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Category: Grade 8

Summer Prep

Summer Prep

Grade 6 into 7 Prep. Links and Resources

 

ECOSYSTEMS

Biotic vs. Abiotic Factors

Build your own Self Contained Biosphere student video

Food Webs

Ecosystems and Biomes link and video 

Ecosystems Terminology and Organization

 

CHEMISTRY

Lab Rubric

Matter and the Particle Theory

The Periodic Table of Elements

Some Key Concepts About Elements and their Atoms

    • Atoms are made of extremely tiny particles called protons, neutrons, and electrons.
    • Protons and neutrons are in the center of the atom, making up the nucleus.
    • Electrons surround the nucleus.
    • Protons have a positive charge.
    • Electrons have a negative charge.
    • The charge on the proton and electron are exactly the same size but opposite.
    • Neutrons have no charge.
    • Since opposite charges attract, protons and electrons attract each other.

 


Build an Atom Simulator

 

HEAT

What is Heat?

Thermal Expansion Video

Heat Transfer – Conduction, Convection, and Radiation

Radiant Energy

States of Matter and the Changes of State

 

STRUCTURES

Structure Types

 

Grade 7 into 8 Prep Links and Resources

 

CELLS

Plant Cell Organelles

Cell Structures

Compound Microscope Parts

Preparing Slides

Diffusion and Osmosis

 

FLUIDS

Properties of Fluids: Viscosity

Properties of Fluids: Density

What is Density and How to Calculate Student Note

Density Explained

Calculating Density and Buoyancy Online Simulator

Archimedes Gold Crown Problem – Solved using Density

Fluids Under Pressure: Hydraulics vs. Pneumatics video

 

SYSTEMS IN ACTION

6 Types of Simple Machines

Net Forces Explanation

Levers – Class 1, Class 2, Class 3

Calculating Mechanical Advantage

Gears

Pulleys and Mechanical Advantage

 

ELECTRICITY

What is Static Electricity?

Components of Electric Circuit

How Solar Energy is Transformed into Electricity

Series vs Parallel Circuits

Build Your Own Circuit Simulator

 

Grade 8 into 9 Prep Links and Resources

 

CHEMISTRY

Properties of Matter (Physical properties vs Chemical properties)


Changes in Matter (Physical changes vs. Chemical changes)

Elements and Reading the Periodic Table

Interactive Periodic Table of Elements

Some Key Concepts About Elements and their Atoms

      • Atoms are made of extremely tiny particles called protons, neutrons, and electrons.
      • Protons and neutrons are in the center of the atom, making up the nucleus.
      • Electrons surround the nucleus.
      • Protons have a positive charge.
      • Electrons have a negative charge.
      • The charge on the proton and electron are exactly the same size but opposite.
      • Neutrons have no charge.
      • Since opposite charges attract, protons and electrons attract each other.

 

Build an Atom Simulator

How to Draw Bohr Rutherford Diagrams

Covalent vs. Ionic bonding

 

BIOLOGY

Food Chains and Food Webs

Biogeochemical Cycles

BIODIVERSITY

 

ELECTRICITY

Static Electricity

Charging and Object by Induction

Build a Circuit Simulator

Series and Parallel Circuits

 

SPACE

The Milky Way

Outer Space

The Solar System

The Moon

Moon Phases

Comets, Asteroids, Meteors, Meteoroids, Meteorites


Gr. 8 Fluids

Gr. 8 Fluids

Below is all of the information from classes on are current fluids unit. This includes slides presentations, docs, videos, and assignments on viscosity, buoyancy, density, and pressure.

 

Introduction to Fluids

Viscosity

Buoyancy

Using Density to solve the Archimedes Gold Crown Problem

Density

What is Density and How to Calculate Student Note

Calculating Density and Buoyancy Simulator

Density Problems and Table of Common Densities

Density Problems link

Density Chart link

Fluids Under Pressure

Hydraulics vs. Pneumatics video

SHOULD DO

Density Enrichment Questions link

COULD DO

Ear Saver .stl file for use in TinkerCAD or Blender

Code a game with animals using Scratch

Practice your coding skills with code.org Minecraft or Dance party activities

 

Gr. 8: Unicellular Organisms

Gr. 8: Unicellular Organisms

Unicellular vs. Multicellular Organism videos

Unicellular Organisms Defined:

