Lesson 1 - Monday, Jan 26
Today in science: Dr. M returned graded copies of students’ (four) short answer questions about cellular respiration. Because the key concepts underlying these questions will be encountered in future lessons, Dr. M asked students to record the correct answers on the backs of their papers. These model answers can be seen in the G6 Notes Portal.
Homework: There is no science homework tonight.
Lesson 2 - Tuesday, Jan 27
Today in science: We returned to our “The Story of Human Digestion” models today to look at how students and scientists speak about “food,” “drinks,” and “air” differently. On the back of our models, students learned how scientists think about these substances in terms of atoms and groups of atoms (often called molecules). When speaking about “food,” students learned that scientists often think of macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, fats/lipids) and micronutrients. When speaking about “drinks,” students learned that scientists often think of water, which is a molecule consisting of three atoms (of two types). When speaking about “air,” students learned that scientists often think about air as a mixture of many different gases including three main gases and many ‘trace’ gases.
In C period, we also watched the world’s smallest movie about A Boy and His Atom, as well as a short video showing how the movie was made.
In E period, we also watched an interesting animation to help us visualize the air around us (albeit slowed down 417 billion times so that we could see the individual air molecules and identify them!).
A scanned copy of today’s model work can now be viewed in the Google Science Classroom.
Homework: There is no science homework tonight.
Lesson 3 - Wed, Jan 28 (C, D) & Thu, Jan 29 (E)
Today in science: On the back our “The Story of Human Digestion” models, we created a 3-section/column set of notes in which we devoted attention to articulating how scientists might represent food, drink, and air differently than students. The main difference is in terms of atoms: scientists often think about the food we eat, the drinks we drink, and the air we breathe in terms of the substances contained within them, but especially in terms of the number and types of atoms they contain. This gave us the opportunity to also draw a basic structure of the atom (which we said will consist of four major components: electrons (which we set in the electron cloud, protons and neutrons (which we set in the nucleus), and empty space) and connect the atom to a miracle of scientific achievement called the Periodic Table of the Elements.
Homework: There is no science homework tonight.
Lesson 4 - Friday, Jan 30
Today in science: Students were introduced to a new type of homework assignment for the Spring Semester, heretofore to be know as K-WoWs (Key Word of the Week). To help prepare students to complete their future K-WoWs independently, Dr. M asked students to collaborate with him on a key word (well, actually a key phrase) from our most recent topic, cellular respiration. By the end of the lesson, students developed a solid foundation for their future weekly K-WoW assignments which, for all periods (C, D, & E) will always be assigned on Mondays and due on Fridays.
Homework: As per the TASIS MS school homework policy, there is no weekend science homework (due on Monday).
Announcements...
The DRIVING QUESTION of our current unit is: How do our cells use the food we eat to power every single life process?
C & D period homework collection days: Wednesday & Friday.
E period homework collection days: Tuesday & Thursday.
Today marks the beginning of a new semester, the Spring Semester!