Thursday, October 30, 2014

Montpelier District Heat Plant

In team Sirius we took an adventure to the Montpelier district heat plant. When we were there our tour guide and Mr. Rosenburg taught us a lot about how different buildings and streets run heat to lots of important buildings in Montpelier. To heat they burn wood pellets and oil, and they create steam to help warm up buildings like U.E.S and the state house. That is what we did at the Montpelier district heat plant.
http://www.districtenergy.org/blog/2014/03/12/montpelier%E2%80%99s-pipe-dream-is-nearing-reality/

The 3rd floor compost

      Mr Griffith has started the 3rd floor composting, by giving out small compost buckets. Each day a pair of his TA students collect all the compost buckets and bring these down to compost bins. Mr Griffith wanted to do this because he thought that Team Summit had enough on their hands to help make a greener school. So far it seems successful by keeping out food out of the landfill and reducing trash waste in the school.



This week we are starting a project in science to help us learn about magnetism. For this project we will have to create two games that incorporate magnetism. The first game we have to create, in our design teams of two, is magnet fishing. We will have to figure out what number of batteries, coils on a nail, and other factors can be used to create the best electromagnet. The second game we will be creating is magnet hockey. Magnet hockey is similar to air hockey, but smaller and uses magnets to get a marble into a goal. We will be printing out plastic playing pieces on the 3-D printer, and then we will test the pieces to figure out which is the most effective.

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Penny Wars Assembly

HFrom the money raised for apple picking team SIRIUS got to go apple picking a Burtt's apple orchard. One method we used was a penny war. Many teachers participated, one dollar made a teacher wear mismatch clothing five dollars made a teacher wear a student decorated lab coat ten dollars got you a pie in the face, and 20 dollars got you all. This fundraiser raised a total of $50.57. Mr. Rosenberg is wearing mismatched clothes. Mrs. Zurouski and Mrs. Giroux are wearing lab coats and Ronda, Ms.Helpine, and Mr Baginski are getting a pie in the face.



Police Cruiser

The Eighth grade algebra class took another outing to have more hands on experience with scale. This time we used stop watches to measure the speed of cars going up main street on, Wednesday the 15th of October. Two days later on the 17th, two Montpelier police officers came and let us use their laser and radar guns to record speed of cars going up and down main street. We wanted to see what method of recording speed was most accurate. This was a fun and enriching activity.
Luke plays cop with a laser gun

Thursday, October 16, 2014

American Spirit Logo Project

In language arts we are creating logos featuring different aspects of the American spirit through reading texts like Emma Lazarus's poem on the Statue of Liberty, The Declaration of Independence, and Poor Richard's Almanac. After we finish the logos we add adjectives to our flag. Adjectives like hardworking and freedom that explain the American spirit. SIRIUS students are creating these for a deeper understanding of American spirit and a fun way to do it. When these logos and adjectives are finished they will be hanging in the LA room on the divider wall.





Daniel Webster: The Historical Figure

In honor of patriotism and other things related to the like, we are learning about a man named Daniel Webster. Daniel Webster is a historical figure mostly known for his occupation as a statesman.

Some other things we have learned/researched about Daniel Webster are the following:

+He was born on January 7th, 1782 (in Salisbury, New Hampshire) and died on October 23rd, 1852 (in  Marshfield, Massachusetts.)


+Was appointed the United States Secretary of States by/under three presidents.

+Served in the House of Representatives for 10 years (representing New Hampshire) and was in the Senate for 19 years (representing Massachusetts.


We have also recently started doing some work on a short story that has him in it called "The Devil and Daniel Webster." 

Time for Conferences!

Conferences are coming up! They are on Thursday 23rd starting at 12:30 and ending at 3:05 PM. They are also on Friday 24th starting at 7:30 AM and ending at 3:00 PM. Students remind your families! You will have your conference with  one core-subject teacher and a specials teacher. Call early if you want the time and teacher of your choice. First come first serve. If you are not available during these time periods you can contact a core teacher and schedule an alternative time. Remember kids must come to their conference. All the information and sign ups are on the MSMS website at http://www.ptcfast.com/schools/Main_Street_Middle_School.             

