Hendricks High School Happenings
January 30-February 10, 2017
English
11/12 graders are researching examples of civil disobedience from history or current events. Their research will be used for an academic research paper on the topic.
9/10 graders are writing their first academic research paper. They will be choosing their own topics for an argumentative research paper that will be thesis based and academically sourced.
7/10 graders are working on two writing assignments. The first is to writing a biography about a local Hendricks resident that they had the opportunity to interview. Secondly, they are working on a thesis based informative paper about the stages of grief seen in A Bridge to Terabithia.
Mythology is currently studying Native American myths.
8th grade video production has been creating school oriented videos for younger students and the school channel. These range from a valentine’s day short, the need to cover your face when sneezing, and many other exciting projects.
Social Studies
It’s been a very busy month in social studies. In MN Studies, we just wrapped up MN’s involvement in the American Civil War. To further our understanding of MNs contributions, we created a timeline tracing the steps of the 1st MN Infantry Regiment. In Economics, the 11th and 12th graders studied the laws of supply and demand, and used our understanding to analyze real world applications. In Global Studies, students created awesome board games based on the history of modern Europe. The 7th and 8th graders are now planning their 14-day dream vacation to Europe. In Human Geography, the 9th and 10th graders studied the history and governance of the European Union. Lastly the 5th graders created fun posters on the New England Colonies, and will now move on to the Southern Colonies.
Mr. Thoresen
Science
Ms. Flanders and I helped our 5th graders to research renewable and nonrenewable energy sources, and then use that information to develop an energy plan for a simulated community called Grizzlytown. Students then had to defend their plan with a written paper.
The 6th graders completed Hendricks' very first Metric Olympics. After learning about how to measure, express, and convert numbers using the metric system, each student participated in 7 events that tested their metric skills, including the Cotton Ball ShotPut and the Left Handed Sponge Squeeze. They all took the podium carrying an actual Olympic torch (yes, it's an actual Olympic torch!) Good job to all our student-athletes.
7th and 8th grade learned about common Minnesota rocks and minerals and created a skit about the rock cycle, which they have forbidden me to put in the newsletter. They are now moving into a unit about tectonic plates and the natural disasters that plates cause at Earth's surface.
"Gravity" is the word of the day in physical science. 9th and 10th grade designed an investigation to answer the question: Do heavier objects fall faster? Mixed results occurred, which led to a lively discussion of "why?" Our two ideas so far: air resistance and experimental error. View a sample of the posters they created about their investigations in the picture section below.
Our chemists read and discussed a case study in which the effects of a doctor's attitude on a patient's perception of wellbeing was researched. Ask one of our 11th/12th graders what the results of this study were. (Seriously! Ask them!) Since then, they have been investigating the properties of ionic and covalent compounds, and they will be writing formal lab reports explaining their results.