by Nicole Ayers, 8th Grade Math & Science

We’ve been on a mission to make the kind of “elephant toothpaste” that would make Mark Rober proud. It’s theoretically a “simple” chemical reaction where hydrogen peroxide decomposes into water and oxygen gas. We’ve found, however, that the concentration of hydrogen peroxide, type of catalyst, and geometry of the reaction vessel all play an important role in the “wow” factor of this scientific experiment.

Our first attempts were rather “meh”…

So we asked the Science Club to help us figure out the secret to making a super cool Elephant Toothpaste reaction. The Science Club helped make some improvements by using a different catalyst - sodium iodide instead of yeast. It was better than “meh” but not quite “wow”…

We knew a key factor would be finding more concentrated hydrogen peroxide, so we ordered the most concentrated solution we could find without crossing over into a hazardous materials classification. We want to have fun exploring science, but safety is our number one priority!

The reaction started off slowly at first, then bubbles of oxygen trapped in dish soap started pouring out everywhere. We could also see steam billowing into the air, evidence of an exothermic (heat producing) reaction. We have some ideas about how to continue improving this demonstration, but at least we got a bit of a “wow” for now!

by Nicole Ayers, 8th Grade Homeroom

We “broke in” the new year by playing the BreakoutEDU game called, “Breakout of 2020.” BreakoutEDU is a collaborative, critical-thinking exercise modeled after an escape room but designed for classroom use. This challenge reflected on some of the positive aspects of 2020 and brought forth an atmosphere of teamwork and excitement. Here’s to a great year ahead!

by Nicole Ayers, 7th & 8th Grade Math and Science

All matter is composed of atoms, and all atoms are defined by their subatomic particles - protons, neutrons, and electrons. After a brief study of atomic theory and atomic structure, we learned that the number of protons determines the identity of an element, and the number of valence electrons determines its reactivity. We reinforced these concepts by constructing atomic models out of candy.

Each student then selected one element at random from the periodic table, either by shooting an arrow at the board or by donning a blindfold and “pinning” the arrow on the whiteboard. They created an elem-ornament to decorate our class chemis-tree, usings materials of choice to represent their atom’s protons, neutrons, and electrons.

by Susie Rogers and Nicole Ayers, 7th and 8th Grade Homeroom Teachers

We may be a small school, but we do BIG things on campus! When our pre-school’s annual pumpkin patch field trip was canceled, the middle school students decided to step up and provide the experience themselves. First, they brainstormed, researched, and devised a plan to build and plant a pumpkin patch. They built a set of four raised beds and planted two types of pumpkin seeds: Small Sugar and Mammoth Gold. Students cared for their plants from seed, to sprout, to flowering vine. At first, the flowers were withering without developing into fruit, so the students researched and learned about hand-pollination. Thankfully, area bees found their garden and took over the task, and yellow or green pumpkins started developing left and right. It was so exciting to watch the pumpkins grow!

To expand on the science experience, English, art, and technology were also incorporated. The students each painted a pumpkin and created an original short story starring their pumpkin. Students reviewed the elements of a short story, completed a storyboard, and then wrote and illustrated their story. Copies were made and laminated and given to the preschool students along with a pumpkin that they “picked” from the patch at the end of their excursion.  On the beautiful sunny Friday,  Mrs. Denise transported each class on a hayride to their field trip where the children were greeted with fun Halloween music, silly dancing, storytime, and seed planting with 7th and 8th graders dressed in costumes. Each middle school student gave their preschool buddy a tour of the pumpkin patch explaining the life cycle and showing them the growing pumpkins underneath the masses of vines, had them pick a pumpkin to take home, and read their own original story. The middle school students also recorded and videoed themselves reading their stories so that everyone could enjoy them anytime. When students work together, priceless learning experiences are made.

by Nicole Ayers, 7th & 8th Grade Math and Science

We had the privilege of helping the PreK students make slime, as part of their science studies. The 8th graders researched how to make slime and led the younger kids through the steps. It was a great experience for the students to take a teacher-leader role and serve the little ones on our campus.

