Reminder

Today's notes are available via the SnapGrades calendar. Assuming all goes well with the calendar, please look there, rather than here, for future updates.

Notes for Friday; Upcoming change in blog

Greetings!

Here are Friday's notes.

The notes are now also posted on SnapGrades, using their new Calendar feature. Please let me know if you're able to access those notes. If SnapGrades works as a repository for notes links, I'll probably start using that exclusively, and begin phasing out this blog.

Notes for Tuesday and Wednesday

Notes from Tuesday and Wednesday are here.

Syllabus for the last two weeks of this block.

Link here, or just read the syllabus in all its glory below.

B3W3 Syllabus

By the end of this week, you should be able to:

• Explain the essentials of the discovery of the structure of the atom.
• Explain the three basic particles that make up an atom and give basic facts about each.
  
• Illustrate the structure of an atom of any given element based on its atomic number and atomic weight.

Assignments:

Xenophile: Quiz on endothermic and exothermic rxns, acids, bases, atoms vs molecules, combustion, catalysts and balancing equations. You may use only the foldable from last week. Monday W3D1

Yclept: Drawing of an atom of "your" element, showing neutrons, protons and electrons in correct numbers and locations. Heading should include the name and symbol of your element, its atomic number and its atomic weight. Should have nucleus and electron cloud labeled. Also, include information on the group your element belongs to: what is the name of the group and the important characteristics of that group? Due Thursday W3D4. Once this is approved, you can start work on the final draft of your pamphlet for next week.

Zoroastrian: Timeline of major events in the history of atomic studies (from class notes), due Friday, W3D5.

B3W4 Syllabus

By the end of this week, you should be able to:

• Explain the purpose of the periodic table of the elements.
  
• List the major families of elements and give examples and characteristics of each family.
  

Amanuensis: Final copy of brochure. Due W4D1.

Baal: Block 3 Final. May use one standard sheet of paper (both sides) for your notes. You'll be given a periodic table, though it will not have the names of the elements, just the symbols.

Syllabus for W2

This week's syllabus: sorry for the late posting.

Element brochure directions

The sample brochure, with directions, that I handed out to everyone, in case you lost it:

Thursday's notes

Here are Thursday's notes on acids and bases.

Notes: B3W2D3

Here are Wednesday's notes on exothermic reactions including combustion.

Notes for B3W2D2

The notes for Tuesday, including endothermic reactions, are here.

Notes for B3W2D1

The notes for Monday, including how to make the folded note "cabinet" are here.

Assignment U worksheet

Here is the worksheet for assignment U (balancing equations)

Due date change

Please note that the due date for assignment "U" has been moved to Monday from today (Wednesday). Thanks.

A site for help in balancing equations

This site is awesome. It does it differently that I do, but it helps you avoid any mistakes:

http://misterguch.brinkster.net/eqnbalance.html

(Don't forget to try the practice problems!)

Notes for B3W1D1 - Balancing Equations

Monday's notes can be seen here.

The syllabus for this week is here.

Rubric for S, Notes on lab reports

If you did not receive the rubric for assignment S (there was a mix-up about this), please find it here: http://docs.google.com/View?id=ddsm58ms_418d3w9fpcp

Monday's notes on how to write a lab report are here:

http://docs.google.com/present/view?id=ddsm58ms_419f5v559gh

Physical vs Chemical Changes Lab

By request, here's the link to the directions for the physical vs. chemical changes lab.

Another change: no assignment "K"

To avoid confusion, assignment "K" has been removed from SnapGrades: the final portfolio check will be the only one for this block.

Friday's notes on how to write a lab report:

Can be found here.

Ch-ch-Changes!

The labs students designed for assignment R have been rescheduled from today to next Tuesday. The lab reports (Assignment S) have thus been moved back a week and will be due Monday, the first day of Block III.

Rubric for S, plus sites to help with lab reports

Rubric for the lab report (S).

Some good web sites to look at for guidance in writing a lab report.

http://www.fun-science-project-ideas.com/Lab-Report-Format.html

http://www.biologycorner.com/worksheets/labreport.html

Directions for Q, rubric for R

Directions for today's lab (Q)

The Rubric for Assignment R. (Please note that the "Q" worksheet is to be turned in with Assignment R.)

