Category: Middle School

Every fourth Thursday, the middle school students and teachers participate in a much-beloved tradition here at Saklan when they venture off campus and enjoy lunch from one of the local Moraga restaurants or stores. The students love the opportunity to pick their lunch for day, parents love not having to pack a lunch, and the teachers enjoy the many social and emotional perks that the trips offer to the middle schoolers. These lunches allow students to bond with peers and teachers in ways often not seen on campus, allow them to showcase their decision making and negotiation abilities when they decide with their buddy which establishment to get food from, and give them practice in budgeting as they determine which items to purchase with the money they have.

While Off-campus Lunch is a great perk for students it also holds many life lessons. For this reason, students and teachers alike look forward to Off-campus Lunch days!

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In preparation for a full year of fun and exciting science, middle school students have been reviewing and practicing the scientific method. The sixth grade students were given the question: “Which bubble gum creates the biggest bubbles: Double Bubble or Hubba Bubba?”

Students created their hypothesis, were given the same amount of each gum for consistency, and decided on a bubble gum blower for the experiment to keep the ability consistent. After measuring 5 bubbles and averaging their findings, most groups found Hubba Bubba to be better at consistently blowing large bubbles. Students noted that Hubba Bubba was the softer of the two gums. This and other flavor preferences played into their guess as to why Hubba Bubba was better. From this fun experiment, the scientific questions and hypotheses started flowing!

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A long-standing tradition of the Saklan Middle School is to start the year with a three-day, two-night field experience called the “Advance.” This field experience is intentionally designed to create an opportunity for the middle school students to advance into the new school year in a positive, proactive way that helps them flourish into self-confident young adults.  

During the Advance, students engage in different activities that build relationships between students and their teachers. Navigating ropes courses, completing blindfolded trust walks, and playing team-building games facilitate positive interactions and friendships. Students are asked to take risks together, creating bonds that will carry them through the school year. Not only does this help solidify their sense of belonging, but it also allows for better collaboration, trust, and academic focus.

Yesterday afternoon, the middle school students and teachers returned from the Advance as a slightly different group than when they left Tuesday morning. They formed new friendships, built a new community, and have a renewed sense of confidence. They were also a bit tired from all the fun and activities. But most importantly, the middle school team returned ready to thrive and grow during their middle school experience.

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The middle school students recently learned how to prepare Chicha Morada, an iconic Peruvian beverage, in Spanish class. The drink is made from dried purple corn, boiled together with pineapple, cinnamon stick, and cloves. It is the most popular drink in the Andean region. As part of their study of the culture of the Andean region, yellow block students created videos describing the ingredients and process of preparing the refreshing, delicious Chicha Morada!

Check out their videos below!

Bienvenidos a Perú, es una bebida saludable y deliciosa. 

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As part of the sixth grade earth science curriculum, the students learned about invasive species and how they can affect an ecosystem. One species they focused on was the Crown of Thorns (COT) sea star. They learned how the sea star’s fast reproduction and limited predators on the Great Barrier Reef are creating quite a problem for that precious ecosystem. The COTs eat the algae in the coral which is causing the coral to die at rapid rates. Students then learned how scientists are using Remote Operated Vehicles (ROVs) to learn to identify and inject vinegar into the COTs. The vinegar dissolves them from the inside out. These ROVs can work 24 hours a day in all kinds of weather conditions. 

Ms. O recently attended an ROV course where she learned to create and operate SEAMate ROVs, and she was excited to bring this knowledge back to the classroom and share it with the sixth graders! Ms. O had the students team up to create their own ROVs in order to simulate the work of the scientists out on the reef. The students had to wire their electrical control box, wire the motors and assemble the propellers, design a frame, and decorate their ROV.

With the ROVs completed, the students were given the challenge of collecting COT’s from the local MCC Augusta Pool. Students had to figure out how to maneuver their ROV and remove the imitation COTs from the pool.

Through this process, the sixth graders learned a lot about electricity, engineering, design, scientific research and careers in both robotics and ecology. Many expressed how much they enjoyed taking part in and learning about robotics!

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Last Friday, the 8th grade class went to Great America to put their physics to the test by riding roller coasters and other amusement rides, determining speed, acceleration, and which forces were acting on them. Then they applied Newtons 3 Laws of Motion to see how physics plays a key role in the design, fun and safety of roller coasters. Students timed the rides, wore accelerometers to test the amount of g-force the ride exerted on their body and filled out a packet of physics! 

They will now be using the rides of Great America as inspiration for their culminating project in their physics class; building their own roller coasters! 

#SaklanFieldExperience

The seventh graders noticed a problem when working with similar figures (figures that are the same shape but not necessarily the same size, as shown below).

The students could find a scale factor and use that to find missing side lengths but when they tried to use the scale factor to find an unknown area it didn’t work. They set out to study the problem in more detail.

First, the 7^th graders made triangles with a scale factor of 2, 3, and 4 of the original. The students then repeated this with squares, rhombuses, and trapezoids and displayed their data in a large table. This confirmed what they knew- that the scale factor worked as a multiplier for the side length and the perimeter. It also confirmed the problem – when they multiplied the area of one triangle times 2 (the scale factor) the area they got was 2. But, when they counted the triangles they had 4. When they did times 3, the area was 9 triangles. Times 4 was 16 triangles. It was true for the squares, rhombuses, and trapezoids too. They realized there was something they could multiply by. 

By squaring the scale factor, they found a multiplier that would help them solve unknown areas!