Autumn Arrives!

September 22nd is the First day of Autumn.  Students in Science 7 prepared for fall with a mini lesson on the equinox...

The Reasons for Seasons

A new tool we used during this lesson was "Gizmo".  Hopefully this new tool will help us better understand the significance of the change in seasons that occurs at 4:02 pm.

Hurricanes

Mini Lesson: Hurricanes    

It's Hurricane season! According to the National Weather Service the hurricane season in the Northern Hemisphere lasts from June through November. As you are reading this one of the most powerful hurricanes ever recorded is heading towards the U.S. Lets take this opportunity to learn more about hurricanes. 

Task

Your group will create a poster about hurricanes with four quadrants. Each group member is responsible for one of the quadrants. The topic and requirements for each quadrant is listed below.

Procedure

1. Assign a topic to each member of the group
2. Research your topic and find information
3. Create a panel on a half sheet of blank paper. Each member must put their name on their panel. 
4. When completed, glue your panel onto the poster board in your quadrant. 
5. Assemble poster; it should have a title and be neat and easy to read. 

Quadrants (Topics)

1. MAP: Hurricane PathYou will be provided with a map of the world.   Using the illustration on page 105 in "A Golden Guide to Weather" shade the areas where hurricanes form and draw arrows to show the direction in which the hurricanes travel.  Read the section titled 'Sources and Paths of Hurricanes' on page 105  and write a short summary underneath your map.
2. DRAW: Energy and FormationInformation on this topic can be found on pages 104-110 in "A Golden Guide to Weather" and on page 19 in "Hurricane!" Using the information on these pages and the diagram on page 9 of "Hurricane!" draw a diagram of hurricane formation.
3. DISCOVER: Hurricane IrmaThis task requires mapping and researching skills.  Use the Atlantic basin hurricane tracking map to sketch the current predicted path of hurricane Irma. You may use Google to look at images of the path - make sure to check how old they are!  Use a Chromebook locate recent news articles about Irma and answer the following questions:
1. What category hurricane is Irma?
2. Where in Carribean did Irma make landfall?
3. What are the sustained wind speeds in Irma?
4. What is the significance of Irma? What makes it stand out from previous hurricanes
4. FIND: Hurricane FactsThis task requires reading for information.  Using “A Golden Guide to Weather” pgs 104-110 and internet search engines, answer the Hurricane Facts Questions.  Restate the question in your answer.  List your answers in bullet point form on your panel in a neat and organized manner.

Welcome Back!

Welcome Back!

baked pumpkin for pie, soup and a side dish

I had a great holiday weekend completing some barnyard repairs, gathering with family and friends, mowing the lawn, harvesting some early pumpkins and grilling red peppers!

I'm ready to get back to school and hope you are too.

We will begin today by reviewing our assignments on Powerschool and talking about our Scientific Method Lab from last week.

Your first assignment today has two steps...

grilled red peppers to add zest to our meals

1. Review Powerschool and finish (or make a note in your planner to finish) any overdue or late assignments.

Choose two of the Scientific Method lab activities that you liked best and paste them into your science notebook.

- remember to use the

• Lab Notebook format 
• and use the front and back of each page in your notebook.

Developing Synthetic Heart Tissue

Article of the Week:  Developing Synthetic Heart Tissue

Read the article at this link, DOGO Article

 then write a paragraph responding to the following prompt:

How are Steps in the Scientific Method  found in and important to this article?

Paragraph Requirements:

• Declarative Sentence
• 3 Details
• Sentence of Significance

Scientific Method Lab

Students in Science 7 are engaged in our first lab: The Scientific Method.  In this lab they are working in small groups to explore, draw, read, watch, write, organize and evaluate what happens when we "do" science.  

Beginning our STEM Enrichment Journey

Seventh Grade students at New Lothrop Jr. / Sr. High School began their year by spending some time on Friday, August 25th thinking about Genius Hour projects they could become involved in this school year.  The students identified robotics, 3D printing, coding and general research in a topic of their choice as their highest priority in the comments section of the first post in the class blog.

Stay tuned for more information as we work on STEM Enrichment this year!

Welcome to Science 7

Welcome back to School and to Science Class!

I hope you had a good break. I am interested in hearing what you did over the summer!  On the first day of school Mr. Delemeester and the students will answer warm-up questions and then use the warmup answers to share their names and an interesting fact about themselves.  After we introduce ourselves we will navigate to MrDelemeester.com and look at some of the topics we will be studying in Science Class this year and review class procedures and teacher expectations.

We will also discuss how Mr. Berthiaume (the Superintendent of New Lothrop Area Public Schools) and Ms. Kuchar, (our new High School Principal) have agreed to allow some time during class to try innovative Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) enrichment activities.

Our goal for the first two days of class will be to become familiar with each other, gain an overview of science class, become introduced to the classroom rules and teacher expectations, and to think about something special and challenging that we can do this year.

We will watch a video published by Gallit Zvi, an elementary school teacher and Vice Principal in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada and review a list of  idea starters provided by a teacher named Denise Krebs who currently teaches English to 5th Grade Students in Bahrain (don't know where that is?  Google It!).

I would like students to consider things we could do with our special time...

• Write a Novel
• Share Your Knowledge
• Design a Video Game
• Build a Killer Robot
• Direct a Blockbuster Movie
• Compose a Symphony
• Change the World

Some questions we should ask about ourselves and the world around us are...

• What new idea do you want to develop?
• What have you been wanting to try?
• What skill can you master?
• What tool can you learn that will help you work better?
• What tool could help you create something beautiful?
• What tool could help you communicate better?
• How can we make it better?
• How can we make each other better?
• How do we know this to be so?
• Is this what is needed most?
• What is it we hope to accomplish and what’s stopping us?
• What are we most proud of?
• What is possible?
• When can we start?
• How will we prevent failure?
• How can we make this happen?
• Who can make this happen?
• What do we regret most?
• How can we make the best use of…?
• What if we…?

Finally I want students to investigate the STEM Enrichment section at MrDelemeester.com and look at the opportunities that we would like to offer students this year.  Spend 10 to 15 minutes investigating any of the links on my website that you find interesting and discuss them with Mr. Delemeester and your classmates.

The assignments for the first two days of school are to review the syllabus and expectations documents handed out in class with their parents and return them signed, and to think of something special to do this year and add a comment about it to this blog post.