3/26

On Monday, students watched a video that described how a virus infects its host, the discovery and use of vaccines, pandemics from the past (influenza, smallpox, and polio), and how researchers are finding new viruses everyday.

We reviewed for our Bacteria and Virus Test on Tuesday, and took the assessment on Wednesday. On Thursday, students were introduced to the weird (and creepy) organisms that live in a drop of pond water (this is also one of my favorite labs of the year!). I took a local sample of pond water and had students identify the different creatures that they found living in the water. We found lots of protists (protozoa and algae), and some students even found worms and arthropods. On Friday, we discussed the characteristics of the protist kingdom, and we will continue to do so after break.

Enjoy your spring break!

3/19

We began the week by doing some observations of bacteria. We looked at microscope slides containing bacilli, cocci, and spirilla-shaped bacteria, and we also viewed the bacteria that is commonly found in yogurt (Lactobacillus acidophilus).

On Tuesday, students were asked to design an experiment to determine where bacteria can be found in our school. Students had to construct a question to investigate, make a hypothesis, and then swab their selected samples into a Petri dish. Students took swabs of locations including teachers' desks, water fountains, computer keyboards, doorknobs, and much more! We let the dishes will incubate over for a few days and then checked our results on Thursday. Most students were surprised by their findings. Ask to see what they found! (The posted picture is of samples taken by April and Caitlin from three water fountains around the school, and quadrant "A" is the control.)

We also spent time in class calculating and graphing bacteria growth rates over time. From these activities, students discovered that, in ideal conditions, bacteria reproduce quickly over a short period of time (exponential growth). Finally, we discussed viruses, and came to the conclusion that they are non-living particles.

Next week, we will watch a great video about viruses to finish our chapter. Our chapter test will be on Wednesday!

3/5

We spent our shortened ISAT week reinforcing the principles of classification and reviewing the three domains and six kingdoms. I showed students a mnemonic device to help them remember the six kingdoms and some characteristics of each (using six of 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" hang out together (multicellular), usually sit on the couch playing video games (no movement), and definitely don't make their own food (consumers)! Hopefully this will help students better remember these kingdoms for our "quest" on Tuesday!

We also worked on a "Creepy Critter" classification lab. Students were required to study the characteristics of 20 aliens and put them into groups based on their similarities. Next week, we will take our classification chapter assessment (Tuesday) and move on to our next chapter: bacteria and viruses.