Syllabus for W5

The syllabus for Week 5 can be found here. Rubrics will follow soon.

Handout (Assignment P)

If you lost your handout for assignment P, you can find a copy here.

Competitive Edge part 1

Last week's handout comes in two parts.

Part 1, and Part 2

Syllabus for W4

The Syllabus for this week is here. (Rubrics for N and O are part of the document as well).

Reviewing what we went over Wednesday:

Arrangements of particles in solids, liquids and gases.

A nice image of what sublimation might look like at the atomic level:

One way to draw the molecules of solids, liquids and gases:

Another way to visual s, l and g:

Notes from B2W3D1 - States of matter

Here are Monday's notes. As always, be sure to check out the speaker's notes, which contain important extra info!

By popular demand

I'll start making the weekly syllabi available the previous Friday.

Here's the B2W3 Syllabus (along with the rubric for J). Enjoy.

Notes from B2W2D1

On Monday, before starting in on assignment "H," we went over the basic definitions of chemical elements and compounds.

Elements: the ancient Greeks thought that there were only four elements: earth, air, fire and water. They thought that every substance was made of some combination of those four.

However, thousands of years of chemistry experiments showed that those four "elements" weren't as simple as the Greeks had thought; water, air, and earth, for instance, could all be broken down into simpler "ingredients."

However, as chemists worked, they built up a list of materials that couldn't be separated into more basic ingredients. They called these materials the chemical elements. It turns out that there are 92 naturally-occuring elements that are the building blocks of all matter. There are 92 naturally-occuring kinds of atoms, and all matter is made of some combination of those kinds. (There are also elements beyond 92, but those are artificial - made if physics and chemistry labs.)

You can think of elements as tiny "Legos;" there are 92 kinds, all different from one another. Everything made of matter - all solids, liquids, and gases - are made of these elements, in different combinations.

A compound is a material whose molecules are made of more than one kind of element. A compound is still a pure substance - it's NOT a mixture. Every molecule of a compound is like every other molecule. But each molecules is made of more than one kind of element.

H2O (water), for example, is a compound. Each molecule of water is made of two atoms of hydrogen and one of helium.

In project H, you'll be investigating other compounds.

Another write-up on elements can be found at here, at Chem4Kids.

Here's the syllabus for this week.

Here's assignment H (and the rubric)

Here's assignment I (rubric included).

Assignment F

The in-class worksheet for Assignment F is here.

If you're out sick this week, you can still do assignment F; you won't have the actual substances, but you should be able to use yesterday's notes to identify the substances on the list.

Notes for B2W1D3

The notes on "Pure Substances and Mixtures" are up.

Please don't forget to look at the Speaker Notes! There's lots of helpful info there.

Also, check out the last page: a list of helpful web links!

Notes for W1D2

The notes from Tuesday are here.

I highly recommend you look over these and fill out anything you're missing or were unclear on. These notes should give you all you need to do Assignment E.

Materials for Block 2, Week 1

Syllabus of this week's assignments.

Lab Safety Rules.

Rubrics for assignments E, F and G.

Please note: Assignments E and F will mostly be done in class; so take good notes and use your time wisely!

Also please note: from now on, assignments that are marked "N" ("needs revision") on the rubric will be marked as "Incomplete" in Snapgrades. This should make it easier for you to keep track of work you need to do.

Converting C to F and back again.

If you didn't get the formulas yesterday:

F to C:

(F-32)(5/9)

C to F:

C(9/5) + 32

Rubric for Assignment D

Rubric for Assignment D

I'll pass these out today (W5D3), but if you don't get it...

http://docs.google.com/View?id=ddsm58ms_369fzdwq6dm

Notes from W35D5

Today's notes are here. Don't forget to check the speaker notes for extra info!

Corrected - Assignment D is here.

Here's the Syllabus for Week 5.

Please note that if you scored below 65% on the quiz, you will be doing a makeup assignment for me during IWT this week!

Here's Assignment D. (Sorry for the previous link to the rubric!)

Need help?

Here's a very helpful page that summarizes a bunch of what we've done so far, including practice with conversions.

