Report Cards Have Arrived!

Your child's report card was sent this week and most students received theirs on Thursday. If you have not received one by Saturday, please contact the office to let them know. You can also use your Pinnacle log in information for your student to check what their report card was too.



This week, we have done some review of cells and begun some inquiry into stem cells. The students have lots of questions, but have gathered lots of knowledge. Please talk with your child about what they have learned in class, it will really help their understanding. We are also closing the week with Cell Division, but going more in depth next week. This is a big topic for students that they need for high school.



On Thursday next week, we will be having a midterm, but on the Science Binder. I have been telling the students since Wednesday about this so that they get their Binder in order and are acquainted with it.



Also, students received new planners yesterday and they should be using them in each class.



Next Friday is a District Professional Development day so there is no school for students (2/6/09).



Have a great weekend!



Monday, February 2

Science
Objective:
At the completion of this activity, the participant will name the phases of mitosis.
At the completion of this activity, the participant will create a comic to explain and teach others the phases of mitosis.

L2.p1C Describe growth and development in terms of increase in cell number, cell size and/or cell products.

Students will continue with Thursday's lesson from last week on Cell Division. They will be creating a comic strip to recap what they have learned.



Science Connections

We will be completing another following directions activity and then finishing the hydrogen car and the wind mill.



Tuesday, February 3

Science
Objective:
At the completion of this activity, the participant will demonstrate understanding that cell growth, development, and division is a consequence of the following variables: increase in cell number, cell size, and cellular products.

At the completion of this activity, the participant will understand that unlike non-living things, cells do not have the ability to increase in size indefinitely.

B2.1C Explain cell division, growth, and development as a consequence of an increase in cell number, cell size, and /or cell products.

Students will be turning in their comic if they have not already. We will be going on to learning about the surface area to volume ratio of a cell. Students will be calculating the surface area, the volume and then the ratio of a cell and then creating a model of each the cells during class. This will be a two day lesson.



Wednesday, February 4

Science

Objective:
At the completion of this activity, the participant will demonstrate understanding that cell growth, development, and division is a consequence of the following variables: increase in cell number, cell size, and cellular products.

At the completion of this activity, the participant will understand that unlike non-living things, cells do not have the ability to increase in size indefinitely.

B2.1C Explain cell division, growth, and development as a consequence of an increase in cell number, cell size, and /or cell products.

See Tuesday's lesson.

Science Connections

Students will complete another following directions activity and then we will be going to the library to pick out books to bring with us for silent reading in class. Students will also be setting an AR goal and signing up for Go For The Gold.



Thursday, February 5

Science

There will be a short midterm evaluation using the Science Binder that your child has been working on all school year. If the Binder has been maintained and kept organized, it will be a great help to them today on the midterm. (20 min)

We will be looking at some video of what is going on in labs with stem cell research. We will be watching a Scientific America video with Alan Alda and taking Lancer Notes.
http://www.pbs.org/saf/1209/video/watchonline.htm

Friday, February 6

No School for students.

2nd Semester

Well, grades are all in and the grades are final. It is time to focus on the second half of the year. Can you believe that our kids are now closer to 9th grade than they are to being in 7th grade? This second half of the year goes so quickly.



I will be out of the school on Monday and Tuesday this week. Please talk to your child about what you expect them to do while their is a Guest Teacher in their Science class. I am happy to say that the Guest Teacher in my room is Mrs. Lawrence, a familiar face. I have spent a lot of time planning for these two days so that they go well for her and for your student, thank you for your help in setting the expectations with your child.



We are beginning a Unit 4 this week on Medical Biotechnology.



Monday, January 26
Science
Objective: At the completion of this activity, participants will be able to review the organelles and functions of a cell.

L2.p2A Describe how organisms sustain life by obtaining, transporting, transforming, releasing and eliminating matter and energy.

Students will complete their rubric for their project on Biofuel Advertising and turn them in. Then students will read a short one page review about the function of cells that we learned about in Unit 2. Students will read with their A/B partner at their table. Then they will work together as a table to play "Showdown" to review the article. After playing Showdown, students will then answer questions from a worksheet about cells. These questions are due tomorrow.

