STEM Day @ Fenway Field Trip! Thursday, May 2nd.
The entire seventh grade is going to Fenway Park for a STEM day on Thursday, May 2nd. Permission slips have been collected already. Students may be provided a school lunch from our cafeteria if they let us know in advance. Otherwise, students may purchase their own food at Fenway.
Please note: we will not return to WMS until close to 4:30pm.
Important May Dates/Announcements
Thursday 5/2: STEM Day @Fenway Park Field Trip (return to school @4:30pm)
Tuesday 5/14: MATH MCAS
Wednesday 5/15: Half Day Dismissal @11:45am
Thursday 5/16: MATH MCAS
Friday 5/17: 7&8th grade Performance Music Field Trip - Six Flags Music in the Parks
Monday 5/27: NO SCHOOL Memorial Day
Cluster 3 Math with Mr. Casciano - End of April Update
Hello Cluster 3 Families!
After finishing our unit on Algebra, we spent the week before April Vacation studying different types of angles and different angle vocabulary. Once returning from break, we jumped right into our final unit on Probability and Sampling!
We will have a mid unit quiz as well as an end of the unit test per usual. This unit will lead us into the end of the school year!
-Mr Casciano
Below are some lessons and student goals we have covered and will continue to cover the next few weeks:
In the first section of the unit, students learn about probability as a way to describe the likelihood of unknown events and use simulations to estimate the probability of real-world situations. In the second section, students use samples to draw conclusions about and compare populations.
Section 1: Probability (Lessons 1–8)
Students determine the probability of unknown events and compare the results of repeated experiments and the expected probability. They also design and perform simulations to estimate the probability of multistep real-world situations.
Lesson 1 invites students to conduct their own experiments and use phrases such as “likely” and “equally likely as not” to describe the likelihood of different events.
Lesson 2 connects the concept of likelihood from Lesson 1 with probability, a measure of the likelihood of an event. Students express probabilities as numbers between `0` and `1`, and use sample spaces to help determine these probabilities.
Lesson 3 returns to experiments like those in Lesson 1. Students use repeated experiments as well as proportionality to predict the contents of a mystery bag, recognizing that the number of repeated experiments affects the accuracy of your prediction.
Lesson 4 continues the conversation about repeated experiments. Students recognize that if you perform an experiment repeatedly, the results will approach, but may not exactly match, the probability of the event.
Lesson 5 invites students to challenge their assumptions about probability tools such as coins and number cubes. Students decide whether or not an object is fair by comparing probabilities from a model to the results of a repeated experiment.
Lesson 6 extends the work of Lessons 1–5 as students make sense of probabilities of multistep events. Students use lists, tables, and tree diagrams to represent the sample space of events with multiple pennies or spinners. They then use these tools to determine the probabilities of multistep events and consider whether or not different games are fair.
Lesson 7 asks students to apply what they have learned about probability tools and repeated experiments to simulate multistep real-world events. Students use spinners and blocks in bags to simulate the chances that it rains based on probabilities from a weather forecast.
Lesson 8 extends the work of Lesson 7 as students design and perform their own simulations to estimate the probabilities of multistep real-world situations.
Section 2: Sampling (Lessons 9–15)
Students use measures of center and measures of variability from random samples to draw conclusions about and compare populations. Students also explain the purpose of sampling and which methods tend to produce representative samples. This builds on the work students did in Grade 6 analyzing data sets and distributions using mean, median, MAD, and IQR.
Lesson 9 revisits tools that students used in Grade 6 to analyze and compare sets of data. Students calculate the mean and mean absolute deviation (MAD) and use these measures to make a recommendation (MP2). They also compare and contrast data represented by dot plots.
Lesson 10 is the first of several lessons where students use samples to draw conclusions about a population. Students learn the terms sample and population and explore the advantages and disadvantages of using samples to answer a question about a population.
Lesson 11 digs deeper into techniques for gathering a sample. Students review headlines produced from different samples of data and explain whether or not a given sampling method is likely to be representative of the population.
Lesson 12 revisits proportional relationships and percentages from Units 2 and 4. Students use data from a sample to estimate the number of marigolds in a large flower garden.
Lesson 13 also asks students to use data from a sample to draw conclusions about a population, this time with quantitative data and box plots. Students estimate a measure of center of a population based on one or more samples of the population. They also explain why an estimate for the center of a population is more likely to be accurate when it is based on a random sample with less variability.
Lesson 14 extends what students learned from Lesson 13 to compare two populations based on samples. This lesson introduces the idea that you can determine if there is a big difference between two populations by looking at the difference between the centers of samples and comparing the difference to the measure of variability.
Lesson 15 wraps up the unit as students apply what they know to analyze real data about asthma rates. Students generate random samples and use them to compare the asthma rates of different places in New York.
English classes have been working hard to write our stories. Many have finished one personal narrative and are on to a second. We will polish one piece and submit it for a grade by next Wednesday. Some writing goals include adding descriptive details, thoughts and feelings, dialogue, paying attention to the pacing, and including a reflection as we try to emulate our mentor texts.
Next up (after our field trip next week!) we will be starting our final class novel, The Giver. PLEASE do not have your student watch the movie before we finish the book. It doesn't accurately reflect the novel and tends to confuse kids!
On a final note, I am proud of the work the kids are doing on their ELA MCAS. I have seen deep concentration and an effort to really improve their writing, especially on this assessment!
ELA Standards:
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.7.4 - I can identify several types of figurative language in a text.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.7.1 - I can refer to the text to find several examples to support my thoughts and inferences about a story.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.3 - I can write narrative stories with good technique, appropriate detailed descriptions and logical sequences.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.3.B - I can use different techniques such as dialogue, pacing and descriptive words to help develop the characters and plots of my stories.
SCIENCE with Ms. Smith
April 2024
Our 7th-grade scientists are still investigating ENERGY in its various forms. This week we are looking at electrical energy and how to make an electrical circuit using both simulations and electrical components. Next, we will focus on how thermal energy (heat) moves from one object to another in detail, as we distinguish between conduction, convection, and radiation. We will conclude our energy unit by looking at big systems of generating electricity and specific energy sources humans use to produce electricity.
Science Curriculum Frameworks for Energy:
7.MS-PS3-1. Construct and interpret data and graphs to describe the relationships among kinetic energy, mass, and speed of an object.
7.MS-PS3-2. Develop a model to describe the relationship between the relative position of objects interacting at a distance and their relative potential energy in the system.
7.MS-PS3-3. Apply scientific principles of energy and heat transfer to design, construct, and test a device to minimize or maximize thermal energy transfer.*
7.MS-PS3-4. Conduct an investigation to determine the relationships among the energy transferred, how well the type of matter retains or radiates heat, the mass, and the change in the average kinetic energy of the particles as measured by the temperature of the sample.
7.MS-PS3-5. Present evidence to support the claim that when the kinetic energy of an object changes, energy is transferred to or from the object.
7.MS-PS3-6(MA). Use a model to explain how thermal energy is transferred out of hotter regions or objects and into colder ones by convection, conduction, and radiation.
7.MS-PS3-7(MA). Use informational text to describe the relationship between kinetic and potential energy and illustrate conversions from one form to another.
8.MS-PS1-4. Develop a model that describes and predicts changes in particle motion, relative spatial arrangement, temperature, and state of a pure substance when thermal energy is added or removed.
8.MS-PS2-2. Provide evidence that the change in an object’s speed depends on the sum of the forces on the object (the net force) and the mass of the object.
