PIMPLES ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH
Pressure builds, the cap may explode, red stuff flows… I’m talking about a volcano. 8th grade will never forget how one works, and now, neither will you. You are probably familiar with dramatic explosive eruptions, but they are actually quite rare. For instance, magma is constantly welling up at the bottom of the ocean, creating new land. There are several different types of volcanoes, and even different types of lava and the formations they make. Did you know that a single eruption can affect the entire globe? The gas, ash, and dust resulting from the 1991 eruption of Mt. Pinatubo affected the global climate!
Miss Kleinschuster
GETTIN’ ON YOUR NERVES
Without our nervous system, we wouldn’t be able to sense or react to anything. We wouldn’t even be able to breathe! Seventh grade is learning that the brain, our control center, is responsible for both voluntary and involuntary functions, and stores an incredible amount of information. There are different types of nerves, as well; the nerves in your skin are not the same as the nerves in your eye, and neither do the same job as those which carry messages to and from the rest of our body, through the spinal cord. Did you know that your brain notices and processes thousands of pieces of information at once? Up to – even more than – 40,000! How’s that for multi-tasking?
Miss Kleinschuster
FASTER THAN A SPEEDING BULLET
But what is speed? It’s not just how fast you go, it’s how fast you go over a certain amount of time. As the academic year speeds toward its end, sixth grade is beginning their unit on physics. Maybe this news letter should go under the math heading!
Did you know that going too fast can affecting your heart and breathing rate? That’s why racecar drivers are more physically fit than you might expect. They might be sitting, but the effects of driving hundreds of miles an hour (depending on the type of car) have a great physical impact. (Let alone if the car crashes; now THAT’S a great physical impact.)
Miss Kleinschuster
SHAKE, RATTLE & ROLL
Remember when we talked about tectonic plates? Well, when they interact and stress builds up in rock, eventually it will snap and trigger seismic activity. Now, we as New Yorkers are used to low-level magnitude: all we have to do is feel a subway rumble beneath our feet. But in other places, that’s cause for panic. Eighth grade is learning how scientists pinpoint the focus and epicenter of an earthquake and will become familiar with some ways to strength buildings and remain safe during an earthquake.
Miss Kleinschuster
IN & OUT
Everyone loves to sit down to a good meal. Did you know that your digestive system doesn’t help you eat? It helps you digest! (It’s not called the eating system, after all.) Seventh grade discovered some gastrointestinal knowledge in this chapter: both mechanical and chemical digestion are required to churn all that stuff you ate into a soupy mixture so that the nutrients can be absorbed into your blood. The blood also carries liquid waste that needs to be filtered. If the kidneys didn’t exist, your blood would be toxic! If you couldn’t sweat, how would you effectively cool down? Think about it!
Miss Kleinschuster
GIVE PEAS A CHANCE
As spring rolled around, sixth grade learned how the Father of Modern Genetics, Gregor Mendel, a 19th Century German monk, studied pea plants to learn about laws of heredity. His observations led to the discovery of dominant and recessive traits – traits which help us determine where the color of our eyes or hair, our blood types, and even certain inherited diseases come from.
Miss Kleinschuster
TALKIN’ DIRT
We are charged to be stewards of the Earth, and 8th grade is learning about the importance of soil. Soil isn’t like any other dirt. Soil can actually support vegetation. Since it can also be moved around or depleted, it’s important to maintain it. It takes a long time to form, after all. Students learned about different types of weathering (the breakdown of rock) and some methods of how to slow down erosion.
Miss Kleinschuster
FEARFULLY & WONDERFULLY MADE
Bones ‘dem bones ‘dem dry bones…
Actually, they are responsible for the production of some blood cells, so they’re pretty wet while you’re still alive! Students studied how the body is put together and how the organ systems function. No system stands alone. For instance, your muscular system would be useless without bones. You would be a blob of jelly. A very muscular blob, but a blob nonetheless. And those muscles would not function without oxygen obtained from the respiratory system and transported through the cardiovascular system.
Miss Kleinschuster
IT TAKES TWO… DOESN’T IT?
All species are driven to create more of their own kind… but there’s no such thing as Mommy & Daddy Amoeba. Students learned how different organisms reproduce. Single-celled organisms can divide into two, some simple animals can grow from a bump on the single parent’s body, and many plants can create clones of themselves. Contrast this asexual reproduction with sexual reproduction: it takes a lot less time, but there is no genetic variation. Mixing genes up makes things a lot more interesting – otherwise we would all be absolutely identical to Adam – and there wouldn’t even be an Eve!
Miss Kleinschuster
WE’RE GONNA CRASH!
Slabs of the Earth’s crust are always moving. Sloooowly, but moving, nonetheless. Eighth grade, having learned that there are several layers of the Earth, are also learning that the crust, or lithosphere, is floating on molten rock (magma). The continents are like boxes on a supermarket’s conveyor belt, carried along. Some of these conveyor belts will lead to collisions; others will separate. Others may travel alongside each other in different directions. When this happens with rock, mountains or new land can form. So can natural disasters.
Miss Kleinschuster