science 6,7,8
June 14--Students read and discussed lesson 13.3, "The Male and Female Reproductive Systems" and part of 13.4, "Pregnancy and Birth". I reviewed Catholic Church teaching with them that making use of the gifts of our human sexuality is holy in the context of marriage and made unholy by misuse apart from marriage. We also discussed the idea of love and that our actions, not our words, demonstrate authentic love. One way to authentically love a future spouse is to wait until marriage to engage in activities God has reserved for marriage. This was our last science class for this academic year.
June 13--field day today.
June 8--Students continued reading and discussing "The Circulatory System", found their own pulses, and watched a video about the heart and route of blood flow.
June 7--Middle school students were on a field trip today.
June 6--Students finished reading and discussing "Digestion" and began reading and discussing "The Circulatory System".
June 5--Students continued reading and discussing 12.1, "Digestion." We received a visit from one of last year's graduates. Students had the opportunity to ask questions about high school.
June 1--Students read and discussed the rest of lesson 11.6, "The Skin" and began lesson 12.1, "Digestion".
May 31--We corrected the worksheets for the topics of homeostasis and the skeletal system. We read and discussed lesson 11.6, "The Skin".
May 30--Students finished reading and discussing "The Muscular System" and completed worksheets for the topics of homeostasis and the skeletal system.
May 25--Today was our last nature journaling field trip to Hill Park.
May 24--Students read and discussed the first part of "The Muscular System" then practiced drawing birds, ducks, insects, and spiders in anticipation of tomorrow's field trip to Hill Park, our last naturalist field trip.
May 23--track meet
May 22--Students finished reading and discussing "Homeostasis" and read and discussed "The Skeletal System".
May 18--Middle school went on a field trip.
May 17--We corrected "System Interactions" Review and Reinforce and lesson quiz; began reading and discussing lesson 11.3, "Homeostatis".
May 16--Students finished reading and discussing lesson 11.2, "System Interactions"; we corrected worksheet 11.1, "Body Organization".
May 11, 12, 15--substitute teacher
May 10--Students took a test on chapters 8 and 9.
May 9--Students read and discussed lesson 9.5, "Vertebrate Diversity" and completed the Review and Reinforce worksheet. Homework: test tomorrow, chapters 8 and 9. Students have a study guide.
May 8--Students finished reviewing for test on chapters 8 and 9, plants and animals.
May 4--Students began reviewing for the test on plants and animals.
May 3--Mrs. Blum's students are on a field trip today.
May 2--Mrs. Murphy's class was on a field trip today.
May 1--Students read and discussed the end of lesson 9.3, "Invertebrates", 9.4, "Vertebrates", and 9.5, "Vertebrate Diversity".
April 27--Students read and discussed lessons 9.1, 9.2, and parts of 9.3, which are introductory chapters about animals.
April 26--Students read and discussed the remainder of 8.5, "Plant Responses and Growth and all of lesson 8.6, "Plants in Everyday Life".
April 25--Students took a quiz on section 8.4, "Plant Reproduction" and began reading and discussing lesson 8.5, "Plant Responses and Growth".
April 24--Students read and discussed lesson 8.4, "Plant Reproduction".
April 13--We corrected the two worksheets, and students continued drawing in their nature journals. Students looked at lima bean seeds under the microscope, finding the embryo (baby leaves, stem, and root ), the endosperm (food for the plant), and the seat coat.
April 12--Students completed the Review and Reinforce work for lessons 8.2 and 8.3.
April 11--Students finished reading and discussing Lesson 8.3, "Plant Structures" and did a quick lab identifying the three main parts of a seed: the seed coat, the embryo (baby plant), and endosperm, which is stored food for the plant.
April 10--Students finished reading and discussing lesson 8.2, "Classifying Plants" and began reading and discussing lesson 8.3, "Plant Structures"; students finished their vascular plants lab. Vascular plant lab pages due tomorrow.
April 6--Students went on their fourth nature journaling field trip to Hill Park.
