Oliver viewed a Power Point presentation on ChompChomp.com. The focus of the presentation was over use of pronouns so that the message becomes unclear. Oliver completed an online assessment on pronouns. We read and discussed a chapter in "Prodigy."

This was Oliver's last activity. I wanted to review a topic that Oliver had the most difficulty understanding. We spent the time simplifying radicals with both numbers and variables.

Oliver completed the activity on factoring by grouping.

Oliver would have continued learning about pronoun agreement. We would have read in "Prodigy" and discussed.

Oliver completed quadratic formula problems. The most important part of this activity for Oliver is to learn how to simplify the quadratic formula. Oliver then worked on the first half of factoring by grouping. This was a new topic for Oliver so he had difficulty at first but by the time he completed the first 6 problems he found the assignment much easier to understand and completed it on his own.

This activity was developed to give Oliver more practice and to be challenged at the same time.

Light and the Human Eye – We learned that the cornea is the first part of your eye that light rays travel through. It is a convex lens made of transparent tissue. The iris controls the amount of light entering the eye. The pupil is an opening that leads to the inside of your eye. In bright light the iris relaxes and the pupil becomes smaller. In dim light the iris contracts and the pupil becomes larger. Then we learned that behind the iris is the lens which is transparent tissue that helps focus an object. The back of the eye has a layer of light-sensitive cells called the retina on which images form. Rod cells in the retina fire when the levels of light are low. Cone cells in the retina fire when light levels are high. Three types of these cells are sensitive to different wavelengths of light allowing us to see colors.
The Colors of Objects – We learned that the colors of an object depend on the wavelength of the light waves it reflects. When light waves of different wavelengths interact with an object, the object absorbs some light waves and reflects others. The wavelengths of light waves absorbed and reflected depend on the materials from which the object is made. When reflected light comes in contact with your eye, the cone cells in your retina send nerve signals to your brain. The color that an object appears to be depends in part on the color of the light shining on it. Then we learned that white light is a combination of light of many different colors.

Lesson 1 Sound: We learned that all sounds that people hear travel to the ears as sound waves. Sound waves travel through solids, liquids, and gases. Then we learned that objects that are vibrating produce sound waves. As the object moves outward it pushes air molecules closer together producing compression and as it moves inward it pulls air molecules farther apart producing refraction. Next we learned that matter vibrates back and forth in the same direction that the sound waves travel so sound waves are classified as longitudinal waves. We learned that the distance between a point on a wave and the nearest point that is just like it is called the wavelength. Then we learned that the number of wavelengths that pass a given point in one second is a sound waves frequency which is measured in hertz. Next we learned that high-frequency is produced by an object that vibrates quickly. We learned that the speed of sound waves depends on the kind of material the waves are traveling through. Then we learned that sound waves generally travel fastest through solids and slowest through gases. Next we learned that sound waves travel faster through warm air and slower through cold air.
Discussion Question: How are the characteristics of sound waves related to the various attributes of sound?
• The pitch of a sound is how high or low the sound is perceived to be; pitch is related to the frequency or the wavelength of the sound wave.
• The loudness of a sound is how much energy the sound has; loudness is related to the amplitude of the sound wave.
Lesson 2: What is light? - We learned that light is a type of wave called an electromagnetic wave. Light waves can move through matter but they travel fastest when they move through a vacuum. Light waves travel much faster than sound waves. Then we learned that the electromagnetic spectrum includes light waves, x-rays, and radio waves. The wavelengths of light waves are usually measured in nanometers. Next we learned that we perceive wavelengths of light as different colors.
We took a quiz on waves.
Lesson 2: The Interaction of Light and Matter – We learned that reflection occurs when light waves bounce off the surface of a material. In transmission most light waves travel through an object. When absorption occurs light energy is converted into other forms of energy. A material is transparent if it allows almost all light that strikes it to pass through and forms a clear image. A material is translucent if it allows most of the light that strikes it to pass through but forms a blurry image. A material is opaque if light does not pass through it. Next we learned that the law of reflection states that the angle of incidence always equals the angle of reflection. The normal to the surface is a line that is perpendicular to the surface. A light source is an object that emits light. Light spreads out in all directions from a light source. A narrow beam of light that travels in a straight line is called a light ray. Many objects reflect light. Reflected light waves travel from an object to your eyes allowing you to see the object. Dust scatters light. Scattering occurs when light waves traveling from one direction are made to travel in many directions. When light waves travel from one material into another the light waves change speed and direction. Refraction is the change in direction of light waves when they travel from one material to another material. The greater the change in speed, the more the light wave changes direction.

Oliver published his book, "Mr. Wuffles." Oliver laminated his final draft and bound the book. We read and discussed a chapter in "Prodigy." He continued studying word referents by completing an online assessment on ChompChomp.com. For homework, Oliver should read a chapter in "Prodigy."

Oliver continued to work on his creative writing project. He completed the first draft and editing. He is putting the book together and laminating the pages. Oliver read in "Prodigy." We discussed characters' motives. In grammar, Oliver is learning to use appropriate word referents. Specifically he is working on personal, reflexive, and demonstrative pronouns.