Here's a page from PBS on buoyancy and density.

W4 Syllabus and Assignments

W4 Syllabus. Note that there are no key questions this week.

Assignment C.

Notes from W35D5

Notes from W3D5: density.

Notes for W3D3

Wednesday's notes. Don't forget to turn speaker notes on, as I've put extra info there.

The Google spreadsheet where I'll be posting your measurements of water mass; the final average (mean) values should be up by noon today (W3D3).

W3 Syllabus and rubrics

W3 Syllabus. Please note that the questions on the syllabus replace the Key Questions from now on! (They're actually mostly the same, but there are some important changes.)

Rubrics for the W3 assignments.

More documents!

Week 2 Syllabus.

The rubric for Assignment A (for if you lost it). This is due Tuesday: W2D2

The rubric for KQ part 2. This is due Thursday: W2D4

The rubric for Assignment B.

And also the Assignment B lab sheet with the two questions.

Improved link to class biometric data: requires a gmail account.

Directions and QUESTIONS FOR ASSIGNMENT A

Here is a slightly revised version of today's handout with directions on how to make the scatter plot.

THE QUESTIONS FOR ASSIGNMENT A ARE AT THE END OF THIS DOCUMENT!

The science calendar is online!

The first bunch of documents!

Here's where you can find copies of the first week handouts.

Here are the Key Questions for Block I.

Here is the Week I Syllabus.

Here's the explanation of the grading system.

Here are the grading rubrics for the first two assignments

Welcome Back, Me (and you)

Greetings, oh students! (And parents!)

The new year is almost upon us, and so I'm blowing the dust of this blog, clearing out the cobwebs, and shooing away the summer spiders. Please, 8th graders, do your best to let your 7th-grade friends, associates, and mentees know about the existence of this blog, since, just like last year, I'll be posting links to notes and info up here.

Rather than have this come incompletely through the grapevine, I thought I'd go ahead and let you know some very sad personal news from me. My father, Edward Twining, died very suddenly and unexpectedly this summer. I've spent most of the summer in Denver, trying to be as much of a comfort and help to my mom as I can. I'm doing OK, but this is obviously a very hard thing to go through; I loved my dad a lot, and we kept in close touch. So I may get a little weepy from time to time this fall.

I am very much looking forward to seeing all of you people, though; you are, as I have had opportunity to say to a lot of friends this summer, an amazing bunch of students, and I mean that in a good way. Just being around you-all is going to cheer me up. Especially if you do your homework ;)

See you soon!

--Matthew

Completely Frivolous Post

Some former students have posted a dramatized documentary about what I do in my spare time.

Block VI project

Block VI project information.

Some sources:

A good site on animal feed. (Not unbiased, but basically accurate.)

An interesting article on some of the ingredients in cattle feed.

Good information from Consumer Reports.

W35D2 Notes are here.

Click here for Tuesday's notes.

Parasitic goodness!

Great article about behavior-controlling parasites, including some familiar faces and some amazing new ones, in Mental Floss.

Read 'n' enjoy. Would make some good quiz. questions, wouldn't it?

(There's also this photo-essay from Discover, on the same topic.)

W35

W35 Syllabus, with rubric for the final poster.

Notes from Monday.

Portfolio peer checklist

Portfolio peer checklist is here.

W34 Stuff

Week 34 Syllabus

Monday's notes.

Assignment X: Evolution articles

Directions for Assignment X, plus grading rubric, in case you lose your copy.

If you're still confused

By some of the main ideas so far this block, this may be of help; it's a very nice pamphlet discussing some of the major issues. A big download, but worth it.

W33 Syllabus. Includes directions for assignment W.

Links for assignment W:

Natural selection.

Survival of the sneakiest.

Notes for W32D5

Friday's notes. Enjoy. Don't forget to check the speaker's notes!

The online natural selection blog.

Directions here.

Simulation website here.

Lab "U"

The bead lab is here.

W32 Stuff

Notes for W32D1 - Darwin and Wallace.

Syllabus and grading rubrics for W32.

By popular demand

A quick way to get to the links for assignment R.

A good place to get started for the land biomes.

