6/7

Thank you, 7th graders for great end of the year!! I hope you all have fantastic summer. I look forward to seeing you all as 8th graders in the fall.

5/27

The first part of the week students spent their time reviewing the frog anatomy and preparing for the frog dissection. The last three days of the week, students worked extremely well working together to complete their final lab of the year; the frog dissection. Students worked cooperatively by sharing the duties of the dissection. Throughout the lab all students had to complete certain checkpoints making extra sure everyone was comprehending the material. The 7th graders did an outstanding job following directions and showing me that they understand the material! Next week, we will review and take the quest on Wednesday.
Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

5/20

On Tuesday, students took their chapter test on invertebrates. We spent the rest of the week starting our last unit about vertebrates and amphibians. We learned about a frog’s anatomy, and we reviewed a few of the many organs and their functions, that humans share with frogs!
Students finished up the week with their Career Fair, which they really enjoyed! We will start next week a reviewing the frog’s anatomy and a demonstration of the frog dissection from me before they dissect their own frog.

5/13

What an exciting week! Students really impressed me during the earthworm dissection on Tuesday. Students showed accuracy and patience throughout the lab. We learned about the final phyla of invertebrates on Wednesday ( Arthropods and Echinoderms) and we spent the rest of the week reviewing for our big invertebrate test. As a reminder, the test will be this next Tuesday, May 17th. Please come and see me either on Monday or Tuesday morning if there are any questions at all about the upcoming test.

I did want to make aware that I have added on our “Preparation Points” to the grade book. I have given each student 30 points to start off with, with the hope and anticipation that they will come prepared for class( we have discussed what this means for 7th graders). If they need to go to their locker for a supply that should have been brought to class, I will take off one point. Students have been doing an awesome job with the point system and ever since I started implementing this in class, they have been coming to class much more prepared!

Friday, 5/6

We began the week wrapping up the Simple Invertebrate portion of the unit with our quiz. On Tuesday we took the quiz and then started discussing the Mollusk and Annelid worm phyla, which are more complex than the previous invertebrates studied. We watched a couple video clips about Mollusks that showed how smart some of the organisms in this phylum can be. Later in the week, we began our external and internal exploration of earthworm anatomy (structures and functions).We learned a little about their body systems and anatomy, and we also learned important direction terms (anterior, posterior, dorsal, and ventral). On Friday, we put our new knowledge of directions and earthworm anatomy to work. We did a live earthworm observation lab. Students had the opportunity to observe a real earthworm's movement, structures, and they even had to test the earthworm's reaction to environmental stimuli(being placed on its dorsal side, dry/wet paper towel, and presence of food). A special thank you goes out to all of those who brought these earthworms for us to observe!
Students are getting quite excited about the earthworm dissection next week!!

4/29

This week we explored 4 simple invertebrate phyla (Porifera, Cnidaria, Platyhelminthes, and Nematoda). Students worked collectively in a jigsaw activity to not only complete their notes but to see if they could teach each other a little more about each phyla. Throughout the week, students were able to complete an observation lab in order to review what we had learned. In this lab, students were able to identify and view hydra, planaria, sponges, coral, flatworms, roundworms, and jellyfish! We are taking our simple invertebrate quiz on Tuesday next week, once all the students are back in the classroom and we can review all together. Next, we will focus on mollusks and annelids (segmented worms).
Happy sunny Friday!

Week of 4/18

We wrapped up our chapter on protists and fungi this week and took the chapter test on Tuesday.

We have finally made our way into to the animal kingdom! Students explored the diversity of the animal kingdom with an activity on Wednesday. They had to list animals that fit into given categories, and then as students shared answers with the class, they had to cross off any animal that was listed by another group. The students came up with such a variety of animals, I think they surprised themselves with how familiar they were with the diversity of the animal kingdom. Remember, though...most animals (more than 95%) are actually invertebrates!
Next week we will study the phyla of simple invertebrates in more detail.

Week of 4/11

Last week we continued discussing the characteristics of the Protist Kingdom along with identifying the important structures of three common protozoa: the amoeba, euglena, and paramecium. Students had the opportunity to view prepared slides and live cultures of these three protists as well. Tuesday, we reviewed our protist notes by playing "protist bingo."
For the rest of the week we will be learning about the Fungi Kingdom, going over the general characteristics and focusing on its four major groups.

4/8

Dear 7th Grade Parents and Guardians,

I would like to take some time to introduce myself. My name is Kari Hopkinson, and I have taken over for Sarah Wagner. I have been frequently substituting throughout the year, which has enabled me to get to know many of your children. I am extremely eager to work with you and your student for the remainder of the school year.
Mrs. Wagner has spent a great deal of time with your students to establish a foundation and routine in learning in the Science classroom; my goal is to strive to maintain that comfortable practice which to assist the 7th graders in their progression into 8th grade. My hope is to help each student excel individually in Science.
I view communication with families as a vital part of your child’s success! If you should have any questions or concerns at all, please do not hesitate to contact me. My email address is khopkinson@ccsd66.org or call me at 630.783.5017. I look forward to working with you and your children for the remainder of the school year; this first week has been a blast!

Sincerely,

Kari Hopkinson

Week of 3/21

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!). Students had to identify the different creatures that they found living in a local sample of pond 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.

