For the next week we’ll continue to get ready for FCATs . Your science FCAT will be Monday March 5th and covers material from grades 6, 7 and 8. Additional study materials can be found on the Home Study page, scroll down the right-hand sidebar.

I know this can be a stressful time so getting enough sleep and eating properly are very important to your success. Get in the habit right now. You need a minimum 8-9 hours of sleep and a good breakfast.

Also, remember that much of the test, tests your thinking skills, not your memorization skills. You will have the science reference sheet that you’ve been using all year long to help you. (They’ll provide you one for your test but if you’ve lost yours you can print another copy from the Home Study page, look under class documents on the sidebar.)

In addition the science FCAT builds on your reading, math and writing skills; skills you’ve been developing for a long time. Questions will also be similar in format to your other FCAT tests and you can apply the same test taking strategies. For some questions you don’t even need to know any science; the answers will be in the reading, or you’ll just need to do some simple math.

We’re not going to learn 3 years of science in the next week, so don’t try to do that at home either. All we’re going to do is try to refresh your memory. You can do this at home too by reviewing the vocabulary and taking sample tests.

Just do your best.