This week we are taking a break between units to focus on the gardens. Students in 2nd, 3rd, and 6th periods will be planting seeds and seedlings this week. Students in 1st, 5th, and 7th will be assigned a garden square to observe during the fall. Hopefully the weather will cooperate with plenty of fall rain to get our seedlings off to a strong start. There will be more information on what we are planting in another post.
On Monday I will give back everyone's first unit test of the year, Scientific Investigation. The test and scan-tron card will be taped to pages 19 and 20 in the students' interactive notebooks. We will go over these in class and discuss missed questions. This test was worth 200 points and may have affected your child's grade significantly. For that reason I will be printing a new average for each student which will be distributed as soon as all make-up tests are complete. These will be taped into the interactive notebook in a few days. (no extra credit for parent signatures this time)
On Tuesday some classes will continue to work in the garden. 5th, 6th, and 7th periods will have a guest speaker, Jessica Smith, from Novozymes. She will be talking to the students about her job as a scientist who uses the scientific method every day.
I will post more information about what we will be doing on Wednesday through Friday of this week. The weather forecast for the week leads me to believe I'd better be flexible in what we need to get done outside.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Pre-AP Project Update: 5th and 7th Period Only
We are now on the down slope of our Product Testing Project. Since September 15, when you signed your child's Project Overview and Timeline, we have created our questions, which contain the projects' independent and dependent variables, we've made our hypotheses, created the lists of materials needed and the procedure to follow, and as of Friday, created the data tables (and possibly an accompanying observation key) on which the results should be recorded. Every one of these steps has been written, approved, and collected in the science folder in their binders as we completed them. I've done some informal folder checks to see that students are keeping their work. With the exception of a few students who have not gotten their data tables approved, most students were given the go-ahead on Friday to start their experiment.
On Thursday of this week (or sooner), students should bring their materials and a clean set of directions and data table for the person who will be randomly selected to take their experiment home to repeat. It is VERY important for all students to bring their materials on Thursday as any student who does not will prevent another student from completing this step of the project. Late work will significantly impact the final grade.
Unfortunately, I still have students who have not successfully completed the steps of the project. Please communicate with your child to see how they are doing and ask to see the rough drafts they have collected in their science folders.
On Thursday the students should bring home another experiment and must do it and return it to school no later than Monday, October 11. This is a fast turn-around, so students should not procrastinate. According to the project directions, all projects should be able to be completed in a few hours. Next week we will work on writing the conclusion (the most important part), and the components will be compiled to be turned in for a final grade. I will send home a handout with directions for what this should look like.
I believe this project is the best way to prepare students for the mandatory PreAP science fair project next year. Although it has been a lot of work, we've had fun doing it!
PS: -And we're still not finished! During the 2nd nine weeks we'll graph our results and build a mini science fair board on which we'll display our project during the GMS Science Fair in January.
On Thursday of this week (or sooner), students should bring their materials and a clean set of directions and data table for the person who will be randomly selected to take their experiment home to repeat. It is VERY important for all students to bring their materials on Thursday as any student who does not will prevent another student from completing this step of the project. Late work will significantly impact the final grade.
Unfortunately, I still have students who have not successfully completed the steps of the project. Please communicate with your child to see how they are doing and ask to see the rough drafts they have collected in their science folders.
On Thursday the students should bring home another experiment and must do it and return it to school no later than Monday, October 11. This is a fast turn-around, so students should not procrastinate. According to the project directions, all projects should be able to be completed in a few hours. Next week we will work on writing the conclusion (the most important part), and the components will be compiled to be turned in for a final grade. I will send home a handout with directions for what this should look like.
I believe this project is the best way to prepare students for the mandatory PreAP science fair project next year. Although it has been a lot of work, we've had fun doing it!
PS: -And we're still not finished! During the 2nd nine weeks we'll graph our results and build a mini science fair board on which we'll display our project during the GMS Science Fair in January.
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