Wednesday, 29 August and Thursday, 30 August; Friday, 31 August and Tuesday, 4 Septermber, 2007

DUE TO SCIENCE FCAT PRESTESTING, THE LESSONS PRESENTED HERE WILL SPAN A FOUR DAY PERIOD.

Using information from classroom discussions, handouts, and hands-on activities,
Students should be able to:
-demonstrate the steps of the scientific process by modeling an activity.
-identify variables and controls.
-formulate a hypothesis based on observations.
-test a hypothesis for its validity.
-analyze data and draw conclusions.

Students answered an FCAT question for their do now: The question was:
People used to believe that rotting meat would produce flies. Francesco Redi performed an experiment that showed this theory to be false. Dead matter did not produce living matter. What factor caused people to believe that flies came from rotting meat and what can be concluded from this?

After discussion, we completed any Cornell notes on scientific process/lab safety. Students are reminded that they must summarize their notes AND ask 3 questions based on the note's contents as a part of their nightly study routine. Students should use highlighters as a tool to help study by highlighting groups of material that are related or using color to mark answers to their questions.

After collection and review of HL #4, students received HL #5 on Variables. We read and recorded notes, including discussion on the types of variables, and the difference between controls and constants. HL #5 can be found at the top of this blog. Students received any missing handouts. They are reminded to bring all handouts to class for completion of the interactive notebook next block class meeting.

Students then demonstrated the art of scientific process by dong a string activity.

Monday, 27 August and Tuesday, 28 August, 2007

This is HL #4. Use loose leaf notebook paper, head your paper correctly, write in blue or black ink or pen, write the title, number your paper 1-5, do check only. Write the answers that fill in the blanks only. Do not copy the entire sentence.

Using information from classroom discussions, handouts, and movies,
Students should be able to:
-state that the scientific process is a means to finding the answer to a problem through a series of prescribed steps.
-use Cornell notes to record information on safety and what is an experiment.
-justify the importance of science safety rules.

Students copied and answered an FCAT review question for their do now.

Students then reviewed HL 3. We then distributed HL #4 on What is an experiment? We read the handout in class, using the Cornell notes system to record important information. Students are reminded that they are to go home and:
-write a review of the notes in the summary section.
-compose 3 questions based on the notes and record these questions in the questions/main ideas sections.

We reviewed safety rules for the lab. Students then turned in their safety contracts. Students are reminded that they must have a safety contract on file in order to participate in laboratory experiments.

We then did a safety activity where students read a handout and located safety hazards, identifying the hazards and then stating the correct and safe laboratory procedures.

We used the remainder of the class time to demonstrate how modifications in scientific knowledge has allowed society to form new ideas and theories by re-examining old observations in light of new knowledge, experiments, and developing scientific equipment. Students applied the scientific method to the cup burn demonstration and got into a line based on their birth month and date without talking or writing.

Home learning #4 can be found at the top of this post.

Saturday, 25 August, 2007

Handouts for Dr. Gayden's Seventh Grade Science Class

The following are letters to parents, be sure to give them to your parents/guardians.



The following is the parent contact form. Be sure to give it to your parents and have them sign.


The following are handouts that you and your parenst must read. Then, you and your parents sign the contracts. Bring them back to class.





The following handouts explain how to set up your interactive science notebook, the yearly assignments, the 3 Rs (rules, regulations, and requirements, including grading scale), how to set up your Cornell notes page, and how to head your papers correctly.






Use the following handout to record your assignments and due dates.

The following benchmarks should be placed in the front inside cover of your notebook.


The folloiwng page belongs on the inside back cover of your notebook. It is for adult imput. It must be completed by an adult once a week, AFTER you have taught them one of the concepts you've learned that week.


The remaining pages all belong in your interactive notebook. Check the set-up sheet to determine where they belong.

Thursday, 23 August and Friday, 24 August, 2007

This is HL #3. Be sure to use blue or black ink or pen, head your loose leaf paper correctly. Write answers on this sheet also so that we can check the work during the next class.

Using information from classroom discussions and handouts:
Students should be able to:
Using information from classroom discussions, handouts, and movies,
Students should be able to:
-state that the scientific process is a means to finding the answer to a problem through a series of prescribed steps.
-use Cornell notes to record information on the scientific process.
-continue construction of an interactive science notebook.
-justify the importance of science safety rules.

Students continued working on their Cornell notes for the scientific process, by summarizing the notes in the summary section. Students then composed three questions and recorded these in the questions/main ideas sections. Students used color to categorize notes to better enable studying.