April 5--Students did a lab comparing vascular to nonvascular plants using magnifiers and microscopes. Students identified xylem and phloem in a cross section of the vascular plant sample [celery].
April 4--Students were on field trip to Camp Hamilton.
April 3--Students read and discussed the first part of lesson 8.2, "Classifying Plants"; students had time to begin their thank-you notes to drivers and teachers for last week's field trips to Mercer Slough. Homework: due Wednesday, a thank-you letter to their driver [Mr. Burton, Mr. Akins, Mrs. Yarnot, or Mrs. Murphy] and one to their teacher [Olivia or Morgan] at Mercer Slough.
March 30--Students had a field trip to Mercer Slough. They hiked through the forest and wetland, learning about Mercer Slough and the wetland surrounding it. They gathered and analyzed water samples from several water sources to determine the pH levels and oxygen levels of each and to determine which water organisms were thriving in each sample.
March 29--Students read and discussed lesson 8.1, introduction to plants. Remember for the field trip tomorrow, students should bring a ready-to-eat lunch and a full water bottle and have clothes appropriate for the weather and for getting muddy.
March 28--Students completed the chapter review and standardized test prep in the book. We discussed details of Thursday's field trip. Students should wear pants or shorts (not basketball or gym shorts, not yoga pants or leggings). Jeans are fine. School uniform pants or shorts are fine. They should wear a t-shirt and a sweatshirt over as well as a jacket if the weather calls for rain or cold. They should wear shoes that are okay to get muddy.
March 27--Students had a substitute teacher today. They began their chapter review.
March 23--Students read and discussed the remainder of lesson 7.4, "Fungi" and completed the Review and Reinforce worksheet.
March 22--We checked the Review and Reinforce worksheet for Protists and completed the assigned classification outline. We began reading and discussing lesson 7.4, "Fungi". Below is the outline:
Three Domains
I. Archaea--unicellular organisms that live in harsh conditions such as deep in the ocean or in hot springs.
II. Bacteria--They are prokaryotes: one-celled organisms with no nucleus.
III. Eukarya--Every organism in Eukarya has a nucleus in each cell. Eukarya has four kingdoms.
A. Plants--autotrophs; each cell has a cell wall
B. Animals--heterotrophs
C. Fungi--heterotrophs--they feed by absorbing food; their cells have cell walls.
D. Protists--any eukaryote that is not plant, animal, or protest.
1. animal-like protists called protozoans; they are heterotrophs
2. plant-like protists--algae; they are autotrophs
3. fungus-like protists which reproduce with spores
March 21--finished reading 7.3, "Protists"; began two-sided worksheet. Students finished the first side in class; we will do the outline (on the other side) together tomorrow.
March 20--Students read and discussed most of lesson 7.3, "Protists". As we continued this chapter, students should keep in mind a basic outline that shows the classification system used to classify all living organisms. All of life is classified into three domains: Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukarya. Bacteria are prokaryotes, that is, they are unicellular and have no nucleus. Organisms in the domain Eukarya have a nucleus in each cell. Eukarya includes four kingdoms: plant, animal, fungi, and protists. Protists are further classified as animal-like protists, called protozoans, which, like animals, are heterotrophs , plant-like protists, which are called algae and which are autotrophs, and fungus-like protists which have cell walls and reproduce by spores.
March 16--Students finished reading lesson 7.2, "Bacteria" and completed the Review and Reinforce worksheet together. Students completed the lesson quiz independently.
March 15--Students continued to read and discuss lesson 7.2, "Bacteria".
March 14--Students read and discussed lesson 7.1, "Viruses" and began reading and discussing lesson 7.2, "Bacteria".
March 13--Students completed the packet for the end of chapters 5 and 6. Homework: For those students who have not finished the packet and turned it in, it is due Wednesday.
March 9--Students began the worksheet packet for chapters 5 and 6, "DNA" and "Changes over Time".
