Science 7 Assignments

Body System Problems and Solutions. We conclude our unit on body systems by considering problems that can occur, and how we deal with them. Here is a link for the document template in Googleslides. The Powerpoint format for the same document follows.

 https://docs.google.com/a/gcsct.org/presentation/d/1nY5xaVTRCvlpIvcIEQJCN8hpmFiVSKtrtHu-ZtAWEnI/edit?usp=sharing

CW09 Body Systems Review Part 3. Our review of the digestive system includes completing the digestion "story," making a full-scale model, and completing a table that analyzes different types of foods we eat.

HW11 Body  Systems Review part 4. Students will complete a respiration "story" and build a model lung. We will also discuss polio, a disease mostly of the past that led to the use of a device called the "iron lung."

LAB07 Body Systems Review Part 2. Continuing our review of body systems, student groups will design and complete short experiments related to the nervous system (reaction time) or to the circulatory system (pulse rate recovery).

LAB06 Body Systems Review Part 1. Musculo-Skeletal System Flexibility. We are combining our review of body systems and the scientific method by doing 2-3 short experiments. The first will be this flexibility lab. 

HW11 Respiration. Students will complete a "respiration story" and build a model lung. See attached document.

When Cells Get Together. (no grade) Cells team up to become tissues, organs, and organ systems. We will be reviewing tissues, several organs, and several major organ systems. Here is the organizer we will use to compile what we learn.

STEM03 Heart valve. In our study of circulation, we understand that the human heart has 4 valves that open and shut to keep blood moving in one direction. Student groups have a challenge now to build a one-way valve to model this process.

(no grade) Blood circulation. We completed a story and picture of how blood circulates in the human body. We also played a "circulation hopscotch" game that covers the same material in a kinesthetic way.

CW08 Body Systems Topics #1. Here, we introduce 3 topics related to body systems that might be of particular interest to teens-- injury (bone fractures), disease (cancer), and growth.Students will be taking in information, and will also be generating a line graph depicting growth rates for boys and girls.

CW07 Bill Nye 28 Bones and Muscles. Students completed this assignment (video with questions) while I was out sick with the influenza. This assignments complements our unit on human body systems.

HW08 Athletes with Disabilities. This assignment analyzes and reflects on how people with physical disabilities (e.g. blind, no hand) learn to compensate and then to excel at sports. 

Classwork (no grade). We considered the shortage of organs or humans, and alternative ways to get/make/create them. We debated the use of using pigs as "living incubators" to grow tissues and organs for transplant into humans. 

LAB05 Chicken Tissue Dissection. Students explore four types of tissues with dissection of chicken wings and feet. 

LAB04 Microscope. Students will learn how to use a light microscope. We have a library of prepared slides for viewing. In addition, students will prepare their own slides of a plant cell (onion skin) and an animal cell (cheek swab). Students are also encouraged to view other materials that pique their curiosity (e.g. hair).

Biography. In class, we read and discussed a biography of Karl Landsteiner. This scientist discovered blood groups and the rH factor. We have introduced blood in our tissues lab this week, and we will revisit blood when we discuss the circulo-respiratory system.

HW07 Choices Health Article #3 This assignment is part of our ongoing "health" unit, which we will be revisiting weekly. Students will be summarizing and reflecting on a health-related article in two well-developed paragraphs. Each paragraph must be at least 8 sentences long, and include three main points. Students will select from articles in the Choices magazine-- hard-copy issues will be available to borrow. Attached find a template for typing the paragraph. Digital illustrations can be added to the form. Hand-drawn illustrations can be handed in separately or scanned and added to the form.

LAB03 STEM membrane. Students will work in groups to construct a semi-permeable membrane device that will separate beads of different sizes. 

LAB02 Osmosis. We will be doing a study of the movement of water through a semi-permeable cell membrane.

