Grade 7 Life Science Assignments

48STEM Creature Features. This is a hands-on activity, in which we will build clay models of a family of imaged creatures that share genetic traits. This STEM activity includes drafting Punnett squares to explain which traits pass on from parents to offspring.

49CW How Do New Species Form? For this activity, students will view a video and take notes, Cornell style.

45LAB Flexibility. We made the last part of the practice quiz into a lab. Attached find the lab report packet, along with class results. Students are to complete the lab report.

40STEM "Action" Research. This assignment will be due on Friday (April 12) by 9pm. It is a comparison of human and animal body systems, and it includes technology work with tables and gif graphics. UPDATE: In class we have been reviewing the technology behind this project (images and tables). We will next concentrate on the content and sourcing. The due date has been extended to April 26 (Friday). Between now and then, I will be giving students feedback on their work.

39LAB Dissection Animal Parts. We will be completing some of this lab in class (the cutting and examination part), and some of it at home (background information, etc). We will be using fresh samples of chicken wings, chicken "paws," and a veal heart.

 

Several students are concerned about feeling squeamish during the dissection. Although I strongly urge students to give it a try, I have also prepared a "virtual" dissection for those who opt out of the "real" dissection. Attached find the document for a virtual frog dissection. 

 

UPDATE: We plan to finish class review for this lab on April 11 (Thursday). At that time I will collect and grade labs.

 

UPDATE: Attached find teacher copies of the virtual frog dissection, as well as the dissection of animal parts.

Students can use these for further reference, and to double check their work.

38QUIZ09 Our quiz on microbes is scheduled for Wednesday. Attached find a practice quiz and study guide. UPDATE: Attached also find an answer key. Please do your best to work through the practice quiz on your own before using the answer key to check. UPDATE:This quiz has been moved to Friday because many students have been out with the flu. I hope this extra time will enable students to review at their own pace, and to seek me out with any questions.

31STEM Biodome Field Notes. This is the end of our biodome project, which started in October. Many teams have successfully grown a bean or pea plant from seed to plant to flower to bean/pea. Other teams are still trying. The grade for this project will be an average of field notes submitted until the end of this term 3, or until a bean/pea is produced, whichever comes first.

37CW Microbes in Food Production and Preservation. We use microbes to make some foods. We also process many foods to keep microbes out. In class, we will complete a graphic organizer and notes on this topic. We will also watch and discuss short videos that describe different processes. And we will sample some everyday foods that are produced and processed in different ways. UPDATE: Attached find a completed graphic organizer.

35HW Seven Wonders of the Microbe World. Students are to take notes on this video presentation. Attached find a form students may use, or they may write directly into their composition notebooks or on lined paper. I expect students to write at least two comments about each "wonder." Please remember to spend some thinking time on the summary and reflection. These parts tell me the most about your thinking process.

36HW How Bacteria Rule Over Your Body-- the Microbiome. Students are to take notes on this video presentation. I hope it will help you get over the "ick" factor when thinking about microbes living on and in our bodies. Remember to spend time with the summary and reflection-- this is how you will get the most out of this assignment. Attached find a form you can use with sample key phrases.

33CW Ailments Database. This assignment is part science (researching diseases) and part technology (creating a database). It complements our study of microbes, since some "ailments" are contagious diseases spread by microbes. 

34QUIZ08 Personal Database. Students will practice their technology skills by creating databases based on personal interests. Each student will choose a different topic. Students may work on this assignment at home, without assistance from peers or parents, as it will count as a quiz. There will be some class time to work on this as well; I will help students with their questions.

32QUIZ07. This quiz will cover osmosis and the scientific method. Shortly, I will post a practice quiz and study guide. UPDATE: Attached find the student quiz and study guide along with a teacher answer key. UPDATE: Students who received less than 80% on this quiz will have the opportunity to retest by March 8. The focus on the retest will be-- variables in a science investigation, percent change, and graphing. Attached find a "Request to Retest" form that students must submit before retaking the quiz, along with some evidence that they have tried to improve their understanding.

29LAB Egg Osmosis, and 30LAB Potato Osmosis. These two labs are complementary, as we continue our study of living systems. They illustrate how water moves into and out of cells. UPDATE: The labs will now be combined for one grade (30LAB Osmosis) and will be due on February 21 (Thursday)

31HW What are Germs? From cells in general, we are moving to microbes, especially how they affect us. We will first consider how microbes can be harmful to us. Students are to take Cornell notes on the online article "What are Germs?" which can be found at https://kidshealth.org/en/kids/germs.html. I will be checking this assignment for completion at the beginning of class on Thursday.

28HW Cell Structures and Functions. Students will have time to work on this during "STEM Fair" day on Wednesday, January 30. Whatever is not done in class should be completed for homework. I will be checking this assignment for a completion grade at the beginning of class on January 31 (Thursday).

