Cockroach Lab

We completed our annual cockroach lab last week!  It's one of my favorites of the year!  I took a bunch of pictures during each class and posted each period's pictures on my website.  They can be found on the My Slideshows tab.  The password for each is "cockroach" if you wish to view any!

Organelle of the Year Award Projects

We had another successful year of completing the Organelle of the Year Award projects!  Students worked in groups and had to convince the rest of us that their assigned organelle was the most important and should win the award.

All of the groups did an excellent job!  These were the winners in each class:

1st Period: April, Emma, Jordyn - Chloroplast

2nd Period: Nora, Marley, Alana, Sophia - Cell Wall

3rd Period: Vanessa, Sydney, Maddie, Eva, Lauren - Nucleus

4th Period: Alanna, Olivia, Mackenzie, Audrey - Cell Wall

8/9th Period: Casey, Joseph, Thomas, Michael, Aaron - Cytoplasm

11th Period: Taylor, Emma, Jessica, Emma - Lysosome

Science Newsletter 11-8-16

Good afternoon!

A few science updates...

Students will have a test over cells on Thursday, November 10.  They received a list of what to study as well as a study guide last week.  The study guide is due by tomorrow, November 9 when we'll go over the answers in class.   This test is a combination of topics from the Organelles Quiz and Intro to Cells Test.

This is the list of what to study:

**Organelles

*Know the function of each

*Nucleus is the control center of the cell, contains DNA

*Mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell, gives it energy

*Lysosome gets rid of waste

*Cell Membrane surrounds the cell like skin, controls what goes in and out

*Cell Wall surrounds the cell, gives it protection and shape

*Chloroplasts conduct photosynthesis, are green

*Cytoplasm is the gel/liquid that fills up the cell

*Vacuoles store water and waste

*Be able to look at picture and identify the organelle

**Paramecium

*Unicellular

*A protist

**Animal & Plant Cells

*In multicellular organisms

*Animal Cell contains: cell membrane, cytoplasm, lysosome, mitochondria, nucleus, vacu0les

*Plant Cell contains: cell membrane, cell wall, chloroplast, cytoplasm, lysosome, mitochondria, nucleus, vacu0les

**Cell Division

*Cells grow larger, copy organelles, and then split in half to reproduce

*This means there is one parent

*Makes exact copies, offspring are identical to the parent

We finished our Organelle of the Year Award Projects last week and they were really great!  I think the classes really had fun with them too!  Here are the winning groups from each class:

1st period - April D, Emma F, Jordyn M (chloroplast)

2nd period - Nora J, Marley K, Alana L, Sophia M (cell wall)

3rd period - Maddie A, Lauren B, Eva M, Vanessa P, Sydney R (nucleus)

4th period - Mackenzie C, Alanna M, Audrey M, Olivia R (cell wall)

8/9th period - Thomas C, Joseph D, Casey L, Michael M, Aaron W (cytoplasm)

11th period - Jessica C, Emma E, Taylor S, Emma W (lysosome)

We've been doing some activities in our ISN this week.  Students will need to finish these if they did not finish them during class.  Our next ISN Check will be sometime in the next week or two.  On page 14, students glued in charts with the organelles on them; they had to fill in the charts about the organelles.  On page 15, students had to write a brief summary of cell division and add an illustration of what happens when cells divide.

Thank you to everyone who donated food to our food drive!  We had an incredible amount brought in and our BTG club will be able to help a lot of families in the area!

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns!  Have a wonderful day!

Food Drive Themes

This week, we are having a spirit week for the food drive!  If students bring in at least 1 non-perishable food item, they are able to participate each day!

Monochromatic Monday - Wear one color from head to toe!
Pajama Tuesday - Wear your comfiest jammies!
Wacky Tacky Wednesday - Wear something crazy and mis-matchy!
Black Out Thursday - Wear all black!
Jersey Friday - Wear your favorite team's jersey!

Thank you for your participation!

Science Newsletter 10-27-16

Good afternoon!

A few science updates...

