Parents and students :
Begining this week, you will be receiving powerschool codes and passwords through the U.S. Postal Service. These will enable you to access your students’ grades as the teacher inputs them.
Please e-mail me with any questions or concerns you may have.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Today , students will get an overview of the characteristics of Living Things, including the six characteristics.
Wednesday
Today, we will look at the specific vocabulary words relating to this section. Students will be asked to complete a small project involving these words.
Thursday
Today, we will visit the Lab. Each student needs to bring his or her lab notebook into the lab to record activity.
Friday
This day is reserved for a formal assessment of information taught during this week. We have reserved the lab for Friday in addition to Thursday, so we may be going back to the lab to complete any unfinished business in there.Homework is due today.
Terms to learn are:
cell
stimulus
homeostasis
asexual reproduction
sexual reproduction
DNA
heredity
metabolism
These terms will be covered in class. The student is responsible for notetaking involving these terms and knowing each term for assessment.
This is a short week. Students are asked to name the characteristics of Living Things ( in their own words) and describe each of these characteristics.(In their own words) Give examples along with your explanation. This entire assignment should be about three paragraphs long. It may be typed or handwritten.
Do you think a river is a living thing? Why or why not? Use your science book to think about this.
Shelby County is requiring all students to keep a Science notebook. Most of the students have purchased these notebooks from me at a cost of .60 each. If your child has not purchased the notebook , please have them do so this week. We will be taking these to the Science lab to record our experiments.
This week, students need to find ten items to measure using ten different measurement instruments. They need to illustrate the instrument, along with the item that they are measuring. An example would be using a graduated cylinder to measure a liquid used in an experiment. Simply illustrate the graduated cylinder and demonstrate how that measuring would occur. At least five liquids and five solids need to be measured. If temperature is one of the measurements being conducted, that counts as a solid.
This week we will focus on finishing up Chapter One. Last week was a busy one with all classes focusing on The Scientific Method, doing foldables , making observations and creating our own Scientific Methods. Homework was collected on Friday, as well as projects completed in class.
Monday
I will not be at school today . Mr. Griffin will have the students complete workbook pages from Chapter One. Each student needs to come to class with the Science workbook and their textbook.
Tuesday
Today we will talk about models and the purpose that they serve in the science world.We’ll learn about their many uses and come up with our own examples of the usefulness of models in the real world and in science research.
Wednesday
We will spend the next few days exploring methods of measurement. We’ll discuss ( at length) the concepts of area ,volume, mass and density and talk about units of measurement (inches, feet, yard, centimeter, milimeter and meter).
Thursday
Today we will differentiate between units of measurment for solids and liquids and find out about all of the tools of measurement. Knowing how and when to use these various measuring devices is crucial to the scientific endeavor.
Friday
Today we will have an assessment that will incorporate all the students have been taught so far in Chapter One.
By now, many of you have e-mailed me per my request through your child. Having your e-mail address is a convenient way for me to communicate with you in a timely manner.Thank you.
Your child should be coming to class with their 1 1/2 inch Science binder with page dividers.They should have colored pencils in a pencil packet at the front of the binder. Your child has been asked to purchase a lab notebook (.60) that is a new requirement of SCS for all science students.Please feel free to e-mail me with any concerns or comments you may have regarding your child.
This will be an extremely busy week for students.There will be three assessments given this week.The first test, on Wednesday will be on lab safety. Students must score a 90 or better to be able to go to the lab with their Science class.
There will be a Chapter One vocabulary test on Thursday, covering the vocabulary from last Wednesday.
On Friday, students will be given an assessment on The Scientific Method, which we have reviewed all week.
We will review two Scientific concepts discussed in class this week. They are :
The fact that temperature facilitates the metamorphosis in states of matter.
The concept of efficiency and the ratio of energy input and output.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
During class this week we discussed the failure of experiments to confirm hypothesis. I have asked the students to think about the fact that you may learn more from an experiment that negates your hypothesis than one that confirms it. A failed experiment requires your thinking to change… and that’s progress.
These concepts were discussed at length.
The lesson plans for the week are as follows:
Monday
Bellringer- This will be a TCAP review question from Chapter One.
*Review Lab Safety for test on Wednesday.
*We will read pages 7&8 in the text and discuss the scientific role in careers.
*The Scientific Method will be introduced today.Beginning on page 9 of the text.
Tuesday
*Bellringer- TCAP review question from Chapter One
*Today we will create foldables on The Scientific Method.
*Introduce the use of mnemonics to remember the steps involved in the Scientific Method. Students will create their own mnemonic for these steps.
*Note taking on The Scientific Method.
Wednesday
Bellringer- TCAP review question for Chapter One.
All students are required to take ( and pass with a grade of 90 or above) the Lab Safety Test before they are able to participate in Lab with the Science class. Students were given the Lab Safety rules with the Science Lab Safety Contract they had signed for homework by the 17th.
Complete foldable on the Scientific Method.
Students will be asked to “create” their own problems using the Scientific Method to solve them.
Thursday
Today, students will be given an assessment of all the information taught so far. This will include the components of investigation, the characteristics of a scientist, the necessity of science in our world ( ie. what do scientists do to improve our world?pages 6&7 in the text), The Scientific Method , its’components, an explanation of each, and an example of each. Students will be asked to design an experiment and label the steps according to the scientific method.
Friday
Today, we will visit the Science Lab for the first time. ( As long as each student has acheived a 90 or above on their Lab Safety test)
In the lab , we will look at the microscope and identify parts of it. We will also become familiar with lab equipment. Students will record a lab in their lab notebooks and label a diagram of the microscope for their appendix in their lab notebook.
Students will complete a worksheet on Lab equipment.
Students were given their homework assignment on Wednesday, August 16th. This homework is a three paragraph essay on Science careers. The specifics are addressed in the handout. The deadline for this assignment is the beginning of class on Friday, August 24th.
