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Students have successfully completed the CAST science assessment, with only a small number of students needing to finish missed questions due to absences. Over the course of the year, students completed all topics in the NGSS science curriculum and explored concepts including chemical reactions, balancing chemical equations, electricity, and magnetism.
Hands-on learning continued throughout the year with engaging activities such as the Flame Test (Fireworks Lab), where students explored the properties of elements through color changes, and the creation of electric circuit Mother’s Day cards to deepen understanding of electricity and magnetism. It was wonderful to see families at Open House and share a snapshot of the learning that took place in science this year. The event provided an opportunity for students to showcase their understanding and explain scientific concepts they explored throughout the school year.
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Students have now completed learning all the topics in the NGSS science curriculum and are ready for the CAST test. Throughout the year, they learned about chemical reactions, balancing chemical equations, electricity, and magnetism.
Students also participated in hands-on activities, including the Flame Test (Fireworks Lab), and explored electricity and magnetism by creating electric circuit Mother’s Day cards. It was wonderful to see some of you at Open House! We hope you were able to get a snapshot of what students have learned in science class this year. More importantly, we hope you had the opportunity to ask your students science-related questions and that they were able to proudly share and explain what they have learned! Our class has successfully completed Unit 3, and we will begin Unit 4 next week. During this unit, students participated in many engaging labs while learning about states of matter and physical and chemical properties and changes. Some of the activities included:
To participate in labs, students must
Happy New Year! Hope you enjoyed the holiday break.
Students continued to learn about waves and interactions of waves. They learned about reflection, refraction, absorption, transmission etc. They also did labs such as reflection lab and refraction lab to understand how waves interact. We finished the waves unit by learning about signals and how it is used in information technology. We learned about analog and digital signals and did labs to understand this. Students have also been assigned a project to show the understanding of this unit. As we wrap up the year, we would like to wish all our students and families a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! We hope this season brings joy, rest, and special time with loved ones.
Student HighlightsOne of the highlights this month was the Newton’s Laws project presentations. The presentations were fun, creative, and informative, showcasing students’ understanding and imagination. Their effort and creativity were truly impressive, and it was wonderful to see their confidence and enthusiasm. Students have officially moved on to Unit 2, where we are exploring the exciting topic of waves. Over the past month, students learned about:
Ending the Year on a Fun NoteTo celebrate the end of the semester, students enjoyed watching Home Alone 2, which was a fun and festive way to conclude the year. We hope all students enjoy a safe, relaxing, and joyful holiday break. We look forward to welcoming everyone back next year refreshed and ready to continue learning more about waves and chemistry! Happy Holidays! 🎉 Our 8th-grade students have recently completed their unit on Motion. During this unit, they explored key concepts such as speed, velocity, acceleration, Newton’s Laws of Motion, and different types of forces — including contact and non-contact forces, as well as balanced and unbalanced forces. They also learned about the effects of gravitational force on objects.
To demonstrate their understanding of Newton’s Laws of Motion, students are currently working in groups of 3–4 to create a working model or design an experiment that illustrates one or more of Newton’s Laws. They will present their projects on December 2nd or 3rd, depending on their block period. Students will also take a test on Gravity on Wednesday, November 13th. Please encourage your child to review their notes and class materials to prepare for this assessment. We have now begun our next unit on Energy, where students are learning about kinetic energy, potential energy, and mechanical energy. They will explore how energy is stored, transferred, and transformed in various situations. Thank you for your continued support and encouragement as we move forward in our science learning journey. Our students have been doing an excellent job in science! Over the past few weeks, they’ve learned a lot about motion and forces — including concepts such as speed, velocity, and acceleration. To deepen their understanding, they conducted fun, hands-on labs using Hot Wheels cars and dominoes to explore these ideas in action.
We are now learning about Newton’s Three Laws of Motion, and students will soon begin a Newton’s Law Project to creatively apply what they’ve learned. I’m very proud to share that the class average on the Position and Motion test was 9/10 — a wonderful reflection of their hard work and curiosity! The first quarter ends on Friday, October 17th, and our field trip to Chinatown will take place on Thursday, October 16th. Students will start their Newton’s Law Project later this month. They will be given ample class time to collaborate with their group members, but please encourage them to continue working at home if needed. The project will be worth 125 points, and students over the years have truly enjoyed this engaging and creative challenge. Students in room 41 have been very busy learning about science basics. We learned about lab safety, we learned to use the fire safety equipments such as fire extinguisher, fire blanket, safety shower and the eye wash station. We also learned about SI units and worked on converting units.
For the first time, I introduced an escape room activity—students had fun with it, even though a few parts were a challenge. So far, we’ve completed two labs (length and volume) to strengthen measurement skills in SI units. Our first project was a creative one—students came up with unique ways to teach lab safety to their peers. We will have our first test tomorrow, on September 5th. We will start our first unit from the Inspire science curriculum next week. We are looking forward to a lot more labs and lot more fun projects and investigations. Hello everyone,
Welcome to 8th-grade science! I am excited to get to know all of you. My name is Ms. Gayathri Ramakrishnan (I also go by Ms. R), and I am very excited to be your teacher this year. I look forward to working with all of you as we explore extraordinary things in Physics and Chemistry. During this class, we will be investigating many interesting things and performing tons of experiments. This will be a hands on class where you will have weekly labs as we learn about how things work or why things behave the way they do. Plus a whole lot more! Please know that I am here to support you all along the way and if you feel stressed, overwhelmed, or confused in any way don't be afraid to reach out to me. I am here for you. It is important to me that you are successful and really enjoy this class. You can find information about what is happening in the classroom on this website. I highly recommend that you bookmark this website - it will be a one place shop to find everything related to our class. You can find the daily agenda, unit slides/projects/study guides/tests, etc on this website. |
Rm 41 Happenings!Please check out the newsletter if you want to find out what the students are doing in room 41. Archives
May 2026
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