Unicellular organisms are composed of a single cell, unlike multicellular organisms that are made of many cells. This means that they each live and carry out all of their life processes as one single cell. Most unicellular organisms are microscopic;

  • Also called microorganisms or microbes since they are only visible under a microscope.
  • The single cell is responsible for feeding, digestion, excretion and reproduction.
  • Some microorganisms make us sick, but without the others we could not survive.
  • The following are examples of unicellular organisms:
    • Bacteria
    • Protists
    • Some Fungi

Multicellular Organisms Defined: 

A tissue, organ or organism that is made up of many cells is said to be multicellular. Animals, plants, and fungi are multicellular organisms and often, there is specialization of different cells for various functions. In contrast, unicellular, or single-celled organisms are much smaller in size and less complex as they are composed of just one cell that senses its environment, gathers nutrients and reproduces asexually. The following are examples of multicellular organisms: human beings, organs and tissues,  plants, animals, birds and insects. 

~Generally speaking, we can say that unicellular and multicellular organisms are alike in that they exhibit all the functions of life, such as metabolism and reproduction, they contain DNA and RNA, they can exhibit a wide range of lifestyles, and they are essential to almost every ecosystem that we currently know of.

Amoeba, Euglena, Paramecium on the move

The paramecium are the larger protists, amoeba are the blob-like protists, and euglena are the smaller unicellular organisms.

Gr. 8: Osmosis

Gr. 8: Osmosis

Hello grade 8, please watch the video below and then answer the questions at the bottom of the post in a google doc. Share your doc with me j.ray@theojcs.ca and have your answers with you when we meet during Monday’s live session. I hope everyone is doing well, and there is no baby update except that our bags are packed and ready at any point!

I realized that the screen went black on the last slide of the screencast. Here is the slide on Turgor Pressure to go along with the audio.

 

Before you answer the following questions, if you have not done so already, please create a folder in your google drive called ‘Science’ to put all of your docs/resources for Science in one spot and keep you organized.

Questions – share #1-5 with me

  1. How are osmosis and diffusion different? How are they the same?
  2. What determines the direction of water movement into or out of cells?
  3. What prevents a plant cell from bursting when it is full water?
  4. Explain why animal cells are more likely than plant cells to burst when placed in distilled water (only H2O particles)?
  5. Describe turgor pressure in your own words.

Challenge questions (not mandatory, but you are encouraged to try and answer them!)

a) Based on what you have learned about osmosis, explain why grocery stores spray their vegetables with water?

b) You lose a solution of salt and water when you perspire. After extreme exertion on a very not day, a person who drinks only water to replace lost fluid may become ill. An examination of the person’s blood after drinking the water would reveal that many red blood cells have become swollen and that some have ruptured. Why would the red blood cells burst?

Innovation Day 2020

Innovation Day 2020

Congratulations to the middle school students for successfully accomplishing their projects this year! I heard so many positive and amazing comments from parents, teachers, and this year’s judges. They were impressed with the level of research, the creative engineering, and imaginative presentations that YOU designed and created. Outstanding effort, I am very proud of the work you put into those projects! Here are the results from Innovation Day judging as well as the video we saw as part of the assembly. I can only imagine what creative projects you will dream up for next year. Well done!

Genius Hour Project Winners

Grade 6
1. Samara S. – indestructible dog toy
2. Maya S. – Magical illusions
3. Rebecca G. – Nail glue

Grade 7
1. Maayan S. – The perfect environment for horses
2. Sarah K. – A dollar makes a difference
3. Yamaya N. – Eco-friendly housing

Grade 8
1. Jayson R. – Braille Rubik’s cube
2. Zoe N. – Eco-friendly dill
3. Max P. – Music Production

STEAM Project Winners

Grade 8
1. Talia C. and Jesse A. – Clean Machine

Grade 7
1. Abby T. – Music and Memory
2. Sarah N. and Jordana W. – Mint Blast
3. Talia L. and Sasha S. – Sleep-Inn

Innovation Day Schedule March 4th & 5th

Innovation Day Schedule March 4th & 5th

Innovation Day is finally upon us! It feels like forever ago when students began thinking about their passions, ideating different topics, creating pitches, and starting the journey of their personalized learning.  As the teacher, I can’t tell you how excited I am to see all of the hard work put into researching their topics, the creative problem solving needed to engineer products, and the creative story they will tell, all come together for next week’s presentations.