March 8--Students read and discussed the rest of lesson 6.1, "Darwin's Theory and lessons 6.2 and 6.3, "Evidence of Evolution" and "Rate of Change".
March 7--Students finished reading lesson 5.5, "Advances in Genetics" and began reading and discussing lesson 6.1, "Darwin's Theory".
March 6--Students read and discussed the remainder of lesson 5.3, "Mutations" and lesson 5.4 "Human Inheritance". They also began lesson 5.4, "Advances in Genetics".
March 2--We read and discussed lesson 5.3, "Mutations".
March 1--we corrected lesson 5.1 Review and Reinforce; began reading lesson 5.2 and completing 5.2 lesson quiz. Homework: finish worksheet 5.2.
February 28--students took a test on chapters 15 and 16.
February 27--Homework: test, chapters 15 and 16 tomorrow. Students read and discussed lesson 5.1 and completed the Review and Reinforce worksheet. Students also had interviews with the science fair judges today.
February 23--We reviewed for the test for chapters 15 and 16. The test will be Tuesday, but we have no more review days. Homework: study for Tuesday's test.
February 22--We looked at hail under the digital microscope and reviewed for the test on chapters 15 and 16. Because the science fair board and paper are due tomorrow, I moved the test to Monday. Science Fair presentation board and research paper due tomorrow.
February 16--We reviewed together for next Thursday's test. The test will be on chapters 15 and 16; we will review again on Wednesday. Homework: just a reminder: science fair boards and papers are due Thursday, February 23.
February 15--We read and discussed together lesson 16.5, biodiversity.
February 14--this class did not meet today because they had a guest presenter in their homeroom.
February 13--We reviewed orally lesson 16.2, cycles of matter and 16.3, Biomes. We read aloud and discussed lesson 16.4, Aquatic Ecosystems.
February 9--Students went on their third naturalists' field trip to Hill Park.
February 8--We reviewed for tomorrow's field trip to Hill Park and Friday's field trip to Mercer Slough.
February 6 and 7--snow days
February 1 and 2--substitute
January 31--Please note that I am going to a funeral in Philadelphia and will be absent Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Mr. Egan and Mrs. Bartelheimer will teach in my place. My website will not be updated for the remainder of this week. Today we had reading time in family groups in this time slot.
January 30--Students read and discussed lesson 16.1. Homework: Review and Reinforce worksheet for 16.1.
January 26--We corrected the homework from lesson 15.3. We read and discussed lesson 15.4 and completed (and discussed the two 15.4 assignments together. We have finished reading and discussing chapter 15. We will read chapter 16 and learn the material next week. The next test will test student understanding of chapters 15 and 16 together.
January 25--We read and discussed lesson 15.3, "Interactions Among Living Things", relating some of the information to yesterday's investigation. Students began the writing assignment, Review and Reinforce. Homework: complete Review and Reinforce 15.3, p. 615G.
January 24--We corrected yesterday's homework from lessons 15.1 and 15.2; students did an investigation with beads (for seeds) and a variety of tools as beaks in order to understand the concepts of natural selection and adaptations (lesson 15.3).
January 23--We read and discussed lesson 15.1, "Living Things and the Environment" and 15.2, "Populations". We are doing chapters 15 and 16 in the next two weeks in preparation for our upcoming field trip to Mercer Slough. Homework: Two worksheets: 1) Review and Reinforce worksheet for "Living Things and the Environment". The reverse side Enrichment is optional and will earn extra credit, and 2) Lesson Quiz for "Populations; the reverse of this page has a summary of the lesson. Our field trip to Mercer Slough will be February 10. Please have parents fill out the field trip form on both sides and bring it back along with the field trip fee of $18.00. This pays for the all-day experience with a scientist teaching in the lab and in the forest.
January 19--This class did not meet today. Middle school students had a field trip to see the movie Hidden Figures while Mrs. Murphy's class was on a field trip to Mercer Slough.
January 18--chapter 4 test.
January 17--We finished reviewing for the chapter 4 test. Study for chapter 4 test, which is tomorrow.
