Happy Summer

I hope by now each of you are enjoying your summer vacations. I know I'm ready for a big, long nap on the couch!

I enjoyed being your teacher this year and will miss many of you as you journey on to high school or 8th grade. I know each and every one of you will do very well in your future and I feel very lucky to have met you. My advice for high school and 8th grade - make sure you study hard, complete your assignments on time, pay attention in class, respect your teachers and each other, and take lots of pictures because if you're like me you won't remember anyone's names five years later.

I hope that many of the things you learned this year will stay in your mind - DNA, the Periodic Table, the Scientific Method, and the fun of Roller Coaster Physics. During class we also spent a little time discussing non-sciency things. I hope you will remember those also. Make sure you follow the Presidential Election and vote for someone (or at least convince those of voting age around you to vote for someone). More than likely the next President will have lots of influence on your future. Follow the car of the future. With $4.50+ gas, one will be coming soon - maybe it will be a fuel cell hybrid like we discussed in my class. Make sure you also keep on track with California High Speed Rail. Wouldn't it be nice to travel to LA in under 2 hours? Should you ever be in Sacramento and in the need of a visit to a completely Apple Macbook school, stop by. I am sure Kevin and Zach will be the first ones I see. :-)

Clap once....clap twice...clap three times.

Mr. Wood

Photo: Castle by the Sea by Trial on Flickr

Editor's Note: When you don't click on the Publish button your post doesn't get posted. DOH! I forgot that one little step last Sunday - hence the lack of a post. Thanks Kurt for saving me again!

Car of the Future Projects

Grades are updated and reflect all current assignments and exams. Make sure you check your grade and let me know if I made any mistakes.

Today in Physical Science we started the Car of the Future project. As I am sure you have heard your parents discussing gas is very expensive these days, so this project is quite timely. I hope you enjoyed the NOVA program today and it has you thinking about your project next week. What did you think?

Next week, during the second half of the project you will be working with a team of classmates to argue for the best alternative technology. Start thinking about you think is the best car of the future. If you'd like to rewatch portions of the video we saw today you can view them here. You can watch the entire program (or show it to someone else) by going to the NOVA - Car of the Future online video site.

Have a great three day weekend and I will see you on Tuesday!

Mr. Wood

Roller Coasters & STAR

Congratulations! All of you successfully completed STAR testing for 2008. That must mean that summer is right around the corner! Who-hoo! Notice, I said right around the corner, so don't mentally check out yet. We still have a one month together. :-)

Today 8th graders started the annual Roller Coaster Project. This activity will demonstrate your knowledge of 8th Grade Physics and is a great opportunity to improve your grade if you are a little low right now. All of the handouts and links for the Web Trail worksheet are posted on Moodle. During lunch today I collected a few more resources and you can find them on my Roller Coaster Del.icio.us page.

A few of you have already started on your group wiki. On this page you need to a record trial and error log, amaterials list, and a group member responsibility sheet. Moodle seems to have a small glitch when it comes to adding images. You can't upload pictures from your computer, but you can link to ones that are posted online. To add a picture you need to place the image URL in brackets like this: [http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1178/1386561194_c4c106d4ae.jpg]
Any questions? Let me know.

Have a great evening and I will see you tomorrow!

Joe

Photo: Cyclone Roller-coaster by Pulse3

Cars of the Future & STAR Testing

Well its finally that time of the year here at Somerset - STAR Testing. It must mean summer is right around the corner. :-)

I have watched all of you grow this school year and based on what I see in my class and hear from your other teachers I know you are ready for all of your exams. Testing will occur during Advisory classes next Monday-Thursday (April 28th - May 1st) and then the following Monday and Tuesday (May 5th & 6th). Make sure you rest up over the weekend, get a good breakfast each morning, and show up to school on time.

While you are resting up for STAR testing this weekend you may also want to check out NOVA's Car of the Future program. This show was on television this week, but you can also watch it online. The short snippet I showed in class featuring UC Davis and the Tesla Roadster was found in Chapter 5. The rest of the video you haven't see yet and there are few other cars of the future to check out. If you're in one of my 8th grade classes we will be using this video for an upcoming project on alternative fuels. You might want to take a moment to start thinking about which cars you believe we should be driving in a few years.

Have a great weekend and see you on Monday! Oh, by the way grades are updated on Moodle.

Mr. Wood

Picture: Tesla Roadster by Fogcat5 on Flickr

Update & Online Tools

Grades are up to date and I am actually going to be adding a few more things over the weekend. Check to make sure I have your scores posted correctly. I'd hate to give you an incorrect grade on your progress report next week.

We have just one more week until STAR testing. Make sure you are focusing in each and every once of your classes. This weekend there are a couple of exciting things I thought you might want to check out.

First of all a new version of Google Earth came out this week. It has a ton of nifty new features. Have any of you used SketchUp to build your own 3D model to display in Google Earth? You might want to check that out as well. Today in my life science class we checked out the MEDtropolis Virtual Body website. First posted on Mr. Simpson's blog, this website is a great tool for reviewing the parts of the skeletal and cardiovascular systems.

