April 17, 2012

This week is off to a terrific start.  The students have settled back into the swing of things after Spring Break and are putting their best foot forward once again.  In Language Arts we are reviewing some previously learned concepts, including comparing and contrasting and summarizing.  Addie Adjective visited on Friday to help teach the kids about adjectives and motivate them to use colorful, descriptive words in their writing. In math, we are finishing up finding the area and perimeter of odd shaped polygons.  The Geometry Unit Test will be this Friday, April 20. The students will spend the next few days rotating through stations to review the skills and concepts learned during this unit.  Their math notebooks are also a great study guide to refer back to.  Some concepts that may need to reviewed are: identifying polygons, angles, triangles, congruent and similar figures, symmetry, diagonals, interior angles of a polygon, area, and perimeter.  In Science, we completed our learning about Ecosystems with a game of Jeopardy in class today. Students should study their notes, complete the study guide (posted below the hw,) and review the vocabulary matching activity to prepare for their test tomorrow.

Homework 4/17/12
Math: 1. Finish Geo Practice Test
           2. Unit test Friday~ Study!
Science: Ecosystems Test Study Guide
              Test tomorrow~ Study!

Ecosystem Test Study Guide:  

1.        Describe the difference between abiotic factors and biotic factors and give examples of both. 

2.       Create a food chain with a producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer, tertiary consumer, and decomposer.

3.       Explain the importance of the decomposer and why its job is important to the producers.

4.       Give one example of each: producer, herbivore, carnivore, omnivore, decomposer.

5.       What do the arrows in a food chain and a food web indicate?

6.       Name the biome that can support the most amount of plants and animals.  Explain why.

7.       Understand the climate differences, plant differences, and animal differences in the following biomes: desert, rainforest, tundra, coniferous forest (taiga), and deciduous forest.

8.       Give an example of a prey and predator relationship.

9.       How do humans affect an animal’s habitat?   Give examples.

10.   What is photosynthesis?

11.   List two animals that compete for the same food source.

12.   Name an adaptation that a plant and an animal have made to help them survive.

13.   Why do some animals need to migrate?

14.   Why would plants and animals use camouflage?

Study the Ecosystem Matching Vocabulary Activity.