28FAIR Display boards for the fair are due today by the end of class. Reminder: Our fair is January 30. This includes judging in the morning, visits in the afternoon, and viewing in the evening. Attached find display guidelines for the boards, as well as a form that judges will fill out when they interview students about their projects. UPDATE: Boards are now due on Friday, January 25. UPDATE: Boards completed in class will be eligible for a maximum grade of A. Boards completed at home will be eligible for a maximum grade of B.Please bring in any materials you need to complete your boards (lettering, glue, etc).

27QUIZ07 CANCELLED This final quiz of term 3 will be an in-class writing assignment. Students will be asked to write a structured paragraph on a topic related to the scientist George Washington Carver. A good way to prepare for this quiz is to carefully read the Carver biography attached here. Another source of information about Carver is an online video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDMkAXHR2g8 (28:18min), "George Washington Carver Struggle and Triumph."

UPDATE: I am cancelling this quiz. Due to changes in the schedule, we will have to use this period for midterm review.

MIDTERM practice exam and study guide. We will be reviewing on Thursday and Friday this week. The science midterm is next week on Thursday. Students, please take the time to review this practice exam, and answer as many questions as you can before class on Thursday. This will make our review more meaningful. UPDATE: Attached find the answer key to the midterm exam.

24LAB Microscopy. We are starting our new unit on "Living Systems" with a look at some of the smallest life forms, as seen under a microscope. UPDATE: This lab is now due on Monday, January 14. UPDATE: Students will have until Thursday, February 7, to update labs for improved grades.

26QUIZ06 This will be the third quiz for term 3. I will post a practice quiz closer to the date. UPDATE: Attached find a practice quiz and study guide. We will review this practice quiz in class on Wednesday (Jan 9). UPDATE: Attached find an answer key. 

25HW History of the Microscope. Students are to take Cornell-style notes on the history of the microscope from the following online source. The information presented here will complement our lab on microscopy.  Students should have their notes ready for a completion grade at the beginning of class on Wednesday.

 

22LAB Photosynthesis. We started this lab before Christmas break. Now, students will measure results and form conclusions. UPDATE: Here is the data for the graph. Each person is to do a graph in Google Sheets and share it with me. 

 

7C

dark(mm) 16.6

light (mm) 17.75

 

7L 

dark (mm) 16.15

light (mm) 14.2

21FAIR The final report for projects is due. Attached find a rubric I will use for grading.

23QUIZ05 Ecosystems. Attached find a study guide with practice questions. I would ask students to start studying early this week, and to bring the completed practice quiz to class on Wednesday. Part of the preparation for this quiz is to write a paragraph on a topic. We will review the practice quiz on Wednesday, and the quiz will be on Friday. I am available for extra help on Wednesday and Thursday after school. UPDATE: Attached find an answer key to the practice quiz.UPDATE: I have eliminated the writing prompt portion of the quiz (part 5).

(no grade) We will end our unit on Ecosystems with the inspiring biography of George Washington Carver.

19HW Predator/Prey. This video showcases four predators, and their habits. Students are to complete a worksheet that goes with the film. Students should have this work ready for a completion grade at the beginning of class on Friday. UPDATE: This movie is 58 minutes long. I understand that not everyone will have time to view the entire thing. View what you can; we will discuss the movie tomorrow. On our next quiz, for one question I will ask students to prepare a paragraph ahead of time that explains the following sentence-- "In the animal world, there are no victims, only participants." This movie, together with our work on food webs, should give students ideas on how to approach this assignment.

(no grade) Here is some work we will be covering in class this week as we finish up our unit on Ecosystems.

20FAIR I will review student logs. These are weekly pages (in project folders) where students document their planning, their activity, and their reflections in preparation for our STEM Fair.

17HW Students are to take Cornell notes on a section of our Glencoe Life Science text. Chapter 24.3. This is about interactions in an ecosystem. Students should have their notes ready for a completion grade at the beginning of class on Wednesday.

18QUIZ04 Attached find student and teacher copies of this quiz. We will review this practice quiz in class on Thursday. Keep in mind that the "real" quiz will be different questions that follow the same general format.

14CW/HW Classification of leaves. As an introduction to principles of classification, we will be identifying trees around the GCS campus. Much of this assignment will be done in class, including notetaking. UPDATE: I have moved the due date for this investigation.

15STEM Life in an Ecosystem. We define "ecosystem" as a biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment. In this short research piece, students will investigate a living organism in a Connecticut ecosystem (7C will do marine, 7L will do temperate forest). I will have a lesson in class on how to do the visual presentation and table.NOTE: I updated the report information to include taxonomic classification (see the attached example, the part that is highlighted in red). This assignment will be due electronically by 9pm.

16CW Biodome field notes #2. Students (individually) will update progress with their bean biodomes. This assignment will be due by the end of class on Friday. UPDATE: I have changed the due date for this assignment to the end of class on Monday.

