Category: Middle School

This month, the 8th graders started physics as part of their physical science curriculum. So far, they have learned about Newton’s first and second laws, how to calculate the speed and acceleration of an object, and how much force is required to keep that acceleration going. Additionally, students have been learning about different forces on our planet. In a lab last week, students looked at the effect of gravity on a falling object and how air resistance can work against that force. In doing so, students made different sized parachutes and dropped them from the ceiling of the science lab.

Students timed the rate of fall, used that to determine the acceleration of the parachute, and then determined the force of air resistance on the different parachutes. It is great to see them understanding science in the world around them!

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The 8th graders saved the day in class on Wednesday, February 2nd! Dangerous meteors were falling and they used the Linear Laser Cannon to break them up before they reached the earth.

The 8th graders were presented with the known coordinates of the meteors. They then used their knowledge of finding equations of lines using two points to make a rule to break up the meteor. Once they had a rule that would break up two meteors, they entered them in their computer and fired. Most shots were successful but a few had to be tweaked to pass through the desired meteor.

In the end, the earth was saved. Thank you 8^th graders!

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Written by Guest Blogger, Saklan 8th Grader, Evie

During the latest session of Learning By Doing (LBD) classes, I was part of the class that learned about British baking/cooking. We learned about some of the different strategies, measurement sizes, and flavors in British cooking. We were making foods in the three general courses served for British afternoon tea. British afternoon tea is a tea-related ritual introduced in Britain in the early 1840’s. At British afternoon tea, you have three courses of small portions of food.

You start with something savory, which is usually finger sandwiches. However, we made sausage rolls as well as cheese and onion pinwheels. The second serving is scones with jam and cream. We made the dough for the scones and cut them. After they are cooked, you cut them horizontally and serve with jam and fresh clotted cream. The last serving is sweets. It can be variations of different sweet treats, such as cake, macaroons, biscuits, and more. We made a basic cake base and added our own ingredients to make our cakes unique.

A huge thank you to Saklan parent and chef, Donna Pickthall, for leading this delicious, hands-on class, and to Evie for sharing her experience.

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The eighth graders have been learning about the periodic table. From researching what all the symbols mean, to understanding what the atomic number and atomic mass tell us about each element, they have become very knowledgeable about the periodic table!

Each student picked one element they wanted to learn more about. After completing research on their element, they designed a shirt to showcase the special properties of their element. Check out the atomic attire the eighth graders created and modeled below!

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In their Service Learning class, the eighth graders have been learning about food insecurity. They studied what food insecurity is and why it can occur in all areas of our world, including in our own communities. The eighth graders heard from two experts in the field who shared that those in need are mostly seniors on fixed incomes, working poor, and children. 

In order to give back to the community, the eighth graders are going to be engaging in some activities around hunger in the coming month. On campus, the students will be leading a family group activity where they will teach the first through seventh graders what they have learned about food insecurity. Additionally, the eighth graders will be helping the 10,000 Lunches organization to make approximately 50 lunches for the homeless, and will be hosting a canned food drive for the Monument Crisis Center. They invite you to join them in giving to those facing food insecurity by donating to the food drive.

Since many families have been struggling with food insecurity during the pandemic and need help, the 8th graders decided that donated food would be the most practical way to help them. There will be large bins in the breezeway near the main office starting early next week, November 8th, and ending on Friday, December 10th. The following food items are requested: peanut butter, tuna, canned food (including soup, stew, vegetables, etc.), dry pasta, cereal, and rice. If your family does not want to donate food but still wants to help out, please click here to make a monetary donation. Thank you for showing compassion to our local community!

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The seventh graders have been learning about cell processes. Before beginning their study of heredity, the students learned the importance of DNA. They began by discovering the double helix design, noting the matching base pairs, and then moved on to understanding how DNA gives us all the information we need to build eyeballs, hair, and every organ in our body. 

Next, the students extracted DNA from strawberries, and observed clumps of DNA strands.  Realizing that our food has DNA was quite fascinating to the seventh graders!

In the coming weeks, the seventh graders will use all that they have learned about DNA, and how it recombines to give us our traits, to help them understand the processes of mitosis, meiosis and heredity.

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