Life Science with Lovett

We made it! Summer has arrived and students have completed their 6-week Science Research Projects. It was a lot of work, but I am so proud of all of the student’s efforts! I have enjoyed getting to work with all of your 7th graders during my long-term substitute position! What a great experience! Have an amazing summer! The last day of school is Tuesday, June 14. -Ms. Brewer

MONDAY, 6/13: Awesome science video: we’ll vote!

TUESDAY, 6/14: Sign yearbooks & leave for String Lake end-of-the-year field trip at 9:00. Students should be prepared with something to drink, sunscreen, good hiking shoes, warm clothes, and a raincoat (a bathing suit and towel might be wishful thinking:). LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!

WEDNESDAY, 6/15:

THURSDAY, 6/16:

FRIDAY, 6/17:

This is the final week for our SRP! Most students began work on their 3-way display boards or Power Points last week. If your 7th grader is not doing a Power Point, you can go to Staples to buy a display board or send $6 on Monday to purchase one in the office. It would be a good idea for students to bring in any other extra materials that they would like to use on Monday as well (decals, stickers, stencils, glue sticks, pictures, note cards, etc.). They will begin presenting no later than Wednesday!

MONDAY, 6/6: Work on display boards/Power Points; Hmwk: Bring note cards in tomorrow for speech writing

TUESDAY, 6/7: Finish display boards/ Power Points; Hmwk: Practice speech & be ready to present tomorrow; Students who practice in front of an adult can have that adult sign their presentation rubric sheet and MUST RETURN IT TO ME AT THE TIME OF THEIR PRESENTATION IN ORDER TO GET 5 POINTS EXTRA CREDIT.

WEDNESDAY, 6/8: SRP Presentations

THURSDAY, 6/9: SRP Presentations

FRIDAY, 6/10: SRP Presentations

It doesn’t really feel like June is arriving at the end of this week, but summer will be upon us before you know it! There is two more weeks to go for the SRP, and many grades have been posted for the individual assignments. I am grading as fast as I can, but it will take some time with 90 students. The research papers are the most time consuming to grade, but you can expect those to be entered by Thursday. If you see that your 7th grader is missing an SRP assignment in Power School, please remind them to take care of it!

MONDAY, 5/30: No school on Memorial Day

TUESDAY, 5/31: Conclusion paragraph organizer; Organizer due Wednesday morning if not completed in class

WEDNESDAY, 6/1: Type conclusion paragraph; Peer review & edit; Conclusion paragraph due by the end of class (30 points)

THURSDAY, 6/2: Revise/Edit ALL SRP assignments; I will hand back all graded work so that students can make necessary corrections before posting to presentation boards; Make-up day to catch up on missing assignments. Hmwk: Bring $6 OR your presentation board!

FRIDAY, 6/3: Start putting together presentation boards or Power Point presentations; Students can get their three-way presentation boards from our school supply in the office for $6. Staples should also have these in stock for the same price. Students can choose to do a Power Point presentation for free if cost is an issue. Hmwk: Bring any materials needed for presentation boards on Monday!

Most students have completed collecting data during the experimental phase of the SRP! Our roly-polys have held up like champions! They have been raced, poked, fed caffeine water, salt, sugar, and energy drinks, exposed to techno music, and countless other tests that your 7th grader could come up with! This week we will create Excel charts and graphs from the collected raw data, and then analyze the results. Please don’t forget that any late or incomplete assignments automatically become homework, and students will spend lunch period with me until they are caught up.

MONDAY, 5/23: Create Excel charts and graphs from raw data

TUESDAY, 5/24: Excel charts and graphs; Due: Typed data chart (10 points) AND Excel results graph (20 points)

WEDNESDAY, 5/25: Analyzing results and writing analysis paragraphs

THURSDAY, 5/26: Writing analysis paragraphs; Due: Analysis paragraph rough draft due by end of class

FRIDAY, 5/27: Peer review/edit analysis paragraphs; Due Final draft analysis paragraph by end of class (30 points)

There will be no school on Monday, May 30. Enjoy the three day weekend!

WHAT: “How to Have Difficult Conversations with Your Child” will be presented by Dr. Julie Elledge, Ph.D. and LMFT. Dr. Elledge, who has her Ph.D. in Education, has a counseling practice here in town as well as in California, and has been a “family coach” and a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist for over 18 years. She regularly consults and participates with several national media programs, including Cyberhood Watch radio show, Hot Mom’s Club and Fox News. We are lucky to have someone with her level of expertise committed to working with our school community.

WHERE: Jackson Hole Middle School commons

WHEN: Thursday, May 19 @ 5:30-7:00

WHO: Parents only!  To allow open, candid conversations, children are not invited to this presentation.

*Babysitting and refreshments will be provided*

We have officially completed the first step of the scientific method for the SRP: collecting background knowledge about our topics by writing research papers. This week we will move on to the next three steps of the scientific method: ask questions based on observations, develop a hypothesis to answer the question, and design an experiment to confirm or reject the hypothesis. It should be a fun-filled week!

Many of the students have chosen to do the SRP slightly different this year. Rather than agonizing over which topic to choose, students had the option of designing their experiment around an organism that is relatively easy to care for and fun to observe: Armadillidium vulgare, more commonly known as the roly-poly! We believe this will streamline the project and provide a more directed inquiry for the 7th graders. Several students approached me about choosing alternate topics that had been under consideration for some time, and I have conferenced with each of them to ensure a good plan is in place.

