two metre lane to reach a set distance. The vehicle should travel
the distance in the shortest amount of time without cracking the egg.
Teams of two or three built transports from recycled materials, such as food boxes, tape/glue, rubber bands, string,
straws, cups, Styrofoam, plastic wrap, bubble wrap, sponges, wooden skewers, cotton balls, toilet paper tubes,
bottle caps, craft sticks, foil, wires, egg cartons, etc.
Scoring was based on the creative use of materials, mathematical components of the car, the starting and stopping
mechanism, a calculated formula that took the best running time added to the distance traveled, and whether or
not the egg survived the trip. A few eggs did not!
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QA Sidra – In the Middle
January 2015
Parent information evening in December
Thank you to all parents who attended the evening’s
events. I hope that you came away with more information
about the IB programmes. I would also like to thank the
Leadership Group who helped to set up and guide
parents, the students involved were; Keira McInnis,
Leena Syed, Parinita Shetty, Adam Shirwa, Mohamed
Elsadany and Elias Badri.
Social Skills is one of the Approaches to Learning.
What does it mean to have good social skills? Here are
some things to think about.
Do you…
• Use social media appropriately to build relationships?
• Share responsibility for making decisions?
• Help others to succeed?
• Take responsibility for your own actions?
• Work collaboratively with others?
• Make fair decisions?
• Actively listen to others?
• Assume or ask questions when not sure about
something?
• Have the ability to look at something from someone
else’s perspective?
• Focus on the solving the problem?
How important is it in life to collaborate well? Ask your
Upcoming events:
February 17th there will be an MYP parent workshop on assessment. The
workshop will last an hour and be repeated three times in the same day at
7am, 1pm and 7pm.
7am will be in Mr Mahmoud’s room B215
1pm will be in Ms Sarah’s room, B 102
7pm will again be in Mr Mahmoud’s room, B102
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QA Sidra – In the Middle
January 2015
Student Council’s Non-­‐Uniform Day Thursday, January 29 Country Colour Dress Day Dress in your home country or favourite country's colours, flag or traditional dress. 10 QAR per person to be collected in homeroom. Please note: No short shorts, sleeveless tops, midriffs or mini skirts. What do you know about stem cells?
Stem cell research is being pursued in the hope of achieving major
medical breakthroughs. Scientists are striving to create therapies that
rebuild or replace damaged cells with tissues grown from stem cells and
offer hope to people suffering from cancer, diabetes, leukemia,
Parkinson’s disease, cardiovascular disease, spinal-cord injuries, and
many other disorders.
Grade 8 students have been learning about the use of stem cells
and stem cell research. They conducted a research related to
stem cells and the scientific processes and therapies related to
stem cells. Students also begin to identify common
misconceptions about stem cells and issues related to stem cell
research.
Because stem cell research is a topic embroiled in much
controversy, students conducted a class debate on the issues
surrounding stem cell research.
As part of this learning process students took a trip to the
Virgin Health Bank at Qatar Science and Technology Park
(QSTP). Virgin Health Bank was developed to meet the needs
of families who are considering banking their baby’s cord blood
stem cells and want the support of an ethically motivated
organization committed to delivering high quality service. In
this family banking service stem cells are collected from your
baby’s cord blood and are stored for your exclusive use. The
collection of umbilical cord blood stem cells can only take
place immediately after a baby has been born. Stem cells are
already being used - they're used today, in the treatment of over
80 illnesses - mainly from matched donors to treat cancers of
the blood such as leukaemias, and blood disorders such as
sickle cell anaemia and beta thalassemia.
Students had the opportunity to see how the blood is stored,
tried few experiments in their state of the art laboratory, and
asked lots of questions to the research team.
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