I cannot believe that my last day at Lakeview has arrived so quickly! I cannot thank everybody enough for all of the well-wishes, cards, and emails. I will miss working with all of you more than I can say! I know that Ms. Hopkinson will do a wonderful job finishing the school year (and YES, you will still get to do DISSECTIONS)!

Week of 3/18

Students were able to experience "bacteria in action" as we watched a great video on Monday. 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 couple of days and then checked our results on Thursday. Most students were surprised by their findings. Ask to see what they found!

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!

Week of 3/7

This week, students finished their "Creepy Critter" classification labs, and we spent time reviewing for Thursday's classification test. On Friday, we discussed the two domains of bacteria (Archaea and Bacteria) and how each was classified. We also examined how bacteria are beneficial for humans and the environment and a little bit about pathogenic bacteria. Students will watch a great video about "good and bad" bacteria next week, and we will do an investigation to discover where bacteria can be found in our school.

Week of 2/28

This week, we worked together to identify and describe how living things are classified. We identified the the three domains (Archaea, Bacteria, and Eukarya), the six kingdoms (archaebacteria, eubacteria, protists, fungi, plants, and animals), and the characteristics of each one. 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 the test on Thursday!

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 test and move on to our next chapter: bacteria and viruses.

Week of 2/22

After preparing for and taking our evolution chapter test, our focus for the remainder of the week was to discover how scientists classify living organisms. We learned about the eight levels of classification (remember "Dear King Philip Came Over For Grape Soda?") and discussed how scientific names are formed. In our "Shape Island" activity, students had to assign organisms a scientific name based on their physical characteristics. Students had to use Latin and Greek roots, suffixes, and prefixes in order to design the scientific names of each.

Week of 2/14

Students completed their "Moth Lab" and took the chapter quiz early in the week. We finished the week by discussing other pieces of evidence that support the theory of evolution. We talked about the fossil record, geologic time scale, plate tectonics, vestigial structures, and comparing organism similarities by bone structure and order, embryotic structures, and DNA. In our lab, students practiced using relative fossil dating techniques to find the estimated age of different fossils. They had to arrange "rock samples" in order, based on their fossil components. We will be taking the Evolution chapter test on Tuesday!

Week of 2/7

Students presented their "designer animals" to the class on Monday. It was interesting to see the unique adaptations that students created for their animals! For the remainder of the week, we used examples to reinforce the idea of natural selection (white lizards, quiet crickets, resistant insects and bacteria, tuskless elephants, etc.). We even began a "peppered moth simulation lab" after the reviewing the controversial experiment that was done in Manchester, England with pale and dark peppered moths. Natural selection has taught us that if you have the best traits (like being camolflagued, in this case), you are likely to survive and pass your genes on to your offspring.

We will take a chapter quiz on Tuesday of next week, and then begin our final section in our evolution chapter.

Week of 1/31

Students did their final genetic disorder presentations on Monday and Tuesday. Overall, students did a great job on their projects! Projects will be graded and handed back by early next week.

On Friday, students were introduced to the concepts of adaptations, evolution, and natural selection. We discussed the voyage of Charles Darwin and the important discoveries that he made on the Galapagos Islands. Next week students will be required to create a "designer animal" that has the proper adaptations to survive in a unique environment.

Week of 1/24

Students spent the majority of the week in the computer lab working on their genetic disorder projects. Class presentations began on Friday, and we will finish on Monday and Tuesday of next week. Our next chapter will explore how mutations lead to the evolution of organisms.

Week of 1/17

On Tuesday, we reviewed for our Chapter 6 Test. Students were assessed on their knowledge of DNA structure, history, function, and advances on Wednesday. On Thursday, I went over the "genetic disorder" project expectations, and students were given their topic and partner assignments based on the topic sheets that each turned in last week. Friday was the first day that students had to begin their project research. For this project, students can choose to create a slide show, brochure, or poster of their "final product." We will spend four more days next week working in the IMC for students to complete their project. Students will sign up for their presentation date (and due date) next week as well.

Week of 1/14

On Monday, we did a DNA extraction from green peas. Students were able to follow a "recipe" in order to isolate the DNA and view the slimy, stringy substance. This week, we also began our discussion of selective breeding, cloning, and genetic engineering. We watched a video entitled "Understanding the Power of Genes" that reviewed these advances in genetics and controversies of genetic engineering. We will be taking the test over chapter 6 (DNA) on Wednesday, and then we will begin working on the genetic disorder project in class. Students will receive their topic and partner assignments on Thursday!

Congratulation to all of our spelling bee winners! Good luck as you move on to the building spelling bee next week!

Week of 1/7

This week, we discussed the structure and history of DNA. We learned how DNA replicates and how DNA nucleotide bases pair up (like puzzle pieces). On Wednesday, students were required to build an edible model of DNA based on their knowledge of its structure. On Thursday, we discovered how strands of DNA are "decoded". We discussed how 3 DNA bases code for an amino acid and that a group of amino acids make up a protein (the chemical messenger that tells the cell what to do). On Friday, students began doing research to chose the topics for their genetic disorder projects.

Next week we will talk about genetic engineering and watch a great video on cloning, DNA forensics, and more!