This week we are studying minerals. We will be reading Chapter 2 Section 2, pages 56-60 and doing a study guide on Monday (study guide is due on Tuesday).
Tuesday will also be the beginning of our Mineral Identification Lab. We will be identifying 30-40 minerals using Dichotomous Keys to do it. Students will be required to have an understanding of the use of the Dichotomous Key for the Lab exam next week.

If you are not here, you need to come in before school, during STARS, or stay after school. Set up a time and I will be there to help you.

With summer upon us, it is important that we are out and about, learning about the world in which we live. I just returned from our first-ever Summer Ed-Venture trip to Yellowstone with Star Valley Middle School. We had a great experience with 16 incoming 8th graders, Mr. Joe Hale, Mr. Cazier, and myself. We spent 3 days and 2 nights in the park, got rained on, saw 8 bears as a group (sows, cubs, boars, grizzleys, and black bears), too many buffalo to count, a brief glimpse of a moose, deer, antelope, elk, and big horn sheep. We also hiked up to the Fossil Forest above the Lamar River which was a new experience for me. I have never seen actual petrified trees! On a couple of them, you could actuall see the root system intact and we found were some of the roots came down through the rock.

I need to figure out how to download pictures here and get some on here, but it was a great opportunity for us as educators and for the young men that went with us. I will try to get pictures on here in the next few days and see how that goes. Hope your summer is going well and that you are learning something new each day.

We are studying mechanical weathering this week. The form of weathering we are focusing on this week and next is Glacial Geology. This is the study of how glaciers interact with the Earth, changing the face and interior of the Earth.

Monday–Notes on Glacial Geology–Vocab. and terminology

Tuesday–Stream Table Mountain Ranges–the students will get into groups and build glaciated mountain ranges out of sand in the stream tables. 

Wednesday–Stream Table Mountain Ranges–Groups will be graded on mountain ranges–if they understand what the different glacial features look like. They will be allowed to use notes, book, and partners.

Thursday–Finish Valley Glaciers and Notes on Continental Glaciers

Friday–Finish notes on Continental Glaciers

This week, we are wrapping up the beginning of our unit on River Systems. Today, we will finish the Field Trip Study Guide from last Wednesday. If you missed the field trip, you need to get the alternative assignment from me. After finishing your group assignment, we will hand back some papers. We will then take notes on River Systems.

Tuesday, Oct 22–Finish notes on River Systems

Wednesday, Oct 23–Review for River Systems Exam 1

Thursday, Oct 24–Review for River Systems Exam 1

Friday, Oct 25–River Systems Exam 1

All work assigned before the exam is due before the exam is taken. I will not accept make-up work after the exam unless you have made prior arrangements with me.
If you have questions, email me or call and leave me a message at home or at school and I will get back to you.

thanks,

Mr. Isaacson

We are discussing stream classification in class today. We are using the Rosgen’s Stream Classification guide for preparation for our field trip next Monday, October 13. 

Today we are working with GPS units. We are reading the operation manuals and getting the feel of using the GPS units. The purpose of this assignment is to get the students acquainted with the GPS system and have them prepared for future field trips to be able to use the GPS units to find data points and mark where information is taken. This is a common practice for scientists in all fields of science, a point of reference is required so that any other person could plug that plot into their GPS and find that location themselves.

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