In the 8th grade Physical Science classes we started astronomy this week. There are so many great online resources for this chapter. I wish we spent more time covering it! Check out PlanetQuest, the Solar System Exploration, Ask an Astronomer, Google Earth Sky mode and Celestia. These would be some great resources for finding information and generating questions for the Universe Questions Wiki.

Have a great weekend and hopefully tomorrow I will bump into a few of you at the infamous UC Davis Picnic Day. You know where I will be in the afternoon. :-)

Mr. Wood

Photo: Dachshund Race by T-Dawg on Flickr

Google Earth Update 4.3

Last night the Google Earth Blog notified readers that there was a major Google Earth Update. I know how much many of you love Google Earth, so I thought I'd make sure you are notified too. :-) Take a look at the video below posted by Frank Taylor at Google Earth Blog for a quick tour of some of the new features.

Its definitely worth the download. I love the sunlight animation and street view. Sacramento also finally has a few 3D buildings. If you are in 8th grade make sure you view the Sky mode since we're covering astronomy right now. Post a comment if you see any other additional features you love.

Mr. Wood

Grades & ElectroCity

Grades and the Assignment Calendar are up to date. Look over your grade report and check for "inc" or "ab." Both of those are calculated as zeros. If you have been absent recently you should see an "ab" for assignments not yet turned into me. These need to be turned in ASAP or else they will become "inc," which is a permanent zero. At the end of this week I will be completing your progress reports for Trimester 3. If you don't like your current grade improve it by working on extra credit and making sure all of your assignments are turned in to me.

Tomorrow both 7th and 8th grade students have chapter tests. Study for these exams by completing your chapter review activities tonight and looking over your notes. I posted a key for the 8th grade Chapter 13/14 Review Packet on Moodle in the Assignments section.

If you like video games later in the week (after your test) take a look at ElectroCity. This SIMS-like game allows you to design and operate your own city. You have to keep your population happy, provide them with enough resources, and try not to ruin the environment. In celebration of Earth Day in a few weeks (it will be delayed for us to do STAR testing) we'll be playing this game. Get a head start on the fun!

Only 9 more days until STAR testing!

Mr. Wood

Grades & Picnic Day

Grades and the Assignment Calendar are up to date on Moodle. If you haven't moved yourself in to the Trimester 3 page, you'll need the password mentioned in this post. Speaking of previous posts, check out the one below on STAR testing. The 8th grade science STAR test is May 6th!

Today you heard me yammer on and on (okay it was only 2 minutes) about Picnic Day at UC Davis. You all know how much I love my alma matter and this is your chance to check out the university. Picnic Day is two weeks from tomorrow. If you and your family drive up to Davis on April 19th you'll see marching bands, fuel cell cars, strawberry taste-testing, and the Doxie Derby as shown in this YouTube video clip



To make it worth your while I am even offering extra credit if you check out Picnic Day and share with your classmates what you learned in the form of a small movie, Photostory, or PowerPoint project. Today I handed out extra credit details in 5th period and will have them for 1st and 2nd period on Monday (If you'd like one earlier send me an email and I will send it to you).

Have a great weekend and I will see you on Monday!

Mr. Wood

18 Days and Counting...

Believe it or not we have only 47 more school days until the end of the school year! While that seems like a very small number, what's even amazing is that there are only 18 more school days until STAR testing begins!

Now I realize some of you might be yawning, "Oh STAR testing...who cares?" Well you should care! These test scores are now just as important to your future as your grades. STAR test scores are used to determine your placement in future classes at Somerset and in high school and are certainly something you should take seriously.

Both 7th and 8th graders will be taking STAR tests in Math and Language Arts. Eighth grade students will also take tests for Science and Social Studies. Over the next few weeks all of your teachers will be working on review activities with you in class. Make sure you are coming to school every day rested and ready to learn and during class make sure your teacher has your fullest attention. While most of you are very accomplished at this, I have noticed a few of you are starting to slack off since returning from spring break. Don't let this happen - we still have lots of time together and I need you mentally here, not on the beach with your friends. :-)

Let your parents know STAR testing is April 28th - May 6th. Make sure you are here every day that week! If you miss a test, you get to make it up while the rest of us are doing something fun. Don't let that happen. :-)

Mr. Wood

Happy April Fool's Day!

Google, always notorious for April Fool's Day pranks, announced a little fictitious project today, Virgle. Virgle is a plan between Virgin Atlantic and Google to colonize Mars and the amount of work that went into the website is quite amazing. You can even take a 15 item questionnaire to determine your own ability to be a Virgle pioneer.

While its an April Fool's prank, the topic actually has quite a bit to do with what we will be discussing at the very end of the trimester in 8th grade science - the solar system. On top of that Virgin Atlantic also already has in the works a new airline to take you to space - Virgin Galactic. Check it out!

Mr. Wood