E2K Science Newsletter Sept-February 2014- Mrs. Barbara Sehgal

 E2K students are presented with a weekly challenge based on a scientific principle.  Our 6^th graders  began the year learning how to sort matter that were solids.  They investigated how they could use the properties of solid matter to separate complex mixtures.  Ideas included, size, color, melting and freezing to accomplish this task.  In the next activity they needed to answer the burning question:  Is a Crayola Black marker really black?  Ask your E2K scientist how they accomplished this separation through chromatography.  The 6^th graders used their new techniques to become CSI detectives  and  solved  the case of the fraudulent bank check. 

  In the last challenge of this unit the students were faced with a lifesaving challenge.  The scene was set as a class picnic on an Island.  In the story one of the students was dehydrated and needed to drink something quickly.  Problem was that there was only one bottle of fruit punch left and the student was allergic to red food coloring.  Our E2Kers using their knowledge of how to separate different materials from each other, got to work and created filters out of the materials on the island.(Sand, charcoal from the BBQ, empty plastic water bottles and a first aid kit) They were so excited when they achieved their goal and saved their friend! Britta filters couldn’t have done it better!!

 In the next unit the students investigated friction and  air resistance while building a time pieces out of balloons and beads.  The challenge was to build a reliable 30 second time piece. They realized by decreasing the diameter of the opening of the balloon they could reliably control the flow of air.  They were then faced with another time challenge but this time they could only use a roll of masking tape!  The students rolled and built ramps that would last 30 seconds and then thought of pendulums!  Each team developed their own design.  The variations were amazing! 

The 7^th graders participated the 2014 Virtual International Science competition During the   competition the students were asked to create experiments and answer questions in a timed environment.  The students did an amazing job collaborating their data and sending their results to Israel via Skype.  Although they didn’t win the competition, they did win big in    cooperation and team work!                                                              

 7th grade also needed to make the perfect cup of tea for a cantankerous boss using the principles of thermodynamics!  In an extension of this students investigated exothermic and endothermic chemical reactions.  In one of the reactions the students were able to extract copper from copper chloride  through a single replacement reaction with aluminum.  The copper is now drying waiting to be used in a future experiment.  These inquiries also allow the students to see the importance of planning and precision when executing experiments.

 Other building challenges included how to build a mechanism to measure

weight.  Using Slinkys, pipe cleaners, skewers rulers, marbles and other assorted items, the     students had to think outside of their preconceived ideas of scales and balances   creating one of their own. Through trial and error the students “gravitated” towards a  solution!                            

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Morah Shira Greenspan presents at Limmud!

Morah Shira Greenspan was a featured presenter at this year's Limmud NY, an annual weekend of interdenominational Jewish learning. Other presenters included Rabbi Kenny Brander, Rabbi Shai Held, Blu Greenberg and Abe Foxman. Morah Shira participated as part of the Holocaust education Track thanks to a generous grant from Holocaust survivor Fanya Gottesfeld Heller. At Limmud, Morah Shira ran a number of sessions about responding to resistance in the Shoah through art and uncovering the light in such a dark time in our national story.

The seventh grade girls of Yeshivat Noam were instrumental in preparing Morah Shira and helping to fine tune the project. Morah Shira expresses her tremendous hakarat hatov to her inspiring students. 

7th Grade Girls' Shabbaton - #7 Spectacular!

A few weeks ago, the 7th grade girls ran their own shabbaton around the theme of the number 7.  Planning started a month before with the girls breaking into committees and planning each part of the shabbat experience.  The week before students on all committees worked hard to prepare.  Games were created, decorations bought and made, skits practiced, divrei torah and shiurim written and the food committee even went to the Hagler's house to cook Shabbos lunch for the Shabbaton.

The Shabbaton began with davening at Congregation Rinat and a shiur by Morah Shira Greenspan on the topic of the number 7 in Judaism.  When the girls walked into dinner they were greeted with place settings that had their names and wonderful thoughts about each of them that their classmates had written and Morah Shira compiled.  

The girls then had dinner, led Zmirot and gave Divrei Torah.  Students created Shabbatograms for their teachers that they left on the table for a shabbat surprise.  The Shabbatograms included lovely letters telling each teacher how and why they appreciate them.  The night ended with a skit they created and performed that chronicled their day at Yeshivat Noam in 7th grade.  Each staff member was laughing while being entertained by the girls' dramatization of each of them and their classes.  

Shabbat morning began with tefillah at Rinat.  Shabbat included more Divrei Torah, a Shiur, Zmirot, Oneg (generously hosted by the Winds), and games ALL created and led by the girls in 7th grade.

