curriculum overview sample lessons - oak...

Curriculum Overview

Sample Lessons

SEVENTH GRADE

Oak MeadowCurriculum & School

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Thank you for your interest in Oak Meadow. Since 1975, we have been supporting homeschooling families and students, both through our creative curriculum and our internationally-accredited distance learning school.

While reading through the complete sample lessons in this curriculum overview, you can begin to imagine what a typical homeschooling week might be like with Oak Meadow. We hope these materials give you a clear sense of the style, content, and scope of our curriculum, and help you decide if Oak Meadow is right for your family.

At Oak Meadow, we offer a unique curriculum that is substantively different from other educational models. The student’s awakening powers of thought are encouraged with a sequence of skills and carefully chosen material which reflects the child’s developmental stages and unfolding sense of self. We seek to foster a healthy balance between the realms of intellectual development, emotional engagement, and solid academic accomplishment. Our goal is to help children become intelligent, capable human beings who are able to respond sensitively and deeply to the world, and able to find meaning and relevance in their contributions to society.

Lessons in the early grades are crafted with a sense of beauty and reverence as the child’s own sense of wonder leads to the foundations of essential literary and mathematical skills. As the student grows into the middle school years, our imaginative, engaging approach develops strong academic abilities, practical problem-solving skills and an ability to consider an issue or problem from many perspectives. Each year’s curriculum is

structured in 36 weekly lessons, and the sample lessons in this overview are representative examples of a full year’s curriculum across all subject areas.

Within the framework of Oak Meadow’s integrated curriculum, you, as the Home Teacher, will be in a position to help your child make personal connections to the curriculum. Finding relevance and inter-relatedness between the material and daily living is one of the true joys of homeschooling. The Oak Meadow curriculum is designed to be used in the home environment and encourages meaningful connections and relationships with the whole family, the local geography, and the wider community.

We encourage you to visit our website (oakmeadow.com) or call our office at 802-251-7250 to learn more about us and about what we can do to support you in your homeschooling journey.

Warmly,

Michelle Simpson-SiegelExecutive Director

OVERVIEW 3

In the middle grades of the Oak Meadow curriculum sequence, questions play a vital role in the learning process. Through engaging stories, experiments, and writing assignments, we prompt students to think about things they may not have previously considered. In grades 5-8, the Oak Meadow curriculum asks questions that challenge the student to think, to explore, and to integrate knowledge gained in other subject areas. We ask questions for which there are no “right” or “wrong” answers, as we lead students to think beyond the facts themselves and to make sense of the world in which they live.

Our syllabi provide each student with in-depth readings on the topics of study, offer assignments and a broad range of activities, and provide ideas for further study or reading. By placing the emphasis upon human values and ideals in grades 5-8, we lay a foundation for a lifelong appreciation of the subjects covered during these middle school years.

Each syllabus is divided into 36 weekly lessons. Within each lesson, you will find everything you need for a complete learning experience. We provide readings, assignments, activities, and suggestions for further study. Most of our lessons contain a range of assignment options so that students can choose projects that best match their learning style.

Grade 5–8 Overview

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english


seventh grade

Math


seventh grade

earth science


seventh grade

World history


seventh grade

teacher Manual


SeventhGradeCurriculumSeventhgradersgainaglobalperspectivethroughastudyofWorldHistory,fromtheAgeofEnlightenmenttothepresent.While immersed in subjects such as Far Eastern empires, the Industrial Revolution, and the Space Age, students will reflect and write about the people behind these events. Studying the literature of the time encourages a flexibility of thinking and perspective. The Language Arts curriculum emphasizes composition skills and helps students express themselves clearly and creatively in writing. Students continue to develop their grammar skills through a detailed study of sentence structure and common writing pitfalls. Art activities include art history, world music, pen and ink drawings, and collage.

In Earth Science, students make observations and perform experiments in astronomy, geology, meteorology, matter, and energy. Emphasis is placed on learning about the Earth’s natural resources and thinking through practical solutions to current environmental issues. In conjunction with experiential explorations, students write persuasive essays and conduct research.

