Lesson 1 - Monday, Apr 20
Today in science: We began today’s lesson by revisiting the challenge question on last week’s Food For Plants (Chapter 4) quiz: Why do Venus flytraps bother catching insects when they can do photosynthesis perfectly well with both their trap-like and non-trap-like leaves? To help us find a scientific answer to this question, we made use of some (or all) of the following videos…
Homework: Students have been asked to complete Chapter 3 of the Power Plant Packet. When finished, students need to submit it to the proper section of the Google Science Classroom. This is due on Tuesday (B period) or Wednesday (H period).
Lesson 2 - Tue, Apr 21 (B) & Wed, Apr 22 (H)
Today in science: We worked on a Case Study framed by the question, “Why are avocados considered a superfood?” This modelling exercise was guided by a A3-sized handout and accomplished two tasks. First, it summarized photosynthesis and contrasted the mineral-attaining strategy of ‘normal’ plants with that of the Venus flytrap. Second, it introduced biosynthesis (aka. anabolism) to show how plants create nutrient molecules (e.g., sugars, amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins, and pigment molecules) from the raw materials of photosynthesis (CO2 and H2O) and minerals such as N, P, K, Mg, etc.
Homework: There is no science homework tonight.
Lesson 3 - Wed, Apr 22 (B) & Thu, Apr 23 (H)
Today in science: We started today’s lesson by watching an animation of photosynthesis to help us better visualize the process of photosynthesis. It was created by the California Academy of Sciences. Students were then given time to unsubmit and correct–and then resubmit– Chapter 3 of the Power Plant Packet with the help of the Photosynthesis/Biosynthesis model we constructed in Lesson 2.
Students were then given time to continue working on their Pollination & Fertilization Sketchnotes project, which is due by the end of the current school week.
Homework: Students have been asked to continue working on their Pollination & Fertilization Sketchnotes project.
Lesson 4 - Thu, Apr 23 (B) & Fri, Apr 24 (H)
Today in science: Students made a final entry to their Life Cycle Project by photographing and dissecting the now-dried seed pods on their fast-growing mustard seed plants. The purpose of this investigation (INV#14 – Harvesting Seeds) was to extract the seeds from our seed pods, place them under the microscope, photograph them, and then compare them to the seeds we planted approximately six weeks ago.
With any time remaining in the lesson, students had time to work on other science assignments such as their Pollination and/or Fertilization Sketchnotes projects and any missing assignments such as Chapters 3 or 4 of the Food For Plants packet or Chapter 3 of the Power Plant packet.
Near the end of the school day on Friday, Dr. M sent students a message through the Google Science Classroom stream clarifying the final due dates for three end-of-unit projects…
- Sketchnotes project – Pollination (Due Wednesday, 29 Apr)
- Sketchnotes project – Fertilization (Due Wednesday, 29 Apr)
- Plant Life Cycle project – including our most recent “Day 42/43” entry (Due Friday, 1 May)
There are now places to submit all three of the above projects in the Google Science Classroom.
Homework: As per the TASIS MS school homework policy, there is no science homework due on Monday.
Announcements...
The UNIT 7.4 (Plants) Driving Question is: How does a small seed become a large plant?
B period homework collection days: Tuesday & Thursday.
H period homework collection days: Wednesday & Friday.
KWoW - there is no KWoW this week.