This week students will be taking their science CRT (Criterion Referenced Test). This is a state test written by a committee of teachers to test how well students have grasped the state core curriculum. We reviewed like crazy, and I'm very hopeful that they did great on the test! We probably won't get scores back until summer time.
For the first few days post CRT we will wind down with a movie about the supervolcano underneath Yellowstone. It's a made-for-TV movie and does have some dramatic scenes in it involving people in a pretty stressful situation, which is why I needed parent permission to have the students watch it. It is a "documentary type" show that depicts what it would be like if the supervolcano under Yellowstone were to erupt (it's shot as though it is a current event - although it has not yet happened). It fits well with our plate tectonics unit and should be a good reward for having worked so hard for CRTs. Hopefully it doesn't scare them too much... just a little... enough to help them respect Earth's ability to make human life more than a little chaotic.