Math7The Math 7 curriculum introduces square roots, exponents, signed numbers, mean and median, formulas for area and volume, and angle measurement. In addition to further work with percents, ratios, and probabilities, students engage in a comprehensive review of all previous skills. Students enrolled in the seventh grade may elect to take Pre-Algebra or Algebra with teacher approval.

Projects,Crafts,&Activities• Write a biography of Amelia Earhart• Memorize a Shakespearean sonnet• Interview people who lived through

the Great Depression• Be a dictator for a day• Learn a freedom song from the

Civil Rights movement• Keep a sky journal

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CurriculumMaterialsWorld History 7; English 7; Earth Science 7; Math 7; Mama’s Bank Account; Journey to America; Helen Keller; Martin Luther King, Jr.; Amelia Earhart; Lyddie; Goodbye, Vietnam; Zlata’s Diary; Summer of the Monkeys; Water Sky

Teacher Manual and Craft Kit are also available for purchase.

SeventhGradeOverviewFirstSemester SecondSemester

English

SocialStudies

Science

Math

• Grammar: Homonyms/synonyms/antonyms, spelling rules, direct/indirect object, sentence types, narrative voice, commas

• Vocabulary words and quizzes• Writing: Book reports, research projects, reviews, haiku poetry• Literature: Summer of the Monkeys, Lyddie, Amelia Earhart, Mama’s

Bank Account

• Grammar: Irregular verbs, compound sentences, possessives, auxiliary verbs, dangling modifiers, subject/verb agreement

• Vocabulary words and quizzes• Writing: Biographical essays, persuasive essays, speeches, short

stories, news reports, plays• Literature: Journey to America, Helen Keller, Goodbye, Vietnam, Martin

Luther King, Jr., Zlata’s Diary, Water Sky

WORLD HISTORY TO WORLD WAR II• Monarchs in Europe• Asian empires• Baroque and classical music• Industrial Revolution• Slavery• Civil War and Reconstruction• World War I• The Depression• World War II

WORLD HISTORY TO THE PRESENT• Latin America• United Nations• Women in American History• The Cold War• The Vietnam War• The Middle East• Martin Luther King, Jr.• Media literacy• Space travel

EARTH SCIENCE• Scientific inquiry and measurement• Astronomy• Earth’s rotation• Rocks and fossils• Volcanoes and earthquakes• Glaciers and erosion• Atmosphere and climate

EARTH SCIENCE• Weather patterns• Natural resources• Human population• Water cycle• Oceans• Pollution• Energy sources• Biodiversity

• Common denominators• Multiplying and dividing fractions• Decimals• Exponents• Square roots• Order of operations• Percents• Converting percents, fractions, and decimals• Missing numbers• Negative numbers

• Signed numbers• Averages• Probability• Working with equations• Ratios and proportions• Pi and geometry• Weights and liquids• Prime numbers• Angles and using a compass• Polygons and geometric solids

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World History/Fine Arts Lesson 2 - 1

Social Studies/Fine Arts~~~~~~~Lesson 2

THE MOGUL EMPIRE

So far we have discussed events only in Europe. Of course, Europe isjust one part of the world, and there were plenty of interesting things going onin the rest of the world. India is one of those places. In order to tell you aboutthe events in India during the 1500’s and beyond, it is necessary to backtrack abit.

The very early rulers of India were known as the Guptas. Their dynastylasted from about 320 to 467 A.D., and is sometimes referred to as India’sGolden Age. There are very few written stories about these early times, butthere are many oral tales that have been passed down from one generation tothe next. This oral tradition, common around the world, usually gets most ofthe facts reasonably accurately, but doesn’t pay much attention to dates. So itis hard to know exactly what happened when in very early history. We doknow, from stories told by a Chinese monk who traveled in India to learn moreabout Buddhism, that in the first part of the 5th Century, life in India waspeaceful and prosperous. There were free government-run hospitals for thosewho needed medical help, and this monk felt safe traveling, even though hewas a stranger from a different country.

