Ms. Chiyeni the Science Lady

Missing Backpack

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 16:20:26 -0400

One of our students has lost a black backpack today (3/23/12). Please have your students check to make sure that they didn’t accidentally grab someone’s elses backpack thinking it was their own. If found, please call the school. Thank you.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 22nd: GLOSSARY VOCABULARY QUIZ FOR A LIST OF THE WORDS THAT SHOULD BE IN YOUR...

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 18:50:22 -0500

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 22nd: GLOSSARY VOCABULARY QUIZ

FOR A LIST OF THE WORDS THAT SHOULD BE IN YOUR GLOSSARY FOR THIS QUIZ, CLICK HERE!

Thank you everyone who was able to attend the ISAT night. For...

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 19:47:52 -0500

Thank you everyone who was able to attend the ISAT night. For those of you who were unable to attend please follow this link to view the PowerPoint that I presented that evening. There are many helpful links in it to assist your students in becoming prepared for this year’s ISAT testing.

The time has come for the dreaded Science Fair Project Research...

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 18:38:56 -0500

The time has come for the dreaded Science Fair Project Research Paper! (Due December 9th). Please follow the checklist for the physical arrangement of the science project paper that was given to you. (It can also be found in the online 2012 Handbook at http://cpsscifair.org/ ) I have provided three templates online for your use 1) The CPS Abstract document form 2) The CPS Safety Sheet Document form and 3) A word template of the remainder of the paper with descriptions of what each section should contain. There is also a document giving the list of project categories so that you can read through the descriptions and pick the one that best fits your project. You will need to list this category on your title page. Click here for your templates and happy researching and writing!

IMPORTANT SCIENCE FAIR DATES: *Due Monday, October 31,...

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 13:33:00 -0500

IMPORTANT SCIENCE FAIR DATES:

*Due Monday, October 31, 2001 Project Purpose (topic question)

*Due Wednesday, November 09, 2011 Project Hypothesis, Materials List, Procedure

*Due Monday, December 05, 2011 Completed projects due including oral presentation and poster board display due to Ms. Chiyeni

*Due Friday, December 09, 2011 Science Fair Research Paper

*Friday December, 16, 2011 Top Projects compete in Murray School Science Fair (20-8th grade projects, 20-7th grade projects, 10-6th grade projects, 5-5th grade projects)

If you missed the parent meeting on November 3rd, please visit this link to...

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 13:31:00 -0500

If you missed the parent meeting on November 3rd, please visit this link to view the 8th grade Washington, DC parent presentation PowerPoint. REMEMBER: Trip deposits of $150 are due to the school office by Wednesday, November 16th if you want a spot held for your student to attend.

The 8th grade teacher team will be hosting an informational...

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 15:29:53 -0400

The 8^th grade teacher team will be hosting an informational meeting on Thursday, November 3^rd, 2011 from 5:30pm to 6:30pm for parents of 8^th grade students. We will discuss and distribute information about 8^th grade graduation, the 8^th grade luncheon, the 8^th grade Washington D.C. trip, as well as the anticipated costs for each of those activities. We will discuss possible fundraising activities to help defray some of the cost of these items to the family. During this meeting, parent committees will also be formed to help in the planning and preparation of these events. Please join us and share in our enthusiasm and excitement for all of the special activities that our 8^th grade students have to look forward to during this upcoming year. Thank you for your continued support in all we do.

SELECTIVE PREP

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 15:19:35 -0400

Last week, 8th grade students were sent home with information on Selective Prep. The Murray Selective Prep cohort will begin in November and will run for 8 weeks. If you are interested, please visit the Selective Prep website to sign up here

7th and 8th grade students have been soaring to new heights on the wings of paper airplanes as they...

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 20:42:30 -0400

7^th and 8^th grade students have been soaring to new heights on the wings of paper airplanes as they examine the forces and motions behind flight in Ms. Chiyeni’s Science classroom. As students are finishing up this unit, they will develop a presentation for their culminating activity that will allow them to demonstrate their new knowledge by stepping into the role of the “teacher”. Each group will be assigned a topic or activity from the unit that they will then teach to 5^th and 6^th grade classes in a mini-lesson, thereby deepening their own understanding. Students are preparing for this year’s Science Fair by working on the “Four Question Strategy” for developing inquiry based science fair project ideas, completing their science fair project worksheet, and developing focused questions to guide in research for the paper that will accompany their experiment.

A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new....

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 19:45:00 -0400

A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.
Albert Einstein

There is a quiz on the scientific method this week. It will be on Thursday, Oct. 6th for 7th grade...

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 17:35:36 -0400

There is a quiz on the scientific method this week. It will be on Thursday, Oct. 6th for 7th grade students and Friday, Oct 7th for 8th grade students. Please study the following infomation: Appendix A, DST’s, 4 glossary words.

Papering the Sky with Science This curriculum unit for 7th and...

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 16:23:32 -0400

Papering the Sky with Science

This curriculum unit for 7th and 8th grade Science will focus around forces and motion as well as technological design and will last approximately 2 weeks. Please see the click through link to view and download the unit overview on KeepandShare as well as student web resources and Illinois Learning Standards to be addressed during the unit.

1…2…3…4….I declare a thumb war…is...

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 20:37:00 -0400

1…2…3…4….I declare a thumb war…is a fun way to emphasize the scientific method and the importance of controlling variables in an experiment. Students will first engage in a lab activity to determine how many drops of water will fit on a penny before surface tension is broken. Through this process they will analyze the data and infer possible reasons for the wide variety of results observed. This will help facilitate student’s construction of the understanding of the importance of controlling variables. Next, students will use this new information to write a procedure for conducting a controlled thumb war experiment to determine if thumb length and circumference affect a persons’ ability to be successful in a thumb battle. Students should be prepared with their binder and 5 tab dividers by now. Both of these activities will be added to the lab notebook portion of their binders. (9/12-9/16)

Science Supplies

Thu, 08 Sep 2011 18:09:51 -0400

Murray Middle School students will be utilizing the Executive Functioning binder system for all major subjects in order to assist in organization as well as to streamline materials that need to be transferred between classes and between home and school. Science will be one section of this system. Students should have:

Executive Functioning Binder System with one 3 ring pocket folder dedicated to Science. (Case-it and similiar products)

One package of 5 three ring tab dividers

Looseleaf paper

Pencils, erasable pens, and colored pencils

One container of disinfecting wipes (Lysol, Clorox, etc.)…..Science can get messy!

Students have been informed that they should have materials in place by Monday Sept. 12th so that we can beginning setting up the lab notebook sections.

Greetings Murray!

Thu, 08 Sep 2011 17:52:18 -0400

Hello! My name is Ann-Marie Chiyeni and I am the new 7^th and 8^th grade Science teacher at Murray. I am thrilled to be a part of the Murray community and it has been a pleasure to meet your students as well as many of the parents. The overarching goals for the Science program at Murray are to develop and practice scientific process skills, foster creativity and imagination, expand critical thinking, and explore the world of Science around us. The first quarter’s focus will be on the Physical Sciences. We will begin with Forces and Motion and move on to Matter and Energy as well as an introduction to basic Chemistry. The major projects for the 2011-2012 school year will include a Science Fair Project for the first semester and a Young Inventors Project for semester two.