Here is a schedule for both students and parents to look over to see how the set up, parent visitation, judging, and final awards ceremony is scheduled.

Wednesday, March 4th

2:25 – 3:05 Set up for grade 6, 7, and 8 (gym)

3:05 – 4:00 Open to parents to visit grades 6 to 8 projects (gym)

Thursday, March 5th

9:00 – 10:50 Judging of Grade 6, 7 and 8 STEAM and Genius Hour Projects (by external judges)

8:45 – 9:30 Open to parents and classes to visit grades K to 5 Projects in their classes.

10:50 – 11:10 Tefillah for grade 6 to 8 students.

11:10 – 11:25 Snack break in regularly scheduled class with teacher for grade 6 to 8 classes followed by class as usual

11:05 – 1:05 Grade 6 to 8 projects left up in the gym for K – 5 classes to visit with their teacher

1:45 – 2:25 Clean-up of grades 6 to 8 Projects in gym

3:15 Whole School assembly to announce the grade 7 and 8 bronze, silver, and gold medalists

Grade 8 Genius Hour Projects

Grade 8 Genius Hour Projects

Kiera – Clothing out of Plastic Bags

For my Genius Hour project, I will be creating clothing out of plastic bags! I will also start an in-school drive to collect plastic bags from people who don’t need them. This idea will benefit the environment by reusing and eventually reducing the amount of plastic. 

 

There were a few obstacles when researching and figuring out how to create the 3d model. I needed to find a plan B on how to melt plastic and how to make the plastic sustainable. It was very hard to research and find something but I found an answer to my problem. I decided to use plastic bags with added materials. I scratched out the idea of melting it because it is not safe with all the chemicals it can produce. 

 

I created a wakelet to share out my research learning! On my wakelet you can find some of the sources that I used to help me with my research. My Genius Hour slide presentation is on there as well as a few other videos I didn’t put on this blog. 

Wakelet link – https://wakelet.com/wake/4d8f31ac-18fb-4ec5-9b20-05a87a5718a5

 

This is an image of a jacket that is made out of plastic.

Jayson – Braille Rubik’s Cube

For Genius hour I am trying to make a Rubik’s Cube for blind people. So what I ended up doing is I researched Braille. If anyone was asking what is Braille? Braille is a language for blind people, so if you ever go into an elevator below the numbers you will see Braille.

I could have also done patterns on the Rubik’s cube instead of Braille. In my research I have learned a lot about how to make Braille and how to put it on an object (Rubik’s Cube). I will put Braille on the Rubik’s Cube using a 3D pen. If you were wondering how I would put the whole word on the Rubik’s cube, I am not putting the whole word on the Rubik’s cube, I am just putting the first letter on the square of the Rubik’s Cube. Thank you for reading my Genius Project.

Max – Music creation using on Soundcloud

For my soundcloud account I would like to also share things that I have learned throughout my process in production music. Here are some important data towards producing music.

A key factor to music production is knowing the difference of using loops and creating ur own beats. Using loops is very easy and used by beginners because if everything is in the same tempo, it makes it simple to put together a beat. When music is produced from scratch, it gives a chance for increased creativity and the ability to use different instruments in any way you want. I personally am going to mostly use the keyboard I have on my touch bar and my guitar if necessary. If someone wants to go into serious music production, they will buy a MIDI controller and a paid DAW. The MIDI controller includes a keyboard and beat pad. The audio isn’t played out loud but instead is transmitted into the DAW. The DAW is the program that the music is being edited and played on. I’m using GarageBand, a free DAW for my computer that has more limited abilities than a paid program.

A great way to create melodies is to create songs in the key of a note. For example if I used the key of E major, I would revolve the melody around the notes E, F♯, G♯, A, B, C♯, and D♯. The same concept goes with chords.

It is important for music to be on the same tempo. This is crucial towards adding tracks and lyrics to the music so the person who is recording audio knows when to sing. It also makes the song sound more professional and less sloppy.

Music should be creative by adding different beats throughout the track.

Key words:

Loops – a section of a piece of music cut in such a way that it can be seamlessly repeated indefinitely by technical means. Also can be a royalty free loop provided in Garageband or any other DAW.

Beat – a main accent or rhythmic unit in music or poetry.

Tempo – the speed at which a passage of music is or should be played.

