Parents

Useful information for parents How to reach Mr. Shenker Jshenker@aps1.net

= The students did a great job with density and measuring. Remember, if you student did not do as well as they hoped, I am available after school for extra help. = = And now for some new and exiting stuff. = = Who knew that learning the periodic table would be so easy? We are beginning to learn how the periodic table is organized and what all the numbers and symbols in the boxes mean. =

= There are a few great resources on the Homework page. This one is awesome, it has a game, and build an atom activity. Its fun and easy. Give it a try. = = Look for an Element project to be assigned next week. Content always trumps beauty with these things. There is no need to spend more than a few dollars on poster board. You could even cut the cube out of cardboard and cover it with paper. = code

code =We have been having fun mastering the concept of density. We now can explain why we float, some things sink, and others seems to do a little of both. Ask the kids about the red white and blue liquids that we stacked in class. We then added a solid that sank through one of the liquids and floated on another. Ask for a drawing, its really cool.= =Or, ask them to heat up and cool air in a bottle with liquid detergent on top, don't forget to ask them to explain it, they can!= =We rounded the unit out with a test, and it went really well. The students really do know how to use a ruler, measure liquids and calculate density.= =We're now exploring the non visible world of atoms, the stuff that everything is made of, and seeing what solids, liquids, and gasses look like at their atomic level. Ask your student to teach the family how to dance like all three phases of matter (solid, liquid and gas), its a fun family activity.=

September 20, 2014 ==What a nice full week! We are becoming experts at using characteristic properties. We were able to identify a mystery metal just by finding its mass and volume. We are also recognizing the relationship between mass and volume (also known as density). Knowing what type of matter you have is the foundation to working with materials. We took a try at graphing as well this week. We definitely get the basics, we will continue to work on our graphing skills through out the year.==

==We had a quiz this Friday that was a check in on measuring concepts, density, characteristic properties and graph interpretation. Just a note here, no students came for extra help before the quiz. Grades are available on the Portal and you should look for them to come home for a signature next week. If you student did well, please remind them not to relax too much, challenges will come. If you student did not do as well as they hoped, please encourage them to see me after school or during enrichment. I will help them focus in on skills and habits that can help them reach their goals.==

September 16, 2014 ==Our first quiz is coming up! The kids have a review sheet, it is available on the homework page as well. As about science, and what science is, they should know, you should here words like evidence and consensus. They should be able to measure as well. If you head over to the homework page, click on the balance and give it a try.==

Andover Public Schools Science and Engineering Blog

=**August 27, 2014**=

Our big question for the year is **"Is Andover a Coastal Community"?**
==What do you think? Obviously we are not ocean front, but do we affect the coast? Does the coast affect us. The oceans and our connection to it will be the structure that we use to anchor our knowledge this year. From the "stuff" the ocean is made of, to the journey that water takes from WHMS to the Atlantic, we will tie our class to the oceans and learn how important they are to our community.==

Our first stop this year is chemistry. We will focus on the characteristic properties that help us identify different elements and molecules.
==Measuring is a huge part of that. Feel free to pull out rulers and scales and compare things around the house. Remember, we love the metric system.==