Lesson 1 - Monday, Sep 29
Housekeeping: There were no housekeeping items today.
1. Students received a graded RA4 (The blob!) assignment today, which was followed by a discussion of the points assigned by Dr. M, but also an important discussion about some of the key differences between animals and plants. At the conclusion of the discussion, Dr. M presented a revision option available to students should they wish to improve their score on this assignment. All revisions are due at the start of Lesson 2.
2. Students received a paper copy of the Unit 6.1 – Classification Study Guide, which we will use in class this week to determine our readiness for an end-of-unit Test planned for Friday, 3 Oct. Despite not having time to go over all parts of the Study Guide, students were able to see/hear how we plan to use it this week. We will begin Lesson 2 by returning to the Guide.
Homework: Any students wanting to improve their score on RA4 (The blob!) must complete their revision task by the start of Lesson 2.
Lesson 2 - Tuesday, Sep 30
Housekeeping: Dr. M collected students’ RA4 (The blob!) revisions at the start of the lesson.
1. Using the paper handout titled, “Unit 6.1 – Classification Study Guide,” Dr. M helped students prepared for the their upcoming Unit 6.1 end-of-unit test by guiding them through a sort of mapping exercise, in which students assigned our past (graded) assignments and activities to one (or more) of the 5 SWBAT statements that will constitute the upcoming test.
2. Students were also told to expect an RA6 (Mrs. Lill’s Creature Feature) in their next lesson to help them get even better at doing one of the five “SWBATs.”
Homework: Students have been asked to think about using their new Study Guide to begin preparing for their first test, which will either be Friday, 3 Oct OR Tues, 7 Oct.
Lesson 3 - Wed, Oct 1 (C, D) & Thu, Oct 2 (E)
Housekeeping: None.
1. After briefly reviewing the 8-level classification system we first saw presented in the Amoeba Sisters “Classification” video, students were asked to complete RA6 (Mrs. Lill’s Creature Feature). In this in-class activity, students were assigned an animal commonly found in Ticino and asked to use Wikipedia to discover its Domain, Kingdom, Phyla, Class, Order, Family, Genus, and Species. Students were also required to draw their creature, highlight any familiar and/or interesting classification terms they encountered, and list a fun fact about their organism.
Homework: Students have been asked to think about using their new Study Guide to begin preparing for their first test which, as was announced to students in the Google Classroom Stream on Thursday morning, will be TUESDAY, 7 OCT.
Lesson 4 - Friday, Oct 3
Housekeeping: Text
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 does putting living things into groups help us learn about them (and why do scientists sometimes have to change those groups)?
#1 - This week we will have our first end-of-unit assessment (i.e., our first "Unit Test")!
#2 - ...