Lesson 1 - Monday, Dec 16
Today in science: To begin our new unit, Dr. M asked students to quickly write their answer to the Unit 6.3 Driving Question (What is (almost) everything around us made of?) on a half-sheet of paper. After sharing with students his ‘ideal’ answer and then asking them to compare theirs to his, Dr. M then posed the Unit 6.4 new Driving Question to students: What am I made of?
Students were asked to answer this question on a pre-formatted paper with an outline of a human body printed on it. In addition to a diagrammed (drawing-based) answer, students were also asked to record a written answer on the back. Dr. M collected students’ work for review before the end of the lesson.
Homework: Any time between now and the start of our school’s Winter Vacation, students were asked to submit their 10 “Matter & Molecules” mock quiz questions to a Google Document assigned to each student in the Google Science Classroom. In addition to their 10 questions, however, students should also remember they need to provide correct answers to each of their 10 questions.
Lesson 2 - Tuesday, Dec 17
Today in science: For INV#3 – Muscle Tissue, after briefly discussing the answers students provided to the new Driving Question (What am I made of?) in yesterday’s lesson, students were introduced to an example of a typical animal organ: a chunk of muscle taken from a cow. After receiving a decent sized ‘slice’ of the muscle in a half of a petri dish, students were asked to photograph–and then draw–the specimen when placing the sample on the microscope and observing it with both 20x and 40x magnification. After, students were given a tiny sample of prosciutto crudo–which is basically a very thin slice of pig muscle!–and asked to observe, photograph, and draw it in their science notebooks. To make their specimens appear as clear and detailed as possible, students discovered that the use of the ‘Top’ light source was the best for today’s muscle tissue samples.
Homework: To prepare for their next science lesson, students were asked watch a microscope video showing them how to correctly use a type of microscope similar to ones we have in our lab. The required video, but also some optional ones, can be found in our Google Science Classroom (Classwork > Unit 6.4 – Microscope Headquarters).
Lesson 3 - Wed, Dec 18 (D) & Thurs, Dec 19 (E)
Today in science: After reviewing the key points from the homework video and preparing their science notebooks for INV#4 – Animal Tissues, students were asked to use a monocular light microscope to observe and describe–mainly through photos–prepared slides featuring various animal tissues: e.g., bone, muscle, heart, etc. During this investigation, students were encouraged to use the camera feature of their phones and/or iPads to capture the structures, complexity, and details (e.g., colors) of the samples they viewed with their microscopes.
Homework: Students have been asked to BEGIN preparing their microscope photos for the eventual addition of them to their science notebooks (INV#4). Students do NOT need to finish this assignment, but instead to simply begin working on it. When doing so, Dr. M gave students two different possible assignment options…
1) Use their home printers to print ONE formatted (cropped, resized) photo of each of the different tissue specimens. For example, students should print only one photo of “bone,” only one photo of “liver,” only one photo of “intestine,” etc. When deciding between the 40x, 100x, and 400x images of each tissue, students should choose the photo with the best focus/clarity. In terms of image size, students should aim to fit FOUR photos on a single page of their science notebook.
2) Insert ONE formatted (cropped, resized) photo of each of the different tissue specimens into a Google Document. For example, students should insert ONE photo of “bone,” ONE photo of “liver,” ONE photo of “intestine,” etc. When deciding between the 40x, 100x, and 400x images of each tissue sample, students should choose the photo with the best focus/clarity. Dr. M recommends inserting FOUR photos onto a single A4-size page. When finished, send or share the Google Document with Dr. Merritt (brett.merritt@tasis.ch) so he can print them for students on a school printer in January.
Lesson 4 - Friday, Dec 20
Today in science: Students were given today’s lesson to continue working on INV#4. This meant observing and photographing more animal tissue samples with a microscope, labelling the images by using the “i” option in their Camera Apps, and filing the images (e.g., in a specially titled folder) so that they are easily found/located after the Winter vacation. Dr. M also used a decent chunk of today’s class time to explain to students how they will be expected to present their animal tissue images in their science notebooks in January.
Happy holidays! Happy New Year!! Be safe!!!
Homework: As is specified in the TASIS MS Homework Policy, there is no science homework to be done during the Winter Vacation. However, some students asked if they could take their science notebooks home to begin working on INV#4. Of course they can!!!
Announcements...
The DRIVING QUESTION of our current unit is: What am I made of?
D period homework collection days: Wednesday & Friday.
E period homework collection days: Tuesday & Thursday.
Including this week, there are 3 weeks of school before the end of the Fall Semester.