       

Rise and Run

On the ninth of October the eighth grade algebra class took a little outing to do some hands on work. The students measured the length and the height of five steps off of stairwells all around the building. This exercise was looked at whether or not the stairs followed the most recent carpenter safety laws. Although the stairs didn't follow the most recent laws, 101 years ago they probably were up to date. The educational purpose was to take hold of a concrete understanding of scale. This was a fun accommodating activity.

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Food bank speakers

Two people from the Vermont food bank visited team Sirius recently. Alison Levin,who came on Monday, September 22, talked about gleaning.  Gleaning is going out and harvesting the extra produce that farmers cannot sell.  She told us that even though they cannot sell it does not mean that it is not okay to eat.  She explained how many people volunteered to glean and donate to the food bank. You may not believe it but a lot of food can be donated to the food bank because there is usually plenty of extra food in the fields.  Maybe sometime team Sirius could help glean for the food bank.  Joe Dauscher, who came on Monday, September, 29, represented the multiple food banks of VT. He told us that about 153,000 get food from the food bank per year.  That is a lot of people the food bank is helping, plus all of the food is free even pet food.  The food bank also has a food deliver system too, for people that cannot travel to pick up the food themselves.  Also Joe talked about how grocery stores and farmers markets have systems that connect to the food bank that have discounts for people.

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Marble Roller Coasters in Science

 In science class, we are making marble roller coasters. This is because we are trying to answer a question, do larger marbles take longer thrill rides? We are testing this question by rolling different size marbles down our tracks and timing them. We started building these roller coasters last week and we are going to finish this project by Friday. During this unit we are also learning about how friction affects the marble and to how to support the foam we are using as the tracks. Most people thought that this was a fun activity.
   

A TA Lends a Hand

         On September 25th,  Ms. Zurowski's TA went to Bear Pond Books to add to their collection of non-perishable items for the food bank. They brought in about 35 items all together, and helped raise hunger awareness within the school. They did this not only to help the community, but also to celebrate Hunger Awareness Month.



Robin Hood Play

After we picked apples on Thursday we went to a Robin Hood play put on by the Stowe Preforming Arts Center. The play was unique because only two people played all the roles. The props consisted of cardboard boxes, chips, plywood, and a shopping cart. So it wasn't typical production of Robin Hood.
The Adventures of Robin Hood
http://www.flynncenter.org/education/student-matinees/details.html?perf_no=10988&prefix=SSD15A1

Road trip brochures

For several weeks the Team Sirius students have been working in groups of four and five on road trip brochures for both Language Arts and Social Studies. In Social Studies each person has chosen a state and an outdoor location in that state to write about in their brochure, with pictures from online sources such as Wikipedia and Wikimedia. In Language Arts each person selected an author from their state to write about as well. Now, on October eighth, the groups have finally presented their final drafts of their brochures in Language Arts.

Team Sirius Apple Picking


         Team Sirius went on a field trip to Burtt's Apple Orchard Thursday the second. We contributed to the Pick for your Neighbor fundraiser. Team Sirius raised money by selling popcorn, collecting donations through a request letter, and collecting money for a teacher challenge in the library. We raised exactly $420.00 with all of our fundraisers combined. Team Sirius picked 408 pounds of apples, and Burtt's gave us another 12 pounds to round it out at 420 pounds. They then doubled the amount of apples, giving us 840 pounds of apples to give to the Foodbank.


Popcorn Fund Raiser


         On Thursday, September 25 and Wednesday, October 1, team Sirius sold popcorn. We raised about about $115 from just the popcorn. The popcorn sellers went through twelve batches of popcorn and sold them all but about three. Two blue poker chips were hidden in two bags of popcorn. The two lucky finders, Mrs. Thompson and Mary-Ann both received two free bags of popcorn in return. Many people helped contribute to the popcorn fund raiser.