3/20

Congratulations to Alison Maslar-Donar, Ryan Koniecko, Ammar Kalimullah, and Dhara Puvar, who received second place standings in the regional science fair last weekend. Great job, guys!

This week, we wrapped up our classification chapter and took our chapter test. We took a sneak peak into our next chapter, which will uncover the world of bacteria and viruses. We did a brief overview of the two bacterial kingdoms (Archaebacteria and Eubacteria), and we talked about how important bacteria are to our environment and to our health. Most of us also like to eat at least some products that are made from bacteria (cheese, yogurt, sourdough bread, pickles, etc.). After break, we will view bacteria under the microscope, calculate the growth rate of bacteria, and talk about pathogenic bacteria in more detail.

On Thursday, we spent time in the IMC taking two career surveys. This is in preparation for the LA/Reading project that will begin after break. Some of our surveys produced some strange career choices (I don't think that I'm really suited to be a horse trainer), but hopefully these surveys opened our eyes to the wide variety of careers that are out there! Remember to take your survey results and your top three career choices to your LA/Reading classes when you return! Perhaps you can even make your parents take the surveys as well! To access the interactive worksheet, simply go to the CCSD 66 homepage, and access the Lakeview IMC page from there (on the District Libraries link). On the Lakeview IMC page, you will see a link under the "7th Grade Assignments" for the "Career Survey Worksheet."

Have a wonderful break!

3/14

Because of ISAT testing, our schedule this week was a bit crazy!  Some students had science class twice and others had it three times.  We spent our short week reinforcing the principles of classification and the six kingdoms.  I demonstrated a very different mnemonic device to help students remember the six kingdoms and some characteristics of each (using six our fingers).  For example, the ring finger represents the fungi kingdom.  Because there is no ring on your finger, you must be a "fun guy."  "Fun guys" usually sit on the couch playing video games (no movement), hang out with other fun guys (multicellular), and most definitely don't make their own food (heterotroph)!  Hopefully this will help students to better remember these kingdoms for our test on Tuesday!

We also worked more with classification this week in our "Creepy Critters" lab.  Students were required to study the characteristics of 20 aliens and put them into groups based on their similarities.  It was a challenging task, but students found unique ways to classify their creatures.  Next week, we will wrap up our classification chapter, begin discussing bacteria, and spend some time in the IMC in preparation for the career fair next month!

On Saturday, four 7th graders (Alison, Ammar, Dhara, and Ryan) will be participating in the regional science fair in Cicero.  The fair will take place at Unity Junior High School (2100 South Laramine Avenue).  Projects are open to the public from 12:30 to 3:00.  This would be a great opportunity to cheer on your classmates and see some cool projects!

3/7

We began our new trimester discussing the classification of living organisms.  Our first activity of the week was to organize some "random things found in Mrs. Wagner's room."  Students had to practice the principles of classification by putting these objects into groups based on the similarities between them. We also learned about the seven levels of classification (remember "King Philip Came Over For Grape Soda?") and how scientific names are formed.  In our "Shape Island" activity, students had to give different bizarre organisms a scientific name based on their physical characteristics.  Students had to use the proper Latin and Greek roots in order to mimic real scientific names.  On Friday, students worked together to identify the six kingdoms of living things (archaebacteria, eubacteria, protists, fungi, plants, and animals) and the characteristics of each.  Next week, students will be challenged to create a classification scheme for some "creepy critters."

We have two groups of students (consisting of Alison M., Ryan K., Ammar K., and Dhara P.) that will be participating in the Regional Science Fair on March 15th.  Come out to Cicero to show your support and to see some cool projects!