By Susie Rogers ELA 5th-8th

According to the survey by MBA.com, 81% of recruiters identify interpersonal skills as important factors when hiring a prospective employee—more than any other kind of skill. As communication is one key component of potential employers, it is essential students know how to write and speak effectively. Proper grammar will give my students this critical aptitude to ensure success both in the classroom and in real life. However, as they quickly discovered, the basics are not always easy. Collective nouns, indefinite pronouns, and intervening phrases challenged and frustrated my students while learning subject-verb agreement. With perseverance though, the proverbial light bulb finally went on. This week students worked together to review a difficult grammar rule and then taught it to the rest of the class. It has been proven that if you are able to explain a concept to someone else, you have a solid understanding of it. My students did just that and did an outstanding job of being the teacher for the day.

by Nicole Ayers

We are taking our learning outside as much as possible this year to enjoy the fresh air and sunshine. The 8th grade students have started a pumpkin patch, which will eventually host the Primary and Pre-K students for a “field trip.” We have used gardening to investigate concepts such as interdependence among species, environmental changes, and human effect on resources. This project also reinforces prior learning about life science, such as photosynthesis and plant anatomy. As our pumpkin plants continue to grow, so do we!

by Nicole Ayers, 7th & 8th Grade Math and Science

“You've become trapped in the 8-bit world of Minecraft and the only way back to reality is through opening the locks that you see before you. You already have some of the information you need, although it may be hiding in plain sight. You will gain access to the rest of the clues as you complete your weekly assignments for each class. Make sure you read the clues carefully and pay attention to everything you see in order to figure out the combinations, open the locks, and break out!”

We kicked off our first week of distance learning with a digital BreakoutEDU mystery! As students completed their remote assignments, they earned clues to piece together a master puzzle.

If you would like to give the virtual “escape room” a try, check out this link: https://platform.breakoutedu.com/game/play/back-to-reality-68782

Here are the four clues student unlocked to help them complete this challenge:

• Latin: https://tinyurl.com/v26lal3 

• Science: https://tinyurl.com/wpp5en2

• ELA: https://tinyurl.com/ruce2ds

• Math: https://tinyurl.com/u8g3s72

Do you have what it takes to “break out” of the game? We did!!

by Jennifer Jordan

Eighth grade has entered an intriguing time period of study in U.S. History. Straight off the difficulties of the Reconstruction era, we dove head on into the Gilded Age. This time period highlighted the privileged society of America and the innovations that occurred, but also revealed a dark underbelly of corruption and unscrupulous practices. The students have studied the “captains of industry”-- Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, and J.P. Morgan-- and also considered a different perspective of these men as “robber barons” out for themselves. The 8th graders have demonstrated their understanding through a variety of assessments. Students wrote an opinion piece, choosing one of the above terms to represent these wealthy leaders and supporting their choice with valid reasons. They also studied monopolies, and how monopolies were developed, explaining how to form both a vertical and horizontal integration business model with a fast food company. Furthermore, the 8th graders created their own political cartoons in support of big business. Finally, to learn about the impressive innovations of the Gilded Age, the students read about a variety of builders and dreamers, from Frederick Law Olmsted and Louis Sullivan to Gustav Eiffel and Washington Roebling. They noted the problems these men encountered in achieving their dreams, and the solutions they devised to overcome their obstacles. In this unit of study, the 8th graders have gained appreciation of the disparity of the Gilded Age-- individual wealth amassed at any cost vs. individual rights to enjoy modern architecture.  

Transcript by D. Palmer, 8th Grade Student

TRANSCRIPT:

Hello, my name is Dawson; my name is Chris, and my name is Dylan.

We are the 8 graders.

We have been singing and dancing for 7 years, so this year we wanted to change things up with a little science. We made air cannons. Now you may be thinking, “What does cutting holes in trash cans have to do with science?” Well… 

When the plastic over the top is pushed in, the volume of the garbage can decreases; this, in turn, causes the pressure inside the can to increase. That air would remain in the can, under higher pressure, but because there is a hole in the bottom, the air can travel out. Because the decrease in volume caused an increase in pressure, the air quickly moves out of the hole - this is the same science that causes wind at the surface of the earth! Unlike most 8 grade boys we are making wind, not breaking wind!

