Week of 4/30 - 5/3

This week in Social Studies, students will be working to create a presentation on their topic over Maya, Inca, Aztec or the Achievements.  This will be done using Google Slides online - working with their group, each student will create 1 - 3 slides in a group presentation.  The slides are meant to teach the class about the topic.

Here is my predicted breakdown of the week:

• Monday 4/30
• Finish Online Source C-Notes
• Introduce requirements of Presentation
• Tuesday 5/1
• ROUGH DRAFT - Google Slide Presentation
• Students must finish all notes before beginning slide
• Wednesday 5/2
• Begin FINAL DRAFT - Google Slide Presentation
• Thursday 5/3
• Work on FINAL DRAFT of Google Slide Presentation
• ALL NOTES due TODAY
• Friday - NO SCHOOL

Identifying Spoof/Hoax Sites

Partner groups will be going to one of the following set of websites to evaluate and determine which one is a "hoax."  Use the resources provided by Ms. Superneau to help you identify which site is real and which site is fake.  Warning!  Some of the fake sites are very convincing! You will need to delve deeply and think critically!

On your worksheet, identify which site is real and which one is fake, and explain how you know.

Websites:

Pair 1: Chemistry
Dihydrogen Monoxide Research Division http://www.dhmo.org/ 
Carbon Monoxide http://www.cdc.gov/co/default.htm

Pair 2: Birth and genetics
Genochoice http://www.genochoice.com/
Gender Prediction Kits http://www.parents.com/pregnancy/my-baby/gender-prediction/gender-prediction-kits-are-they-accurate/

Pair 3: Water
Dehydrated Water http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-Your-Own-Dehydrated-Water/
International Water Association http://www.iwa-network.org/latest-news.php

Pair 4: Endangered animals
Save the Guinea Worm http://www.deadlysins.com/guineaworm/index.htm
Endangered species: Vaquita http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/finder/vaquita/vaquita.html

Pair 5: Cloning
Clones http://weeklyworldnews.com/headlines/27557/scientists-clone-dinosaur/
Cloning Fact Sheet https://www.genome.gov/25020028 https://www.genome.gov/25020028

Pair 6: Museums
The Museum of Jurassic Technology http://www.mjt.org/
The Virtual Museum of Bacteria http://www.micropia.nl/en/

Week of 4/23 - 4/27

This week in social studies, we are mostly focusing on research and online note-taking.  Students will learn some tricks for evaluating the reliability of websites, then will find a suitable informational website to gain more information about their FOCUS topic for the Maya, Inca, Aztec project.  Students will also learn some tricks for paraphrasing and putting things into their own words - then will take C-Notes on the information from their reliable source.

Here is a breakdown of the week:

• Monday
• Continue textbook FOCUS Topic C-Notes
• Tuesday
• Finish Textbook C-Notes (HW: DUE FRIDAY)
• Online Source Evaluation 
• BrainPOP Video Notes
• Wednesday
• Continue Online Source Evaluation
• Brainpop & Hoax Wksht
• Find a Reliable Source for your FOCUS Topic
• Thursday
• Paraphrasing/Plagiarism
• Begin Online Source C-Notes
• Friday
• Online Source C-Notes

Week of 4/16 - 4/20

This week in Social Studies, students are continuing their work on the Civilizations of the Americas project.  Last week, each student group chose/was assigned a particular civilization or topic on which to focus: Maya, Aztec, Inca, or the Achievements of all three civilizations, then began working on the reading notes associated with that chapter.  Students will be finishing those reading notes this week, as well as beginning Vocabulary C-notes on their assigned chapter.  Lastly, at the end of the week, each student will choose a topic within the chapter to focus on (we're calling it the "Focus Topic").  Students will become an expert on one aspect of their civilization - starting with C-Notes from the textbook.

Here is a breakdown of the week:

• Monday
• Continue Reading Notes
• Tuesday
• Finish Reading notes (due Friday 4/20)
• Check Answers
• Wednesday
• Vocabulary C-Notes (10 - 12 words, definitions, sentence & picture)
• Thursday
• Finish Vocab C-Notes (don't forget a summary!)
• Due Monday 4/23
• Friday
• Mini-tutorial: How to take notes from a textbook
• Focus Topic C-Notes

Week of 4/9 - 4/13

This week in Social Studies, after a little more overview of the three civilizations of Maya, Aztec and Inca, student groups will be selecting one topic to focus on and begin reading the chapter in the textbook on that topic.  The assignment will be to read the assigned chapter(s) and complete the reading notes.  We will be working on reading and notes this week and next, so there will be no new homework this week.

Here is the weekly breakdown:

• Monday
• BrainPOP Videos - Maya, Aztec & Inca
• Tuesday
• Kahoot Review
• Folder Cleanout
• Wednesday
• Choose Topics, Roles, Discuss Project
• Begin Reading Chapter & Reading Notes
• Thursday
• Continue Assigned Chapter & Reading Notes
• Friday - NO SCHOOL

Week of 4/2 - 4/6

This week in social studies, we are beginning study in a new area of the world - Central and South America!  We will be focusing our study on three main civilizations that dominated these areas during the middle ages time period: the Maya, Inca and Aztec Civilizations. 

This week, we are starting off our studies with a geography challenge, where students will become familiar with the physical and geographical features of the area, and how the geography affected the people who lived there.  Then, we will get an overview of the three civilizations with a video (paired with questions, of course!).  Lastly, we will finish off the week with a Kahoot to get everyone excited about the topic.

Here is a breakdown of the week:

• Monday - Tuesday
• Civilizations of the Americas Geography Challenge (due Friday)
• Wednesday - Thursday
• Maya, Inca, Aztec Video & Questions (Click here for link to video)
• Friday
• Finish Video (if necessary)
• Kahoot: Maya, Aztec, Inca