This past week in Middle School History

8th Grade has recently begun learning about the reasons for colonization in the New World, the current United States of America. We have been mapping out the United States and pointing out the original 13 colonies. This week, we will be taking a more in depth look at each of the colonies individually to explain their establishment, local resources and reasons for becoming a colony.


7th Grade has been taking a look at the physical regions of texas, as well as the cultural regions of Texas. Students have learned about the Coastal Plains, Great Plains, North Central Plains, and the Mountains and Basins region of Texas. We just started learning about the Cultural Eras of Texas, and will soon be taking a look at the timeline of the Cultural Eras, and the Native Americans and cultures that existed in the Eras.

7th Grade Science Recap

7th Grade has been learning about Photosynthesis, the process in which plants take in the radiant energy from the sun that turns into chemical energy, also known as glucose, and eventually omits oxygen into the atmosphere. Students have focused on key vocabulary words such as Photosynthesis, radiant energy, carbon dioxide, stomata, guard cell, chlorophyll, chloroplast and glucose to really get into details about the photosynthesis process. Students have learned, and are able to explain how each of the vocabulary words take part in the photosynthesis process, and how photosynthesis has an effect on humans.

8th Grade Science recap

8th Grade Science began understanding the parts of an atom. The subatomic particles of an atom include the proton (positive charge) neutron (neutral charge) and electron (negative charge). Protons and Neutrons combine to make Nucleons, and make up the Nucleus. Electrons stay out of the Nucleus and keep an atom balanced. The number of protons an atom has, helps to define the atom as an element. This is also known as their atomic number. In a balanced/ neutral atom, the number of protons, neutrons and electrons will all be the same. If an atom loses electrons it becomes a cation and becomes positively charges, if an atom gains electrons it is a negatively charged anion. The atomic mass is the total of protons and neutrons. It is the average of isotopes of the element. Valence electrons are located in the outmost energy level and determine how reactive an element is with other elements. 8th grade is also know learning how to structure atoms, and realizes that each energy level can accept a certain amount of atoms. The 1st energy level accepts 2, the 2nd accepts 8, and the 3rd accepts 16.