Science Newsletter
Geology 8
~ April 4, 2014 ~
Good afternoon parents, guardians, and students and welcome to our 27th weekly
science newsletter of the 2013-2014 school year. This week we continued with our
study of Earth’s atmosphere by wrapping up our study of severe storms and by
starting our study of long-term weather patterns.
THE RECAP: Where have we been?
As a quick recap of the past week, we started off Monday by working on the
severe storms jigsaw activity from last Friday. In this cooperative learning
activity, students became experts on one type of severe storm, constructed an
informational brochure, and then taught three other students about their assigned
storm. By completing the storms jigsaw activity, students learned an abundance of
information about hurricanes, winter storms, thunderstorms, and tornadoes. On
Tuesday, we finished the storms jigsaw activity and started our study of Earth’s
climates. In our introduction, students learned how climate is related to weather,
what factors affect climate (latitude, altitude, large bodies of water, and ocean
currents), and about seasonal patterns of temperature and precipitation. On
Wednesday, we reviewed and discussed the section 18.1 reading study guide and
started working on the climate zones activity. On Thursday and Friday, students
completed the climate zones activity. In this activity, students were responsible
for finding the weather conditions (temperature, rainfall, humidity, pressure, etc.)
as well as the vegetation and wildlife of their assigned climate zone. After
completing their research, students created a presentation of their findings.
Students then shared their information about their climate zone to the rest of the
class in a short presentation. As students presented, their classmates recorded
notes about the key points of each climate zone. At the conclusion of the climate
zones activity, students had learned about all six of earth’s climate zones - humid
tropical, dry, moist mid-latitude with mild winters, moist mid-latitude with severe
winters, polar, and highland. Friday’s class was wrapped up by reading section 18.2
and by completing the 18.2 reading study guide.
THE FUTURE: Where are we going?
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Monday 4/7: Section 18.3 – Climate Change
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Tuesday 4/8: Atmosphere Test Review
Wednesday 4/9: Atmosphere Test Review *11:45 Early Release*
Thursday 4/10: Atmosphere Test Review
Friday 4/11: Atmosphere Unit Test
EXTRA INFORMATION:
I am enclosing copies of the following documents:
 April 4th Science Newsletter WORD Document
 Week of March 31st Early Work Power Point Presentation
 Storms Jigsaw Activity WORD Document
 Climate Zones Activity WORD Document
LAST MINUTE REMINDERS:
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Last day of 3rd quarter is today!
Spring break is April 14th to April 18th.
Science study tables are after school on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and
Thursdays for extra help or just a place to complete science homework.
The 8th grade Earth Science curriculum has an awesome website
(www.classzone.com) to help students learn – please check it out!
Feel free to contact me via email or phone if you have any questions about
your student’s progress so far – hopefully by working together, we can keep
our students on track and primed for success!
Thank you for your continued support and ask your student to explain to you some
of the characteristics of one of Earth’s six climate zones.
Sincerely,
Mike Harris