A highlight on shabbos was when the girls broke into three groups to have shabbos lunch with their teachers.  One group went to Mrs. Sheinfeld with Ms. Chanales,  another group to Mrs. Kurtz with Mrs. Solomon, and the last group went to Rabbi Hagler with Morah Shira Greenspan and Mrs. Troodler.  Each   group ate the delicious lunch prepared by the girls and enjoyed each other's company in a more intimate setting.  Mrs. Sheinfeld said it best and Mrs. Kurtz and Rabbi Hagler strongly seconded her sentiments:
" Last night was amazing, but lunch today blew it out of the water. The girls were so kind, caring, giving, and courteous. The sang, the talked, they did math problems (obviously) and parsha riddles. We had such a great time and I loved being able to sit at one big table with so many of them! Thank you for the opportunity and I can't wait to do it again! "

Shabbos ended with Mincha, a story (told by the girls), Maariv and Havdalah.  Right after Havdalah the girls made a presentation of a pancake maker to Rabbi Koslowe.  Rabbi Koslowe had made them pancakes when he was their Gemara teacher and they wanted him to know how much they appreciated him and would miss him next year. 

The shabbaton culminated Motzei Shabbat when the girls rejoined at school for a movie and icecream.

Kol hakavod to the girls in 7th grade and all their hard work.  They made the shabbaton the success it was!!!! 

8th Grade Social Studies - Rabbi Jeremy Hellman

For the last few weeks, the 8th graders have focused on World War I. They studied the causes, participants, and battles of the war. More recently, the students learned about the Paris Peace Conference where countries from around the world gathered to figure out a lasting peace. In class, we reenacted the conference to get a better understanding of the diplomatic discussions. They were split into four group representing four groups that attended the conference (United States, Britain, France, and a collection of smaller European nations (Poland, Lithuanian, Belgium, and Czechoslovakia). Each group presented their demands and tried to convince the other countries. Groups brought to the conference food, props, and clothing to fully represent their country.

Set Cubed - Ms. Aliza Chanales

This year, a group of 8th graders is participating in an engineering competition, run by the folks who bring you E2K.  The competition is called Set Cubed and our team of 6 students is working against schools from across the US in a year long design challenge.  The challenge is to create a model system that will deliver cargo from a town on one hill to a neighboring town across a valley.  In the valley, there is a third town that operates a small airport that needs to have open airspace for certain hours of the day.  The goal is to lift as much cargo as possible using the provided motors and any machines you can build within budget. 

In our first semester, students worked to gain the background understanding of force, work, energy, and mechanical advantage necessary to develop smart solutions to the challenge.  They have spent the bulk of their time conducting two experiments and analyzing the data they have collected.  The first experiment is to design a series of winches and to measure their efficiency as they lift an increasingly large load.  Students needed to apply their knowledge of gear ratios, torque, gravitational force, and design to build strong structures out of lego and tetrix that will maximize the lifting power of the provided motor.  They used an energy station to measure the energy going into the machine and to record the time each lift took.  They are now in the midst of thinking about the patterns of efficiency of each machine for different amounts of cargo.  The second experiment is to determine the maximum mass a train can pull up a hill as the slope is increased.  These students have been drawing force diagrams to analyze what forces are at play and in what directions.  They are accounting for friction, traction, and momentum as they predict when the train will not be able to lift even its own weight and what an ideal slope for any potential hill or ramp might be.  Both groups are discovering that what an ideal machine is depends on many factors and all students are beginning to incorporate each and every piece as they brainstorm potential solutions to the challenge. 

Students are engaging in high level physics.  I haven't had conversations such as these since I tutored freshmen physics in COLLEGE! They are learning to support the theoretical conversations with experimental data.  They are using drills and hardware to engineer strong machines, using spreadsheets to collect and graph data, and using sophisticated reasoning and persistence to troubleshoot any problems they encounter.  They are also learning to work together, to support their ideas with evidence, and to make scientific arguments with clarity and conviction.  We can't wait to start designing and building our solution to the problem presented! 

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Snow Day Activities and Learning Opportunities

Parshat Ha'Shavua

Instructions: Click on the link below to watch the video, then click on the 2nd link to answer the questions based on the video and click submit in order to receive extra credit on your next Chumash test. 

Tetzaveh: Where Is God In a Physical World? - AlephBeta

Rabbi Fohrman Shiur - Summary Form

6th Grade Gemara

Instructions: Click on the link below to watch the video, then click on the 2nd link to answer the questions based on the video and click submit in order to receive extra credit on your next 6th Grade Gemara test.

