Welcome to November, the month of Thanksgiving.  I personally have MUCH to be thankful for including my students this year and our auction last weekend.

In World History,  we have been studying the Dark Ages.  It is a rather depressing and discouraging Unit to study.  However, it is interesting to note that October marked 500 years since the Reformation.  So that is something to celebrate and that is what we are studying next.  I guess you don't see it as good news until you understand the bad news first! 

In M.S. Science, things have been falling apart.  The ground has been shaking with great and exciting lessons on earthquakes, volcanoes, and many other geological lessons.  My favorite demonstration was the boiled egg and egg shell analogy.  Once boiled, you break up the shell, but do not remove it from the egg.  That is very much how our earth's crust "floats" atop the mantle with plate tectonics.

In Health, which is just one semester, we have been working on a Unit involving Safety and First Aid.  Everything from snake bites to poison help to the Heimlich maneuver has been covered lately.  Next week, we will have a guest speaker, Jennifer Meadows, of the Wells County EMS to show us hands on how to handle different emergency situations.

In Biology, we finished up botany and began reptiles, mammals and birds.  What is the fast animal in the world?  It's not a cheetah and you'll just have to ask some Bio students if you want to know....or google it ;-)  Next week, we have a guest (my neighbor) coming in to explain and show to us numerous pet reptiles and how to care for them!

In Physics, we are studying tension and the forces that are calculated when ropes and strings are involved.  Feel free to ask Dennis and Levi about some of their recent labs and demonstrations.  Congrats to Dennis as he got the highest Physics Test grade yet this year.  Levi has also challenged me with some thinking outside the box.  Way to go boys!

In Physiology, we have been studying muscles and their anatomy and function.  Of the 640 muscles in the body, which one is the longest?  Ask one the Junior girls and they would love to share this and other interesting muscle concepts.  Muscles act as levers and can be classified as first, second or third class.  What about the buccinator and the zygomaticus?  They are important muscles that have important functions.  Ask the girls and they will share where and how!