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Dear Parents and Guardians,
I wanted to share a more formal overview of our current unit: Electricity & Magnetism, which will last for about three weeks.
This unit is designed to be hands-on, inquiry-based, and aligned with both Arizona Science Standards and the NGSS. Students will be building and testing real circuits, experimenting with magnets, and learning how electricity and magnetism power the world around them.
We are going to tie in what we learned about the basics of atomic structure and the concept of Earth as a magnet. We have been using Snap Circuits to see how electricity moves through metal.
This is a highly engaging unit, and one that brings out a lot of curiosity and excitement—as well as various types of thinking.
Here’s a quick look at what we’ll be doing:
As always, if you have any questions about what we’re doing or how your child is engaging with the material, feel free to reach out.
Sincerely,
Kara Olivarria
I wanted to share a more formal overview of our current unit: Electricity & Magnetism, which will last for about three weeks.
This unit is designed to be hands-on, inquiry-based, and aligned with both Arizona Science Standards and the NGSS. Students will be building and testing real circuits, experimenting with magnets, and learning how electricity and magnetism power the world around them.
We are going to tie in what we learned about the basics of atomic structure and the concept of Earth as a magnet. We have been using Snap Circuits to see how electricity moves through metal.
This is a highly engaging unit, and one that brings out a lot of curiosity and excitement—as well as various types of thinking.
Here’s a quick look at what we’ll be doing:
- Exploring static electricity and the behavior of electric charges.
- Constructing and analyzing simple series and parallel circuits.
- Mapping magnetic fields and understanding how magnets interact.
- Building functional electromagnets and applying them to real-world problems.
As always, if you have any questions about what we’re doing or how your child is engaging with the material, feel free to reach out.
Sincerely,
Kara Olivarria
1. Who’s one person you can be patient with today… theoretically… if the stars align and you don’t lose it first?
2. How can you stay focused today, other than by pretending the clock is moving faster than it actually is?
2. How can you stay focused today, other than by pretending the clock is moving faster than it actually is?
T3/4, 2025
If digging through the archaeological layers of your backpack feels overwhelming, or if your “I bookmarked it, I swear” link has ascended to another dimension, fear not. Below are the documents, links, and resources you misplaced with confidence. Think of this as your academic lost-and-found.
trimester one project rubrics and examples by Kara Olivarria
2025 November Monthly Calendar by Kara Olivarria
gravity-force-lab-html-guide_en.pdf by Kara Olivarria
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Monday, November 23rd
October 24th: in-class work with substitute
Choose a topic:
Lightning
Make Lightning with ZAP! | NESDIS | National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service
OR
Dark Matter
Dark Matter - NASA Science
If it’s dark matter, stay within NASA. If it’s lightning, stay within NOAA.
We touched briefly on Dark Matter earlier in the school year when learning about cool space stuff, and Lightning more recently with the electricity and magnetism unit. They were topics of interest that we were not able to spend much time on.
Instructions:
1. Read and interact with the linked website.
2. Answer each question in complete sentences. Check your spelling.
3. Show what you understood — don’t just copy/paste from a website or an AI machine.
4. Be thoughtful and specific. Quality matters more than length.
5. Email this to Ms. Olivarria and Ms. Silva (Jaws music).
1. What was the main topic or idea of what you read or explored?
2. What are three things you learned? Explain.
3. What surprised or interested you the most? Why?
4. What question do you still have after reading or exploring?
5. Create a question and an answer about your topic that may or may not go on a Blooket.
Bonus:
6. What prior knowledge did you access throughout this assignment? Think about this one....
Choose a topic:
Lightning
Make Lightning with ZAP! | NESDIS | National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service
OR
Dark Matter
Dark Matter - NASA Science
If it’s dark matter, stay within NASA. If it’s lightning, stay within NOAA.
We touched briefly on Dark Matter earlier in the school year when learning about cool space stuff, and Lightning more recently with the electricity and magnetism unit. They were topics of interest that we were not able to spend much time on.
Instructions:
1. Read and interact with the linked website.
2. Answer each question in complete sentences. Check your spelling.
3. Show what you understood — don’t just copy/paste from a website or an AI machine.
4. Be thoughtful and specific. Quality matters more than length.
5. Email this to Ms. Olivarria and Ms. Silva (Jaws music).
1. What was the main topic or idea of what you read or explored?
2. What are three things you learned? Explain.
- _______________________________________________
- _______________________________________________
- _______________________________________________
3. What surprised or interested you the most? Why?
4. What question do you still have after reading or exploring?
5. Create a question and an answer about your topic that may or may not go on a Blooket.
Bonus:
6. What prior knowledge did you access throughout this assignment? Think about this one....
Arizona Department of Education, 2018