NMS 7th Grade
News
April Students of the Month
This year, Nelson Middle School teachers began selecting Students of the Month in an effort to recognized students who have excelled in the following areas: Pride, Academic Excellence, and Preparedness.
This month's 7th graders who have earned this honor are:
- Graceann L.--Pride
- Noah W.--Academic Excellence
- Destiny T.--Preparedness
Congratulations!
Career Expo
The 7th grade students at Nelson Middle took a field trip to a Career Expo at the John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville. The students were put into groups and got to walk around and experiment with different jobs. Some of the jobs included nursing, veterinarians, police, and more. You had a worksheet that you had to fill out about the different jobs. The kids could try and find a career that they could see themselves doing later in life. After the career expo, we went to CiCi’s pizza and had lunch with our friends. We then came back and got to have free time outside.
--by Taylor W. and Zoe F.
Awesome Algebra
In Mrs. Price’s Algebra class, we are currently learning in Chapter 9. We are working on solving and graphing quadratic functions and equations. An example of solving a quadratic equation would be x^2 + 4x = 21. The answer would be x= -7 and x = 3. The goal is to solve the equation so it equals 0.
We recently went over equations and how to factor them correctly, like using the F.O.I.L. method or the ABC method. As we go along with this, we are reviewing for the SOL. Most days in class, we have a warm-up that reviews the skill we learned from the previous day or sometimes from a while ago. The Algebra SOL test is May 19th. Mrs. Price is doing the best she can to have us do our best. All of us are continuing to do our best also. Mrs. Price is preparing review packets for our class.
--Izzy M. & Graceann L.
Perfect Pre-Algebra
For the last few weeks in Pre-Algebra, we have learned about 3-D models, angle relationships, the Pythagorean theorem, and transformations. When we work on 3-D models, we have to find either the 3-D or 2-D picture that matches. We get to look at a top view, side view, and front view.
When we did angle relationships we looked at vertical, supplementary, complementary, and adjacent angles. When we learned the Pythagorean theorem we had to know the legs and what the hypotenuse is. We only worked with right triangles. We learned that the hypotenuse is always across from the right angle. Using the Pythagorean theorem, we had to find out the missing number or side.
We are also learning about transformations. The transformations are translation (“slide”), reflection (“flip”), rotation (“turn”), and dilation (“enlargement” or “reduction”). In translation, you slide the shape or object. In reflection, you flip the shape or object. In rotation, you turn the object. In dilation, you make the shape or object bigger or smaller.
--by Max D., Tyler W., and Julian W.
Science
In Miss Dort’s class we have been talking about waves. There are several types of waves. We have talked about longitudinal waves and transverse waves. “Longitudinal waves are waves in which the displacement of the medium is in the same direction as, or the opposite direction to, the direction of travel of the wave.” “A transverse wave is a wave vibrating at right angles to the direction of its propagation.” Propagation means the spreading out of something. The crest is the highest point on a wave. The trough is the lowest point on a wave. We also learned about the Electromagnetic Spectrum scale. On the EMS scale from longest to shortest wavelengths are radio waves, microwaves, infrared rays, visible light, ultraviolet, X-rays, and gamma rays.
--by Taylor W. and Zoe F.
History
Recently in History class, we started talking about the Cold War. Mr. Parsley has taught us about the different battles that took place during the Cold War. We read many different articles about each event and answered questions. Generally on the next day, we go over the paper as a class, so we can all make sure we have the right answers filled in.
We are now working on a project instead of doing a benchmark this last nine weeks. We have been working on a review packets. The review packets had information that included definitions and the causes of the wars and battles that we have previously learned about. After we finish the packets, we have to start on the Superpower Project. In the project ,we have to include what caused that event, what war it was in, and how did it fit into what was going on at that time. Our main goal is to connect all the events together and determine how that event led to America becoming a superpower.
--by Graceann L. and Jazmyn H.
Language Arts
In Ms. Bibb's class, this nine-weeks has been mostly of a review and a little bit of poetry. One example is haiku which has 3 lines. The first line has 5 syllables, so does the third, and the second has 7 syllables. We have learned figurative language, and everyday we write about anything you want in your notebook. Every so often she checks them and grades them. The SOLs are coming up soon, so we have also been reviewing everything like reading comprehension, roots, and figurative language. We have almost finished poems. Once we finish it will be all review.
In Mrs. Martin's class this nine-weeks, we have been doing poetry and figurative language. For example, a limerick is a humorous verse of three long and two short lines rhyming aabba. Every day we start off with a piece of paper with questions and little passages to read called a warmup to review the things we have learned. Almost every Friday, we take a test on a story we read from the book. Occasionally we get to free read for 10 minutes.
Happy Home Ec
In Home Ec so far, we have learned about the rules of the class, the sewing machine, the washing machine, and how to wash and dry clothes. The main rule for the classroom is keeping drama out of the room. Some of the rules of sewing are keep your eyes away from the needle and turn off the machine and unplug it when you are not using it. When we start sewing, we are supposed to go slow and speed up the farther we go.
We also learned about certain parts of the sewing machine such as the needle which drives the thread in and out of the fabric, the reverse lever which allows the machine to stitch backwards, and the needle plate which surrounds the needle so nobody will be injured in the process.
We are currently learning about the washing machine. For colored clothing, you want to use cold water. For uncolored clothing, you want to use warm/hot water. When you are washing clothes, make sure you read the tags on the clothing that states what you can and can’t use.
--by Dylan C., Carson P., and Tyler W.
Keyboarding
In keyboarding, we first had to go over the correct ways to use your keyboard. We have to be directly in the center of our keyboard with our fingers on the home row keys. We started practicing by going to www.freetypinggame.net . On free typing game, we started with the letters f and j. Then we went to k and d. After that we went to s and l. Once we done that we did a and ;. Then we did g and h. Once we practiced a little bit we had to go make a blank document and set up everything. We had to type a report word for word out a book.
This nine weeks I have been in keyboarding, and we have been working daily on Microsoft Word. We are learning how to type title pages, bibliographies, and pages from the book. We have also have been building on the proper way to type. We learned how to change the margins, font, and font size of our articles, too. That is what is going on this 9 weeks for Ms. Apperson's class.
--by Max D. and Xavier L.
Shop
Currently in Ms. Goff’s Shop class, we have been learning about agriculture, the business of agriculture, and the science behind it. On the first few days of class, we started to learn about the introduction to agriculture and took notes. We also took notes on how FFA got started and how it currently is. Our class had to write down important dates and people in the creation of FFA.
Our next project in class consisted of making a poster describing a career in agriculture. We had to include what part of agriculture the career included, how much you get paid, and what education you need to have in order to be successful in that job. Our class has been preparing for our upcoming tests by playing Jeopardy and going over our notes together.
--by Jazmyn H. and Graceann L.
Unordinary Onderdonk
In Mr. Onderdonk’s, we have been learning how to play Minecraft. The first day on Minecraft, we just learned how to play. The next few days we worked on getting blocks to build things. After that we worked on building a 4x4x4 cube. It was very interesting and challenging to do.
Mr. Onderdonk decided to start building robots. Once we knew we were doing the robots, we started out by organizing the kits. After that, we started building a real robot. It took us about 2 or 3 days to build the whole thing. We also made a radio out of a little kit, some people even got signal and listened to a station.
--by Nathan S.