Other sites:

For the deep ocean - read down a bit for adaptations.

Good info for coral reef organisms.

How oysters survive in the changing conditions in estuaries. (Also look at the general estuaries page)

More good coral reef info.

But wait, there's more!

Here's a copy of Assignment R.

And here's the biome info sheet - remember you'll need one for each biome (you can also just write this info on note paper; just be sure to include everything from this sheet.)

And here's a blank world map to put the biomes on.

Welcome to Block VI!

Monday's notes can be found here. (Don't forget to read the "speaker's notes!")

Syllabus for this week can be found here.

Checklist for Science portfolio.

If you didn't get a copy of the Science portfolio checklist, you can pick one up from my desk tomorrow (Tuesday). If you can't wait to get started organizing your work, you can also get it here. Enjoy.

I'll be checking portfolios through Thursday, and possibly Friday morning, but the sooner you can get your portfolio to me the better.

Peer Review

Here's what we're going to be doing with the rough drafts on Friday (4/3). If you're out tomorrow, please do this at home, using a parent or sibling as the "reviewer." It should make your finished product that much better.

Stuff for W29

W29 Syllabus

Assignment P, including the checklist for evaluating web pages.

Rubric for Assignment Q, the genetics articles summary.

A bunch of good places to look for genetics news articles

Greetings!

As you know, on Tuesday, you'll be turning in Assignment O, where you pick a topic having to do with genes, genetics, DNA, genetic engineering, genetic research, genomes, genomics etc. (Hey look! I just gave you a good list of search terms!). For assignment O, you'll turn in an explanation of the topic, why you think it's interesting, and citations for two news articles about that topic. (You'll be finding even more articles on the topic next week.)

To help you find articles, here are some good places to look:

• Search Google News or Yahoo News for any of the search terms above
• Science News, the weekly science magazine.
• Articles collected by the NPR science news show Science Friday.
• Biology news from Scientific American.
• Science Daily.
• Science stories from the New York Times. (Try the "browse topics" menu on the right - the "genetic engineering" topic has lots of good stuff!)
• Articles from the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

This week's stuff

Syllabus for this week.

Assignment N.

Notes for Monday - Protein synthesis.

A good animation showing protein synthesis

Here's a good video of protein synthesis. Make sure you listen to the narration.

Another one, with more realistic molecule shapes and showing the process in real time, can be seen here.

If you lost this week's syllabus, here's a copy.

The extra credit song...

...is called "That Spells DNA" by Jonathan Coulton and you can stream it for free (and it looks like you can download it for free, at least for now on his home page. Just look for DNA on the page.

Look ye here for notes

W27D2 notes, reprising yesterday's research. Enjoy, and don't forget to check the speaker notes for extra info.

Web Pages to Use for W27D1

Overview of Avery's work and the Hershey-Chase experiment.

Good quick overview of the discovery of the structure of DNA.

Another overview of the same material.

Info on Miescher.

A biography of Rosalind Franklin.

If you look at Dec. 11 and 12th in this blog, you'll find a nice overview of Chargaff's discoveries.

An extremely detailed online timeline can be found here.

And, last but not least, a summary timeline from PBS. This is a good one to look at if you're confused!

Meiosis handout

Can be found here.

Possible help for the cartoon?

Fun, at any rate:

Tuesday's notes

W26D2 notes on the stages of mitosis are available here.

Mitosis movies!

No, not movies of the digits at the end of my feet - movies of cell division. All of them are speeded up: mitosis takes many minutes.

This one shows the spindle (green) that pulls the chromosomes (red) apart.

The fifth movie on this page is a movie showing multiple cells undergoing mitosis as a sea urchin embryo grows. The spindles show up as white.

Rat kidney cells undergoing mitosis are visible if you look for the heading "Chromosomes and the spindle" on this page, and then open the movie.

ANIMATIONS

A good animation of mitosis, with explanations, is here.

Here's a nice 3D animation, with a "zoom in" to the nucleus at the start (and ridiculous music).

A simplified, step-by-step animation (with a quiz afterwords) can be found here. Great if you're having trouble following the other animations.

W26 Syllabus and D1 assignment.

Welcome to Week 26.