Some important scientific breakthroughs occurred during the golden age.Indian doctors figured out a way to give injections of cowpox to help stopepidemics of smallpox. This was a thousand years before anything like thiswas tried in Europe! Also, Indian surgeons knew how to set broken bones, dominor plastic surgery to repair ears and noses, and sterilize their tools.Mathematicians of the Gupta period were the first to use a number systembased on ten, and understood the concept of zero. These may seem commonplaceto us today because we have grown up in a culture that has long known aboutthem, but in those days these ideas were new and amazing.

Lesson 2 - 2 World History/Fine Arts

The Gupta Dynasty came to an end after constant attack by the Huns, abarbaric tribe from the Asian continent. For the next six hundred years, northernIndia was in a constant state of chaos. One of the new ruling groups duringthese years was the Rajputs, or “sons of kings.” They were members of theKshatriya caste - the second highest caste - and they lived by a strict code ofhonor. While women had some property rights and were respected to a degree,they were expected to be so devoted to their husbands that if a woman’s husbanddied, she was supposed to throw herself into the flames of the funeral pyre andbe burned with him.

Hinduism and Buddhism became intertwined under Gupta rule. Statuesof Buddha were worshipped in Hindu temples, and Hindu priests taught thatthe Buddha was an incarnation of their god, Vishnu.

Islam was one of the newest religions of the world in the 8th Century,and Hinduism was one of the oldest. The relationship between their followershas been difficult ever since the 700’s. Muslim warriors invaded India overmany centuries, setting up their own kingdoms and plundering the wealth ofgold and silver that belonged to India. The Rajput princes used elephants againstthe invaders, but to no avail. Soon the Muslims controlled northern India, withDelhi as their capital. These rulers are known as the Delhi sultans.

Two Delhi sultans are worth describing. One was a terribly violent mannamed Muhammad Tughluq, who murdered his own father, and committednumerous atrocities such as forcing the wife and children of one his nephews,who was a rebel, to eat some of the flesh of the dead nephew. He also orderedthe evacuation of Delhi, forcing the people to walk 600 miles to a new capital.He was probably the worst of the sultans. The best may have been Firuz Shah.He was a cultured man who believed in social reform, and put his beliefs intoaction by setting up an employment agency for young men and a marriagebureau which helped find husbands for young women. He also constructedover 2,000 gardens and built five canals.

One of the more positive effects of the Delhi Sultanate was that becauseIndia had centralized rule, cities grew and trade expanded. More land wascultivated, so more food was produced.

SAMPLE LESSON—GRADE 7 7


Most Indians were Hindus. Profound religious differences createdproblems between the Hindus and Muslims, and many Hindus were killed,and their land confiscated. As you learned in Sixth Grade, Hindus worshippedmany different gods, while the Muslims had only one - Allah. Muslims believedthat all people were equal before Allah, but Hindus lived by the caste system.Hindus believed cows were sacred, but Muslims ate cows; Muslims thoughtpork was unclean, but some non-vegetarian Hindus ate pork. You can see thebeliefs of each were repugnant to the other! But Islamic teachings of the equalityof all believers were very appealing to Hindus of the lower castes. Over theyears, numerous Hindus converted to Islam, perhaps in part to escape the castesystem or live more peacefully with their conquerors, and partly because Islamicmissionaries traveled around preaching their beliefs and converting people.

The Muslims made a large impact on Indian life. Urdu, a new languagewhich combined Arabic and Persian with Hindi was used in addition to otherofficial Indian languages. Urdu is written in Arabic script, unlike Hindi. Muslimsencouraged the writing of poetry, and poets of both religions wrote prolificallyin a variety of local languages. The Muslims were skilled architects who builtwith domes and arches, and they passed this skill to Indian architects. Duringtheir travels, Muslims had learned from the Chinese about paper, gunpowder,and making porcelain, and all of these were introduced in India.

Many Hindus began to dress in similar styles to the Muslims, and Hinduwomen began wearing veils over their faces as Muslim women did. Somenorthern Hindu women even adopted the practice of purdah, a Muslim practicein which women were not allowed to be out in public or meet with any manwho wasn’t part of their family.

