Due Dates

See below for upcoming due dates for your work.
Prioritize your work so you are focusing on what needs to be done first.

50 States and Capitals Test- Thu 11th Feb
(both classes)

State Report - Written Component (e.g. intro/three components/conclusion/fun facts/work cited)
Fri Feb 19th

3D Model and State Report Living Wax Museum Speech
Feb 25th (Bux. class) Feb 26th (Gra. class)
You will be give additional guidelines on what to do for the Living Wax Museum speech once you finish the written component of the State Report or on Feb. 16th (whichever happens first)- DO NOT BRING YOUR 3D Model into school before this date. THERE IS NOWHERE TO STORE 50 MODELS

BBC Theatre Presentations
Dates still to be decided

BBC Theatre

How will you make sure your performace in the BBC sitcom presentations is the best possible?

Fifty States Test Practice

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/web_games.htm

This website has made interactive games that you can use to test your 'Fifty States' Knowledge.

Enjoy the video below

Next Week

•  State Report Information

Work on your 2nd Component (If you chose History, leave this until your 3rd component)

Make sure you are able to group your Research into P2s. Examples of possible P2s for the different components are below:

e.g. Tourist attractions
(Examples below- don't just copy these. Devise your own based on your state)
-Historical Importance, Family Actvities, Recreational Opportunities, Outdoor destinations etc...

eg. Commerce and Indusry
-Service Industries, Manufacturing Industries, Major Companies, Industrial Regions, Tourism, Major Products etc...

e.g.Natural Resources+ Crops
Mined Resources, Renewable or Nonrenewable Resources, Scenery, Agriculture Resources, Major Crops etc...

Target Stickers: Between 8-9

You must have all your information collected and written down in order to type out the following:
Next Computing Class: Paraphrased notes for Fun Facts (Fri 5th Feb)
Next Library Class: Gra. Group (This Fri) Bux. Group (Mon 8th Feb)

•  Fifty States and Capitals Test

This will take place on Feb 11th. Use links on the blog to help you with your 50 States Studying. You will need to know each state and capital, its location, the three major bodies of water that border the U.S., and the two major mountain ranges in the U.S. Spelling is not counted; however, you will be expected to spell as accurately as possible.

Mentor Text - Geographical Features

     Enjoy this example of A+ writing. Look at the variety of advanced sentences technqiues used and the succint way the hook is linked to the topic sentence. Count the number of proper nouns in the text as an example of how to integrate precise facts.  Can you apply these elements into your own writing?

    The flapping wings of the brown pelican, Louisiana’s state bird, fill the air as it soars over the ravishing, earthy scented marshland looking for a place to land. Imagine a boot-shaped fertile land of damp, breath-taking marshes, and the ground is partly underwater. The state of Louisiana is truly that place. Louisiana’s unique setting causes a number of this beautiful, marshy wonderland’s terrain features. Because Louisiana sits in one of the closest areas to the equator, it receives ample sunlight. The three states that border Louisiana are Alabama, Texas, and Mississippi. Additionally, this spectacular haven is located in the Southeast region and in the East South Central sub-region. Louisiana overlooks the Gulf of Mexico, so this paradise receives an abundance of dreadful storms during hurricane season.

    One simply could not speak of Louisiana without mentioning its bustling cities. Not only is Louisiana home to numerous thriving metropolises, but nearly 75% of Louisiana’s population lives in urban or suburban areas. New Orleans, the most densely populated city in this beautiful state, is the 38th largest town in the United States. Baton Rouge, the second most populous boomtown in Louisiana, has reigned as the state capital since 1882. The third significant city is Shreveport; furthermore, it is the cultural center of the Ark-La-Tex, the area where Arkansas, Texas, and Louisiana meet.
    Because of all its marshes, lakes, and rivers, the state of Louisiana is often thought of as sodden wetland. In fact, Louisiana is one-third water. The rustling Mississippi River depositing into the Gulf of Mexico impacts both the geography and industries of Louisiana. The mouth of the river has changed the shape of the land in the south of Louisiana and improved the fishing industry. For example, New Orleans sits on land created by silt that the Mississippi carries. This beautiful state has countless lakes, including the rippling, 600 square mile Lake Pontchartain. The Louisiana coastline stretches 397 miles along the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf of Mexico ranks as planet Earth’s 5th largest body of water.
    Louisiana cannot boast of the lofty mountains of Alaska, but soggy textured bayous, a common feature in Louisiana, are unique in the nation. A bayou is a slow moving body of water connected to a river, ocean, or lake. Either saltwater, freshwater, or brackish water, a mixture between the earlier two, can be found in a typical bayou. Historian Harnett Kane described bayous as, “A place that seems often unable to make up its mind whether to be earth or water, and so it compromises.”¹ Few people live in bayous, but they remain a beautiful part of the state.
    The low land is another factor that renders Louisiana’s geography unique. Although Driskill Mountain, the highest elevation in Louisiana, is just a hill at 935 feet above sea level, the peak stands as sky scraping to Louisiana as Mt. Everest is to Nepal. Additionally, Louisiana’s low point, New Orleans, is actually nine feet below sea level. This statistic explains why hurricane waves are a quandary in the city. Sadly, citizens are forced to make levees, walls made to regulate a body of water. The average elevation in the Pelican State is a lowly 90 feet. Wetland to the south, flat plains in the middle and a few lush forests to the north combine to give Louisiana very little altitude. The brown pelican flies down into a bayou, and lands on a bald cypress, Louisiana’s state tree. The only noise is the buzz of a honeybee, the state insect.

¹Louisiana by Suzanne LeVert
by Robert