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