The syllabus for this week is here, and the graphic organizer for today is here.

W25D5 Notes

Notes are here.

Punnet Square Worksheet

Punnet Square Worksheet available here.

A good site to explore

The University of Utah has a great site to reinforce your genetics learning. If you were confused by the lessons today or yesterday, you should check out the first two presentations on this page.

W25 Notes

Notes from the first two days of this week are to be found here. Enjoy.

Due date change

Also sent out via snapgrades:

Greetings. In order to stay consistent with the handout, I'm changing the date of the cell analogy assignment from tomorrow (Friday) to Monday. Cell analogies - complete, and typed, are due at the start of the day on Monday, W24D1. Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks!

W23 and W24

Only two assignments to focus on this week (syllabus for the week is here.)

The Cell Analogy (Assignment "Archibald") is due at the end of the day Friday. Students will have all day Thursday and Friday to work on their analogies and get help from me.

The directions for assignment Archibald were passed out to students, and are also available here.

The cell model, assignment B, is due at the end of next week. Students will work on this assignment in class next week, and should have all the materials they need to work on the model by Monday. Directions for this assignment are here. (Students also have this as a handout.)

For W22D4 - in-class Webquest.

To start with: use this web page to learn about cell membranes and answer the questions on your handout. I'll be coming around to help you out.

(Notice that there's some good basic information about other organelles on this page.)

After you've answered the questions on the handout, watch the animation that I'll show you. (It's from this web page.) Take notes, and be prepared to answer: what is endocytosis? What is exocytosis?

Another good site, if you're having trouble visualizing the membrane. Click through the animations!

Good animations of protein transport through a membrane can be found on this page.

After that, you can start researching - and taking notes - on what the different cell organelles do.

Some sites to try include this one from the University of Cincinnati 

This site (which has some good analogies to get you thinking) from a junior high in Utah. (Notice how I'm linking to sites that are from schools and universities? This is a good way to find reliable information - though it's not foolproof.)

There's an interactive animation of a cell here with some good explanations.

Using these sites, write out your own explanation of what each organelle's function in the cell is. Then, talk to me about what kinds of analogies might work for your analogy project.

Notes for W22D3 are here.

Information for the Cell Analogy project is here.

Petunia

Information for Imaginary Animal Final Project.

Assignment Q

The pig dissection guide, if you want a sneak preview of Monday and Tuesday's activity.

Today's notes

Today's notes on reproductive systems.

Group presentation notes

I've only received three groups' notes so far (see below). 

I need the remaining three ASAP!

The brain.

Another brain.

Kidneys.

Liver 1 should be available here.

Study Guide for Test

Study Guide for W21D1 Science Test - Open-Note Test

Be able to:

• Explain and define diffusion and osmosis.
  
• Explain which animal phyla can get oxygen to their cells using only diffusion/osmosis and why.
  
• List the major phyla of animals, and be able to give two examples of animals (common names OK) from: annelids, mollusks, arthropods, and chordates. 
  
• Know which of the following animals have a hydrostatic, external, or internal body skeleton: arthropoda, cnidarians, platyhelminthes, nematoda, annelida, chordata, and mollusca.
  
• Define each type of skeleton above, and explain the advantages and disadvantages of each.
  
• Be able to explain the primary differences between the digestive systems of cnidarians as opposed to nematodes, chordates, arthropods and annelids.
  
• Explain the different ways that different animal groups get oxygen: focus on the platyhelminths, cnidarians (coelenterates), mollusks, arthropods (remembering that insects have their own, distinctive system - know this system!), and different chordates - fish, amphibians, and mammals. (Know which of these groups have circulatory systems!)
  
• Define nematocysts, and explain their importance to the feeding strategies of cnidarians such as hydra.
• Compare sexual and asexual reproduction, and explain the advantages and disadvantages of each. Explain how and why the hydra uses both systems.
  
• Compare internal and external fertilization, and explain the advantages and disadvantages of each.
  
• Define the amniotic egg and explain its importance.
  
• Explain the special features of mammalian reproduction, and their advantages and disadvantages.
  

• Trace the blood flow through the human body, including the chambers of the heart, in the correct order. 
  