January 12--Some students were at MAP testing. The rest finished their practice test and corrected wrong answers. We will go over the review together Tuesday, and the test will be Wednesday.
January 11--Students worked in groups to review chapter 4. They answered the questions on a practice test and recorded the page number in the book where each answer could be verified.
January 10--I finished meeting with students about their research papers; students finished Review and Reinforce 4.4 then began the chapter review, pages 134-137.
January 9--Students read lesson 4.4 and began completing the Review and Reinforce worksheet. I met with those students who were here today and returned their science background research paper with information about what changes should be made before printing the final draft. Please note that science fair information went home with students today.
January 5--Students completed a page in their nature journals using watercolors.
January 4--Students watched a video which reviews the first three lessons of chapter 4. They took notes as they watched.
January 3, 2017--We read and discussed in class lesson 4.3, "Patterns of Inheritance".
December 15--Students turned in their science fair research papers. We discussed the next steps. Students may begin their science fair experiment. Most like to get started in early January. It is important for students to keep a careful record of what they do and the measurements they take. Photographs really help tell the story of the experiment on the presentation board. In January, I will give to students the science fair letter with all the important information they need. I will also give them a copy of the judges form so that they know what they will be judged on. Additionally, I will give them their paper back with suggestions for improvement. Students can make changes to their papers based on teacher feedback in January. The final draft of the paper will be attached to the presentation board. I will have presentation boards for sale for $1.00 beginning the week of January 3. (I buy these boards at the dollar store to save you the trip.) When school resumes in January, we will continue with our regular science curriculum. We will not be devoting any more class time to the science fair. (In other words, the rest of the work is done at home.)
December 14--Students were on a field trip today. Homework: science fair research paper due tomorrow!
December 13--Students used this time to work on or finish up their research papers. Homework: Research paper due Thursday. I encourage finishing tonight and handing in tomorrow morning before field trip.
December 12--Students had the dress rehearsal for their music program in this time slot.
December 8--We had program rehearsal in this time slot.
December 7--Students continued working on their research paper. I helped individual students as needed. Homework: be aware this paper is due December 15. Since students have a field trip December 14, it would be smart to use the evening of December 13 to finish the paper then hand it in on December 14. We have one more class period to use for writing the paper, Tuesday, December 13.
December 6--Students practiced for their music program in this time slot.
December 5--Students worked in their nature journals today. Those who finished their nature journal entries from last week began writing their background research paper. This will be due December 15. Here is the outline for the paper:
Outline for Science Fair Research Paper, St. Michael School
I. First page: Title, name of student who wrote paper, date
II. Body of Paper:
A. first paragraph: an introductory paragraph about the question you are trying to answer in your science fair experiment.
B. second paragraph: a paragraph about your hypothesis
C. third paragraph: a paragraph which explains what your learned in your background research. This paragraph should include the information you learned which helped you form your hypothesis. I can help you formulate questions that you should answer in this paragraph.
D. fourth paragraph: This paragraph should describe and explain what you will do in your experiment to test your hypothesis.
III. Bibliography
December 1--Students took their second field trip to Hill Park for the purpose of observation and nature journaling.
November 30--Students completed the Review and Reinforce worksheet; we corrected it. We discussed tomorrow's field trip to Hill Park for nature journaling, how to use a tree key to identify trees, and main categories of coniferous trees.
November 29--Students finished reading and discussing lesson 4.2, "Probability and Heredity" and began the Review and Reinforce worksheet. Those who finished before the end of class continued work on their science fair research paper.
November 28--We corrected the worksheet for lesson 4.1, "What is Heredity?" and discussed the concepts from that lesson. We began reading and discussing lesson 4.2, "Probability and Heredity".
November 22--Lesson: how to write the bibliography for the science fair research paper, and how to cite a source you are quoting. Below are formats for writing a bibliography for a variety of sources such as books, encyclopedias, magazines, and webpages [from sciencebuddies.com]
Format Examples
Books
Format:
Author's last name, first name. Book title. Additional information. City of publication: Publishing company, publication date.