Tuesday, January 27

Science

Objective: At the completion of this activity, participants will be able to employ key unit vocabulary.

Students will work together to correct the worksheet from yesterday to correct. Ms. Lawrence will collect this. Students will then work on learning this unit's vocabulary by completing Word Boxes. Words will be found on the Internet in class. The assignment will be due tomorrow.

Science Connections

Students will discuss wind and air. They will have a writing activity upon entry into the classroom and then an article on Wind Power. There will be an Exit Quiz on the reading to check for comprehension.

Wednesday, January 28

Science

Objective:

At the completion of this activity, participants will be able to write a summary explaining their understanding of stem cells.

At the completion of this activity, participants will be able to define stem cell in their own words.

L2.p1C Describe growth and development in terms of increase in cell number, cell size, and or/cell products.

B2.1C Explain cell division, growth, and development as a consequence of an increase in cell number, cell size, and/or cell products.

B2.4A Explain that living things can be classified based on structural, embryological, and molecular (relatedness of DNA sequence) evidence.

Students will begin by turning in their Word Boxes from yesterday. We will spend a few minutes setting up our Science Binder for Unit 4. Then we will begin by viewing a short video on stem cells. Students will then create a list of what they know about stem cells. We will then, read an article on stem cells. Then we will go back to our list and circle what we found to be true. We will end with our Lancer Notes and writing a summary about our learning. Students will also with their group and then as a class vote on the best definition of stem cell.

Thursday, January 29

Science

Objective:

At the completion of this activity, the participant will name the phase of mitosis.

At the completion of this activity, the participant will create a comic to explain and teach others the phases of mitosis.

L2.p1C Describe growth and development in terms of increase in cell number, cell size and/or cell products.

We will review the phases of mitosis through the use of our Science Binder. We have the Mnemonic devise written down to help us remember the phases of mitosis. Then we will read the text book on Cell Development. Students will review the skit we learned about Mitosis. Then they will create their own comic to teach others the phases of mitosis. Comic is due tomorrow.

Science Connections

Friday, January 30

Science

L2.p1C Describe growth and development in terms of increase in cell number, cell size, and or/cell products.

B2.1C Explain cell division, growth, and development as a consequence of an increase in cell number, cell size, and/or cell products.

B2.4A Explain that living things can be classified based on structural, embryological, and molecular (relatedness of DNA sequence) evidence.

Objective:

At the completion of this activity, the participant will be able to practice the idea of cell specialization through correctly organizing varying stages of cells.

At the completion of this activity, the participants will be able to give their own definition of cell specialization.

Students will begin with reviewing what they already know about cell specialization. They may look in their Science Binder to unit 2 for assistance. Then we will list as a class, everything that we know about cell specialization. Then with our A/B partner, we will read the article, "4h. Specialized Structures and Cells". Next we will go back through our list of cell specialization and circle what we discovered true from the article. Then we will use our Lancer Notes to write down notes and write a summary. Then starting as small groups and going on to a class vote, we will vote on a definition for cell specialization.

Brrrr!

It has certainly been a cold week, cold enough that we had today off from school. How do the people in Minnesota and the Dakota's do it? Well, since we missed school today and Science Binders and late work were due today, we will be collecting all this on Monday. Hopefully that will give some students some extra time this weekend at home to get caught up.

This week, we are going to be looking at global warming and its connection to the car industry and then doing some research on biofuels for vehicles. What is the current research and how does Detroit need to react to this information? Students will be creating an advertisement on a biofuel that they have been assigned to research with a partner. While they are working on this, I will be interviewing students, one-on-one, to assess their knowledge of gasoline production, the internal combustion engine, global warming and their knowledge of their biofuel.

Students have all of Friday off. It is teacher records day.

Have a great weekend and stay warm!

Here's the schedule:
Science
Monday, January 19
Objectives:
At the completion of this activity, participants should be able to... write a definition of global warming.
At the completion of this activity, participants should be able to... identify causes and effect of global warming.

E2.3A Explain how carbon exists in different forms such as limestone, carbon dioxide, carbonic acid and animals within Earth systems and how those forms can be beneficial or harmful to humans.
E2.4B Explain how the impact of human activities on the environment can be understood through the analysis of interactions between the four Earth systems.