Mogul is another form of the word Mongol, the descendants of theinfamous Genghis Khan, who you may remember from your studies in SixthGrade. The Mogul conqueror, Babur, ended the Delhi Sultanate by attackingwith cannon and guns that he and his troops carried across the high mountainpasses from Afghanistan into India. Stories about Babur say that “... he neverhit a man whom he did not knock down.” When Babur took control of India in1526, what came to be known as the great Mogul Empire began. It lasted until1761.


The greatest Mogul king wasBabur’s grandson. His real name wasMuhammad, but he was called Akbar,or “most great.” He is remembered asbeing wise and fair. He also foughtfiercely, riding on an elephant andwearing golden armor - winning newlands for his empire until he controlledalmost all of northern India and a largepart of the Deccan (the large plateauthat occupies the middle of India).

1. Look at a map of India so youcan see the area to which weare referring.

Akbar was interested in knowledge of all kinds, and hosted many scholarsat his court. He, himself, never learned to read or write. He loved to engage inlively conversation with educated people, and learned from each of them.Indulging his love of culture, he brought forty-five artists from all over India,Central Asia, and Persia to make over 200 miniature paintings illustrating aseries of stories called Tuti-nama, or Tales of a Parrot.

He slept only three hours a night, and spent many hours dreaming ofnew projects and inventions. One of these inventions was a huge cannon thatcould fire fourteen balls at one time.

It was important to Akbar to have a unified country. “For an empireruled by one head, it is a bad thing to have the members divided amongthemselves,” he said. With Hindus outnumbering Muslims by about four toone, this was a difficult task. He decided that, instead of seeking revenge on theRajputs he had conquered, it would be better to include them. So he married aRajput princess, allowed Hindus to hold important government jobs, and devisednew codes of law which were meant to apply equally to everyone. He alsoestablished a fair tax law, and lowered taxes in years when there was famine inthe land. Historically, non-Muslims had been charged a special tax, but Akbardid away with this.

Akbar

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Akbar also believed in religious tolerance. He was very open-minded,and, although born and raised a Muslim, he began to think that maybe therewas some truth in Hinduism as well. Jesuit priests traveled through his landteaching their beliefs, and he was interested in hearing what they had to say, aswell. He built a hall of worship and held weekly religious discussions there. Inthe end, he decided to create a new religion that could include all three of thereligions he was most interested in. He called it Din Ilahi, which means “DivineFaith.” Of course, he was the leader of the new religion. But Din Ilahi didn’tcatch on with other people very well, and when Akbar died in 1605, it ended.

Shah Jahan, Akbar’s grandson, was one of the wealthiest kings in theworld during his reign in northern India. His name means “King of the World.”He had three royal homes in Agra, built of red sandstone, and other palaces aswell. He constructed the Red Fort in Delhi, still one of the most famousstructures in India. He owned many treasures. One list includes “...750 poundsof pearls, 275 pounds of emeralds, 5,000 gems from China, 200 daggers, 1,000gold studded saddles with jewels, 2 golden thrones, 3 silver thrones, 100 silverchairs, 5 golden chairs...” Meanwhile, many of the people of India lived inmud homes with thatched roofs, and suffered famine.

Shah Jahan was not only wealthy, he was very intolerant of his enemies.He didn’t believe in unification between Muslims and Hindus as his grandfather,Akbar, had. But what we remember most about Shah Jahan is the depth of hislove for his wife, Mumtaz-i-Mahal. They had fourteen children together. Shedied giving birth to the fourteenth baby, and in his grief, Shah Jahan commandedthat a tomb, “as beautiful as she was beautiful,” be built for her.

For twenty-two years, 20,000 workers toiled to build her tomb. It wasmade of beautiful white marble which seemed to glow, with a towering domeand four minarets. Inside, the workers carved thousands of marble flowers,and inlaid them with jewels - sapphires, rubies, and lapis lazuli. The marblereflects the light of the different times of day, and appears to subtly changecolor, from gleaming white, to golden, to almost pink. The tomb of QueenMumtaz-i-Mahal is a famous monument known around the world as the TajMahal.