Examples:
Allen, Thomas B. Vanishing Wildlife of North America. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, 1974.
Boorstin, Daniel J. The Creators: A History of the Heroes of the Imagination. New York: Random, 1992.
Hall, Donald, ed. The Oxford Book of American Literacy Anecdotes. New York: Oxford UP, 1981.
Searles, Baird, and Martin Last. A Reader's Guide to Science Fiction. New York: Facts on File, Inc., 1979.
Toomer, Jean. Cane. Ed. Darwin T. Turner. New York: Norton, 1988.
Encyclopedia & Dictionary
Format:
Author's last name, first name. "Title of Article." Title of Encyclopedia. Date.
Note: If the dictionary or encyclopedia arranges articles alphabetically, you may omit volume and page numbers.
Examples:
"Azimuthal Equidistant Projection." Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. 10th ed. 1993.
Pettingill, Olin Sewall, Jr. "Falcon and Falconry." World Book Encyclopedia. 1980.
Tobias, Richard. "Thurber, James." Encyclopedia Americana. 1991 ed.
Levinson, David, and Melvin M. Ember, eds. Encyclopedia of Cultural Anthropology. 4 vols. New York: Henry Holt, 1996. Print.
Magazine & Newspaper Articles
Format:
Author's last name, first name. "Article title." Periodical title Volume # Date: inclusive pages.
Note: If an edition is named on the masthead, add a comma after the date and specify the edition.
Examples:
Hall, Trish. "IQ Scores Are Up, and Psychologists Wonder Why." New York Times 24 Feb. 1998, late ed.: F1+.
Kalette, Denise. "California Town Counts Down to Big Quake." USA Today 9 21 July 1986: sec. A: 1.
Kanfer, Stefan. "Heard Any Good Books Lately?" Time 113 21 July 1986: 71-72.
Trillin, Calvin. "Culture Shopping." New Yorker 15 Feb. 1993: 48-51.
Website or Webpage
Format:
Author's last name, first name (if available). "Title of work within a project or database." Title of site, project, or database. Editor (if available). Electronic publication information (Date of publication or of the latest update, and name of any sponsoring institution or organization). Date of access and <full URL>.
Note: If you cannot find some of this information, cite what is available.
Examples:
Devitt, Terry. "Lightning injures four at music festival." The Why? Files. 2 Aug. 2001. 23 Jan. 2002 <http://whyfiles.org /137lightning/index.html>.
Dove, Rita. "Lady Freedom among Us." The Electronic Text Center. Ed. David Seaman. 1998. Alderman Lib., U of Virginia. 19 June 1998 <http://etext.lib.virginia.edu /subjects/afam.html>.
Lancashire, Ian. Homepage. 28 Mar. 2002. 15 May 2002 <http://www.chass.utoronto.ca:8080 /~ian/>.
Levy, Steven. "Great Minds, Great Ideas." Newsweek 27 May 2002. 10 June 2002 <http://www.msnbc.com /news/754336.asp>.
November 21--Students began writing their research papers. Tomorrow we will discuss the format for a bibliography and how to quote from a source.
November 17--Students continued their research and began writing their papers. We discussed the format of the paper, which students will have time to write in class in early December.
November 16--Students continued their research and received a template for writing their paper.
November 15--Students began researching the answers to the questions they asked yesterday. Students also began searching for library books to use in their research.
November 14--Students began the research for their background research paper for their science fair project. They began by asking questions they should answer in their background research paper.
November 10--Our Veterans' Day assembly was in this time slot.
November 9--Students read lesson 4.1 and began a lab and a Review and Reinforce worksheet while I met with individual students about their science fair experiments.
November 8--test today on chapter 3.