QUIZ03 The Cell. This quiz will cover the basic parts of the cell, the concept of osmosis, the calculation of volume using displacement, and the calculation of mass using the triple beam balance. There will also be an sample investigation that students will have to analyze in terms of the scientific method. Attached find a practice quiz that we will review in class.

CW06 Principle Parts of Two Kinds of Cells. For this assignments, students will go online to learn about parts of plant and animal cells. In class, we analyzed a related topic, "Cell Sizes and Traffic Jams."

HW05 Choices Health Article #1. This assignment is part of our ongoing "health" unit, which we will be revisiting once a week. Students will be summarizing and reflecting on a health-related article. Students will select from articles in the Choices magazine-- hard-copy issues will be available to borrow.

CW05 The World in 50 Years. This assignment has students thinking about our world in the near future, and their place in it as "movers and shakers." Instructions for the writing assignment are on the attached worksheet.

STREAMS-J Display Board (test grade) This is the tri-fold presentation that students will make for the fair. Attached find a grading guide with details.

REMINDER Term 2 ends on Friday, January 20. This is the last day when I will accept work done for the term, including STREAMS Fair boards, reports, and log books. 

STREAMS-I Project Data Log part 3 of 3 (homework grade) I am looking for four full-page entries in the project data book, each done on a different date. Each entry should include an update on what is happening with the project, along with reflections and plans. Show me your creative and analytical thinking. Each page should also include a graphic to show more: this can be in the form of a diagram or table. Remember to include citations for any ideas or images that you use from outside sources. 

Project01 Microbes and Food (classwork grade) This is a group project, where each person in the group has an assigned (and graded) task. We are exploring foods made with microbes, or food preservation techniques that discourage microbes. The culmination of this project will be a sharing of selected foods, including yeast bread (a fungus) and raisins (grapes made shelf-stable through drying).

George Washington Carver (no grade) Today in class we read and discussed a biography of this great scientist/engineer. Students should keep this reading in their science binders for review when we prepare for midterms.

CW03 Microbe Friends and Enemies (classwork grade). This is a short research assignment. Students will be reading books in the "Hidden Life" series by author Andrew Solway. They will be summarizing their findings in a graphic organizer, and e-mailing me their work.

HW04 The Perfect Predator (homework grade).  We will watch part of this video in class, the rest for homework. Our general topic is how living organisms in ecosystems have different kinds of relationships with each other. After watching this video, students will be asked to consider the following statement-- "In the animal world, there are no victims, only participants." 

In class, we will be reviewing vocabulary in the form of a bingo game. Students can use their bingo sheets as study guides for our upcoming midterms.

CW03 Biogeochemical cycles. We will complete a discussion and chart in class about how elements, like carbon and oxygen, cycle through the Earth's four spheres in different forms.

STREAMS-F Project Data Book part 1 of 3 (homework grade) I will be giving final grades on this assignment. I would ask students to do or redo their entries so that we can keep moving ahead with our fair preparations. 

STREAMS-E Research Paper, part 1 (test grade). Students have received feedback from me on this assignment. Please keep editing and adding to your work. Come see me for extra help.

CW04 Symbiosis. We will watch an assortment of video clips in class that illustrate the different relationships that organisms have with each other within ecosystems.

Classwork-- In class we viewed part of a Bill Nye "The Science Guy" episode on populations. Please finish viewing the episode for homework. We will complete the handout in class. 

Classwork. We mapped the "hierarchy of matter." Students are responsible for memorizing the order for a future assessment.

STREAMS-F Project Data Book part 1 of 3 (homework grade) I am looking for three full-page entries in the project data book, each done on a different date. Each entry should include an update on what is happening with the project, along with reflections and plans. Show me your creative and analytical thinking. Each page should also include a graphic to show more: this can be in the form of a diagram or table. Remember to include citations for any ideas or images that you use from outside sources. 

STREAMS-E Research Paper, part 1 (test grade). This assignment requires a thorough and thoughtful approach Students will follow instructions to write the introduction, materials, and methods sections of their research paper. The introduction is based on preliminary research that should already complete.

