Progress reports are to be signed by both parents and students and returned the 14th of October. The quarter ends November 1st, leaving a few short weeks for students to work at improving their grades or maintaining their current one. They should be working at making their Science Lab Notebook, neat and complete. All labs should follow the format that is in the Science Lab Write-up hand out. Single sentence responses are considered minimum work and superior grades require going above and beyond the simple, concise answer, especially in the conclusion section. Remember, the write-up should allow anyone to repeat the experiment/ activity and demonstrate your learning along the way. Quality effort will be rewarded with a quality grade. The notebooks are due October 25th.

6th Grade Bible
Students should be continuing to memorize Ephesians 1:3-10. Each week we are taking on more of the verse, adding to the parts memorized previously. Memorizing develops pathways in the brain that enable learning to occur. This is a good thing to try to do both to hide scripture in our heart, and help us acquire the ability to remember and learn.

This week in Bible, we will be looking at ways to use the marginal notes and crossreference sections of a Bible, and then we will be examining the price of pride. Pride cost Satan everything, is the major motivator of sin, and is found in every individual from time to time. We will learn about Satan, his past and future, see through scripture where men had struggled with pride and find God's answers for our struggle and failure to be obedient as we live.

6th Grade Earth Science
On the evening of October 31st, we will be spending the night at the school, learning more about radiotelescopes and then running one from 4 am to 7:45 am Friday morning. Our students will be participating in an exciting partnership with scientists from JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) as Galileo passes through the radiation belts of Jupiter. I will need some parents to spend the night (you will get some sleep) and help with supervision, and then, after we finish, students will be go home to catch up on their rest and get ready for the Fun Night that evening.

We will be finishing up with our look at the sun and moving on to planets. There will be a test Wednesday and a brochure project due on the 23rd. Also, Science Lab Notebooks are due the 25th. I will be reviewing in class, the things that should be in it, along with the requirements for a grade of excellence. Neatness, great effort and following directions are major requirements for a great grade. We will also be walking a scale model of our solar system during class on the 24th. Look for all field trip forms soon.

7th Grade Science
The research paper is due this Thursday and your student should have most of it completed by now. I hope to see some of the papers this week to help with the finishing touches. Students can email me with attachements, their papers for me to examine, but waiting until the last minute will not work, as I have many things to attend to at night this week. We are pressing on through chapter 3 this week as we examine what are the characteristics of living organisms. Students can look forward to a great deal of microscope work in the near future as we study the basic structures of life.

Remember, Science Lab Notebooks are due the 25th.

8th Grade Physical Science
We have worked our way through several complex labs and I will be reviewing them this week. The study of electrical energy is fascinating and fun and allows me great opportunities to take students through some basic electricity as they see, first hand, how scientists in the past, tested and developed our current understanding of current. Looks like the test will be on Wednesday or Thursday depending upon the amount of questions and discussions we have along the way.

Remember, Science Lab Notebooks are due the 25th.