Shah Jahan intended to build a second tomb next to the shining whiteone. This tomb was to be for him - a black marble monument identical to hiswife’s except for the color of the marble. He wanted them to be joined togetherby a silver bridge. But his wish was not realized, for one of his sons, Auranzeb,turned against him and imprisoned him before the tomb could be built. It issaid he kept a mirror in his prison room so he could see the reflection of hiswife’s tomb from his window for the last eight years of his life. At his death, hewas buried in the Taj Mahal next to his beloved queen.

2. Look at pictures ofthe Taj Mahal. It isone of the mostbeautiful buildingsin the world. If youcan find pictures ofany other Muslimarchitecture, lookat a variety ofstructures. Do yousee anysimilarities? Whatkinds of patterns( a r c h i t e c t u r a lstyles, artistic designs and carvings etc.) do you see? Write at leasta paragraph describing what you find.

Shah Jahan’s son, Aurangzeb, was the last strong Mogul ruler. He wasruthless in his desire for power. He not only imprisoned his father, but killedfour other family members who stood between him and the throne, then seizedcontrol of the empire. He expanded the empire to include almost all of India,and created many problems in the process. He destroyed many Hindu temples,reestablished the old tax on non-Muslims, and sent the artists and scholarsaway from court. He was involved in almost constant warfare, which eventuallyweakened his empire. The Mogul Empire almost entirely ended with his deathin 1707, although his descendants continued to rule India with greatly reducedpower until 1857.

The Taj Mahal



Extra Credit: Go to the library or look at resource books with picturesof Mogul art. You will see that there is a particular style which isvery different from European art of the same era. Describe at leastone scene in writing. If you enjoy drawing, see if you can imitatethis style.

3. Choose a writing topic:

a. If you have not previously researched Hinduism or Islam, do sonow. Write a report explaining the basic belief system of one ofthese religions, touching on its symbols, ceremonies, and viewson deity.

b. Compose a short story, a dialogue or argument, or an essay whichportrays the differences between the beliefs of Islam andHinduism and demonstrates some of the difficulties of combiningthese two religions and cultures under the same rule. Back upyour statements with facts. Note that this assignment will requirefurther research about these two religions.

c. How do you think the various rulers’ policies and levels oftolerance affected the lives and goals of people in the MogulEmpire? How might it have affected the relationships amongpeople of different religions? Write an essay answering thesequestions thoughtfully.

d. What if you had been Emperor Akbar? Imagine that you havedecided to establish one state religion that would combine aspectsof several major religions. How would you do this? What wouldbe the advantages and disadvantages? Explain your ideas.

e. The music of India sounds unusual to our Western ears. There isno harmony as we know it, but instead the emphasis is on long,winding, complicated melodies played against intricate rhythms.Research Indian music and write a report on how it differs fromWestern music. Include a brief discussion of Indian instruments.

Lesson 14: Amelia Earhart Vocabulary Words

Your vocabulary words relate to the material you are studying in Social Studies. Define them without using the root word or any other version of the vocabulary word, and use each one in a sentence. Your sentences should demonstrate that you understand the meaning of your vocabulary words in the context of your Social Studies lesson. If there are words in your reading that you do not understand, add them to your vocabu-lary list.

feats aviator modest supersonic

humble solo sanitation contaminated

mortality stimulus

Spelling

Select ten words from your written material this week for spelling words. Write each of these words correctly five times and use each word in a complete sentence. Practice your spelling words in preparation for a quiz.

Grammar

1. Finish reading Amelia Earhart. For your report, choose one of the following ap-proaches:

a. Write a biographical overview of Amelia Earhart’s life, focusing on the ways in which she dared to be different.

b. The end of Amelia’s life remains a mystery. Create an ending to her story that agrees with what you know about Amelia’s personality, goals, and the circumstances around her last known communication with the world.

c. Pretend to be a radio announcer telling the story of Amelia’s life, ca-reer, and disappearance. Write a detailed radio announcement, make an audiotape, and send it to your teacher.

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2. Read the sections titled “Sentences” and “Sentence Construction” in “Unit II: Great Grammar” of your English Manual. Review contractions and possessives if necessary.

