Thursday

Homework was corrected at the start of class today. Some students are failing to turn in their work. Parents will be contacted.

We reviewed Echinoderms by watching youtube videos of a sand dollar crawling and a sea urchin flipping itself over. Next we went into the lab and measured invertebrates. We returned to class and learned how to change centimeters to millimeters, decimeters and so forth.

First hour has homework, three vocabulary words and their definitions.

Wednesday - homework tonight

We finished our list of invertebrates today by learning about echinoderms watching Plato on the Animal Kingdom.

We reviewed yesterday's invertebrates by watching Youtube: Mollusc (that is how the video spells the word), Earthworm closeup, Japanese Mountain Leech vs Giant Earthworm, Leech cure and Bee Takes a Break.

Then we went into the lab where there were life-size pictures or actual invertebrates and the students measured them in Standard English measurements and using the metric system.

There is homework due tomorrow. Students are to read A-40-A49 and to answer the questions on A49 1-5. Answers must be in complete sentences and the words must be spelled correctly when they are copied from the book.

Tuesday

Students turned in their fixed tests today and their notes from parents. It will take me three or four days to get these graded.

We viewed the invertebrates we learned about yesterday by watching Youtube on sponges filtering green dye, hydra, hydra viridis, Giant jellyfish, a lecture on tapeworms and a video on Cnidarians.

Finally we went to Plato - Animal Kingdom and learned about Mollusks, Annelida and Arthropoda. We discussed different facts brought out about each invertebrate and wrote on our worksheet.

Monday

Students who are not happy with their test score were given an opportunity to do some homework and fix their test. The rules are strict and if not followed, the fixed test will not be allowed. These are the rules:
1. Using a separate sheet of paper the student will fix each incorrect question by:
a. Writing the correct answer
b. Writing the answer in a complete sentence
c. Words must be spelled correctly
d. Answers must be numbered according to the incorrect test question's number
e. The separate sheet with the correct answers must be stapled to the original test.
f. The test must be turned in to the box at the bell or the corrections will not be
allowed.

Today we began learning about invertebrates. We worked on Plato. To get to Plato go to plato.blsd.net on Internet Explorer. It does not work well on other browers. If it asks for the number it is 1002. The Plato name is the student's last name then first name with no spaces. The second line is the Group name which is the year they graduate 2017. The password is their student number. Then go to Animal kingdom. We viewed sections 2-5, but I think students will have to view it from the beginning. Make sure to use the red arrow at the top to go forward or back. The program will instruct you what to click on. We filled out a sheet based on this lesson.

Thursday

Students finished their tests today and then they took a turn at grading it. I will check the grading and then put the grades up. If you are not happy with your grade, you will have the opportunity to fix it as homework on Monday night. There are strict rules and they must be followed, but if they are then you can earn half of your points back.

The idea behind this is that you will learn the information that you just didn't absorb before the test. We want learning to happen.

Wednesday

Today we started our first test. Students that did not finish will be given the first 20 minutes of class on Thursday to get it done while those who did finish will work on a little experiment in the lab.

Tuesday - Test tomorrow

Today we reviewed for the test. The students went around the room with the test questions around the room. The students were allowed to answer each question and then we took time going over and explaining each question. The study guides were to be taken home to study for tomorrow.

Monday- prepare for a test on Wednesday

We enjoyed a movie today about the different ways that seeds are moved from place to place. The seeds are moved by animals, wind and water. We watched bats eating seeds and carrying the food to a different place to avoid being eaten by a boa. We saw a coconut crab eating the coconut meat and the seed went into the water. Wind blew the seeds of many plants.

Tomorrow we will review for Wednesday's test covering pages A1-A31.

Thursday Test coming Sept. 22.

We corrected last night's homework. Those who did not complete it or do it well had to come to remediation to complete it. Some still did not get it done, it will be due Monday for half the points. The assignment was A31 1-5 and read A20 - A31.

Today we finished our study of plants. Students drew or traced plants from each of the four divisions so they could recall what the plant's characteristics are.

There will be a test on A1-A31 on Wednesday. Monday we will watch a movie on seeds, Tuesday we will review for the test, and Wednesday will be the test.

Wednesday and homework

There is homework tonight. Students are to read pages A20-A31 and answer 1-5 on A31.

