Earth & Life Under The Microscope

Dear Families,

      It's been a wonderful year!  I'm impressed with how far we have come - and although rushed in the end, we DID make it through the textbook, thanks to your diligent efforts at home.  I've enjoyed teaching and learning with our students, and am looking forward to seeing everyone around campus next year as 7th graders!   Students:  A few of you have asked in class what percent of the grade the final ended up being - depending on your points possible.  At most, the final was worth 15.6%; for students with many possible points, it was worth up to 13.6% of the course grade.  Also, In case you find yourself feeling "bored" in a week from now (or before our short summer ends), check out the links to the left.  Some students have already discovered the online open heart surgery games that I've posted links to in past years (do a search of the site for those).  You could get ahead on the 7th grade material (it's biology - cell, genetics & DNA, human body and much more), the textbook publishers link:  http://glencoe.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/007874184x/ maybe even check out the 7th grade science teachers websites (Mr. Ross, Mrs. Fortino, & Mrs. Witt). Enjoy your summer.

             -Mrs. Fischer

By the way:  If you find yourself in August looking for something to do, send me an email.  I'll be looking for a few volunteers the week before school starts to help set up the classroom. Thank you in advance!

This information is in a handout which should go home this afternoon from 6th period teacher for students to give to their families. Please make sure your students bring a #2 pencil, their Science Notebook and Review Packet on the day of our Science Final.

Monday through Wednesday:

8:10    - Warning Bell
8:15- 10:01 - First final
10:01-10:13 - Break
10:13-11:54 - Second final (dismissal for students who do not take the school bus at 11:54)
11:54-12:15 - Lunch (School Bus arrival at 12:15)

 Monday - 1°, and 6°

Tuesday - 5° and 4°

Wednesday- 2° and 3°

Thursday-

8:10    - Warning Bell
8:15-8:53 - 1°
8:57-9:35 - 2°
9:39-10:17 - 3°
Break - 10:17-10:24
10:28-11:06 - 4°
11:10-11:48 - 5°
11:52-12:30 - 6° (dismissal for students who do not take the school bus is at 12:30)
Lunch - 12:30-1:00 (School Bus arrival at 1:00)

Week of May 25:

M 5.25- Memorial Day - No School - Make sure your project is ready to hand in tomorrow if not already turned in.

T 5.26- Read TB p. 516-529, do Sci NB p. 134-136.

W 5.27- Read TB p. 532-537, do SciNB p. 137-139 (started in class, finish for HW)
(Cultural Fair & Open House tonight - earn extra credit by visiting the room!)

R 5.28- Read TB p. 552-559, do SciNB p. 142-144, (we will start SciNB p. 144 in class)
answer TB p. 558 588 Visual Check, and p. 556 Figure 3 "Infer" in SciNB p. 143 Summarize It box"

F 5.29- Read TB p. 560-566 do SciNB p. 145-147.

Week of June 1:

M 6.1- Read TB p. 568-572, do SciNB p. 148-150.

T 6.2- Read TB p. 438-444, do SciNB p. 112-114.  (this should help you to review)
     Return textbook tomorrow for +10 bonus points.

Review Packet for Final which you can download and print:   FinalSpg2009Review.pdf (252.5 KB) 

Link to Food Chain Activity - Make an arctic & forest food chain and see what would occur if one of the organisms in the food chain disappears.
Link to a Temperate Decidious Forest Food Chain

W 6.3- Make a list of foods you at for one day (be specific, we'll use it on Thursday in class)
     Get that Textbook in  +5 bonus points if in tomorrow

News report on the Air France plane flying from Brazil to France - A very sad situation which reviews some of the concepts we've learned about this year in chapters on Atmosphere, Weather and Climate, and Oceans!

R 6.4- Finish SciNB p. 151 (Web)
     Tomorrow’s the last day to return textbook to Mrs. Fischer, after that, you’re returning it to Mrs. Shepard and/or paying to replace the textbook.  (no extra credit)

Announcement:  I originally intended to do a final Notebook Check today, however I find that we're running out of time.  Since I would still like to reward/give credit to students who have regularly completed the daily homework, I will be allowing students to use their Science Notebook as a resource on the day of the final (in addition to the noteplate which will be collected Friday).  Students must bring their Science Notebook the day of the final if they wish to use it during the test; I will collect the Notebook after they complete the final to prevent one student from using another student's notebook (I will not grade the SciNB through, and it will be returned to students on the last day of school).

F 6.5- Study for Finals - use your Science Notebook to study!

Week of June 8:
Finals week- noon dismissal all four days; Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday students are taking their finals, students may bring their Science Notebook the day of the final to use during the test; Thursday we'll return the finals, the Science Notebooks and look over the results.  The final in Science includes everything we’ve studied second semester.

M 6.8- Finals with 1°, 6°  (Study for finals; bring a pencil & SciNB day of Science test)
T 6.9- Finals with 5°, 4° (Study for finals; bring a pencil tomorrow & SciNB day of Science test)
W 6.10- Finals with 2°, 3° (Study for finals; bring a pencil tomorrow & SciNB day of Science test)

R 6.11- Last day of school!  Have a wonderful summer vacation!

Homework for this week was written in class on Friday due to BroncoThon on Monday.