3. Write three of each of the four kinds of sentences, and identify which type of sentence each one is. In addition, do the following:

a. Use at least one possessive or one contraction in each sentence.

b. Use a blend of different contractions, singular possessives, and plural possessives in these twelve sentences.

c. Make sure to capitalize and punctuate each sentence correctly.

4. Review the section titled “Correcting Run-On Sentences” in “Unit III: Sensa-tional Sentences” of your English Manual. Do the following exercise and send it to your teacher. Most of these sentences are run-on, and all are missing impor-tant punctuation. Rewrite them correctly on another sheet of paper. Look care-fully for every place that needs any kind of punctuation mark or capitalization.

a. I took my watch to a jeweler she found a broken mainspring

b. He really works hard nothing can stop him

c. Their team scored a run yet we still won the game hurrah

d. I didnt stay until the end of the game I was too tired

e. We wanted to go to the concert but couldn’t get tickets

f. Id rather be playing baseball but homework comes first

g. I do only five sentences at a time then I correct my answers

h. Everyone has gone the gym is empty its time to go home

i. You can go now or you can wait for her Im sure shell be along soon

j. She calls him every day and talks for hours she loves to talk

k. I wanted to win that game and I did

l. Im looking forward to summer I want to get a job

32 Oak Meadow American Literature Syllabus

m. He enjoyed his weekend on the farm and is going back next month

n. Their house is small but its perfect for their family

o. Many people ride bikes to school others ride them in races

5. Make an outline of the Social Studies report you began researching last week. See the section titled “Outlining” in “Unit IV: Concise Compositions” of your Eng-lish Manual if you need to refresh your memory on outlines. Begin filling in your topic sentences with information, and finish the report during the course of this week.

6. Write a rough draft of your report and proofread it very carefully. Try to catch every place where you may have used a run-on sentence, left off an apostrophe for a contraction or possessive, worded something awkwardly, or made some other error. Fix all the mistakes you find. Refer to your ongoing list of spelling words.

7. Type or write the final copy of your report in ink. Send the outline, rough draft, and final copy to your teacher.

8. Ask your Home Teacher to give you a spelling quiz. Add any words you miss to your ongoing spelling list for further review.

Lesson 14: Amelia Earhart 33


Lesson 2: The Scientific Method

At the end of this lesson you will be able to:

1. Understand the problem-solving format accepted among the scientific community.

2. Practice the scientific method.

We are all scientists in our own ways. We ask questions, guess what the answers will be, watch to see what happens, record the results in our minds, decide what the results mean, then take this knowledge and use it to make decisions about our lives. This is an example of what is called the scientific method. Scientific thinking is a part of all of us. We are all science in action, and we are all scientists.

People make sense of the world through the sci-entific process like scientists use this process to conduct experiments. Most people are not aware of their scientific thinking, but there is little dif-ference of thought for an artist, a writer, a runner, or a scientist. Each problem we solve is like an experiment. We do not always know what the outcome will be, but we can make a guess, or hypothesis. Then we go through the steps to test our hypothesis. Sometimes our experiment does not work and we make conclusions, ask more questions, and create a new hypothesis to test. Consider a painter who starts a painting with an idea, makes a guess about how to approach the idea, and finds his approach or experiment did not produce the desired results. A painter may paint the same thing over with a new technique and more experience until he has the result he wants. This is similar to a scientist who repeats

USDA Photo Library: ARS lab technician Debra Williams and Kennedy High School student Sean Gros label cotton bolls for

identification. Photo by Scott Bauer.

12 OakMeadowEarthScienceSyllabus

an experiment until he reaches a conclusion.

In all cases there are many factors that affect our conclusions. How we feel, for instance, may depend on how much sleep we got last night. If we are busy watching TV we are less likely to notice that someone left the refrigerator door open in the kitchen. If we are in a hurry, we are more likely to fail to notice that we didn’t clean up a mess before rushing out the door. There are an endless number of situations or factors that influence what we notice, what we decide to do, or how we decide to approach the problem to be solved.