QUIZ02 Ecosystems(quiz grade) This quiz includes the following topics-- photosynthesis, producers/consumers/decomposers, and classification. We will have a review in class before the quiz.

LAB01 Photosynthesis (lab grade) We will be doing most of this lab in school. The due date may change, depending on how quickly plants react to light. Stay posted.

STREAMS-A Project approval (homework grade) Project approvals must be signed by both teacher and parent. Students who are still struggling to find a project must come in to conference with me by appointment during recess/lunch or after school. 

HW03 Producers, Consumers, and Decomposers. This assignment has three parts-- definitions, charting, and completing an essay.

STEM01 Biodome Field Notes. Please complete 1-2 field notes pages this week, as your system grows and changes. Incorporate teacher feedback from the first three pages of notes. Continue completing weekly notes for the remainder of this project, which will last at least until Thanksgiving. The average of all your field notes grades will count as an exam. Please plan on completing 8-10 pages by Thanksgiving.

STREAMS Fair. We need to be moving ahead with projects. This is the week for real projects to emerge. You are to complete preliminary research that includes at least three cited sources. Then, you are to get permission for your project from Mrs. Lutz and your parents. Mrs. Lutz will hand out a STREAMS letter by the end of the week, with added details.

Recipe Analysis. As we consider where food comes from, let's think of foods we like to eat. We will collect recipes in class, finish listing ingredients for homework, and discuss food sources the next day in class. This assignment will count for an effort grade.

STEM01 Biodomes Students will hand in three field notes pages on their biodomes. Each page will include a colored diagram along with an explanation for design choices and changes. Attached find a graphic organizer for this assignment. I plan on continuing this project until Christmas. Students will be accumulating their field notes, like a book. I will be periodically collecting and commenting on these field notes. Their completeness and thoughtfulness will result in a project grade for term 1, and another for term 2. 

CW03 Preliminary Research In class and at home this week, students will be thinking seriously about their STREAMS Fair projects. They will be doing preliminary research on their topic of interest to see what has been already done in this area, whether it be science or engineering. A project suitable for middle school may become apparent, or the need to go back to the drawing board may become equally apparent. Questions that students need to address are included in the attached organizer that students will complete and send to me electronically.

QUIZ01 Ecosystems part 1. We will have our first quiz on ecosystems. This quiz (10 questions) will cover the topics "Is it Alive or Not?", climographs, and animal and plant reactions to environmental conditions. Students will also be asked to complete a pie graph.

HW04 Ecosystems part 1 vocabulary check. I will distribute the attached handout in class.

CW03 STREAMS Fair brainstorm. Hand in the organizer, with four ideas for projects. We will refine our thinking in class on Friday.

HW03 Animal Reactions. Students will do a short research assignment on an animal that uses a strategy to deal with changing environmental conditions. This assignment will introduce binomial classification and the MLA format as well.

STEM01 In groups, students will assemble model biodomes made out of soda bottles. The group needs to show me a completed biodome structure with abiotic conditions in place (air, soil, water). Each person in the group will also complete a diagram of the biodome, and answer two questions about their work so far.

HW02 This homework assignment will be discussed and collected at our next "STREAMS Fair" day.

CW02 "Climographs" This graphing assignment will be completed in class.

CW01 Soil Graph. This will be completed in class.

Please read the introduction letter at home with parents. Sign and return the Lab Safety Contract.

Three pages need to be printed out, signed and returned to your HOMEROOM teacher. The Acceptable Use Policy must be signed by student ("Student Agreement Form") and parent ("Parent Permission Form"). You can find these two pages at the end of the following document: 

https://d3jc3ahdjad7x7.cloudfront.net/RMYwBOjT3NQIew743EDSTgjN0qOeyBOqQ4ntcMJveKJF7j1B.pdf The Parent-Student Handbook Agreement form must be signed (1 page)

http://www.gcsct.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=431880&type=d&pREC_ID=981751