*Cell Basics*

Cells can be found in ALL LIVING THINGS! They are apart of you and I and can be found in both plants and animals. An animal cell could be anything from a tiny, one-celled microorganism like an amoeba to a nerve cell from your brain. Plant cells are cells found in any plant that uses photosynthesis to make its own food.
Now that we have wrapped up our unit on water systems we will be exploring the cell as the basic unit of life (including the study of the human organ system) and focus on the structure and function of cells! Does it get anymore exciting then this?! Monday's class we will dive right into the unit by examining small cell samples using a microscope in order to compare the basic structure of a plant and animal cell to see just how similar or different they are! In the mean time I want each of you to develop a familiarity with the subject by exploring the links I have provided and answer these three questions! -- I look forward to hearing about your new knowledge next class!

(1) Cells are grouped together in the body to form tissues. What are the 4 primary tissue types?

(2) Observe and describe three differences in the structure of a plant and animal cell?

(3) What are specialized cells, and what are their purpose?

Plant and Animal Cells:
http//web.jjay.cuny.edu/~acarpi/NSC/13-cells.htm

Cell Puzzles!
http//www.cellsalive.com/puzzles/index.htm

Interactive Pictures of Plant and Animal Cells:

http//www.cellsalive.com/cells/cell_model.htm

What are Cells?

http//www.skoool.co.za/studynotes/science/id208.htm

Grade 8: Life Systems, Cells Tissues, Organs and Systems. Describe using their observations differences in structure between plant and animal cells. (p.29)

Image taken from: http://www.cellsalive.com/puzzles/index.htm

The Growth of Our Diversity Tree!

Burkvale is proud to celebrate diversity this term. Students will be exploring ways in which Canadians demonstrate acceptance and respect for one another through a variety of activities created for our Diversity Tree display located in the junior stairwell. Our daily morning announcements provide a personal reflection for the day and encourgae students to take part in creating an environment of inclusion for their fellow peers. I am very proud of my class for their active participation and enthusiasm in our school initiative and for their part in the creaton of our diversity skip for the upcoming recognition assembly February 1st. Parents I encourage you to stop by and take a look!

Yes, You CAN Have Fun Working With Words!

As promised I have posted the working with words game site to stimulate your minds! I personally enjoyed Bookworm, Spellvin and the Word Challenger from the first link. If someone wants to challenge me in Bookworm I would be happy to compete against all of you with my current score of 9835! It is a great game that has you creating as many words as you can out of the blocks that connect to one another under a time constraint. They are very easy games to play and a great way to apply and build your volcabulary.

Word Games:
http//www.gamesgames.com/cat513_1.html?gclid=CI-cibX1jJECFQQjPAodUBotGg

Formulating Words using Roots
http//www.funbrain.com/cgi-bin/root.cgi?A1=s&A2=4&A3=1&INSTRUCTS=1


Matching Words with their Meaning
http//www.lapasserelle.com/lm/pagespeciales/flash/jigsaw/wrdmean/wordmean2.htm

Image take from: http://www.gamesgames.com/

Grade 8 Language: (3.3) Vocabulary, word spelling and meaning using a wide variety of resources appropriare for the purpose.

* Let's Get Excited About Geometry! *

***Reminder: Geometry Unit Test Friday, January 18th***

The review booklet I handed out in class today in great starting point for your review, however I have posted a number of helpful links that I hope each of you will take advantage of and explore for your unit test preparation. The first is a geometry website that provides a solid review for prisms, polyhedrons, pyramids, vertices, surface area and volume and include interactive activities and an online quiz to assess your knowledge. Please take advantage of these sites to help reinforce the material we have covered in class.

Feel free to message me for any questions or clarifications you might have!

GOOD LUCK! :o)

Interactive Geometry Activity/Online Test:

http//www.learner.org/interactives/geometry/index.html

Geometry Online Quiz

http//www.gomath.com/members/test/tutorial/section17/p1.html#a

Triangles

http//geometryexpressions.com/atlas/category.php?id=2

Quadrilaterals

http//geometryexpressions.com/atlas/category.php?id=3

Image Taken from- http://learner.org/interactives/geometry/index.html

Grade 8: Geometry and Spatial Sense. Deomstrate an understanding of the geometric properties of quadrilaterals and cirlces, and applications of geometric properties in the real world. P.114

A Changing Society- Extraordinary Women

“Never was a country better adapted to produce a great race of women than this Canada of ours, nor a race of women better adapted to make a great country.” (Emily Murphy)

Welcome Back grade 8's, I hope you had a relaxing long weekend! As you know our studies of Canada at the turn of the 1900s has taken us from the economical climate of the period between 1895 and the First World War in 1914, to how individual women began to challenged their conventional 'roles' in society. [Conventional - following accepted and traditional behaviours]

Tuesday's class we will begin to look specifically at a few women who challenged their roles as wives and mothers, and sought education and careers that were only occupied by men. I encourage you to view the following links before our next period to familiarize yourself with these extraordinary women.

I am going to start next class with an oral quiz, asking for information found on these four pages. Make sure you are prepared, as there will be prizes distributed to correct answers!

Historica Minutes (Video Clips)

http://www.histori.ca/minutes/minute.do?id=10643

Nellie McClung

http//www.abheritage.ca/famous5/achievements/nellie_mcclung.html

Pauline Johnson

http//www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/canvers/t16-201-e.html

History: Grade 8- Canada: A Changing Society

* Describe how specific individuals and events helped change the position of women and children in Canada (I.e. Nellie McClung, Emily Car, Pauline Johnson)

Image- http://www.abheritage.ca/famous5/achievements/nellie_mcclung.html

Poster Presentations- Helpful Link

http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/maps/peopleandsociety

As each of you are getting underway with your preliminary research for your poster presentations, I wanted to direct you towards a website created by the Ministry of Natural Resources. This site provides a great "jumping off point" to commence your research as it provides many factual descriptions of the population and development of Canada. Topics include education, quality of life, population distribution and levels of development. Please make sure you follow the prompts on the assignment sheet and touch upon the subtopics listed for complete marks. I will be checking your groups rough work/preliminary research Monday January 14th during 5th period; please include a list of the resources each of you have used including all websites! Good Luck!

* Sneak Peak Into The Space of 8J! *

Parents I would like to welcome you into our classroom! This year has gotten off to a great start for 8J and I encourage you to routinely browse our page to be up-to-date with the exciting topics your child will be learning about. Each month I will be sending home a "Peek at the Month" which will outline any upcoming school events, field trips, the scheduled monthly recognition assembly, and the curriculum topics we will be exploring in Language, Math, Art, History and Geography.

A valuable resource is the online Wikipedia! It is a great starting point for research and obtaining basic knowledge! I hope each of you will become familiar searching on this site to be of benefit to you throughout the year. (It's also a great way to brush up on your paraphrasing skills!) http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page