• Label the chambers of the heart correctly on a diagram
  
• Explain the major parts of the human digestive tract in order, giving the primary function or importance of each, from esophagus to rectum.
  
• Label the major parts of the human digestive system on a diagram.
  
• Label the liver, kidneys, brain and spinal cord correctly on diagrams
  
• Label the three major regions of the brain correctly on a diagram, and explain the major function of each
  
• Explain the difference between afferent, efferent, and intraneurons
  
• Explain the difference between the Central Nervous System, the Peripheral Nervous System, and the Autonomic nervous system, and explain the major function of each
  
• Explain some of the most important functions of the liver. 
  
• Define one major disease of the liver, including its causes and treatment.
• Define one major disease of the kidneys, including its causes and treatment.
  
• Define nephrons and explain their importance.
• Explain why urea forms in the body, and how it is removed.
• Explain what a nerve synapse is, and how signals cross a nerve synapse. (For extra credit, how do anti-depressants drugs relate to this?)
• Explain some of the most important functions of the kidneys
  
• Be able to explain the structure of the human respiratory system; define and explain the function/importance of the trachea, bronchi, bronchia, and alveoli.
  

Computer Class Information

UPDATE: Due to illness, computer class will begin next week (W21). Thanks.

I'll also be using this blog to post information for the upcoming computer classes (once a week) for the 7th graders.

Some good starting places that we'll be looking at:

http://www.geekycomputerteacher.com/

http://www.wmms.net/walters/student/computer_skills_vocabulary.htm

W20

Syllabus for W20.

W19 Work links

The syllabus for W19 Science.

"Natasha," group project - research and prepare a computer presentation.

The grading rubric I'll be using for Natasha; use this for reference while you're preparing the project - one copy must be turned in to me by each group on Monday.

(NOTE - Grading rubric changed as of 1:00 p.m. Thursday!)

The revision sheet each group will use to note any changes needed after the teacher review.

Tuesday's links

Assignment "Mortimer"

A good animation of blood flow through the heart (thx to C.G. for finding this one!)

W18 Stuff

Notes for this week are here.

(When viewing the notes presentation, don't forget to turn on speaker notes for extra information!)

And syllabus is here.

Enjoy.

Notes for W17D2

Today's notes can be found at:

http://docs.google.com/Presentation?id=dc4vgvtd_0dnpfs9dq

Stuff for W17

Happy New Year!

Due to computer problems, I was unable to give the students their assignment sheets for this week; they will get these sheets tomorrow.

The information is also on the web:

Notes to fill in for for W17D1 and 2:

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=ddsm58ms_30drdk45f3

Syllabus for W17:

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=ddsm58ms_29gp6f75fm

Grading rubric for Assignment K

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=ddsm58ms_27ctj4jkqc

Assignment K, due Friday.

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=ddsm58ms_26fpt5dvdk

I’ll also publish these links on the science class website: http://sterlingsci.blogspot.com/

Thanks,

Matthew T.

Kallisto - human circulation

Kallisto: Human circulatory system

Imagine you’ve been shrunk down to the size of a red blood cell and injected into Kim's bloodstream. Describe, in order, the blood vessel types, parts of the heart, and any other important circulatory system features you’ll be passing through.

Use the following terms correctly: vein, artery, atrium, ventricle, alveoli, capillary, oxygen, carbon dioxide, red blood cell, hemoglobin, aorta, valve. Make sure that you explain the function or importance of each of the items on this list!

Note when the blood would be blue in color and when it would be red, and why. Start your journey in the right atrium and make sure you explain both circuits - lungs and body.

Example: “I’m in the right atrium of the heart, surrounded by red blood cells. But none of them are red right now - they’re all blue, because they’re not carrying oxygen. There's a lot of dissolved carbon dioxide in the blood around me. After a second, the muscular walls of the atrium squeeze in on us, so we’re all pumped through the heart valve into the right ventricle. As soon as we’re through, the valve closes behind us so we can’t go back.”

The attached grading rubric must be attached to your assignment when you turn it in, or I won’t grade it!

Some good circulatory system resources:

A good explanation of open circulatory systems.

A silly but informative video on the human heart. (We'll watch & discuss this in class)