AMS STEM​
February Newsletter
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February 2016 Calendar Thurs. March 3​
Field trip to MAPS Air Museum Mon. March 14 ​
Book Fair begins Wed. March 16 ​
Jr. STEM meeting Fri. March 19 ​
End of 3rd nine weeks March 21­25 ​
Spring Break Sat. April 23​
Cleveland Derby Race Sat. May 14​
Akron Derby Race Students will be visiting the air museum in Canton and experiencing the history of flight. It is STEM’s favorite field trip! Click here for info. He’s back! Mr. Terrigno has returned for the third year in a row assisting students through the Soap Box Derby car building process. We could not do it without him! Hello, STEM is in full swing as spring is just around the corner. Students are building the Soap Box Derby cars, documenting their progress on our website, and creating infomercials showcasing their experiences. Thank you to all that made donations to ensure the Soap Box Derby continues it’s tradition at Austintown Middle School. More information will be in next month’s newsletter with details for the April 23rd and May 14th races. In addition, spring brings state AIR testing for the students with both 7th and 8th grades students testing in Math and Language Arts and 8th grade in Science only. More information will be in the March Newsletter. State testing will take place in April with both grades testing in Math and Language Arts and 8th grade only testing in Science. Parents can​
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click here to check out more information and see practice tests. Parents can check out Schoology on any device to access content and assignments. Ask your child for login information if you have not already. The Speed Demons, one of six Soap Box Derby teams, are pictured (from top left), Daniel, Colin, Jacob, Cameron, (from bottom left) Sydney, Logan, Cally, and Ryan. You can check out Soap Box Derby progress on our website, ​
amsstem.com​
. We are out of tissues in our classrooms. Please consider bringing a box to class. Thank you! Team “X”plosion are pictured (from top left) Randy, Logan, Candice, Julia, and (from bottom left), Joey, Emma, Gabby, and Mia. Colin did not let a little snow stop him from enjoying the Snow Day on Feb. 16th. Many students shared pictures of their cold creations on Schoology. Love was in the air in STEM as students Tyler and Kyle got 3D printed roses hot off the press. They passed them out to students in celebration of Valentine’s Day. Team Blue Thunder is pictured (from top left), Kylie, Lillian, Ryan, Colin, and (from bottom left) Connor, Zane, and Isabella. 7th Grade ★ Students are concluding the math unit coined “Moving Straight Ahead” which focuses on proportional relationships and linear equations. Many real world scenarios, such as school fundraisers and the steepness of the school stairs were used to model these scenarios. ★ We are beginning the next math unit, “What to Expect” which gives students the opportunity to conduct experiments involving flipping coins, rolling dice, and spinning spinners to determine the experimental probabilities of various scenarios. They then compare their results to the theoretical probabilities to expand their knowledge. ★ Students are creating atoms and molecules using various simulation websites. The focus is on greenhouse gas molecules and the impact they have on our environment. This learning will be used to support student’s rationale and decisions during our Model UN which will take place next month. ★ 7th graders just finished up learning about Rome and took the final last week. We are now beginning to explore Ancient China. ★ In Language Arts, we are still putting out different types persuasive writing pieces and are about halfway through our current novel, ​
The Dead and the Gone. Destiny poses with her snowman on our Snow Day. Looking good girl but you cannot get extra credit. Alexis and Mr. Terrigno align the axles of their derby car to ensure they are exactly parallel. Daniel Boone, Mia, and Julia assist. Logan and Ryan measure the vertical and horizontal distances of the stairs. They used this to determine the slope of the stairs. Connor, Zane, and Mr. Terrigno align the axles of their car also. Students are researching the causes and effects of climate change. This will be the focus of our Model UN meeting which will take place next month and involve both 7th and 8th grade students. Logan creates an atom of helium using a simulation. Students created various atoms and manipulated the electrons to change the charge and neutrons to change the stability. You can try it for yourself ​
here​
. 8th Grade Want to perform safe science experiments at home? ​
Click here to check out PhET, an interactive simulations website, made to engage students and encourage scientific enquiry. ★ Students are learning about wood frame construction in preparation for building a house using scaled dimensional lumber in class. ★ They will finish up the unit within the next week or so and begin on the final project. We have started creating floor plans on the computer using architectural software. All of these skills will be utilized in the final project where the students will be given a budget to buy a plot of land, design, budget, and build a house creating detailed paper and digital floor plans of each level. ★ Students concluded the unit on Heredity and the findings of Charles Darwin. They created presentations of an organism of their choice and guided the class through a historical journey through time documenting the changes in their organism due to natural selection. ★ In Math, students are continuing to solve increasingly harder equations, in the unit “Say It With Symbols”. Students are learning many skills such as the distributive property to solve these equations to prepare them for Algebra next year. Colin and Connor measure the vertical and horizontal distances of the stairs. They will use these measurements to determine the slope. Students are learning about the layers and structural components of building a house. They will use this knowledge to design their dream home. Jeremy 3D printed the X­Wing fighter from Star Wars. He was able to cut out and sand off the extra support material and glue the pieces together. He is now ready to fly! Jeremy and Caleb use an architectural scale ruler to construct working blueprints of Mr.F’s classroom in the Green Architecture unit. Students got some good laughs creating static electricity with John Travolta, a rug, and a metal door knob. Click the link below to build up and transfer some negative ions yourself. John “Travoltage” Static Electricity Simulation Students channelled their inner Henry Ford while mass printing roses with the 3D printer for Valentine’s Day. Guidance counselors organized a building­wide Random Acts of Kindness week. Students and teachers nominated each other for displaying random acts of kindness. Mrs. Chine nominated Zachary and they both won a gift card for Aardvarks. STEM alumni, Walter, Tyler, and Justin pose in a helicopter from Vietnam from their visit to MAPS two years ago. A newspaper clipping from the 1920s documenting a flight of the Martin glider that students saw at MAPS. The Martin glider at MAPS. Mr. F poses with a restored 1940’s Polish­built Mig, a Russian WWII fighter at MAPS. Russian fighter pilots of the Mig did not have a fuel gauge! You can contact us at: Danielle Chine [email protected] 330.797.3900 ext. 2230 Jason Freudenberg [email protected] 330.797.3900 ext. 2204 Austintown Middle School 800 S. Raccoon Rd. Austintown, OH 44515 330.797.3900