8th Grade World Geography Ms. Julia Fahey jfahey@lejardinacademy.com

Textbook and Supplemental Materials:
Geography: The World and Its People (published by Glencoe McGraw-Hill)
Mapping the World by Heart (published by Tom Snyder Productions)

The world…in a year! Students will set sail for faraway lands and exotic shores, seeking to deepen their knowledge and understanding of mother earth and her inhabitants. The Five Themes of Geography (location, place, human-environment relations, movement, and regions) will be our compass. Geography 8 is a course in spatial geography and world cultures. Students deepen their understanding of various world regions through the study of physical location, culture, and global function.

Geographic Facts: Review 50 state locations and capitals, locations of countries, capitals, physical features

Basic Mapping Skills: Using globes and maps, general purpose maps, special purpose maps

Physical Geography: Physical features, human features, physical systems, famous places

Regions: The United States and Canada; Latin America; Europe; Africa; Asia; Australia, Oceania and Antarctica

Other Concepts: Government, religion, sustainability and the environment, globalization, political analysis, civic responsibility, global empathy

Grading: The following categories apply to both courses:

Homework and Responsibility Policies for 8th Grade Social Studies

Homework:
Homework is a crucial step in student learning and therefore is worth 35% of each student’s total grade.

Absences
• After an excused absence, students will have two days per day missed to complete assignments.
• It is the student’s responsibility to retrieve missed work on the day they return to school.

Late Work
• All homework is due at the beginning of the class period.
• Homework not completed by the due date will not receive full credit.
• After two consecutive school days, the late assignment will not be accepted for credit and will automatically be counted as a zero.
• Late work turned in within two consecutive school days will have 25 percentage points deducted off of the final grade. For example, if a student turns in a late assignment with a score of 100%, 25 percentage points will be deducted and the maximum score will be 75%. Likewise, if the score an 85% on a late assignment, the final score will be 60%.

Responsibility:
I would like students to be accountable for their responsibility grade. Responsibility is worth 15% of each student’s total grade. The responsibility grade encompasses conduct, participation, general preparedness for class and organization. All students begin each quarter with a responsibility grade of 100%. Every time a student shows poor conduct or is unprepared for class, five points are deducted. Notebook checks will occur sporadically. Each time a student fails a notebook check, ten points are deducted from the responsibility grade. Points lost cannot be redeemed. Students are expected to organize notebooks as follows:

Notebook
Take all notes in a marbleized notebook. Students will use the Cornell Notes format which will be reviewed within the first couple of class periods. When every page in this notebook has been filled, get a new one, but do not throw away the old one. Save all notes for exams.

Binder
Students need a section in binders labeled “Geography”. This is where students file worksheets, handouts, homework, and other miscellaneous items

Eighth Grade Students Make a Difference in Africa

Think twice before you eat a piece of chocolate.  Eighth graders are analyzing where diamonds come from, questioning how vaccinations are distributed, and thinking about child labor.  Their newfound global awareness stems from a project they produced which focused on the turbulent issues faced by people in Africa.  The project had many components, starting with choosing an issue on which to focus.  Topics ranged from health problems including HIV/AIDS and hunger to economic problems like child slavery on cocoa farms and diamond wars.  From there students researched, compiled information and spread awareness to fellow middle school students and raised funds to donate to organizations that aid people of Africa. 

Their work was posted on a middle school bulletin board and it caught the attention of a lower school parent who was taking his child to Tae Kwan Do.  Patrick Novak, owner of French Gourmet, read the posted PowerPoint presentations and was struck by the information students provided.  Mr. Novak appreciated the students’ work with a personal visit and donated generously to each of the charities recognized by eighth grade students.  In total, the eighth graders raised $1,381, and Mr. Novak donated $6000.  Eighth grade students learned that even one person can make a difference and their work does inspire and educate others of the problems in our global family.    

Michael Wall Jams with LJA Eighth Graders

There is amazing musical talent in the eighth grade class!  After percussionist Michael Wall’s workshop there is not one student who can claim to be ‘rhythmically challenged’!  In only two periods, students gained a deeper understanding of African culture through drumming.  After learning some basic rhythms, students rotated between four different instrument stations.  The students were so musically magnificent that they ended the session by dancing around the multipurpose room while playing their instruments!

Geography Bee

Do you know the location of the longest fence in the world?  This is just one example of the type of questions students faced in the Le Jardin Academy Middle School Geography Bee.  All middle school students competed in grade level competitions and the ten highest scoring students went on to compete in the middle school bee.  Two sixth graders, three seventh graders, and five eighth graders made it:  Billy S., Talya R., Kortney D., Natalia W, Natalie S., Kelsey T., Alyson T., Keegan G., Sean L, and Joseph K..  Josh U. was the runner-up.  Questions, which focused on United States and world geography, were challenging.  The bee went into overtime as Keegan, Joey, and Billy battled over the “Final Jeopardy” style round.  Each student was asked the same world geography question, and each student continued to get the correct answer!  Finally Billy S. won and Joey was named runner-up.  This is Billy S. second win as he won the Le Jardin Geography Bee last year.  Way to go, Billy!