Last Day Before Christmas Break

Students that missed yesterdays test will take the test today.
First period students enjoyed cookies from Mrs. Greens class since we beat them in the food drive contest.
All classes worked on Christmas puzzles and games.

Have a wonderful holiday season!  See you all next year!

Study Guide for Test

Students worked on a study guide today. Students can use their notes, papers and books to complete the study guide. However, students may NOT use these on the test tomorrow. The test covers chapter 3 in the book.
Study!!

DNA Model Extra Credit

On Tuesday I assigned an Extra Credit Project. The project is to build a DNA model showing at least one twist, all 4 types of bases, sugar and phosphate. Models can be made out of any materials as long as they are NOT made from a DNA kit. Models are due on Monday December 20, 2010.

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday

On Wednesday, I was not at school. Students watched the Human Genome Movie, made a KWL to focus attention through the movie. Make sure you understand what a genome is.

Thursday we had SOAR so the classes were shortened. We took a couple of notes on codons or triplets(3 bases in a row, that code for an amino acid) Students then used the letters in their name to write their name in DNA code and used different color beads to make a bracelet.

Friday students extracted DNA from a banana. Way cool! Students must complete the 6 questions on their investigation sheet. Three questions about the experiment and three questions about Juan Carlos Brevis, a plant geneticist. The information about Juan Carlos Brevis is on the extra sheet that I gave you.

Have a wonderful weekend!

DNA & DNA Models

Students took notes on DNA. Students made a small DNA model using gumdrops and licorice. Students went to learn Genetics under learning links. They went to the Basic Tour of DNA to Protein. From here students visited "What is DNA", "Building a DNA molecule", and " Transcribe and translate" At the three sites students need to read the information and do the activities.

Extra Credit: Build a 3D DNA model.  Models can be built out of any material. Due Monday Dec. 2

Chromosomes

Students need to go to Learn Genetics under the Learning Links on this blog. Students then need to click on Heredity and Traits. From here students explored "What is a Chromosome" "How do you read chromosomes" "Karotypes" and "Using Karotypes" All of these links are on that first page of Heredity and Traits. Students took notes on these sites using a guided sheet from me.

Students: Make sure you comment on your peers dog word clouds. Also, add a favorite dog to the wall wisher.

Wiki Comments - Meiosis Readings

 Half days both days. On Thursday we have periods 1,2,3 and half of 5. On Friday we have periods 6,7,8, and 1/2 of 5.
Students  need to make sure that the only thing on their wiki page is an image and a word cloud. Students need to comment on 5 other word clouds. make sure your comments include what you learned by looking at their clouds.

Students read pgs 92-96 in their books and answer questions 1a,b 2a,b 3a,b in their spirals.

Word Clouds, Wiki's and Comments.

Students should have sent me an email with their dog notes. On their wiki page student should insert an image of their dog and embed their word cloud. No notes should be left on their wiki pages!!Students then need to comment on at least 5 other peoples word cloud in their class period. The comments need to state what you have learned about that particular breed by looking at their word cloud. You need to be signed in to comment on others clouds!

Please check student connect. Their were a few errors in some grades posted on your mid-terms!

Dog Breed Wiki

For the past two days students have been working on researching their dog breed. Students need to answer questions and take their notes on their wiki page. Students also need to place a picture of their dog on their wiki page. Tomorrow students will make a word cloud and embed it into their page.
 Make sure to SAVE  SAVE  SAVE

Dog Breeds

Today students began their dog breed research. Students can find the directions to this project on the Wiki. The Wiki is located under Learning Links and is called Dog Breeds Wiki. The wiki is new to me and to the students. At this point those students that have usernames and passwords, please don't use them to edit  until Monday. By Monday I should have everything up and going. So.....please use the wiki for directions and to access some of the sites for information.

Trout Update: Arlee Hatchery called. They are having some issue with their brood stock. Therefore, we will NOT be getting trout eggs until after Christmas break. That is probably for the best - that way we will be able to watch the entire process!

Punnett Squares and Vocab Squares

Today we worked on Punnet Squares. Students also need to complete 5 Vocabulary Squares for Homework. The words they need to do are allele, heterozygous, homozygous, genotype and phenotype. For each word they must use their own words and write a definition, write a sentence with the word in it, and draw a picture of the word.

Genetic Traits

We corrected yesterday's work on Mendel.
Students did the activity on Genetic Traits on pages 82-83 in their books.
Tonight for homework students need to make a chart with at least 6 traits and interview as many family members as possible to determine which traits are the most common in their family. Have fun.

Mendel's Work

What a  beautiful wintery day - boy we got lots of snow last night! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and ate lots and lots of turkey. Hopefully, you are all ready to work hard for the next three weeks before our next holiday break.

Today we read about Gregor Mendel the father of genetics. We read pages 76-81 in the book and then completed the worksheet. As always-please use the internet book if you wish and remember you can download and print out the worksheet if you lost it.

Also, check out some of the feeds that I have on the side of the blog below the learning links tab. These feeds automatically update themselves so may change daily. Be sure to listen to the 90 second naturalist podcasts - they are my favorite source of tidbits of information.

Tank update: I found one dead goldfish in the aquarium this morning. There should be three in there still but I can't find them. I do know that they are very good at hiding though.

Mitosis Songs

Students worked in groups to present a mitosis song. We will make podcasts and video of their presentations. Hopefully, some of these will get posted to our blog. Parents - make sure to sign the permission slip to allow me to post photos on our blog.

Fish update: Out of the five goldfish, one has died. I thought goldfish were indestructible!!

Everyone have a great Thanksgiving. Be safe in your travels.

Flip Books

Students need to create flip books using the two sheets I gave them. Flip books need to be neat, in color, and represent the actual events of the cell cycle.Finish for homework if you didn't finish in class.
Over the weekend search for mitosis songs. Watch/listen to videos and/or audio of these songs.

Mitosis in Onion Cells

Today students need to go to the Mitosis in Onion Cells link under learning links. Complete the activity and write answers down in your spiral.
Students had a SOAR assembly today.

Trout update: I put five goldfish in the tank to speed up the ammonia/nitrogen cycle for the tank. At least now we have something to watch instead of just bubbles!

Mitosis

Today we corrected last night's homework. Students also got a graphic copy of the cell cycle. We filled this in during class.
Trout update: We are going to get a special shipment of trout eggs from the hatchery in Arlee. These will be delivered the week of Dec 6th. However, these eggs are not guaranteed because the hatchery has never shipped such a small quantity such a long distance. So....if these eggs are not viable then we are scheduled to get 100 eggs from the Bluewater Fish Hatchery, outside of Bridger, the week of Jan 3 2012.

Mitosis

Today we Read in our textbooks pages 55-62. Students then completed a worksheet. If it is not finished it needs to be finished for homework.

Trout update: I increased the temperature in the tank to 65*. This will speed up microorganism production to make our tank fish friendly.

Quiz

Today students took a quiz on photosynthesis and respiration. Schedule a time to make this up if you have missed today.
The fish tank is set up! Thanks to a lot of help from one of my students - make sure to thank him for me! I explained to students that even though the tank is ready it is not ready for fish yet. The tank needs to get a healthy population of microorganisms. These are being introduced to the tank using a product called stress-zyme. It will take 3 weeks before we are able to put our rainbow trout eggs into the tank. So, keep checking back for trout updates.

Welcome to Ms. Garton's Classroom

Welcome to Seven Silver Science. I have started this blog to share and keep you up to date with assignments, web sites, photos and other happenings in class. This is a work in progress so please check back often to see what is new.