Baishan AWS Weekly – Sep. 25, 2020

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

Baishan AWS is partnered with Annie Wright Schools (AWS) in Tacoma, Washington and prepares students for higher education abroad.  Our Weekly Update is an opportunity for us to share all of the great learning experiences that take place both in and outside of our classroom, and is a testament to our commitment to communication with our parents as well as the community.

Baishan AWS, Qingdao, China  

From the Director 

 

1 - Green Tie 10th Grader Henry competes in a running event.

 

2 - ASDAN China logo

Mid-Autumn Festival

On behalf of Baishan AWS, I would like to wish each student and family a very safe and enjoyable Mid-Autumn Festival Holiday.  This is a time to celebrate family, whether near or far.

 

ASDAN Mathematics Competition  ASDAN

Several of our students are participating in the ASDAN Math Competition this Saturday, September 26th here at Baishan AWS.  We wish these participating students much luck and and appreciate their willingness to challenge themselves.

 

Parent-teacher conferences

Families will receive more details later, but please be expecting more information about parent-teacher meetings on Thursday, October 15th.   Ms. Carol Hu will be contacting parents about their scheduled times when they can get feedback about their child's performances in classes.

 

Sports Day 

The Annual Sports Day will follow on that Friday, October 16th.  In addition to the athletic competitions, each program will represent a specific Chinese ethnic minority.   This year, Baishan AWS will be representing the Dulong ethnicity.  Students are encouraged to plan their clothing outfits in advance.  Once the celebrations of the ethnicities are over for the day, the students will wear their Baishan AWS P.E. uniform and compete in the following activities:    

•         5 running exercise

•         high jump

•         Stationary Long Jump

•         Running long jump 

•         Shot put

•         Soft ball of team of 6

 

-- Lorne Brandt, Program Director 

Mathematics with Mr. Guo

 

Grade 9 students learned names of polygons in English and remembered these new words by using their favorite video game. Then we studied quadrilaterals, especially special parallelograms, their definitions, properties, and conditions. 

Grade 10 students reviewed three different methods to solve system of equations. Then they learned how to graph system of inequalities. After the Autumn break, Grade 10 students will participate in PSAT.

Students worked well in class, almost everyone completed their homework task on time. Well done!

 

Grade 11 continued exploring Exponential and Logarithms functions. We graphed exponential functions by plotting points and logarithms functions by reflecting the exponential graph. Then we studied properties of logarithms. These properties give logarithms functions a wide range of applications, as we will learn after the Autumn break.

English Language Arts with Ms. Jia and Ms. Roth

 

Students in ELA took time this week to have student-driven discussions of the texts we are reading in class. Ninth grade students discussed the hero's journey myth structure, whether there are real-life heroes, and if we all might be on our own hero's journeys. In tenth grade, students considered the real people Caitlin and Martin from I Will Always Write Back. Discussion centered around the decisions they made, whether or not it's possible to be friends across such long distances, and the nature of helping others. The eleventh-grade discussion focused on myths and fairytales that we've read in class, why they're so enduring, how the features compare, contrast, and intersect, and how religious theories and important lessons are communicated in stories. Ms. Jenn stayed out of the discussions as much as possible and let the students share their own ideas with each other.    

    

Physical and Health Education with Coach Faamamafa

 

This week we continue working on our volleyball technique and fitness games to allowed the students to play in a team and communicate to each other while playing.  I have also focus more on student’s fitness training- so we get on the track this week to test their speed and their strength at the same time. Mostly focus on developing basic technique of running, jumping, how to throw, catches etc. 

Chemistry with Ms. Jiajia

 

3 - setting up molecules and reactions by using models , discussing bonds

 

This week, Grade 11 students revised what they learned about the topic of atomic structure and completed a test for this topic including a self-reflection.Then we moved to a new topic “stoichiometry”. Students discussed chemical reactions and bonds by setting atom models. Students tried to figure out the rules of balancing equations and understand the difference between coefficients and subscripts. After the holiday, students will carry out 2 labs -flame tests and types of different reactions.

Physics with Mr. Kytle

 

4 - The Fibonacci Sequence    Fibonacci

 

5 - The Fibonacci Sequence in nature. What do you think about this? 

 

6 - The Fibonacci Sequence at different scales. 