November 7--Homework: prepare for chapter 3 test, which will be given tomorrow. The chapter 3 test is tomorrow. The test will consist of multiple choice, one short answer, and one essay question: Explain the cell cycle. Below is a good sample answer for the essay. For the short answer, students should be able to identify the three things cell division allows. Cell division allows organisms to grow, repair damage, and reproduce. In class students made an outline for the essay question and practiced remembering the outline with a few prompts. Students also practiced answering multiple choice questions on the material from this chapter. The bold-faced words below will be provided to students as they write their essay.
Sample answer for essay:
Cell division allows organisms to grow, repair damaged structures, and reproduce.
During the cell cycle, a cell grows, prepares for division, and divides into two new cells called daughter cells. There are three stages of the cell cycle.
During interphase, the cell grows and makes a copy of its DNA (replication). During the second stage, mitosis, the cell nucleus divides into two nuclei with one set of DNA in each.
During cytokinesis, the cell divides into two cells called daughter cells. In an animal cell, the cell membrane squeezes together and pinches into two cells. In a plant cell, a cell plate forms across the middle of the cell and forms new cell membranes and cell walls.
November 3--We reviewed for the chapter 3 test, which will be next Tuesday.
November 2--Students discussed and answered chapter review questions. We will complete the chapter review tomorrow.
November 1--Students summarized the stages of cell division and the phases of mitosis then completed the Review and Reinforce worksheet for lesson 3.3. We corrected this worksheet in class.
October 27--Students read and discussed lesson 3.3, "Cell Division" and watched a video showing cell division through the microscope lenses.
October 26--We reviewed and discussed lesson 3.1, "Photosynthesis" and read and discussed 3.2, "Cellular Respiration". Students answered questions in the book.
October 25--Students continued working on their science fair proposals. Those who have finished began research.
October 24--Homework: science fair proposal due Wednesday. Students received the science fair proposal form. We discussed each line of the form and checked for understanding. Using the projector, we explored together www.all-science-fair-projects.com and www.sciencebob.com for experiment ideas. Many other websites have good ideas for experiments. Note that sciencebob.com also has research help for starting the research part of the project. Students can get as much help from me as they need to successfully select a project for the science fair. Below is a general timeline:
October--choose experiment and fill out the proposal form. Once I approve the idea, a parent must sign the form.
November--research. Some of this will be done in school, and some will be done at home.
December--Write the research paper. Students will have a template to help keep the paper organized. There will be enough time in class to get the paper written as long as students work during work time. The paper is due December 14.
January--Make corrections to research paper when it is returned. Do the experiment at home and keep a careful record of data. Buy a presentation board. (To save you all a trip to the store, I will buy them at the Dollar Store and have them available at school for $1.00.
February--Complete the presentation board and bring it back to school by the assigned date. (It will be around February 16.) The science fair will likely be the week of February 22.
October 18--Students took the chapter 2 test today.
October 17--Students examined nematodes using a microscope. Students reviewed for tomorrow's test on chapter 2. Homework: test tomorrow.
October 13--We completed answering and discussing questions of the chapter 2 review. We read and discussed lesson 3.1, "Photosynthesis".
October 12--Students began discussing the chapter review. We will finish this work tomorrow; the test will be Tuesday. Students practiced using a measuring tool under the microscope.
October 11--We completed Review and Reinforce 2.4 then checked it; students finished the artwork in their nature journals from our trip to Hill Park last week. Journals will be graded based upon whether the student met the printed objectives for the trip. Some students took their journals home to do further work on them. They are due Friday morning.
October 10--Students read and discussed pp. 64-69 and answered questions in the book. They began the Review and Reinforce worksheet for this lesson (2.4).
October 6--Students took their first field trip to Hill Park for the purpose of nature journaling. They observed, wrote about what they observed, drew what they observed, and asked questions.
October 5--Students learned the objectives for tomorrow's nature journaling field trip, looked at some samples pages from a naturalist's nature journal, watched a presentation about how to keep a nature journal, and practiced some of the art they may need tomorrow.