Today we will be learning about global warming and how Detroit's current trends of cars affect it. We will begin with a vocabulary/prereading activity called "Word Splash". Then we will brainstorm what we know about global warming. There will be a short Bill Nye video on Global Warming and then students will read an article from Super Science, "Planet Disaster. We will then go back to our brainstorming list and circle the things from the video and the article that we found to be true. Students will then write a short summary on what they know about global warming.

Tuesday, January 20 (Inauguration Day)
Science
Objectives:
At the completion of this activity, participants should be able to... identify causes of carbon dioxide distribution in the atmosphere.
At the completion of this activity, participants should be able to...accurately record data from an experiment on a data sheet.

E2.3A Explain how carbon exists in different forms such as limestone, carbon dioxide, carbonic acid, and animals within Earth systems and how those forms can be beneficial or harmful to humans.

Our lab today will be finding where there is carbon dioxide that causes global warming. Again, students must have their assignments from Monday completed and turned in to be able to participate in today's lab. I have been reminding them of this all last week and yesterday.

Science Connections


Wednesday, January 21
Science
Objectives:
At the completion of this activity, participants should be able to...compile information into a flyer to convince others that their biofuel is the best purchase.
At the completion of this activity, participants should be able to...differentiate between the benefits of fossil fuel and biofuel use.

Students will be pairing up with a partner to begin their research on a biofuel for cars. Then each group will pick a card that has a biofuel on it. This will be their assigned biofuel to research. We will be using lap tops in the classroom to find information. Students will be creating an advertisement for their biofuel to convince others to purchase their product. Students will have today and tomorrow to research and create their advertisement-flyer. Students will receive a rubric today so they know how they will be graded and what is expected to be included in their project.

Thursday, January 22
Science
Objectives:
At the completion of this activity, participants should be able to...compile information into a flyer to convince others that their biofuel is the best purchase.
At the completion of this activity, participants should be able to...differentiate between the benefits of fossil fuel and biofuel use.

Students will continue their research on their biofuel today. Today is the last day for research and creating their flyer. I will be taking students into the hallway to talk to them about their knowledge about the biofuels unit- gasoline production, internal combustion engine, global warming and biofuel. Students will be presenting their flyer to the class on Monday.

Science Connections

Snow, Snow, Snow

Here it is, Friday evening, and here is the snow again. We sure have had a lot of snowy weekends. Well, better for learning by not missing school so we will continue to take advantage of it.

This week, we finished up the Unit 3 Assessments except for a couple of people. We will try to get them finished by next week. We took a day to complete the test reflections which should be included with the test grades by the end of the weekend. We have completed and turned in Biofuel Word Boxes and began the Gasoline Production reading that we will finish on Monday. Ms. Cagle also showed us her website all about herself so the kids could get to know her. It is linked to the class blog on Friday, January 9, if you would like to check it out.

We've had some good discussions about the Big Three Bailout and gasoline. We will continue with these next week.

Have a great weekend.

Next week's schedule:

Monday, January 12
Science
E2.2B Identify differences in the origin and use of renewable and nonrenewable sources of energy.

Today, we will continue reading the Gasoline Production article. We will be using Lancer Notes and answering questions. The questions are due tomorrow.

Science Connections

Tuesday, January 13
Science
P4.2D Explain why all the stored energy in gasoline does not transform to mechanical energy of a vehicle.
We will finish yesterday's lesson and put one last time into completing our Science Binder to be turned in on Friday.

Wednesday, January 14
We will be discussing the Four-Stroke Internal Combustion Engine. We will use our Power Teaching and a PowerPoint to learn about and draw the engine.

Thursday, January 15
Science
E2.3A Explain how carbon exists in different forms such as limestone (rock), carbon dioxide (gas), carbonic acid (water), and animals (life) within Earth systems and how those forms can be beneficial or harmful to humans.

E2.4B Explain how the impact of human activities on the environment can be understood through the analysis of interactions between the four Earth systems.

