home

=Ms. "Cars" Carswell: 7th and 8th grade Life and Physical Science teacher at Holly Academy.=

Feel free to contact me with questions or comments at carswellk@hollyacademy.org.



==7th Grade Final Exam Review ==

== 8th Grade Final Exam Review  ==

**3/15-18/13 Flint Regional Science Fair**
[] media type="custom" key="21252670"
 * 3/11/13 Spring Break Camps:** There are many overnight and day camps available at the Michigan Science Center. Registration is now. Prices range of $20-50 dollars. Please visit the Michigan Science Center for more information.
 * 3/10/13 Comet Pan-Starrs!** Make sure you spend some time looking to the west near sunset each night. The Pan-Starrs comet is in the sky on it's closest approach to Earth this week. Pan-Starrs will not return to Earth's sky for **100,000,000**years! Take fifteen minutes to view this sun-grazer comet. Find more information on this comet at
 * 10/14/2012 Mission to the Edge of Space!** Mission Success! Felix makes a historical jump, breaking the speed of sound in freefall from the highest manned balloon flight in history. Watch Felix Baumgartner and the Red Bull Stratos team at [|www.redbullstratos.com]


 * 6/12/2012 PLEASE COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING SURVEY ABOUT ONLINE CLASSROOMS! media type="custom" key="19209870"**
 * 5/15/2012** This Sunday, May 20 the partial solar eclipse of 2012 will occur between 3:00pm and 8:00pm in the Flint/Detroit region. Also, start preparing for the Transit of Venus this June.
 * 3/21/2012** It's the first day of Spring and HA students make the news.
 * 3/18/2012 [[file:mscarswell/2012 Teacher of The Year Katherine Carswell.pdf|2012 Teacher of The Year Katherine Carswell.pdf]]**
 * 3/18/2012** Holly Academy Students take a multitude of awards at the 56th annual Flint Regional Science Fair. Congratulations HA science students!
 * 3/9/2012** Holly Academy Science class in the news!
 * 03/06-03/07** 8th Grade Explore Testing. Please take a minute to view the practice tests found on the 8th grade "assignments" page.
 * 11/14-11/17** Parent Teacher Conferences are scheduled for November 16th and 17th. Due to a state mandated professional development course, I will not be available on November 17th. I will __only__ be available at the November 16th scheduled conference time of 1:00pm to 8:00pm. I am available by appointment on November 18th. Thank you!
 * 10/15** Silver Sunglasses are the official 2011-2012 sunglasses!
 * 10/3** The blue sunglasses have been found broken! Interviews for the opening of "Official Cars' Sunglasses" will begin this week!!
 * 9/30** I'm sad to report that The Red Sunglasses have finally broken and found their way to the trash. On the bright side, a great pair of blue sunglasses have been found to fill the vacancy and are well on their way to becoming The Blue Sunglasses....

About me:
I graduated from [|Edwardsburg High School], in Edwardsburg, MI back in 2000. I went on to study Chemistry at [|Michigan State University]and graduated with a BA in Chemistry in 2005. In 2007 I completed my Teacher's Licensing Program at the [|University of Michigan Flint] in Secondary Chemistry and Secondary Biology Education. While at UM-Flint, I taught Intro Chemistry for Health Majors, Intro Chemistry Lab, and Organic Chemistry Labs I and II. Teaching at UM-Flint reinforced my desire to become an educator. I taught Chemistry, Biology, Biology B, and Environmental Science at Mishawaka [|Marian High School], in Mishawaka, IN. I am so excited to start another school year, here at Holly Academy. I will again be teaching the 7th and 8th grade science courses, and also the CSI: Holly Academy forensic science elective.

On a personal note, I have two little boys that make tons of messes, trouble, long nights, and life worth living! My oldest, Joseph, attends Lake Fenton Schools and is in the second grade. Paul, is three and attends W.O.W Headstart. My sons and I study yoga at Ohm Yoga studio and both boys are working towards joining a swim and dive team. I love to read, garden, ski, hike, go to the zoo, and be outside for any reason whatsoever. In the summer you can find my family and me at the beach in Petoskey, MI or playing golf, soccer, or swimming.