MONDAY, 5/16: Asking questions to develop a hypothesis; Begin designing experiment (materials & methods); Hypothesis due at end of class (wksht & typed for 30 points)

TUESDAY, 5/17: Materials & methods; Materials & methods wksht due at end of class; Hmwk: what materials do you need to bring in tomorrow to begin experimenting? I will provide what I already have available, but everything else is UP TO YOU!

WEDNESDAY, 5/18: Materials & methods; Materials & methods due at end of class typed (30 points); Begin experiments!

THURSDAY, 5/19: Experiment

FRIDAY, 5/20: Experiment; Raw data due at end of class (what did you use to collect information during the experiment?)

The SRP is moving right along! For students that are absent, the school policy will not apply to prevent those students from getting too far behind. Rather than getting two days for each absence to make something up, those students who are behind/absent will be spending lunch with me to get caught up. This project will be a graded assessment and count toward a large part of quarter 4 grades, so it is necessary that the students take this seriously and stay on track!

MONDAY, 5/9: Noodletools in media center with Ms. Swiggum to create work cited page; Type research paper rough draft (students will need their paragraph organizer completed & signed by me) Hmwk: Research paper rough draft paper typed

TUESDAY, 5/10: Due at beginning of class: Research paper rough draft; Peer review & edit research paper rough drafts

WEDNESDAY, 5/11: Revise & edit research paper; Due: Research paper FINAL DRAFT (30 points)

THURSDAY, 5/12: Renaissance Man field trip for Medieval days (I will only see period 1)

FRIDAY, 5/13: Medieval Faire (no science class today)

The human body unit is complete! Students took the cumulative test last Friday. Grades will be posted shortly!

This week is the beginning of the end! The Scientific Research Project (SRP) will take the last 6 weeks of school as students demonstrate their ability to design an experiment after researching the topic, asking a question, and coming up with a testable hypothesis. Students will collect data during the experimental phase, display results in a way that reveals patterns in the data (graphs and charts), analyze what their results mean, conclude if their hypothesis was accepted or rejected, and finally present their findings to the world…or at least to their classmates! Much of the work will be done in class. However, if work is not completed by the due dates, it will automatically become homework until it is done. Students will be asked to join me at lunch to complete work if not done in a timely manner. Thank you ahead of time for helping your 7th grade stay on track!

MONDAY, 5/2: Introduction to Science Research Project; Scientific Method Review & case study

TUESDAY, 5/3: Introduction to research with Ms. Swiggum in the media center

WEDNESDAY, 5/4: Begin researching topic

THURSDAY, 5/5: Finish collecting research; Begin writing introduction research paper

FRIDAY, 5/6: 3 research resources due at beginning of class; Writing introduction research paper; Hmwk: Research paper rough draft organizer packet due first thing Monday morning so that students can begin typing

There is no school this Monday, April 25. Enjoy the three day weekend!

The moment has finally arrived! We will be taking the entire 7th grade on a field trip this Tuesday, April 26 to The Museum of Idaho to see Bodies: The Exhibition. The entrance fee is $2. If your 7th grader did not turn this in last week, please make sure that they bring it on Tuesday. Unless students told me that they would be needing a sack lunch from the school’s cafeteria, students will need to bring a packed lunch with them on the bus. A water bottle would also be a good item to pack! We will leave first thing in the morning, so get your student to school on time to ensure that they will not miss out on this exciting opportunity! The buses plan to return by 2:15. Thank you for helping make this field trip go as smoothly as possible!

MONDAY, 4/25: No School

TUESDAY, 4/26: Field Trip to The Museum of Idaho to see Bodies: The Exhibition; Hmwk: Study for Human Body test

WEDNESDAY, 4/27: Review Human Body Unit; Hmwk: Study for Human Body test

THURSDAY, 4/28: Review Human Body Unit; Hmwk: Study for Human Body test

FRIDAY, 4/29: Human Body Unit TEST (this will cover the digestive, cardiovascular, respiratory, and reproductive systems from lessons 3.3, 3.4, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 5.1, 8.2, & 8.3 in addition to class notes, activities, and videos)

Remember, our Interactive Science text can be found online at www.myscienceonline.com!

This week we will deliver the last of the content knowledge for the human body unit. Consent forms for our field trip to Bodies: The Exhibition were due last Friday. If your 7th grader has not given you one to sign, please ask them about it! If I do not receive one, your child will not be permitted to join us for this amazing opportunity! Students will need to bring the $2 fee to enter the Museum of Idaho by this Friday. I will also need to know how many school lunches need to be made if students will not be bringing their own bagged lunch. There is no school next Monday, April 25, so enjoy the three-day weekend!

MONDAY, 4/18: Reproductive System- Lesson 8.2: “Male & Female Reproductive Systems” (pg. 264-271); Hmwk: Complete chapter 8.2 notes/diagrams

TUESDAY, 4/19: Reproductive System- Lesson 8.3: “Pregnancy & Birth” (pg. 272-277); Questions from the Can!

WEDNESDAY, 4/20: We will be watching a video called The Miracle of Life, which focuses on the remarkable process of human reproduction from conception to birth.

THURSDAY, 4/21: Frog Dissections!

FRIDAY, 4/22: Frog Dissections! Hmwk: Complete frog dissection packet

Remember, our Interactive Science text can be found online at www.myscienceonline.com!