7th Grade Williamsburg Field Trip

Our team is planning a field trip for the 7^th Grade students to Colonial Williamsburg in Williamsburg, Virginia on Friday, November 21st.  The cost for this trip for students will be $30.  Checks can be made payable to Bennett Middle School.  Please return permission slip and money to Mrs. Abbott no later than Friday, November 7th.  A new form can be found at https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-18JOqyPQcsUmw0NGotU3M0SEE/view?usp=sharing

8th Grade/ Amazon!

Since ancient times, groups of people have utilized their environment and resources to best suit their needs and often times dealt with conflict amongst themselves. The ancient Mayans, for example, cleared the rainforests, used slash and burn agriculture, and hunted animals. We now shift to a nearby rainforest, the Amazon! Just as you had different ideas about how to best use the new land for your simulated community and the Mayans for theirs, groups who live and work in the Amazon rainforest have different ideas about how to best use its land and resources, even today. These differing ideas often lead to conflict among the groups. During our investigation, you will learn about the different groups, how they want to use or preserve the rainforest’s resources, and why they believe their ideas are justified. You will investigate and propose possible solutions to land use conflict in the Amazon rainforest.

Homework Response Question ]Due by Friday, 10/24/14]:
How should the resources of rainforests be used and preserved? 

7th Grade/ Human Needs!

Having enough food and meeting nutritional requirements while traveling has always been a problem for explorers. In 1607, for example, the Godspeed, the Discovery, and the Susan Constant journeyed with 104 settlers for nearly five months on a voyage from England to Virginia.  Food and water were carried with the travelers. Limited space and lack of preservation techniques reduced the types of food that could be carried. Early explorers dried and stored food in cool places. They also used sealed containers. In class, we are investigating human needs in order to analyze how humans adapt to new environments such as Jamestown and modern explorations such as the Moon. Students should be able to answer the following essential questions in detail as a result: how do people adapt to new environments, and how will basic needs be met in new worlds?

Homework Response Questions [Due by Friday, 10/24/14]:
How do people adapt to new environments, and how will basic needs be met in new worlds?

6th Grade/ Iceman!

Discovered by hikers in 1991, the Iceman, also known as "Ötzi," is 5,300 years old---the oldest frozen mummy ever found. Forensic scientists and archaeologists investigating the cause of his death have uncovered new evidence that reveals a shocking conclusion. Scientists hope to use this information to reconstruct the last hours of the Iceman’s life. Before we can learn about when and how this “Iceman” died, we need to understand how this man lived by interpreting the evidence. As a result, you will be able to make an evidence based argument for how this “Iceman” died!

Homework Response Question [Due by Friday, 10/24/14]:

•Climate is the weather in a particular area which includes the temperature, humidity, and air quality of an area.

•How has climate had an impact on the evidence left behind by the Iceman? Explain!

6th Grade/ Climate and Archaeology

We have started an experiment involving the effects of different climate conditions on archaeological findings in which we will observe the changes over the course of four weeks. In the meantime, we focus on the question of whether climate can change in an area overtime, and thus bring forth differing archaeological findings. To help us, a team of Smithsonian scientists have just returned from a fossil hunt and have asked your class to help them analyze some of the fossils. At two dig sites in Wyoming’s Bighorn Basin, they found bones of mammals that lived in the early Cenozoic era, about 10 million years after the dinosaurs. We will analyze these fossils of leaves from prehistoric trees in order to calculate ancient temperatures to see if climate can in fact change in an area over time.