M 5.18- Work on project
        Read TB p. 490-496, do SciNB p. 129-131

T 5.19- Read TB p. 468-474, do SciNB p. 120-121
      Work on Project

W 5.20- Read TB p. 475-482, do SciNB p. 123-125
    Work on Project

R 5.21- Read TB p. 483-488, do SciNB p. 126-128
    Work on project

F 5.22- Work on project due by Tuesday!  (Have a good 3 day weekend)

M 5.11- Lesson 1 Family Activity (worksheet),
            Read TB p. 424-429 and do SciNB p. 106-108 (students had at least half an hour to start this last week in class)

T 5.12- Read TB p. 430-437 and do SciNB p. 109-111,
           Work on Project due May 18/19.

W 5.13-Lesson 3 Family Activity (worksheet),
          ch 9 Reflection/WIGWAY due Friday,
           Work on Project due May 18/19.

R 5.14- Read TB p. 446-453, do SciNB p. 115-117,
           Work on Project, Reflection/WIGWAY.

F 5.15- Work on Project due May 18/19.  Announcement:  Project due date extended!  Turn in for early extra credit week of May 18 - 22.  Turn in for regular credit on Tuesday, May 26.  Here's how it breaks down:

if returned on May ...    18	19	20	21	22	26
you earn a bonus of... +10	+9	+8	+5	+4	none

Natural Resources assignment sheet if you'd like to download it:

AlternateEnergyExhibitProject.pdf (274.03 KB)

List of useful web links (live links can be found in the above .pdf file)

Coming soon: grading rubric (distributed last week)

 M 4.27 & T 4.28- Study for Friday's test on chapter 9. 
         Read TB p. 588-594,
         Do SciNB p. 154-156. 
         Answer TB p. 594 # 1, 2, 3, 5 in SciNB p. 155 "Summarize It" box, and
         Answer TB p. 594 # 4, 7, 9 in SciNB p. 156 "Summarize It" box.
*(Reflection & WIGWAY for chapter 8 was started on binder paper today, the Reflection questions for this test are due Friday, 5.1 with the WIGWAY. )
      1. Were the results what you expected? Why or why not?
      2. What information did you find most difficult? Why?
      3. What information did you find easy to remember?  Why?
      After finishing Reflection start your WIGWAY.  (Copy Q, and correct A, explain why you got it wrong.)

W 4.29 & R 4.30- Study for Friday's test on chapter 9. 
        Read TB p. 595-605,
        Do SciNB p. 157 AND 158. (Notice: you are to skip SciNB p. 158 - this will be completed during the presentations from the project). 
        Answer TB p. 605 #1, 3, 6  SciNB p. 158 "Summarize It" box, and
        Answer TB p.605 # 4, 5, 8 in SciNB p. 159 "summarize" It box.
        Work on project distributed in class, due Tuesday May 19 for regular credit, or may be turned in early (Monday, May 18) for early extra credit.  (Eek! I was a week ahead of myself on this one.  The project will be distributed NEXT week.  The due date will be the same.  Sorry about that!

F 5.1- Read TB p. 607-613, do SciNBp. 160 and 163.  Early dismissal today (noon) - enjoy your 2.5 day weekend!

Online Link to NPR interview about mining for gold which I mentioned mentioned in class (open, then click"listen now")
       You can find out even more information by looking at January's National Geographic Magazine article, "The Real Price of Gold"

M 4.20- Answer TB p. 390 # 8, 10 and Reading Check p. 387 in SciNB p. 96, AND
            Answer TB p. 390 # 4, 5 in SciNB p. 97.
           Reminder: Online Extra Credit is due tomorrow!
(Absent? Checked and filled in details in SciNB p 95, 96)

T 4.21- Read TB p. 393-400, do SciNB p. 98, AND
            Answer TB p. 400 # 2,3 in SciNB p. 99.
(Absent?  Corrected last nights HW Q's in SciNB, and filled in p. 97 of SciNB with the diagram from TB p. 386, information from Figure 10's statement with specifics on the temperature at the equator, mid-latitudes, and polar regions due to the angle of the sunlight.  We also put together Mrs. F's concept map (handout you'll need) in partners regarding the importance of solar energy on Earth.  This was copied into the SciNB bottom of p. 97.)

W 4.22- Answer TB p. 400 # 1, 6, 9 in SciNB p. 100 AND
            Finish SciNB p. 99, 100.
(Absent? In class we corrected last night's HW, and filled in the top of p. 99 and 100, and made a link between math (a reciprocal is the inverse of a number or fraction) and when the atmosphere has an inversion in the troposphere the location of the hot air is flipped or inverted like the reciprocal is.)

R 4.25- Read TB p. 401-409, Do SciNB p. 101, 102.
(Absent? In class we watched a video, took a video quiz and went over the HW questions in the Summarize It box on p. 102)

F 4.26- Do TB p. 415 all (FCS/WOTQ), AND p. 416-417 # 1-10, 14 (FCS/WOTQ).

Announcements: April 26 is the end of the grading period.  Test on chapter 9 is on Friday, May 1 due to the state testing schedule next week. Next week we will be on block scheduling (to be posted).  The assigned homework will be worth 2 nights of work!