A scientist goes about problem solving in a stepwise manner, trying to determine the effect of a particular factor. A scientist sets up a controlled experiment to test the effect of a particu-lar factor on something else. A controlled experiment attempts to test only one factor at a time. Scientific thinking attempts to isolate what factor causes something to happen and what happens or changes as a result of that factor. This is called cause and effect. Scientists try to identify both the cause and effect of a particular situation. This is done by using the scientific method.

Thus the scientific method includes the following steps:

Problem to be solvedHypothesis or educated guess of the solution

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Lesson2 13

Collect materials needed to perform the experimentProcedure , or how to do the experimentResults, or what happened in the experimentConclusionDo yo u n e e d t o r e p e a t t h e experiment?

1. Choose one of the following experiments to practice the scientific method.

a. Problem: If you drop two balls of different sizes and different weights from the same height at the same time, which ball will hit the ground first?

Hypothesis (a guess of what you think might happen): The heavier ball will hit the ground first. Or the larger ball will hit the ground first. Or they will both hit the ground at the same time. Choose one of these hypotheses to test.

Materials: metal baking sheet to keep the balls from rolling all over the room, two balls of different weights and sizes, a feather or sheet of paper, a chair.

Procedure: Set the metal baking sheet on the floor in front of the chair. Stand on the chair, and hold the two balls at the same height. Drop the balls at the same time. Which hits the baking sheet first? Do this experiment at least three times.

Write a report of your results and a conclusion.

Repeat the experiment, holding the feather in one hand and a ball in the other.

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John F. Kennedy High School students Christopher Thompson, Angela Archer, and Sean Gros use a rotary evaporator to concentrate a

bacterial culture in a laboratory in New Orleans, LA.

1� OakMeadowEarthScienceSyllabus

Explain what happens. Were the results different than when two balls were dropped? Why?

b. Problem: How does a paper towel soak up a spill? How does water get from a plant’s roots to its leaves? The name for this is capillary action. If I put celery in a cup of water with food coloring, will I see the colored water rise up the stem of the celery? Does how much time I have the celery in the water make any difference as to how high the water will rise?

Hypothesis: The colored water will rise up the stem of the celery. The colored water will rise further given more time for the celery to soak in the colored water.

Materials: 4 same-size stalks of fresh celery with leaves, 4 cups or glasses, red and blue food coloring, a measuring cup, 4 paper towels, a vegetable peeler, a ruler, some old newspapers.

Procedure:

(1) Lay the 4 pieces of celery in a row on a cutting board or counter so that the place where the stalks and the leaves meet matches up.

(2) Cut all 4 stalks of celery 4 inches (about 10 centimeters) below where the stalks and leaves meet.

(3) Put the 4 stalks in 4 separate cups of purple water (use 10 drops of red and 10 drops of blue food coloring for each half-cup of water).

(4) Label 4 paper towels in the following way: “2 hours,” “4 hours,” “6 hours,” and “8 hours.”


Lesson2 1�

(You may need newspapers under the towels).

(5) Every 2 hours from the time you put the celery into the cups, remove 1 of the stalks and put it onto the correct towel. (Notice how long it takes for the leaves to start to change.)

(6) Each time you remove a stalk from the water, carefully peel the rounded part with a vegetable peeler to see how far up the stalk the purple water has traveled.

(7) What do you observe? Notice how fast the water climbs the celery. Does this change as time goes by? In what way?

(8) Measure the distance it has traveled and record this amount.

(9) Optional: You can repeat this experiment with white carnations.

Write a report of the results and the conclusion to your experiment.

c. Create and undertake an experiment of your own choosing. State your problem or question, hypothesis, the materials you used, the method of your experiment, the results, and your conclusion. Comment on your experiment by telling how it could have been done differently if you had different tools, more information, or anything else. Do your results suggest a follow-up experiment?

TEST

1. List each of the steps in the scientific method.

2. Explain each step in the scientific method.

3. How is the scientific method similar to the logical thinking one does for the accomplishment of any project or task?

4. If this process is common sense, why does the scientific community need to have this format called the scientific method?

