Biomes...

Biomes is a vocab term used to describe a specific area of the world with unique vegetation (plants), animals and climate.
There are several types of biomes.  Some websites give very specific biomes and some give broaded biomes that encompass larger areas of the world.
We are going to focus on these main biomes: tundra, taiga, grasslands, temperate deciduous forest, rainforest, savannah, and desert.

Limiting Factor

Every reaction has the "fuel" that keeps the reaction going.
We can think of the fuel as the limiting factor or the reactant that gets used up first in an experiment.
Once this reactant gets used up, the experiment stops.
The other reactant, is in excess or left over at the end of a reaction.
If you were to add more of the limiting factor to the reaction after it has stopped, the reaction would continue.

Chemical Equations

A chemical equation is like a math problem, but a little different.  Chemical equations show what happens when you put different substances together and shows what new substances are formed.
On the left side of the equation, is the reactants.  These are the substances that REACT together.  You put a + sign to separate the substances. Then, you put an arrow to the right.  The arrow means "yields" or "produces."
On the right side of the equation, is what is produced from this reaction or the Products. You also put a + sign to separate the products.
By knowing the reactants, you can predict the products.  From the law of conservation of energy, all of the elements that are represented on the reactant's side, will end up on the product's side, but rearranged to make new substances.
See the example below:

4 Hydrogens and 2 Oxygens -----> 4 hydrogens and 2 Oxygens


Another Example:

Ca(OH)₂ + CO₂ à CaCOз + H₂O

1 Calcium, 4 Oxygens, 2 Hydrogens ---> 1 Calcium, 4 Oxygens, 2 Hydrogens

Same amount on each side - no elements are added and no elements are taken away

Density

Density is a relationship of mass/volume.  The more mass an object (compared to its volume) has the higher its density is going to be.  The more volume an object has (compared to is mass) the lower its density is going to be.
We tested the density of liquids in class.  We have learned that the density of water is 1 g/mL.
From trials in labs, we have figured out that we need to isolate aspects when figuring out density.  For example, when figuring out the density of a liquid, we have to subtract the mass of the cylinder away from the mass of the liquid and the cylinder to figure out what the liquid's mass is.
We also explored density through displacement of solids.  Through this, we figure out the volume of a solid object by putting the object into a measured amount of water, then subtracting the starting height from the height of the water that is displaced.

Solutions...

There are many things that we have hit on with solutions.  Here are a few of the highlights:

• Solutions have two parts - solute (solid which dissolves) and the solvent (liquid which causes the dissolving)
• Dissolving is not a chemical reaction or a phase change
• During dissolving, the solvent breaks the bonds of the solute, which "carries away" the solute in the solvent
• Substances that don't dissolve are insoluble
• Solutions can be separated back into original states through filtering and evaporation

Definitions...

Melting - A phase change from a solid to a liquid started by heat

Dissolve - a uniform mixture of 2 substances at the particle level

Steps to Find Energy Tranfser

Remember all of the steps:
Steps to Figure out Energy Transfer

Step #1 - Tfinal= Thot + Tcold/2

Step #2- Change in Temperature: Tfinal - Tstarting -- You need to do this step twice! Once for the hot water and once for the cold water.

Step #3- Finding Calories: mass x change in temp - you may need to do this step twice--- Label is calories

Keep in mind - step one is linked to step 2 & step 2 is linked to step 3

3 Big Ideas about Energy Transfer

1. Kinetic Energy = Heat
2. Energy transfer occurs at the collision of the two particles which is called conduction
3. Energy always transfers from the higher energy particle (hot) to the lower energy particle (cold).

More info about energy transfer---
Here are the BIG ideas about energy transfer:

• All particles have kinetic energy. The faster a particle moves the more kinetic energy it has.
• What gives particles kinetic energy? Heat! The faster it moves the hotter is is.
• Energy moves from particle to particle. This happens when they hit or collide.
• Energy always moves from higher energy particle to the lower energy particle.
  • So think of it as fast to slow or hot to cold.
• When particles hit and transfer energy, that hit is called conduction.

