Hi Folks, 

   Welcome to the final week of Learning from Home!  This will be the final week that we post learning opportunites for you to do at home and report cards will be going home next week (stay tuned for how you will be able to pick those up).

MATH - Dreambox is still the way to go.  Challenge yourself to finish at least 5 activities a day.  Even though this is the last week for work being posted, I believe that Dreambox will still be available to you for most of June.  

A good no-tech option this week would be to challenge yourself to learn the card game Crib.  It requires you to use some good mental math skills.  There are lots of youtube instructional videos, and here is the link to the official rules https://bicyclecards.com/how-to-play/cribbage/

SCIENCE - This weeks science challenge is all about boat building.  Summer gives us so many opportunities to explore and discover.  Water worthy vessels have a long history of exploring and sailing our seas.  They come in all shapes and sizes and have a variety of interesting features.  There are sailboats, houseboats, rafts, catamarans, pontoons, yachts, canoes, and so many more!  
Your challenge this week is to design and construct a model boat that is sea worthy and resistant to capsizing. See more in the attached STEM brouchure.

Another fun one (and I am stealing this from Ms. Squire) is to go outside and make an ICE VOLCANO!  All you need is water, baking soda, vinegar, food coloring, a container to make your volcano, and golf Balls(or any balls that will sink).  Here is a link for how to do this.  Make an ice volcano.

Have fun and as always, if you need anything, just reach out.

Mr. Richard

Hi All,

   Welcome to week 8!  Hopefully you will all get a chance to take advantage of the beutiful weather coming our way this week.

MATH - Dreambox is still the go to resource for math.  Again, if you are having any difficulty, please reach out and I will help where I can.  Remember, you should be playing about 20 - 25 minutes a day, and try to complete each game before moving on to the next one.  A lower tech option would still be math-drills.com.  For this week, focus on Algebra.  Grade 6 should work on finding the missing number, while grade 8's can go right to solving linear equations.  For a no tech option, play a game of Make a Buck with a partner.  It plays like this:

In this game, Ace = $0.01, Two = $0.02, Three = $0.03, … Tens = $0.10, Jack = $0.11, Queen = $0.12 and King = $0.13.

To begin, shuffle the deck and deal ten cards to each player.

Players then take turns drawing and discarding one card at a time until the deck of cards is depleted or a player collects exactly $1.00.

This means it will involve a bit of logic and problem solving as kids learn to discern which cards to keep and which to discard, as well as thinking through possible ways to collect $1.00.

Finally, a new problem of the week has been posted as well as last weeks answers.

Science - This weeks science brochure is also posted on Rube Goldberg machines (think of the game Mouse Trap).  Let your imaginations run wild on this one.

Hi Everyone,

   Welcome to week 6 (Wow, can't believe it's been that long already) of home learning.  Hopefully all is well with you.  Here are this weeks learning opportunaties.

MATH - Dreambox is still the go to for our math if you are able to use it.  If you have still not requested your user name and password and would like to give Dreambox a try, please just send me an email and I will get it right to you.  A lower tech option would be math-drills.com.  This weeks focus should be on fractions.  Grade 6 should work on converting mixed numbers to improper fractions and vice versa.  For grade 8, multiplication and division of fractions is a skill that you will certainly need in high school, so this week, focus on multiplication.  Here is a short video on how to multiply fractions, https://mathantics.com/lesson/multiplying-fractions.  For this weeks no tech option, we will go with a classic - play a game of WAR with someone in your house.  All you need is a deck of cards.  I have also uploaded this weeks Problem of the Week and the answers for last weeks.

SCIENCE - This weeks science challenge is all about filtering water - Humans need clean drinking water to survive.  The water from our rivers, lakes, streams, and ocean is all around us but it might have a few undesirable items floating in it.  Everyone has a right to clean drinking water.  Venture out in nature to collect some water from a local, natural water source.  Take note of what your water looks like.  Your challenge is to build a water filtration system to turn dirty or salty water into clean water!  There are clues and tips located on the websites attached to the document.

Have a great week everyone and remember to feel free to send me any pictures about what you are doing.

Mr. Richard

Hi Everyone,

   I hope all well with you and that you found a way to take advantage of the awesome weather we had this past weekend.  Here are some options for you for this week.

Math - Your options for math this week are as follows.  The hi-tech option is still Dreambox math.  I see a lot of you are trying this which is great.  If you get stuck on anything, do not hesitate to send me an email.  The website is https://play.dreambox.com/login/knjs/aaj2.  If you have not emailed me for your username and password yet, please do so.  You can send the email to gerry.richard@nbed.nb.ca .  A low tech option would be math-drills.com.  This week, focus on Long Divsion.  Clicking on this link, https://www.math-drills.com/division.php#long-division-grid-assistance will send to to some good practice pages for this   Finally, for the no-tech option, you can play a card game called Rule of 24.  Here is how it works - Each player is dealt 4 cards from the deck and they must use all four cards to create an equation with a solution of 24 using the four basic operations (+ , -, x, /).  This is a great game that encourages use of all four operations plus brackets and the use of BEDMAS.

I  have also posted this weeks Math problem of the week.  Feel free to send me your responses.

Science - Upcycling is taking a product or material that you would generally throw away and turning it into something new and useful.  This helps keep non-biodegradable junk out of landfills and our ocean.  Find out some info on a Circular Economy on the link below.  
Your challenge is to find some items around your home that are broken or no longer being used and create something new! 

There is more information available at:

http://stemnorth.nbed.nb.ca/sites/stemnorth.nbed.nb.ca/files/doc//y2020/Apr/asdn_weekly_steam_issue_4.pdf

The Circular Economy 

Have a great week and stay safe!

Mr. Richard

Hi Everyone,

   Welcome to week 2 of home learning.  I hope that everything is going well.

Math

The Hi-Tech option for math is Dreambox.  The username and passwords are now available and you just have to send me an email to get it.  The site is https://play.dreambox.com/login/knjs/aaj2 .  If access to Dreambox is an issue, the site math-drills.com has tons of worksheets available to print.  For this week, focus on multi-digit addition and subtraction with re-grouping (carrying and borrowing for the parents reading this).  If no tech is available, grab a deck of cards and use them for multiplication practice.

Math Problem of the Week - I have attached a file to this called problem of the week.  Feel free to try it and send me your answers.

Science

This weeks Science challenge involves growing plants without soil:

Did you know you could grow a garden without soil?  This is called hydroponics.  Growing plants hydroponically helps gardeners and farmers grow more food faster, in any season, and in smaller places, like your home. 
Your challenge is to grow something in a mason jar or plastic bottle without soil.

More information can be found at:  http://stemnorth.nbed.nb.ca/sites/stemnorth.nbed.nb.ca/files/doc//y2020/Apr/asdn_weekly_steam_issue_2_1.pdf

on this document, the grade 6 - 8 information can be found on page 3.

Have fun everyone, and if you have any questions, please email me and I will get back to you as soon as possible.

Mr. Richard

Hi Everyone,

   I know that alot of you are anxious to get started with the Dreambox math software, but we are having some technical difficulties at the moment.  There is an issue with the student passwords not working.  The company is aware of it and is working on fixing the issue.  As soon as we get the word that things are working, we will let you know.

Thank you for your patience,

Mr. Richard