Welcome to the Class of 2020!

I hope everyone had a GREAT summer! I look forward to getting to know all of you, and I am excited about the upcoming school year. This site will be used to keep students and parents updated on what's happening in class. I will add a new post (plan for week, resources, etc.) before the start of of each school week. If you (students, parents, etc.) would like to receive notification when posts are added, select Posts (Atom) below and provide your information. Thanks!

Here are some tidbits to get you started . . .

1. www.bengalfrosh.com is a useful site that provides links to the web pages of HHS teachers who teach freshmen. Not all teachers have web pages, but this provides a convenient way to access all of the sites that are available. The teacher sites should be updated by September 1st.

2. I am one of the advisers for the HHS Outdoor Club. CLICK HERE to see our Facebook Page. We meet at noon every Friday (starting after Labor Day).

NOTE: Check out other "Important Links", which will always be available on the right side of this webpage.

Tuesday, August 30 - Bengal Beginnings Day
Freshmen will participate in orientation activities in the morning. In the afternoon, they will go to each of their classes for about 10 minutes.

Wednesday, August 31
Students will do a "Montana Map Activity".

Thursday, September 1
Students will take a quiz (not graded) to assess their science background, and then be given time to finish the map activity from yesterday.

Friday, September 2
Benson will be gone today. Students will do a worksheet.

Attention Honors Students - Part of being an honors students is figuring out how to find information and figure some things out on your own. Below are some links that will help with the last few questions on your map activity. Use your Internet searching skills to access other resources!

1. The Wilderness Society

2. Montana Wilderness Association

3. Wilderness FAQs

4. Rules of Thumb for Wilderness Areas

Click on the map below for a larger view of Montana's 15 designated wilderness areas.

May 31 - June 3 . . . Last post for the 2015-2016 school year!

NOTE: The monthly optional "replacement assignment" for period 1, 3, 4 is questions 1-23 on page 725. The replacement assignment for periods 6-7 is available here. Your score on this will replace your lowest non-test score so far. Get it in by the end of the day on June 3.

Monday
No school.

Tuesday
We will go over a couple solar system topics and then learn some basic things about the Sun.

Wednesday
Students will take notes as Benson explains several astronomy topics.

Thursday
Students will take notes as Benson explains the life cycles of stars. Gone? Read pages 707-714 (honors 693-699).

Friday
Benson will tell students about the test and then we will do this KaHoot Review Game. A study guide will be provided. For other review resources, check out the links below. Good luck on finals!

Click here to print a copy of the study guide for the semester final. - Benson will provide you with a copy on Friday.

Below: Links to IMPORTANT Review Resources

1. It is important that you understand the Rock Cycle (several questions). To review read pages 67-69 (honors pages 52-54) and take a look at this animation.

2. This graph will be on the test - CLICK HERE

3. There will be several questions to check your understanding of this Moonphase Exercise

4. Make sure you understand the motion, varying speed, and tail of a comet. Watch this animation

5. There will be a diagram and questions to check your understanding of Giant Springs

6. This diagram will be on the test. The same diagram can be found on page 339 of your text (honors text page 328). You should be able to use principles of superposition and cross-cutting to determine relative ages as you did on the WS: Principles of Geology last winter.

7. Attention Honors students - The topic of one of your essay questions will the Northern Lights and the topic of the other one will be the Bakken formation.

Question of the Week
What can we see (Hubble Space Telescope) that indicates there is a supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy?

May 16-20

Monday
Students will do a WS.

Tuesday
Weather-permitting we will launch rockets today.

Wednesday
Students will take notes as Benson provides a general overview of NASA - past, present, future.

Thursday
Students will take notes as Benson explains several concepts related to the Earth-Moon relationship, including tides, phases, and eclipses. Be sure to do this Online Moon Phase Exercise (very good). You do not need to hand anything in, but there will be similar questions on the semester exam. Here is a 10-minute video (ABC News coverage) of the 1979 solar eclipse, including coverage from Helena, Montana!