Students reviewed classroom safety procedures, including all lab safety skills. Students are reminded that they and their parent/guardian must sign the safety contract in order to do laboratory activities. These contracts are to be turned in on the next class meeting.

Students continued construction of their interactive notebook. The pages and the format sheet will be placed on this website at a later date (sorry, I left the computer with the scanned pages at school this weekend!)

Students are reminded that they must have all classroom supplies as listed by the next class meeting.

Home learning four can be found at the top of this blog. Remember, head the paper correctly, write on loose leaf notebook paper, and use only blue/black ink or pencil.

Tuesday, 21 August and Wednesday, 22 August, 2007

HL #2. Follow the directions on the handout and those given in class.


Using information from classroom discussions, handouts, and movies,
Students should be able to:
-state that the scientific process is a means to finding the answer to a problem through a series of prescribed steps.
-use Cornell notes to record information on the scientific process.
-begin an interactive science notebook.

Students had their first full day of class. After collecting home learning 1, home learning 2 was distributed. HL #2 is to be done on loose leaf notebook paper in blue or black ink, or in pencil. The page must be headed as directed in class. The directions for heading the page are also included on the home-learning sheet, which can be found at the top of this blog. Remember to follow directions! Place the heading and number your page 1-8. Do not skip lines. Put the letter answers only that best describe each definition.

Students then completed a class contact card with the following information:

Last name, First name
ID number
Birthdate (month/date/year)
Student E-mail address (if applicable)
Parent/Guardian(s) name(s)
Phone Number (area code-number)
Street address
City, State, Postal zip code
Name and phone contact for a day-time emergency
Parent/Guardian E-mail address

After completing the card, students received handouts for their parents. Because of the volume of handouts, all handouts other than home learning will be posted on a later date (Saturday of this week).

Students then completed a following directions handout.

We then viewed two short BrainPop movies on Scientific Method and Scientific Problem Solving, where Tim and Moby explained and demonstrated the process using examples.

Students then began construction of their interactive science notebook. We then turned to page 8 and took notes on the scientific process. We used the Cornell Notes system to take notes. See the listed website for the format. Or go to drgcdms.podomatic.com to get a link to the site. The notes taken in class are listed below.

Scientific process-the steps a scientist takes to find the answer to a problem or question.
The steps of the scientific process are:
1-State the problem or ask a question. After making observations, a question is posed that can't be answered by simply observing the situation.
2-Do the research. Reliable internet sources (.gov, .net, .org), journals, interviews with professionals, books, including texts, and newspapers can be used to find information about the topic.
3. Form a hypothesis-an educated guess or prediction about a situation based on observations.
5. Perform an experiment-gather materials and supplies, draft a set of procedures to follow, and do the experiment.
6. Gather data-use the senses (see, hear, smell, taste, touch) to discover information as the experiment is conducted.
7. Analyze the data-present the data in groups that allow for relationships to be observed and noted: graphs, charts, tables, pictures
7. Draw conclusions-does the data support the hypothesis or cause you to reject the hypothesis? Do you need to redesign your hypothesis and do another experiment?
8. Share your findings-talk about what you found out, or publish your work.

Students then summarized their information and were challenged to come up with 3 questions to record in the questions/main ideas section. This information will be shared during the next class.

Monday, 20 August, 2007

Using information from classroom discussions,
Students should be able to:
-identify the disciples of science studied this year as physical science, life science, and earth science.
-state that the scientific process is a means to finding the answer to a problem through a series of prescribed steps.

Welcome back wildcats to another school year. We are ready to begin another journey through The Science Zone! Get ready for the adventure of your life!

Our do know was to complete a KWL chart about the disciplines of science.

Since many classes were shortened, we only had time to review the materials needed for class. Students must bring the composition notebook to the next class so that we can begin the interactive notebook. Those materials necessary by the next class meeting include: composition notebook, 2 working blue or black ink pens, 2 working mechanical pencils, and 4 different colors of highlighters. Other materials that must be purchased by the beginning of next week include: safety scissors, glue sticks, metric ruler, hole punch, a folder with pockets or a section in a binder with pockets, colored pencils, head phones and safety glasses.

Home learning # 1:
Write a paragraph about one thing you did this summer. Explain how it relates to one of the disciples of science (life science, physical science, earth science, chemistry). Give examples.
For example:
This summer, I ton my cactus garden. This involved life science. I had to know the life cycle of plants, how much sun they needed to survive, how much to water them, and how many could live in a specified area and what abiotic factors they needed o survive such as water, air, sun, and soil.