Monday

Today we worked on our posters. The students were supposed to bring the things they needed - some remembered - some did not. The students worked in their teams to complete the poster. The purpose was to help them better understand and remember the 6 characteristics of life. The posters were finished during class time.

Thursday

Today we had the student's brainstorm on what the main characteristics of life are. We ended up with a list of six. 1. Has cells, 2. Has complex chemical activities (metabolism) 3. Respond to their environment: stimulus/response 4. Living things have an information system (DNA) 5. Living things grow and develop 6. Living things have the ability to reproduce
The students have homework. Each team is going to create a poster on the characteristics of living things. Each member is to bring a picture or something that represents their assignment. We will work on the posters on Monday.
We also watched a Plato game that had the students identify if different objects were living or never living.
Last, we watched a video showing some underwater animals that look more like plants. It is amazing what is down there.
Students need to bring their assignments Monday so that the teams can work on their posters.

Wednesday

Today we graded and reviewed the test. Student's grades were put in the roll book. They have the opportunity, as homework, to take the test home and, on a separate piece of paper, fix any that are wrong. They will get half of the points on each corrected answer.

We started the movie about jungle life - quite interesting actually.

Tuesday

We have the first test finished. We will grade it tomorrow in class, the students will be able to see what they got right and what they did not. Then they will have the opportunity to take the test home and fix it for half credit. If I do not receive the test back on Thursday at the beginning of class, the student will keep the first grade.

There is homework tonight. Students are to read A38-A-49 and do the questions on
A49. It isn't really a long reading assignment, there are a lot of pictures. But make sure you read the captions under the pictures and pay attention to the information. Remember, Science books are not like reading "Harry Potter." You have to study the information, not just hurry through it.

Monday test tomorrow

Our first test will be tomorrow, Tuesday the 23rd of September. The students reviewed the entire test today. Everyone should have their Science Journal and book at home. We played a game wherein we reviewed every test question. Some questions everyone knew well, others were a bit more difficult. But if they took notes as instructed, they will know what to study and do fine. We will begin on Tuesday, after the test, reading A36-A49The questions will be homework on Tuesday.

Thursday study for Tuesday's test

Today we studied about fungi. To further emphasize the good things we get from fungi we tasted some gorgonzola and blue cheese. We also had a bit of swiss cheese which is made with bacteria. We also looked through the microscopes to see what fungi looks like magnified. Then we watched the Plato show about Fungi.

Grades were posted today, with only 45 points possible, missing one assignment can be fatal. But if they study for the test on Tuesday, all should be well. We will review for the test on Monday. The entire test can be found in their notes and book.

Wednesday

Today we learned about Protists. We also discussed the correct way of taking notes for the Science Journals. Students were asked to make sure they put the date at the start of each section of notes. They were also asked to make sure they have all the notes as that is where most of the test questions will come from.

Remember the test is on Tuesday the 23rd. We will learn about fungus tomorrow, review for the test on Monday, and take it on Thursday. Monday is a very important day. Students are allowed to take notes during the review and study them for the test.

Tuesday

We learned about bacteria today. They are unicellular. There are more bacteria in your body then there are people in the world. We learned that there are two types of bacteria. Eubacteria is the most common kind of bacteria. Archaeobacteria lives in very extreme conditions. Bacteria have three shapes, the rod shape is bacillus, the sphere shape is cocci, and spiral shaped is spirillum - who knew?

We reviewed the different divisions of plants and we tore apart our seeds so we could get down to what was inside.

The students left their science journals so I can check them before they need them for studying.

Test on the 23rd - review on the 22nd.

Monday

We have homework tonight. The students need to bring a seed to class tomorrow. It cannot be a seed from a packet, but a growing plant that has gone to seed, or a berry with seeds in it, dandelion seeds, that type. They also need to finish reading the chapter A20-A35.

Today we watched a movie on seeds. The movie showed how seeds are moved by animals, wind, and water. The students filled out a sheet on the movie.

There will be a test on Tuesday, review on Monday.

Thursday

Today we worked with real plants. We watched a video on angiosperms which are vascular, seed-bearing, flowering plants. We watched a short video about the reproductive cycle of the angiosperm. Then we took some gladiolas, kindly donated by Mrs. Alleman, and we found the sepal, the petals, the stamen with its anther and filament. Then we found the pistil with the stigma, style and ovary. We dissected the ovary to find the seed structures. It was fun. We also saw a Power Point presentation on the angiosperm, and a short video on a bee trying to move the pollen. I will put one of the videos up on the links.

We will likely have a test on Tuesday September 23rd. The students have been instructed to read pages A20-A35 and be able to answer the questions on A34 & A 35.

Wednesday

We are nearing the end of the chapter. Students should be nearly finished reading the chapter pg A 20 - A 35. Students are given some time in school, but if they haven't finished it, they should be working on that. Today we watched a power point presentation on gymnosperms which are vascular, seed-bearing, non-flowering plants. They encompass conifers, cycads, ginkgoes and gnetophytes. These are all cone bearing plants. Then we went out side and found cones and took them back in and found the seed scales on the cones. The students drew what they had seen.

We also watched a couple of short you tube segments. We watched corn and radishes growing with time lapse photography. We also watched a segment on CNN of a man growing algae to replace foreign oil. The students were encouraged to be creative.

Tuesday

Today we covered vascular, seedless, non-flowering plants. These include things like club mosses, ferns and horsetail. The student had a lot of names for horsetails like snakegrass, and puzzle plant. They were instructed to see if they could find a fern. Then they were to turn the frond over to check if there were sori underneath. We also pulled apart one of the beans we planted last week to see if we could find the startings of the root and the cotyledon. We only found it in one bean. We concluded that the classroom was too chilly so we put the plants in the window in hopes that the sun will warm the seeds so they can grow.

Monday and Mosses

Today we studied non-vascular, seedless, non-flowering plants. We had some moss in the classroom. Each team got to look at the moss through a magnifying glass. Then they looked for the rhizoids that anchor the moss to the ground. They drew the tiny leaves on the moss. We discussed how moss and other non-vascular plants obtain moisture and nutrients since they do not have roots. Then we went back to the classroom and the students watched a P.P. presentation on non-vascular plants. This covered different types of non-vascular plants: mosses, liverworts and hornworts. It also had information on rhizoids, and plant reproduction.

Wednesday

Hi, it is back to school night! Today we took a quiz - the students can take it home and fix it, but it is due back tomorrow morning at the beginning of class. They may use their notes and books to work on the answers. The quiz was from the notes they took the past five days.

We went out and checked our boiled plants, every leaf that had hot water poured on it was dead. It was kind of interesting. We hypothesized that the stomata could not open and close after the boiling water was poured on the plants. Perhaps that is why the leaves died. After the leaves die photosynthesis could not take place and the plant would die. We will keep checking on the plants to see how things went.

Paper work and Phloem

Today 4th and 5th hour were given papers that need to be signed and returned. First hour will get their papers tomorrow. The yellow bus paper and the white informational paper must be in by Thursday. The other papers are up to the parent's disgression.

Today we took notes on vascular bundles, xylem, phloem, and organisms. We went outside with boiling water and learned what happens to plants if we put boiling water on them. Tomorrow we will check the plants and see.

Then we went to our books and classified certain organisms. Tomorrow we will talk more about how and why organisms are classified

HOMEWORK: Students are to read A8-A9 and know what the words in yellow mean. There will be a quiz tomorrow on the notes we have taken and the reading. They were allowed to take their science journals home to study. Please make sure the science journals are returned tomorrow.