Today we will be learning about global warming and how Detroit's current trends of cars affect it. We will begin with the Bill Nye video clip on Global Warming. Next, students will complete a vocabulary/prereading activity called "Word Splash". Then they will read the article from Super Science, "Planet Disaster".

You can view the video clip on Global Warming below on Friday, January 16.


Friday, January 16
Science
E2.3A Explain how carbon exists in different forms such as limestone (rock), carbon dioxide (gas), carbonic acid (water), and animals (life) within Earth systems and how those forms can be beneficial or harmful to humans.

Our lab today will be finding where there is carbon dioxide that causes global warming. Again, students must have their assignment from Wednesday completed and turned in to be able to participate in today's lab.

Monday, January 19
Science
E2.2B Identify differences in the origin and use of renewable and nonrenewable sources of energy.

Today we will research biofuels. We will see a short video clip on biofuels and then we will spend the rest of the class period using laptops and researching different biofuels. This work is due at the end of the hour.

Science Connections

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone has had a good Winter Break with an extra day added in there :). Before Break, we finished our Unit on the Advanced Rock Cycle and took the assessment on Thursday, December 18th. There was an assembly that ran longer than expected that day so 7th hour has 30 more minutes to finish their assessment on Monday, January 5th. If your child missed the assessment, please remind your child to take care of getting it finished after school at Homework Hub on Tuesday. I would like to be able to hand the assessment back to students quickly so I need all students to take the assessment quickly.

We will be beginning 2009 with a new WMU intern, Ms. Tracie Cagle. She came in and observed for two days before break started so most students have met her. Welcome to Milwood, Ms. Cagle!

If you did not know, we have been holding Homework Hub after school during the last two weeks of school. All the team teachers rotate through doing this and the schedule is posted in the team hallway each week. Students must sign in and also get a ditto slip that they fill out what they did and if it is finished or not. Then the teacher initials it and hands one sheet back to the student so they can show the parent/guardian and the teacher files the rest of the copies. Lots of kids have been taking advantage of this program either to just get their work done or get help.

We are now beginning our unit on Biofuels. What an opportune time to look at biofuels and how they affect Michigan and Detroit's Big Three! If you run across any information on the changes that Detroit's automakers are making to vehicles in order to improve sales please forward it to our classroom for discussion. Thanks.

Here's the schedule:

Monday, January 5
Science
Today, we will be getting our Science Binders in order so they are ready to turn in within the next two weeks for a final grade. We will also be beginning to see how the Biofuel unit looks and completing our Mind Map. In Science class, we are also responsible for reviewing hallway behaviors for the new year.

Tuesday, January 6
Science
Hopefully all assessments will be finished so that we can pass them back, look over them and then complete our test reflection and earning 1/2 points back.

Science Connections
We will be continuing the article on "Petroleum" that we began on Wednesday before break. (See December 17th and 19th).

Wednesday, January 7
Science
We will begin class with a reading strategy called, "BKWLQ". We will have a short article on what is occurring in MI currently with the automobile industry. Then we will create a list of things we already know about the situation with a partner at our table using the Kagan Strategy "Rally Table". Then we will share our ideas as a class using the team/student selector. After sharing, we will then go back to "Rally Table" to brainstorm all the things we want to learn about the topic during this unit. Again we will use the team/student selector to pick people to share their ideas for the class list. We will then read an article on the plight of the auto industry in Michigan independently and Rally Robin at our table ideas from the article. Students will complete an Exit Slip to leave class.

Thursday, January 8
Science
We will begin learning the vocabulary that will help us with this unit of study by completing Word Boxes. If they are completed in class today, students may turn them in, but they are due by tomorrow. Here are the words: biofuels, carbon dioxide, combustion, crude oil, emissions, global warming, hybrid, hydrogen, innovative, nonrenewable, oil refining, petroleum, renewable, and sustainable.

Science Connections


Friday, January 9

Science
We will begin our study of biofuels with a study of what the production of gasoline entails. Students will be given a primer, "How Gasoline is Made". We will work in pairs to read portions of the text and then come back together to take our Lancer Notes. This activity will be finished during Monday's lesson and there will be questions assigned to students to turn in on Tuesday, January 13th.

Ms. Cagle's Link: http://ms.cagle.tripod.com/