October 4--Students examined cells of a red onion and cells from a person's cheek to compare. They drew what each looked like in their nature journals. We discussed the rules, expectations, and objectives for our first nature journaling trip to Hill Park, which will be Thursday. Homework: Students who have not turned in their permission form for the field trips, please bring that back signed tomorrow.
October 3--
Students read and discussed pp. 66-67. Cells make up tissues. Tissues form organs. Organs form organ systems, and organ systems make the organism.
We discussed as a class what a naturalist is: one who studies plants and animals as they live in nature. Naturalists are scientists who observe, take notes and draw what they observe in a nature journal. Famous naturalists include Carl Linnaeus, Charles Darwin, John James Audubon, John Muir, Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, and Rachel Carson.
We discussed the rules we will observe on our first field trip to Hill Park on Thursday and what students will do. Each student will have a list of about a dozen tasks to accomplish at Hill Park. Each student will do five or more of the tasks on the list and record their observations and drawings in their nature journal.
Homework: ask your parents to fill out the new field trip form right away then bring it back tomorrow!
September 29--Students completed outline of "Compounds in Cells"; students began Enrich worksheet which uses the analogy of a city and its various services to understand the parts of a cell and the function of those parts.
September 28--Students discussed and outlined lesson 2.3, "Compounds in Cells". Homework: finish drawing of cell with labeling. Instructions below:
Using colored pencils, draw a cell. You may draw a plant cell or animal cell. Label your cell with the following things parts. Each part of a cell has a job to do. Explain the job of each part you label.
For animal cells, label and define these parts: cell membrane, nucleus, ribosomes, cytoplasm, mitochondria, vacuole, lysosomes.
For plant cells, label and define these parts: cell wall, cell membrane, nucleus, ribosomes, cytoplasm, mitochondria, vacuole, chloroplasts.
September 27--We corrected Review and Reinforce 2.1; students drew and labeled a plant cell or an animal cell then defined each labeled part.
September 26--Students read and discussed lesson 2.1 and began the Review and Reinforce worksheet. Homework: finish Review and Reinforce worksheet 2.1.
September 22--Students received instruction about proper care and use of a microscope. Students completed a lab investigating the nature of photographs in newspapers. They used hand lenses to observe the newsprint with photos then used three powers of magnification with a microscope.
September 21--
Test today, chapter 1.
Lesson 2.1, pages 44-45, students read and answered questions in the book.
September 20--Students took their vocabulary quiz. Homework: study for test, chapter 1. All the test questions will be based on the following information.
the six characteristics of all living things
the four basic needs of all living things
the difference between autotrophs and heterotrophs
how to use a taxonomic key
the three domains
the four kingdoms in the domain Eukarya
the definition of nucleus
September 19--Students completed the chapter review; we discussed what vocabulary words may be on tomorrow's vocabulary quiz. Homework: chapter 1 vocabulary quiz tomorrow.
September 15--Students practiced for the MAP test; we completed reading and discussing lesson 1.4. Next week students will review chapter 1 and take a test.
September 14--Students did 1.3 Review and Reinforce worksheet using their outlines. We began reading lesson 1.4.
September 13--We corrected yesterday's homework, took notes on lesson 1.3, "Domains and Kingdoms", in traditional outline form, and began Review and Reinforce worksheet 1.3.
September 12--We did lesson 1.2 in a lecture/note-taking format; students practiced using a taxonomic key and began worksheet for lesson 1.2. Homework: complete worksheet called "Classifying Life".
September 9--This class does not meet on Fridays.
September 8--We had an assembly in this time slot.
September 7--Students read aloud and discussed the remainder of lesson 1 and together discussed and completed the Review and Reinforce worksheet. Homework: complete the worksheet if it is not already complete.
September 6--Students read aloud and discussed the first half of lesson 1, "What is Life?". In particular, they discussed the six characteristics of living things and the fact that all living things come from other living things. Since each living thing came from another living thing, this naturally led to the question of the cause of the original living thing. As Catholic Christians we believe God is the uncreated Creator.