We will now demonstrate how fun these cannons are with fire…

Remember don't try this at home; we are experts. 

{Dylan extinguishes candles with air cannon}

Thanks, Dylan; that was pretty lit!

When the air comes out of the can it creates rings. If we use smoke we can see the rings…

{Chris and Dylan demonstrate vortex smoke rings}

Next we are going to knock down cups. Folks, this next experiment might blow you away…

{Chris blows over cup pyramid with air cannon}

Now for the grand finale. If you are sitting in the front two rows, you will find a cup under your seat. Please place your cup on top of your head.

{Chris and Dylan blow cups off audience members’ heads}

I hope our performance blew you away!

Credit: https://www.bealsscience.com/post/2016/03/18/smoke-ring-garbage-cannon-ghostbusters-science

by Nicole Ayers, 7th & 8th Grade Math and Science

Our eighth-grade students had the unique opportunity to complete a study of the history and science of sailing with a parent volunteer who holds nearly forty years of professional and recreational sailing experience. Their studies culminated with a true hands-on test over everything they had learned.

Here is instructor Cory Floyd’s account of the adventure:

The 8th grade class traveled to the Cross Lake in Shreveport to sail on Saturday, finishing their sailing instruction.  The class sailed in 2-person boats (Club 420’s) and demonstrated seamanship skills including weather observation, water safety, basic boat handling and sail trim.  Each child spent three classroom sessions studying the history and science of sailing and then put their knowledge into practice.

By the end of the day each child was able to demonstrate proper sail trim for the various points of sail, tacking, gybing, and leaving and returning to the dock in a controlled and safe manner.

What an incredible learning adventure for our 8th-graders! Thank you, Cory Floyd, for sharing your time and expertise with our students. This is an experience they will never forget.

"The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails." ~ William Arthur Ward

by Nicole Ayers and Marie Goodwin

“You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives.“ ~Clay P. Bedford

How do you create a curiosity that will kindle a lifelong love of learning? One method we have found to be highly effective in cultivating this sense of wonder is through a program called Science Olympiad. According to the Science Olympiad website, “Science Olympiad is one of the premier science competitions in the nation, providing rigorous, standards-based challenges to nearly 8,000 teams in all 50 states.”

Our students are deeply engaged in a collection of 23 events that span all branches of science and technology. There are build events that challenge the students’ engineering and design skills; there are lab events that require an onsite performance of science mastery, and there are study events that will often test middle school students at a high school or even college level. Grades 5 through 8 have opportunities to collaborate on these events, and they willingly spend several hours together after school each week preparing for competition. The kids often request to meet over holiday breaks to go deeper in their studies and enjoy fellowship together. We love watching our students find their passions for science and pursue their interests with great fervor.

“You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives.“ ~Clay P. Bedford

by Nicole Ayers, 7th & 8th Math and Science

Eighth grade students are investigating the periodic table, understanding trends among the elements and analyzing the subatomic particles within the various atoms. They have learned how to identify the number of valence electrons in an atom and how this tends to indicate the chemical reactivity of an element. We have been applying our knowledge in many ways, including laboratory experiments, creating the periodic table out of playing cards, and making orna-elements for our chemis-tree…a student-inspired project! Learning about the atoms of the periodic table really has us in our element.

Susie Rogers 5th-8th ELA teacher

October usually brings cooler weather, fall leaves, and football games. Sweaters and boots make their way out of the closets, while fires and hot chocolate are enjoyed. In my English classroom, October brings me the opportunity to share one of my most favorite authors, Edgar Allan Poe. Poe is known for his tales and poems of suspense and horror, and he was influential with such authors such as H.G. Wells, Alfred Hitchcock, and Jules Verne. His short stories and poetry still enthrall audiences today, and my 8th-grade students were no exception.