Brachot 28B - 2nd Mishna Video

Brachot 28B - 2nd Mishna - Summary Form

7th Grade English

Instructions: Click on the link below to open a Google Doc that has all of the instructions for creating your own comic strip to review Wordly Wise Unit 7.

Wordly Wise Unit 7 Project

Exploratory 2013-2014

What is an exploratory program and why should we have one?

An exploratory program can take on different forms in different schools.  It is sometimes called clubs, specials, electives, encore classes etc.  The philosophical idea behind an exploratory program is to give Middle School students an opportunity to explore new subjects and interests and give them a wider range of experience within an area of interest.  

What does the exploratory program look like at Yeshivat Noam?

The exploratory program at Yeshivat Noam takes place once a week on Wednesday during an extended lunch period.  The goal is for a child to spend the year in an area building up a level of mastery, accomplishment, and deeper knowledge.  Below are the different options for exploratory this year.  

8th Grade Girls Drama Production - Mrs. Barbra Solomon
The 8th grade girls are eagerly preparing for their play, "Annie," which will debut in May. The girls have been practicing at home in addition to their weekly rehearsals at school. This is the second year that the 8th Grade Girls at Yeshivat Noam will perform in a play. The girls are working hard on rehearsing lines, practicing songs, and choreographing scenes and dances.

Technology - Mr. Josh Bierman
The tech group has been doing an unstructured romp through the world of scratch and regex.
They have explored building their own video games using the scratch programming language, and learned how to do specific searches using regular expression to narrow results based on a wide variety of criteria.
Next month we will be starting new code academy lessons.

Black Box Drama - Mr. Matt Okin
The Drama Exploratory group of 6th, 7th, and 8th graders has embarked on the production of a one-act comedic play for kids by the famous contemporary American Jewish playwright David Mamet, all the while learning and practicing improvisation and collaborative theater techniques.  While the show  - in it's entirety - will have it's Yeshivat Noam premiere in late Spring, a special short preview from The Poet & The Rent is expected to debut in the coming few weeks!

Art- Mrs. Nikki Sausen
We are currently working on portrait art. The girls each chose a picture of a face from a magazine. They folded the picture in half and are working on completing the 'hidden side.' The results have been fabulous. The girls are learning about symmetry, measuring, shading and are becoming aware of both positive and negative space. We are looking forward to seeing completed works soon! 

Art- Mrs. Judi Dimbert
With so many girls/students interested in Exploratory Art, a second group was added. In this group, we've explored abstract art, color values, water color painting, and beading.  This new semester started a new topic- landscape painting. These finished pieces will be making their way home soon. 

Choir - Morah Shira Greenspan
Twice weekly, the Yeshivat Noam Middle School girl's choir meets to sing together and, most often, practice for upcoming performances. This talented group of girls works hard to increase their vocal ranges, sing appropriately, and be the bosses of any stage-fright that dare come their way. The choir's near monthly performances bring ruach and vivacity to the Yeshivat Noam atmosphere.

Debate - Rabbi Jeremy Hellman
The first half of debate has been a great success. The students worked on key debate skills including proper research, speech writing, and speech delivery. Topics so far have included the United States involvement in foreign conflicts, outsourcing to other countries, and wiretapping by the NSA. At the debate meets, we have been very successful at winning many individual rounds and our students have won awards as excellent speakers. 

Exploratory - slideshow

Bayit Rishon Museum- 6th Grade Social Studies - Ms. Aliza Peyser and Rabbi Jeremy Hellman

As the 6th grade students studied the ancient Assyrian and Babylonian Empires, they noticed that these empires extended into the Land of Israel.  Using the textbook and a Tanach, the students learned Jewish History from a new angle as they studied the experiences of the Jewish people under the rule of the Assyrians and the Babylonians.  It was a terrible time in Jewish history.  The Assyrians destroyed the Kingdom of Israel and formed an unsuccessful siege around Jerusalem, and the Babylonians destroyed the Beit Hamikdash and the Kingdom of Judah.  In order to experience how artifacts help us understand history, each student studied one of five artifacts from this time period: the Lachish Relief, Chizkiyahu's Tunnels, Sennacherib's Annals, the House of Ahiel, and clay bullae.  The students researched the artifacts using historical articles as well as pesukim in Tanach.  Once the research was complete, each student wrote a small informative piece which will appear next to the artifact in our "Bayit Rishon Museum."  The students are currently busy creating their artifacts.  The artifacts are absolutely stunning already.

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