Friday Funny

In 8th grade history we have been tracking the days of the voyage of the Mayflower from its original departure on September 6th.  Each day we add one more (or three on Monday) to our number in the center of our whiteboard.  Friday was "Day 21".  As the one student changed the number from 20 to 21 she commented, "I would have been dead by now!"  All of us laughed.  It really does make you think about what these people of faith endured to be able to freely live their faith here in the New World.

See You At The Pole

 

 

Huge THANKS to our most senior students for their organization and leadership of MVCA's "See You At The Pole".  It was a great morning for singing, prayer, and fellowship.

Proper Nutrition at MVCA

 

The 5th grade students are completing their unit on nutrition in science.  One activity was to make a food pyramid poster from local grocery ads and present information they learned in this unit to their fellow MVCA students.  The ladies did a GREAT job and their work WILL help us make good choices when selecting foods for our meals.  Two thumbs up, gals!!

Lesson Plans for September 23rd-27th

September 23rd Lesson Plans

Busy End of the Week

 

The fifth grade girls were busy finishing their food pyramid.  They plan on displaying it in the lunch room and talking to the students about a healthy diet..

 

The 5th and 6th graders are busy researching their Egypt topic.  We are learning how to identify credible websites that can be used as the foundation for our papers.

 

It was a "wormy" Friday in 6th grade science.  Our lab had us making habitats for earthworms including soil, peelings and dry leaves.  We will observe them for two weeks, weighing the peelings every 3 days, and then determining how much the worms "digested".  Fun way to end the week!



"How Do You Like Teaching Again?"

In this past month quite a few have asked me, “How do you like teaching again?”

My response, with a grin, is, “I am the happiest teacher around,” and how could I not!

First, I get the opportunity to teach about the Creator via the amazing world He created.  Did you know the chickadee loses and gains 10% of its body weight each day, fish scales have rings much like the rings of a tree trunk, and termites are a great source of protein and taste like pineapple?

Second, I get the opportunity to share THE TRUTH about this country’s founding.  The text of our eighth grade history book is saturated with God and His hand in the formation of this great nation and clearly points to Him as the sustainer of it.

“Consequently, these Englishmen looked on the New World as a haven where they could freely worship God.  This reason for settlement distinguished the colonial heritage of the United States from that of other European colonies.”  From The American Republic by BJU Press.

Finally, I get the opportunity to share the Creator via the orderliness of mathematics.  Two plus two, two squared, and the square root of sixteen all equal four because an awesome, never-changing God created and sustains all things. Math is a testimony to God’s faithfulness, consistency, trustworthiness, and power.

I know the tremendous responsibility teaching here at MVCA and it is a task I do not take lightly.  As parents who have entrusted your children to me I will do my very best to give them the best Christian education possible with God’s help and guidance.

PS…Rest assured there has been no “sampling” of termites during a Friday lab.  The book gave us this tidbit about termites and their taste.   

Tiny Bubbles

The eighth graders are having fun getting their experiment ready ~ the "old" saltwater, alligator clips, 9-v battery, pencils, and a little tape.  Worked out perfectly with wonderful bubbles forming on the lead of the pencils in the water.  Great job, ladies! 

Classroom Schedule and Lesson Plans

Mrs. Nelson's Schedule for 2013-14

Lesson Plans for 9/16-9/20

Element Powerpoints

The 8th graders had to pick an element and research.  A PowerPoint presentation was the assigned method of sharing their new knowledge with the class.  Here are their presentations...

Argon PowerPoint

Beryllium PowerPoint

Friday the 13th Labs

 

The 6th graders spent their hour after lunch looking at fish scales.  They were busy sketching and taking notes from 3 different species.  After the journaling was complete we talked about what they saw and then viewed the following video...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nOoFkS5qA0 which further explained what we saw.

 

Did you know the rings on fish scale are similar to rings in a tree?

 

The 5th graders were busy with our science volunteer testing different foods for starch.  Here is the wide array of food used for their experiment.  Some did, some didn't, and a few took a bit of work to come up with a result.

Prairie Racerunner

 

The 6th graders are studying about organisms in the chordate phylum.  Mrs. Nelson along with two friends were able to capture a prairie racerunner at a local shooting range.  It was a guest in the classroom for a few days while the students observed it.  We were unsure of its identification until we posted a photo of it on a website called iNaturalist.org.  Someone responded with the name and link to further our study of it.  We are sad to have to release it back into the wild, but very thankful to have a few days with it.  And, thankful to God for creating such wonderful, amazing creatures for us to enjoy and wonder about!! 

Binomial Nomenclature Anyone?

The 6th graders are learning about the scientific naming of organisms using the genus and species.  The students researched the scientific names of their favorite animal and fruit.  Can you give the common names for the follow?

Update:  The answers have been provided on 9/14.

1.  Lampropeltis getula is a KING SNAKE.

2.  Vitis vinifera are GRAPES.

3.  Acinonyx jubatus is a CHEETAH.

4.  Fragaria ananassa are STRAWBERRIES.

5.  Felis catus is a CAT.

6.  Hexanchus griseus is a BLUNTNOSE SIXGILL SHARK.

7.  Citrullus lanatus is WATERMELON.

Lesson Plans for 9/9- 9/13

Mrs. Nelson's Lesson Plans

Lab Day

 

Fridays are a busy day in science because it is "lab day".  The 5th grade girls went with a volunteer to complete an experiment dealing with how our body breaks down protein.  Supplies for this trial included pepsin powder, gelatin, and hydrochloric acid.   

The 6th graders spent their "lab day" looking at leaf specimens taken from a variety tress/plants in the Yankton area.  Their task was to determine a classification system for these leaves.  All were successful in that goal.  As a side note, the 6th graders thought they would try to guess the origins of each leaf ~ not too successful on that endeavor.  A couple really stumped them! 

Protons, Electrons, Neutrons & the Periodic Table

 

Yes, rubbing a balloon on your head helps you learn about electrons!

 

A former chemistry teacher told me recently, "Kids just don't know their periodic table!"  We are trying to combat that here at MVCA.  The eighth graders are reconstructing the periodic table given only clues about the atomic structure, mass, and # of each element.