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10/29 -1 1/2
For this week we will be moving from the topic of classification of living things to biotic/abiotic factors of ecosystems. We will check and finish our interactive notebook pages and complete a lab on something called a dichotomous key, which is a system for dividing living organisms into like groups. Following that lab activity we will begin biotic/abiotic factors in the ecosystem. Wednesday is a no book, no book bag day but students should still bring pencils/pens. We will play the Oh Deer! game and do some more station work but for this topic, we will complete our interactive notebook (INB) pages first since the students have said that would make it better for them. All homework this week will be unfinished class work. If students finish their work, they have no homework. 10/1 - 10/5 This week we finish our stations for basic skills and begin learning the difference between inference and observations. Both are necessary in science but they do operate differently. There will be a quiz at the end of the observation/inference mini lab at the end of the week. 9/24 - /9/28 This week we are working on reviewing our science skills that we have previously learned and getting to know our classmates better. We are practicing using the triple beam balance, ruler and stopwatch. We are taking data on our blinking rates, analyzing the workings of Alfie the Drinking Bird, questioning whether we are right-brained or left-brained and learning the root meanings of words. This is accomplished through a series of 8 stations within the classroom. There will not be much homework this week (yay!). 9/17-9/21 We have begun our first lab which is to learn about safety in the lab class. Students will watch a video about safety, Work within their groups and the class as a whole to create rules for a safe work environment. They will analyze some vignettes to determine safe and unsafe procedures. Finally, each student will create a poster illustrating one of the safety rules. The directions for this project will be found on the edmodo site (edmodo.com) along with the exact due date for each class. At the conclusion of this project, we will move on to testing simple science skills in a series of eight station activities and begin building our portfolios. This week we are working on refreshing our memories about how science works and how it can be connected to our other subjects and our daily lives. WE worked in groups to put together puzzle pieces. We then got more "data" and had to fit another puzzle piece into our conclusion. Students connected this activity in science to the scientific method and to linear vs. non-linear functions in math. Following the puzzle activity, we learned why we take notes and also a template for organizing our notes to make studying easier. Students should be using the Cornell notes template in their science notebooks daily. They are also encouraged to use it in all classes to become better organized. To get started, students should read the article: Noticing Mistakes Boosts Learning , which was distributed in class. Students should annotate their article in preparation for the assignment on edmodo (How science affects our daily lives). Once they annotate, students should read the article a second time and put their important information in the appropriate place in their Cornell notes template (in their notebooks). We will review next class. Finally this week, students should log onto edmodo.com and use their code to join their class. Once they join, they will find an assignment due next week (dates will vary) in which they will read two more articles and connect all three articles to science in their daily lives. |