Welcome!

The purpose of this website is to provide updates and information regarding our class. If you have any questions or concerns, email me at keelymcgee@clovisusd.k12.ca.us.  Please allow 24 hours for a response.

"A man's mistakes are his portals of discovery." --James Joyce

Upcoming Events

Please keep an eye on your email for important information from CUSD regarding school closures and upcoming curriculum access for your child.

Parents can place orders on the Scholastic website using my class code of RWH2C  .  This is helpful, as  orders placed in this manner help to earn our class discounts on books for the room 18 classroom library!  (Temporarily suspended due to school closures.)

Links

-Khan Academy is a helpful online tool for students and parents to use at home.  Follow this link to my account at  Khan Academy, then use the search tool to find the topic of your choosing. Students are able to earn points toward my mastery challenge.

-To join my remind app, text @room1856 to 81010 .  I post frequent reminders and classwork and homework updates on remind.

-Students have access to my Google Classroom, and can access it at home through the following link: https://classroom.google.com/c/NDEwMTU2ODYyNzRa

-NEW:  Check out my Prodigy digital classroom!  I have added new challenges to my classroom.  Students can access this instructional math game at https://play.prodigygame.com/ , or click this link, Prodigy class code 50204E.  Highest ranking class members (5th or 6th) will receive a special reward at the end of the school year!

-6th Qin Dynasty Articles and Questions.  Stanford Qin Dynasty

-5th & 6th Earhart article Earhart Article  Please summarize this article in a well-developed paragraph.  Subject, key people, crucial details.  WWWWW

-5th State report guideline can be found on my Google Classroom.

Spelling Words for the Week of ... 

5th/6th

biologist: A scientist involved in the study of living things.

cell: The smallest structural and functional unit of an organism. Typically too small to see with the unaided eye, it consists of a watery fluid surrounded by a membrane or wall. Depending on their size, animals are made of anywhere from thousands to trillions of cells.

development: (in biology) The growth of an organism from conception through adulthood, often undergoing changes in chemistry, size and sometimes even shape. 

ecosystem: A group of interacting living organisms — including microorganisms, plants and animals — and their physical environment within a particular climate. Examples include tropical reefs, rainforests, alpine meadows and polar tundra. The term can also be applied to elements that make up some an artificial environment, such as a company, classroom or the internet.

embryo: The early stages of a developing organism, or animal with a backbone, consisting only one or a few cells. As an adjective, the term would be embryonic — and could be used to refer to the early stages or life of a system or technology.

engineer: A person who uses science to solve problems. As a verb, to engineer means to design a device, material or process that will solve some problem or unmet need. (v.) To perform these tasks, or the name for a person who performs such tasks.

engineering: The field of research that uses math and science to solve practical problems.

environment: The sum of all of the things that exist around some organism or the process and the condition those things create. Environment may refer to the weather and ecosystem in which some animal lives, or, perhaps, the temperature and humidity (or even the placement of things in the vicinity of an item of interest).

evolve: (adj. evolving) To change gradually over generations, or a long period of time. In living organisms, such an evolution usually involves random changes to genes that will then be passed along to an individual’s offspring. These can lead to new traits, such as altered coloration, new susceptibility to disease or protection from it, or different shaped features (such as legs, antennae, toes or internal organs).

extinct: An adjective that describes a species for which there are no living members.

gene: (adj. genetic) A segment of DNA that codes, or holds instructions, for a cell’s production of a protein. Offspring inherit genes from their parents. Genes influence how an organism looks and behaves.

generation: A group of individuals (in any species) born at about the same time or that are regarded as a single group. Your parents belong to one generation of your family, for example, and your grandparents to another. Similarly, you and everyone within a few years of your age across the planet are referred to as belonging to a particular generation of humans.

genetic: Having to do with chromosomes, DNA and the genes contained within DNA. The field of science dealing with these biological instructions is known as genetics. People who work in this field are geneticists.

hue: A color or shade of some color.

insect: A type of arthropod that as an adult will have six segmented legs and three body parts: a head, thorax and abdomen. There are hundreds of thousands of insects, which include bees, beetles, flies and moths.

melanin: A family of pigments found in all types of animals. They are responsible for the dark coloring in such things as feathers, hair, fur, skin and scales.

mutation: (v. mutate) Some change that occurs to a gene in an organism’s DNA. Some mutations occur naturally. Others can be triggered by outside factors, such as pollution, radiation, medicines or something in the diet. A gene with this change is referred to as a mutant.

organism: Any living thing, from elephants and plants to bacteria and other types of single-celled life.

pigment: A material, like the natural colorings in skin, that alter the light reflected off of an object or transmitted through it. The overall color of a pigment typically depends on which wavelengths of visible light it absorbs and which ones it reflects. For example, a red pigment tends to reflect red wavelengths of light very well and typically absorbs other colors. Pigment also is the term for chemicals that manufacturers use to tint paint.

population: (in biology) A group of individuals from the same species that lives in the same area.

selection: In biology, a process in which environmental or genetic influences determine.

tissue: Made of cells, it is any of the distinct types of materials that make up animals, plants or fungi. Cells within a tissue work as a unit to perform a particular function in living organisms. Different organs of the human body, for instance, often are made from many different types of tissues.

trait: A characteristic feature of something. (in genetics) A quality or characteristic that can be inherited.

transplant: (in medicine) The replacement of a tissue or an organ with that from another organism. It is also a term for the material that will be transplanted.

veterinarian: A doctor who studies or treats animals (not humans).