Students will take a quiz over organelles on Thursday, November 3.  They received a list of what to study and a study guide in class today. The study guide is due by Wednesday, November 2 when we will go over the answers together in class.  Students are welcome to turn in their study guides early for me to check if they'd like!  This is the list to study:

*Nucleus is the control center of a cell, contains DNA

*Mitchondria is the powerhouse of the cell, gives it energy

*Lysosome breaks down and gets rid of waste

*Cell Membrane surrounds the cell like skin, controls what goes in and out

*Cell Wall surrounds the cell, gives it protection and shape

*Chloroplasts conduct photosynthesis, are green

*Cytoplasm is the gel/liquid that fills up a cell

*Vacuoles store food, water, and waste

*Animal Cell contains: cell membrane, cytoplasm, lysosome, mitochondria, nucleus, and vacuoles (many)

*Plant Cell contains: cell membrane, cell wall, chloroplasts, cytoplasm, lysosome, mitochondria, nucleus, and vacuole (one)

*All cells contain: cell membrane, cytoplasm

*Identify the nucleus, cell membrane, and cytoplasm in a picture

*Identify differences between plant and animal cells that you could see under a microscope

Students are working on their Organelle of the Year Award Projects during class. Each group has an organelle that they are "nominating" for the award and their job is to convince our class that their organelle is the best one!  They received a rubric on Tuesday and worked in class on today and yesterday and will also work Friday and Monday.  We will present on Tuesday, November 1 and Wednesday, November 2.

We got our letters back from our pen pals over the weekend!  We discussed our pen pals' letters and began to write back in class on Monday.  Students received a rubric to help them with this.  Many finished and turned in their letters on Monday but if they did not finish, it is due by tomorrow.

JMMS is having a food drive!  Any non-perishable food items would be appreciated!  Our BTG club will donate the food items to needy families within our community.  There is a competition for the homerooms that bring in the most food items by the end of next week.  The winners in each grade level will win a prize!

Report cards are going home tomorrow!  Students will receive theirs during homeroom so be sure to ask you child to see his or hers after school tomorrow!

Thank you so much for your support.  Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns!

Science Newsletter 10-14-16

A few science updates...

Students worked on coloring their Cell Pictures (on page 12 in their ISNs) in class last week.  If they are not finished coloring them, they should be finished as soon as possible.  I'll be doing an ISN check next week before the end of the grading period.  The colors are:

Cell Membrane = Black

Cell Wall = Orange

Chloroplast = Green

Cytoplasm = Yellow

Lysosome = Pink

Mitochondria = Red

Nucleus = Purple

Vacuole = Blue

Students will have a test next Tuesday, October 18 over intro to cells information.  The test will be worth 20 product points and has 12 questions.  Students received a list of what to study as well as a study guide in class on Wednesday, October 12. The study guide is due by Monday, October 17, but students are always welcome to turn it in early! This is the list of what to study:

*Prokaryotic - cell without a nucleus, simple, few organelles

*Eukaryotic - cell with a nucleus, complex, many organelles

*Why the cell is the basic unit of life - all living things are made of at least one cell

*Example of multicellular organism (animals, plants...)

*Example of unicellular/single-celled organism (bacteria, paramecia...)

*Example of prokaryotic cell (backteria)

*Example of eukaryotic cell (plant cell, animal cell, paramecia...)

*Nucleus is control center of cell, like a brain

*Animals are always multicellular, bacteria are unicellular

*Organelles help the cell carry out the characteristics of life

(Students have several pages of information in their ISNs that will help with this too!)

We worked on a webquest over cells on Tuesday and Wednesday in a computer lab this week.  Many students finished their webquests in class.  However, if any students did not finish these, they are to be finished and turned in by Wednesday, October 19.

Next Friday, October 21 is the end of our first grading period!  It's gone by so fast!  Be sure that you are checking your child's grades online.  If he or she is missing anything, please be sure to encourage them to check in with their teachers!  Students are welcome to turn in any work to me before the end of the 9 weeks to help improve their grades.  Next week's test will be counted towards this grading period; students will have a chance to work on test corrections in class next week after they get them back.

As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.  Have a wonderful day!

Mini Microscope Quiz

Don't forget that our Mini Microscope Quiz is tomorrow!  This is a review quiz over the same study guide we used for the Microscope Quiz last week.  It is 10 questions worth 10 points and has no extended response or drawings.  It is over the microscope parts and basic usage of the microscope.