Students analyzed Edgar Allan Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart thoroughly by discovering the different types of irony, making predictions, decoding vocabulary, and evaluating the narrator’s point of view. However, the learning didn’t stop there. Students were then asked to complete a computer-based escape room called, “Escape by Morning.” Students were given 45 minutes to find and solve the clues to live another day. The 360 degrees of VR (virtual reality) allowed the students to move around and search every part of the room. Clicked icons led them to Poe’s biography, Youtube videos, an interactive puzzle, a cryptogram, morse code, and Google Earth. Students had to research, navigate, and decipher clues and submit the correct answers in order to escape.

This type of interactive learning went far beyond just comprehension of a short story and was enjoyed much more than just answering questions. The students were extremely engaged and challenged and acquired much higher knowledge than they even realized.

No students were harmed in their attempt of escaping Poe’s room. This was all virtual reality, but the analytical learning was 100% REAL.

by Nicole Ayers, Math & Science

Eighth-grade students used math, science, and technology to explore speed and acceleration. They conducted experiments with the DJI Robomaster S1 robots, changing speed and acceleration parameters and observing the qualitative and quantitative results with the help of the Video Physics app. They found that constant speed results in a linear function, which was to be expected based on the definition of speed: change in position with respect to time. Once they began incorporating acceleration, the position graph showed a quadratic relationship because the speed was changing with time, or position was changing per time squared. We will revisit this concept in Algebra later in the year when we study quadratic functions to further establish why this makes mathematical sense. Real-world math and science can certainly be interesting and memorable!

By Susie Rogers English Language Arts 5-8

The 8th grade students have been reading Legend by Mary Wu, and they have been so engaged. In this dystopian novel, the characters are forced to question authority and rely on unlikely friendships. Dystopia themes teach young adults to think critically and not to just follow directions. It's a story that's relevant to American audiences in that it deals with a future wherein the western United States is now known as totalitarian. This theme led to the exploration of the different types of governments throughout history and created thought-provoking analysis, which provided the springboard discussion topics of propaganda, moral dilemmas, and belief systems. This novel is an excellent example of showing the importance for young people to learn how to think properly and critically on their own with the idea that they are the future.

As the culmination of this novel study, students were assigned a novel project. Different tasks such as a TV commercial, a collage, an original song, newspaper, time capsule, diary entries, comic strip, etc. were assigned point values, and each student had to choose a combination of tasks that equaled 100 points. This gives the students the freedom of choice and lets them create projects where they can showcase their strengths. Finished projects will be posted at a later date.

by Nicole Ayers

The seventh and eighth graders competed in our first-ever (annual?) Ping Pong Parachute competition, cheered on by an audience of first through sixth grade students. As we slowly walked the launch pressure up from 20 psi in 5-lb increments, the rockets went higher and higher, while the ping pong balls fell more slowly each time. As the descent time increased, the crowd clapped and cheered for the feats of engineering demonstrated by the upperclassmen. It was a thrilling culmination to our engineering design challenge, and the eighth grade team ultimately had the highest time (without hitting the ceiling!), at 9.11 seconds. Congratulations to team “Taco (?) Not Yet Rocket Raccoon” and to all of the other competitors. Rocket science is fun!

by Nicole Ayers

Once again we have pushed the upper limit at St. James Day School to expand our program through eighth grade. The 8th grade class consists of three young men with an insatiable curiosity and passion for learning. The class may be small, but we have big things planned for this year! Some of our plans include taking several courses for high school credit, traveling to Washington, D.C., and expanding our Science Olympiad program, to name a few. The students will also complete capstone projects to leave a legacy for years to come.

To celebrate launching a new grade level and a new school year, our upperclassmen are involved in an engineering design challenge modeled after the Science Olympiad event “Ping Pong Parachute” (formerly, Indoor Bottle Rocket). Students must design and construct a 1-L bottle rocket, propelled only by compressed air, which will keep a ping pong ball aloft for the greatest amount of time. Through careful analysis, research, testing, and improvement cycles, our flight times are climbing from 1-3 second up to 8-10 seconds, and we have yet another week to keep pressing these limits upward. Our challenge will culminate with a mini-contest next Friday, where we hope to celebrate our accomplishments in rocket science and inspire the younger students to love science and engineering as much as we do!

“Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon.” ~Paul Brandt