Today we learned about gymnosperms and angiosperms. We learned that gymnosperm means naked seed. Some gymnosperms are conifers, ginkgo biloba, cycads and gnetophyes. These plants have male and female cones. Angiosperms are any plants that have enclosed seeds. These can include apple trees, and all other fruit trees, flowers, grains, cotton etc. Angiosperms are divided into two groups; monocots and dicots. Monocots have one cotelydon, flower petals in threes or multiples of three, leaf veins that are vertical and vascular bundles scattered throughout the plant. Dicots have two cotelydons, flower petals in multiples of four or five, leaf veins that branch out, and vascular bundles that are in a ring, not scattered.

Homework is due at the start of class.

Tuesday

In science today we learned about two types of plants; non-vascular, seedless, non-flowering plants such as mosses, liverwort and hornwort. We also learned about vascular, seedless, non-flowering plants such as club mosses, horse tails and ferns. We learned how these plants get moisture and how they reproduce. We also learned the that the pioneers used to use horsetails to scrub their pots and pans. We learned that moss reproduce by use of the sori, the little brown spots that grown under the fronds of the fern.

Students had school pictures taken today. If you were absent, there will be a make-up day later in the tri-mester.

Monday

Tomorrow we will be having school pictures. Please make sure that you bring the envelopes back if you plan on buying pictures. We will be taking everyone's picture, but if you plan on buying you must have the paper filled out and the money turned in. There will be make-up pictures later in the year.

Today we learned about bacteria and fungus. We learned that bacteria helps make many of the foods we like such as swiss cheese, sauerkraut, yogurt, kefir, sourdough, olives, and sour cream. We also learned that we need to keep our hands and cell phones clean if we want to protect ourselves from bacteria.

We also learned that fungus is used to grow and prepare the cacao bean from which we get chocolate. Fungus is also found in mushrooms and blue cheese.

After discussing these foods the students were able to taste many of them, if they wanted to.

Thursday

It is Back to School night starting at 6 p.m. Come and meet your child's teachers and learn the expectations they have for your child.

Today we learned about the characteristics of each of the Kingdoms; Animal, Plant, Fungus, Monera, and Protist.

We corrected last night's homework. Those who did not finish or did not get it done, they will be invited to remediation to complete their work and receive 50%. Our desire is to teach the students that the homework will be done - but if they do it on time, they can receive full points. We hope this will motivate them to do their work on time.

Wednesday

There is homework tonight. Students are to read A6-A19 and do questions 1-3 on A19. The answers are to be complete sentences. The question does not have to be written, just a complete sentence for the answer.

Today in class students brought in their Living Things Grow and Develop pages. Those turned in finished and on time earned 15 points. If they were not turned in, they can be turned in tomorrow for half points.

Students also completed a poster that shows the 6 characteristics of living things. The students did these in teams. They will be graded according the to rubric each student received. Neatness, spelling, correct identification, bringing their assigned supplies and participating are all part of the grade.

Thursday at 6 p.m. is Back to School Night. Come and find out your child's teacher's expectations. We look forward to meeting all parents and guardians.

Tuesday

I hope everyone had a good Labor Day holiday. Today in class students learned more about the 6 characteristics of life. We watched a Power Point Presentation showing the six characteristics that show that something is alive. Next the students got in their teams and decided who was responsible for bringing different items to represent the six characteristics of life. This is a poster that the students will do in class tomorrow. They are to bring the assigned item and help make a poster that clearly shows the six characteristics of life. The poster is worth 100 points, including ten points for bringing their team assigned item. Students also took home a "Living Things Grow and Develop" paper. This page is to be done with parents and returned to school tomorrow at the start of class.

Please make sure your student has a pencil everyday.

Thursday

Yesterday we learned how to write a hypothesis as an "If . . . Then" statement. Then we tried out our hypothesis to see what would happen. We poured boiling water on a weed and we will continue to watch the weed to see what will happen.

Today, Thursday we looked at the weed and came back into the classroom to write our conclusion. Students then worked on pgs A6-A7 and we began to learn what the main six characteristics of life are. They filled out the worksheet and then we discussed the six characteristics of life. This lesson will continue into Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. The question for the week-end is, "What is metabolism?"

Monday is a holiday, Labor Day. There will be no school. Tuesday students will have homework.