13QUIZ03 This short research assignment will count as the third written assessment for term 1, which ends Friday (October 26). This assignment reviews some content (biomes) and skills (citations) we have recently worked on, and introduces the idea that animals have different strategies for dealing with changes in their abiotic environment. There will be some time in class to work on this project: students may also work at home. Assignments are to be done as GoogleDocs and emailed to me when complete. 

08STEM Students will complete this assignment in class. They will work in groups to design a biodome for a pea or bean plant. Using this document, students will describe their design choices, and diagram their biodome. UPDATE: I will collect the plan with diagram this coming Thursday (11 October). UPDATE: I will collect the plan with diagram this coming Monday (15 Oct). UPDATE: We will get back to this project on Wednesday and Thursday, and I will collect biodome plans on Thursday (Oct 18).

12FAIR Permission Forms and Starter Materials. This week the serious project work begins. We are adding an enrichment session each week for the fair, so students will have extra time to work on fair projects. I will send a separate message to each family with project details. For Monday (October 15), please send in permission forms and enough materials that students can start experimenting (science) or building (engineering). 

11QUIZ02 This will be our second quiz on ecosystems. This quiz will include the water cycle, the four Earth spheres, and climographs. Part of the quiz will  have students creating a page of Cornell notes based on a reading. I will update this post later in the week with a sample quiz and study guide. UPDATE: Here is the practice quiz. UPDATE: Students are to finish the Cornell notes page of the homework for homework tonight (Thursday), and bring it into class completed. SUGGESTION: Complete the reading, and also view this related video to increase your understanding: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCFstSMvAMI

09CW Climographs. We will spend two lessons learning how to draft and interpret these special graphs that show climate patterns as a function of both temperature and precipitation.

10FAIR Background Research. Students should be working on a project at this point. Background research helps to establish what has already been done on a topic. Each person in the group is to prepare an annotated bibliography that references at least two sources. Attached find instructions and examples. This is a graded assignment that is due by 9pm on October 8. NOTE: This research should be printed out and attached to the next available pages in the fair section of your composition notebooks. Keep this research handy, as it will become part of your final report as well.

07HW For this homework assignment, students will learn about a place in Arizona where scientists use an artificial biosphere to learn about complex processes like climate change, landscape evolution, and how to support humans in space. Students are to view the video, and to take Cornell notes.  I will check notes in class on Thursday.

 

FAIR Project Plans. Students are developing ideas into "action" projects that involve science investigations or engineering designs. Students-- Please come to class with an action plan that you can present to me. When I sign the permission form, it will go home for your parent's signature. Then you will be ready to begin!  

06HW Biomes. As our study of ecosystems continues, we are going to consider key factors that determine climate and that allow different species to survive. For this assignment, students are to read ahead in our Glencoe Life Science text, chapter 26.1 and 26.2. Students are to write up what they learn in the form of Cornell notes. Try to keep your notes to three pages or less. Bring your notes to class on Thursday for a completion grade-- we will be discussing these ideas in class as well. UPDATE: Attached find a reminder about why and how we do Cornell notes. UPDATE: Students will also be responsible for reading Glencoe Life Science text, chapter 26.3. We will review notes in class. Here is a video link to support learning about ecosystems.

FAIR Top Ideas. Students are to dig deeper into their best brainstorm ideas. Each student is to fill out a sheet of information-- students can work together on this, but each person must bring a completed sheet to class tomorrow to use as a talking point for conferences. 

05HW Water Star of Fame. This graphic organizer reviews five properties of water that enable it to support life as we know it. 

02HW Interactive Water Cycle. Water is a key "abiotic" supporter of life on Earth. This assignment reviews how water moves through the atmosphere, lithosphere, biosphere, and hydrosphere. UPDATE: This review assignment will now be due on September 18 (T).

FAIR brainstorm. Each student is to come up with two ideas that could develop into STEM fair projects. Attached find a form to fill in. Each student in a group must come up with different ideas. If students write about the same idea, each will get partial credit. Students are to cut the attached form in half, and fasten each half onto the next available right-hand page of the composition book, in the STEM fair section. this is a starting point for discussion on Tuesday: I will be checking and grading notebooks for completion on Tuesday in class.. The left-hand page of the composition book will be left blank for teacher comments.

03LAB Soil  Components. In this first lab activity, students investigate soil, a key material that supports life on Earth. We will calculate the percent of air in several soil samples, and generate two pie graphs, one by hand, and one using a spreadsheet program. UPDATE: This lab will now be due on Friday, September 14). Update: This lab will now be due on Monday, September 17. Students are to bring a COMPLETED lab to class; we will review the lab in class on Monday, then I will collect it. Separately, students are to do a pie graph in GoogleSheets, and share it with me.

04Quiz We will have our first quiz on material covered so far in science class. By midweek, I will post here a practice quiz with an answer key. Update: Attached find the answer key to our practice quiz.