Math 7 Lesson 9 - 1

Math 7 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 9

EXPONENTS

When we multiply one number by the same number, we call this a square. We can find the square of any number by multiplying that number by itself. So the square of 3 is 9, because 3 x 3 = 9, and the square of 5 is 25, because 5 x 5 = 25.

Squares are simply repeated multiplication of the same number. When we want to indicate repeated multiplication of any number, we do this with an exponent. For example, we can indicate the square of 3 by writing

23 . The small 2 that is at the upper right of the 3 is called an exponent, and the 3 is called the base. The exponent indicates how many times the number is to be used in the repeated multiplication. If we write this out in a horizontal format, we can see clearly what this means:

23 3 3= ×

Since 3 3× is 9, we can say that

23 9=

We read numbers with exponents in the following way:

We read 23 as "3 to the second power," or "3 squared."

We read 35 as "5 to the third power," or "5 cubed."

We read 46 as "6 to the fourth power."

We read 52 as "2 to the fifth power."

Example 1: What is the value of 34 ?

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Math 7 Lesson 9 - 2

34 means 4 4 4× × , which we can solve like this:

44

164

64

×

×

So we can say that 34 64=

Example 2: What is the value of 42 ?

42 2 2 2 2 16= × × × =

Math 7 Lesson 11 - 5

ORDER OF OPERATIONS WITH MULTIPLICATION AND DIVISION

We have seen that we proceed from left to right in completing an expression that contains addition and subtraction operations, unless there are parentheses in the expression. What if an expression that has addition and subtraction also contains multiplication or division operations? In the order of operations, multiplication and division operations come before addition and subtraction operations. So if you are evaluating an expression that contains addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, you complete the multiplication and division operations first, and then you complete the addition and subtraction operations. Look at the following example:

Example 1: 6 25 5+ ÷

Since this expression contains both addition and division, we complete the division operation first by dividing 25 by 5 to get 5. Then we complete the addition operation by adding the 6 and the 5 to get the final answer of 11. The complete process looks like this:

6 25 56 5

11

+ ÷ =+ =

Example 2: 2 4 6 2 7⋅ − ÷ +

This expression contains all four processes, so we complete the multiplication and division process first. Then we complete the addition and subtraction operations. The final process looks like this:

2 4 6 2 78 3 7

5 712

⋅ − ÷ + =− + =

+ =

Suppose an expression contains all four operations and operations in parentheses? In the order of operations, parentheses always come first, so you complete the operations in parentheses first, then you complete the multiplication or division operations, and finally you complete the addition or subtraction operations. Look at the following example:



TRIANGLES

A triangle is any figure that has only three sides. Triangles come in many different shapes and sizes, but we can classify triangles in two ways: by their angles or by their sides.

CLASSIFYING BY ANGLES

When we classify triangles by their angles, we look at the kinds of angles that are in the triangles. The types of triangles are related to three angles that we have learned: acute, right, and obtuse.

Acute triangle - All three angles are acute.

Right triangle - One angle is a right angle.

Obtuse triangle - One angle is an obtuse angle.

Here are examples of these three types of triangles:

CLASSIFYING BY SIDES

When we classify triangles by their sides, we look at the length of the sides. There are three types of triangles classified by sides.

Equilateral triangle - All three sides are the same length.

Isosceles triangle - Two sides are the same length.

Scalene triangle - None of the sides is the same length.


Here are examples of these three types of triangles:

SUM OF THE ANGLES

All triangles have three angles, and the sum of the angles of a triangle always equals 180 degrees.

Example 1: A certain triangle has two angles of 30 degrees and 90 degrees.What is the size of the third angle?

The sum of the two known angles is 120 degrees. We subtract this from 180 to find the size of the third angle.

180 - 120 = 60

The third angle is 60 degrees.

AREA OF A TRIANGLE

Just as we have calculated the area of rectangles and circles, we can also calculate the area of a triangle. We can see the basis for finding the area of a triangle in the process we followed to find the area of a rectangle. To find the area of a rectangle, we multiply the length by the width. As you can see in the following diagram, a triangle is half of a rectangle:

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