We understand our own relationship to the Universe when we identify patterns at different scales. This week the students examined several different patterns and how they are represented across different scales. One of the most famous patterns is the Golden Spiral which is also known as the Fibonacci Sequence. We can see this pattern when examining the Spiral Galaxy, Hurricanes, and even in the shape of a snail’s shell. We will continue to look for such patterns in the coming weeks.  

Humanities with Ms. Brauer

 

The geographers are deep into data-rich maps this week, studying how cartograms convey complex data. Three groups are analyzing different data, and will report their findings at the end of the week. 

 

Our historians got their day in court: Roman court! We used actual Roman cases from historical primary sources for our legal reenactment, so once our jurors made their decisions about runaway pigs, injured slaves, and earthquake-damaged homes, we could travel back in time to study how the real Romans ruled, and why. 

 

Our small but mighty AP crew will already appreciate the holiday – they’ve had an intense week! They did well on their first unit exam, but their first FRQ (free-response question) hit hard, so they’ll be working on rewrites. Their skills are right on track for September, and I’m already excited about the progression they’ll see in their analysis and writing skills between today and May. 

 

Visual Arts with Mr. Brandt

 

7 - Blue Tie 9th Grade Jessica's work-in-progress value study on found paper.

 

8 - An example of a still-life. 

The Drawing students are finishing their first summative project of drawing one or two items on found paper and will begin applying these skills to a larger still life that incorporates many items.  Students will be challenged to bring in personal items that can be incorporated into the project.

 

The 10th and 11th grade students will continue to develop their first painting by applying monochromatic values with an accent color.  These will be due after the break so make sure you check back to our next weekly update.

 

Chinese Language with Ms. Zheng

 

This week, the Green Tie 10th Grade students began studying the culture of the Spring and Autumn Period, the first peak period of cultural development in Chinese history. The Spring and Autumn Period was the cradle of Chinese feudal culture, and the hundreds of the philosophies, such as Confucianism, Taoism and Legalists, which were produced in the field of thought and culture, had a profound influence on the splendid culture of the Chinese nation for thousands of years and made great contributions to human culture. Confucius, as the first saint to create Confucian culture, put forward the core of "benevolence", the realization of 'benevolence' to be tolerant of others "Do not do to others what you do not want."

 

While learning, discussing, and understanding the classics of Confucianism, the students find the correct learning methods and attitudes by studying the analects, and reflect on how introspection can improve their cultural cultivation and moral character.

 

An important part of modern Chinese words is verbs. This week the red Tie G11th students learned about verb categories, clutch verbs, willing verbs, and verb overlap. By imitating verbs that show a series of different movements to understand the grammatical meaning of verbs, combined with group discussion and shared learning, to explore the existing academic problems of verbs, to find answers.

 

Chinese Studies with Mr. Zhan

 

This week, the Blue Tie G9 students continue to wander into the world of Chinese classical literature. Everyone followed Zhang Dai to the Lake Heart Pavilion to see the snow. There is a maverick soul in the vast and pure world of ice and snow. Students are also exploring, from Zhang Dai's "obsessed" as if to see his high-quality interest and the remembering of the homeland. Then, across time and space, the students came to Gumizhou (Shandong Zhucheng city) and met Su Shi, who was drinking all night. His poem "When the Moon Is There" made the students move. Everyone sings and plays again, shares their deepest verses, and talks with Su Shi. Forever classics are passed down in this small classroom.

University Guidance with Ms. Du

 

This week, students in grades 10 and 11 learned about the career cluster and further understood its role through a video introduction. Next, students learned that to choose the right major, they should first have a deep self-awareness, including talent, character, ability, values, etc. In order to let the children deepen their understanding of the appropriate field, an interesting psychological test was conducted in class, with a total of 6 questions. Each student thought carefully and made a choice according to his own preference. After the test, the children were shown the occupation fields  and the specific majors included in each field corresponding to different results. Some students even found that they were not only suitable for the business field, but also had great potential in the science field. Finally, each student answered five questions prepared for exploring themselves.

Contact Us

 

Please feel free to contact us!

 

BAISHAN AWS

Shazikou Dongjiang (Baishan Campus), Laoshan District, Qingdao, China 266102

Tel:  +86 88815655

 

 

Visit us on the web at www.AWS.BAISHANSCHOOL.cn

 

http://www.aws.baishanschool.cn/