Middle School News
Unit of Inquiry Four- Sharing the Planet
On Monday 10th of August, Middle school students went on an excursion to a Sustainability Education Centre in Cheltenham. They discovered the 5Rs of the circular economy: rethink, refuse, reduce, reuse and recycle. Students also learned about the importance of composting, how to sort their rubbish into the correct bins, and how long it takes the waste we create to break down.
As part of our unit of inquiry, ‘Sharing the Planet,’ Rebecca Gehling (Heidi’s mum) visited the Middle School students to share her knowledge of renewable and non-renewable resources. As a chemical scientist, she was able to explain how a solar panel hydrogen cell made its own energy to power a fan to spin. Students asked relevant questions to broaden their understanding of hydrogen gas and oxygen and how it is converted into energy. Rebecca also brought in some solar cars that the students look forward to experimenting with.
Middle school students have been learning about exposition writing—writing that aims to convince the reader to agree with a particular point of view. Students have explored how to state an opinion clearly, develop strong reasons and support their ideas with examples and evidence.
A key focus has been learning how to generate an engaging beginning. Students have been experimenting with different ways to introduce their topic, such as asking an interesting question, sharing a surprising fact, making a strong statement or describing a situation that makes the reader think.
Over the past few weeks, Middle School students have been exploring fractions and decimals, developing their understanding of a range of key concepts. These have included placing fractions on a number line, counting in multiples of thirds, halves and quarters, identifying equivalent fractions, converting between mixed and improper fractions, and determining how much more is needed to make a whole.
Students have also been practising converting between decimals and fractions, finding fractions of a collection, identifying one more and one less with decimals, and representing and locating decimals on a number line. They have been using thinkboards to visually represent their thinking and practise these skills, as well as applying and consolidating their learning through a range of activities and practice tasks in their books.