Friday
Students will begin watching "The Martian".

Interesting Links

NASA's YouTube Channel

Monday: Brief History of Animals in Space

Space Shuttle Landing Sites (6-minute video)

Video of Probe Landing on Mars in 2004 (6-minute YouTube video)

Video of Probe Landing on Mars in 2012 (6-minute YouTube video)

Are we going to Mars?

History of Exploration of Mars

Moon phase animation

Another Moon phase animation

Moon phases this month

Online Moon Phase Exercise (very good)

Lunar Eclipse Animation

Lunar Eclipse Explained

Tides Animation

D-Day Moon

Tides - select "Launch Interactive"

Spring and Neap Tides

Bay of Fundy Tides Explained

Eclipse Animations

Various Moon Animations

Space Weather

Solar Max of 2013

Northern Lights Explained

Spaceweather.com

Northern Lights Explained

Northern Lights over Iceland

Question of the Week
Why is Pluto no longer considered to be a planet?

Video of the week:

May 9-13

Monday
Students will finish the video (October Sky) and then Benson will explain fact vs. fiction, etc.

Tuesday-Wednesday
Students will be constructing rockets.

Thursday
Students will begin watching a video about the "Space Race" and then be given time to put finishing touches on their rockets. If you miss this class, print out this worksheet and watch the first 65 minutes of the video below.

Friday
We will finish watching the video and then Benson will explain the Apollo missions. If you were gone, watch the video below.

Interesting Links

NASA's YouTube Channel

Brief History of Animals in Space

16-min Video about the controversial 1972 USA vs. USSR gold medal game

Question of the Week
Why was it so important for the USA to land a man on the Moon before the USSR did?

Video of the week:

May 2-6

NOTE: The monthly optional "replacement assignment" (for period 1, 3, 4) is available here. Your score on this will replace your lowest non-test score so far. Get it in before Vigilante Day.

Monday
Test today over groundwater, surface water, glaciers, ice ages.

Tuesday
We start watching a video called "October Sky".

Wednesday
Benson will explain the historical context of the movie as it relates to the "Space Race", and then we will continue watching the movie.

Thursday
Many students will be not be in class today for various reasons, including float-building, Vigilante Academy, and marching band practice.

Friday
No school today. The parade starts at noon.

April 25-29

NOTE: The monthly optional "replacement assignment" (for period 1, 3, 4) is available here. Your score on this will replace your lowest non-test score so far. Get it in before Vigilante Day.

Attention honors students: The MESPOWs for this week are #91 and #122.

Monday
Periods 1-6-7 will watch a video: Snowball Earth - If you were gone, watch it here (43 minutes). Period 3-4 will watch a different video (America's Ice Age). Benson will be gone today.

Tuesday
We will take notes on a handout called "Ice Ages". Honors students who were gone should read the text section titled "Causes of Glaciation" (pages 174-177).

Wednesday
Students will take notes as Benson explains various ways that the last ice age impacted Montana.If you miss this class be sure to open the "Wednesday" links below and carefully read the web pages.

Thursday
We will watch a short video and then prepare for the test. If you were gone, scroll down and watch the "video of the week". A review sheet will be provided or you can print out a copy here .

Friday
The test over groundwater, surface water, glaciers, ice ages has been moved to Monday. Today, students will go to the Little Theater for a presentation on the Montana Conservation Corp.

Below: Important Links - Be sure to check them out if you missed class.

Monday: Glacial Landforms

Monday: Striations

Tuesday: Milankovitch Cycles

Wednesday: Ice Ages changed the Missouri River

Wednesday: Flathead Lake

Wednesday: Snake Butte in North-Central Montana

Question of the Week: What caused the formation of Glacial Lake Missoula, and how did the outburst floods cause the Scablands of Washington?

Video of the Week