__**When Will I Use This?**__ As an educator in the field of science, I hear the question, “when am I ever going to use this?” at least once a day, __particularly at science fair time__. It is hard to provide an answer to this question when faced with a middle school student who cannot see the day to day value of electron emission spectrums or osmotic pressure. However, the main point of studying any aspect of science is to learn to think as a scientist. And that is exactly how I answer this question. Of course, the second question I hear is, “I don’t want to grow up to be a scientist.” Giving countless hours to this problem, I decided to research some of the career fields that students have shown an interest in pursuing. __ Law __ The Law School Admission Test, known as the LSAT, is the dreaded eight hour exam that undergraduate students complete for a standardized score that, along with lengthy admissions essays and letters of reference, determines admission to Law School. According to the Law School Admissions Council, that proctors and scores this test, undergraduate fields of study give a good indicator of how well a student will perform on this test. Of the top 28 performing undergraduate majors, the highest average LSAT score is achieved by Physics undergraduate majors. They also report that Engineering majors achieve the 4th highest scores, Chemistry majors the 6th highest scores, and Biology majors the 11th highest scores. Incidentally, Pre-law majors score 27th in ranking. __ Medicine __ According to the American Physics Institute, on last year’s Medical College Admission Test, the top scores were achieved, on average, by Physics undergraduate students. Accordingly, twelve of the top thirteen majors were: Engineering, Chemistry, Mathematics, Biochemistry, and Biology undergraduate studies. The fourteenth score went to “other majors” and the lowest scores were achieved by those in the pre-med major. __ Nursing __ Those entering the nursing field will hear about the competition for acceptance to the programs. According to Nurses Zone, a forum for registered nurses, the first round of applicants denied are those lacking the grades or quantity of Biology courses. “The applications aren’t even looked at if the Biology grades aren’t there.” __ Writing, Videography, Animation __ As the world moves toward a paperless society, computer skills become a necessity in any field, including creative arts. Computers behave predictably, with logical rules, mathematical equations, and linear patterns. Blogs, 3-D computer animation, and video-programming are the norm in these creative fields. Understanding the scientific tool that is a computer is crucial for using the tool effectively and excelling in the field. It is important to remember that ‘thinking like a scientist’ is a skill. This skill is critical for success in every field, career, and goal. The above statistics are only a small beginning in the piles of evidence to support this claim. It is important that as a society we remind our young people that logical problem solving skills are not just for scientists. As a last thought, I would leave you with a saying from my father, “Never censor your learning, knowledge is a tool. You don’t throw a hammer away because you always use a drill; the day you do that will be the day you need the hammer.” I know that science fair projects require an inordinate amount of time and effort from both the student and the parent, but this is another critical tool for our students’ future toolbox.

Statistics from: LSAT.org, AIP.org, NursesZone.com

20 (give or take ten) Questions:
Favorite color: green Favorite book: [|Dune], [|Glass Castle], anything by Barbara Kingsolver or Sherman Alexie, and [|To Kill a Mockingbird] Favorite song: anything by [|The Beatles] Middle name: Rose Favorite food: [|bacon] Coffee: strong with a little cream Favorite animal: [|cat] Fears/phobias: [|needles] and [|snakes] media type="custom" key="4538702"

Resources, Webpages, Groups, and Causes:
Ignite [|STEM] [|Shodor] [|Jing] [|Prezi] [|Michigan 7th Grade Science Expectations] [|Michigan Chemistry Content Expectations] [|Michigan Biology Content Expectations] [|Michigan Science Teachers Association] [|Indiana Biology Standards] [|Indiana Chemistry Standards] [|Indiana Environmental Science Standards] [|Eric's Promise] [|Indiana Junior Science and Humanities Symposium] [|Pandora Radio] [|NPR] [|Radiology Art] [|The New York Times-online] [|Joe Genius] NASA Kids Club


 * All statements on this site are my own and in no way reflect the policy of any other organization or institution. Any material obtained from outside sources is hyperlinked to the owner. All other material is my own and free to use in any classroom*