MIDI – Musical Instrument Digital Interface

DAW – Digital Audio Workstation

GarageBand – a free DAW for Apple computers

Scientific Connections:

  • Music is a mathematical or scientific exercise. The combination of sounds, tempo, and pitch are just like the combination of known facts and knowledge mixed with the creativity and imagination in both science, math, and music. 
  • Both science and music use formulas to solve problems, in music it is theories.
  • Music is the science of sounds. Science says that sound is vibration and the frequency of the vibrations create different sounds. Music puts the sounds into patterns and emotions.
  • Science has proven that music can reduce stress. When someone listens to music it releases the hormone, cortisol, which reduces stress.
  • Listening to music increases the neurotransmitter dopamine. Dopamine creates a feel-good state in the brain.

Publishing:

I will share my music by uploading it to soundcloud, follow Max here

 

Zoe – Eco friendly Dolls

During the past few months we have been working on our Genius Hour projects and I am creating an eco friendly doll out of reused and recycled materials. Before actually creating this doll I had to do lots of research and brainstorming to make sure everything would go as planned. Here are pictures of my wakelet. I made this wakelet which has all of the sources I used to help me with my research, I will also leave the link to my wakelet just in case you want to use the same sources as me to help you with one of your projects. I will also be starting a clothing drive to reuse old clothes as the dolls skin. https://wakelet.com/wake/0a1a3abb-6b87-4315-9058-ec14fffde0ff

Here is a picture of a sketch I drew based off how I imagine my doll to look, it is also labeled with the material it will be made of.

Ari – Here’s the Game Plan

Here’s the game plan

Summary of data I learned during research:

Strats of editing

  1. The first step in improving your video editing process is to choose the right software for you and your work.
  2. Use a Fast Computer. One that has lots of storage.
  3. Edit for a Story. And so people think it’s appealing
  4.  Stay on task 
  5. Utilize Keyboard Shortcuts if there are any 
  6. Learn Important Terms.
  7. Select Good Music so your viewers are amused

I’ll be showing: how to catch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loUaLQfHz0k

How to throw https://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-throw-a-football-/ 

Different drills https://www.football-tutorials.com/dir/drills/ and lots more. 

Key words: process efficient, short cuts

Aidan – Mentalism

Mentalism began as an offshoot of philosophy, spearheaded by intellectual leaders like René Descartes, Baruch Spinoza and Immanuel Kant. These individuals wanted to get to the heart of human thought processes and explain the general meaning of thought by applying systematic logic.

Nevertheless, guesses were all people had to go on in a time when psychological experiments were usually limited to dissection or anecdotal analysis. Sigmund Freud in particular used the deductive logic and hypothesizing approach to describe the “hysterias” his patients were experiencing. Between him and Carl Jung, anecdotes and patient observations formed the backbone of what would later become modern psychology.

This approach was called “mentalism psychology” because it focused on how human thought patterns and processes translated into behavior and psychological phenomenon. Later American psychologists like William James carried on this legacy.

Lior – Anti-Inflammatory Cream

Hi, my name is Lior and for my genius hour, I’ve decided to create a cream that will reduce inflammation. The reason I came up with this idea was I’ve recently been dealing with an injury and they’re not fun, so I wanted to come up with something that will make them heal quicker. In my research, I found out that the herb arnica reduces inflammation. Using its oil I want to make a cream that will help others who deal with injuries heal quicker.

Gr. 8 Genius Hour Guest Speaker

Gr. 8 Genius Hour Guest Speaker

Former OJCS student and entrepreneur Pablo Srugo was kind enough to share his story with the grade 8 class.

Mr. Srugo wanted to be a lawyer as a student but after realizing it wasn’t for him he and his business partner Lee Silverstone (another OJCS alumni!) decided they wanted to start a company of their own.

The creativity, working for themselves, and following their passions were reasons why entrepreneurship appealed to them. His first company was a tutoring company called MyTutor. His next venture, Gymtrack, raised over 5 million dollars, had 35 employees working for them and was featured in the Ottawa Citizen as a local startup company that focused on tracking activity at the gym to family the experience and make it more fun for participants. He now

Students learned about the process of starting a company from scratch, how one idea can change the world, the importance of timing, and how your preconceptions of a job may change once you actually start in the job field.

“You have to be creative.” Srugo repeated. The idea that jobs are changing, jobs are being replaced or automated are forcing students to keep doors open, and to explore your interests.

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