Rules for Elements

Main Elements in Objects
1. living objects- carbon, hydrogen, oxygen
2. plastics & once living- carbon, hydrogen
3. metals - iron & oxygen
4. rock-like objects- silicon & oxygen
5. Air - oxygen, nitrogen, and argon

Kinetic Energy

Big ideas about kinetic energy

• Kinetic Energy = heat, when heat is added kinetic energy increases, when heat is removed kinetic energy decreases
• when kinetic energy increases, the particles increase in speed (move faster), start bumping into each other more often and hit each other harder, and create more space inbetween particles
• when kinetic energy increases, the particles expand
• when kinetic energy decreases, the particles contract

Gas Particles

Some Big Ideas about Gas Particles:

• ·        Gas is a form of matter.
• ·        Gas takes up space.
• ·        Gases are composed of individual particles that are not connected to other particles.
• ·        Gas particles are relatively far apart and in constant motion.
• ·        There is nothing between particles of gas except space.
• ·        They can be forced together through compression. 

Some important Vocab not to forget!!!

1. Compression is to reduce in volume/size due to applied force.
2. Expansion- to increase in volume or size
3. Contraction- to reduce in volume/size due to cooling

Big Ideas about the Periodic Table of Elements

1. Dmitri Mendeleyev created the Periodic Table of Elements
2. He did this by putting the elements on cards and rearranging them til he found an arrangement that worked.  He organized them by putting like elements next to each other in rows (periods) and columns (groups).
3. This created gaps in the Periodic Table which showed elements that were (at the time) yet to be discovered.

Review for Quiz

Here are the 5 words that are the basis for the quiz on Monday.

1. Substance-a form of matter with unique properties
2. Chemical Reaction-occurs when substances interact to form NEW substances
3. Evaporation- Phase change from a liquid to a gas
4. Chemical Formula- shorthand way to show the elements and atoms that make up a substance
5. Elements-the basic building materials of all matter. It cannot be broken down.

Uploading to the Wiki

Are you having issues uploading your science times article to the wikisite?  Can't remember how to?
Check out this video and see if it helps...

Science Times

Some of you may be feeling apprehensive about your upcoming Science Times article.  So, I wanted to give you a few tips to keep in mind as you pen your first piece of journalism.

• 5 Ws- Journalists love the 5 Ws - who, what, when, where, and why - you could also add in how and which.  If your story answers these questions, then you would have a very satisfied reader!  
• The LEAD- The first sentence of your story is called the lead.  Some journalists try to hit all of the 5 Ws in the lead to give people an idea of what their story is about.  It's tricky to get ahold of this idea, but once you get it- it makes life easier!
• Interviews- As you read through news stories, it's not a random listing of facts. A good journalist tells a story.  Interview people from your class and add their quotes into your story to give it a personal touch.

If you keep these three things in mind as you write your story, you'll find that you hit 150 words before you know it!

Welcome to 8th Grade Science!

I am so happy to have all of you join me on this journey of discovery this year!
I believe that science is about learning through exploration to lead to new discoveries.  This year we will be doing lots of hands-on experiments to help us to better understand and explain concepts.
Each year is different, and you are a big part of what the year will be like.  I hope that you come to science class with enthusiasm and questions with the ability to listen to your classmates to understand new concepts.

Throughout the year, we will be trying out different forms of technology.
I want you to think about the forms of technology that we will be consistently using this year.
1) Class website- This is like your own dashboard or homepage for the science class.  You will find an outline of class assignments, links to important websites (like the wiki and blog), the twitter feed, and Ms. Bridge's email address if you have questions that did not get answered during class.
2) Blog - This is a place for you to get notes, tips, and reminders from me!  Think about it as your own look into my own personal lab notebook.
3) Wikisite- This is a place to collaborate with your classmates and to have your voice published on the internet.
4) Twitter - A place for reminders and recognition about what is happening during class.

Roller Coasters

As we dive into our last unit of the year, I realize that this is not always a topic that every student enjoys - roller coasters.  I was very scared of roller coasters when I was younger.  I didn't even go on an upside down roller coaster until I was in college!  I still don't love the upside down roller coasters, but I don't mind a great wooden roller coaster.
I love seeing the creativity come out in the students at this time of year.  I can't wait to see what you create.

We are going to begin the unit with some basics.  What increases the speed of a roller coaster?  How high can you really make the hills?  And how do Newton's Laws fit in with all of this?

Planetary Projects

Once we get back from break, you will have one day to meet up and refresh your brain about what you were planning on presenting for your planetary project.  On Tuesday, we will have laptops available, but in some classes there will not be enough computers for every student, but there WILL be enough computers for one per group.  You'll need to use this full class time to work on your project keeping in mind the content requirements (see the 8th Grade website for rubric).  But also think about the big ideas:

• science knowledge
• depth level
• creativity
• general structure

We will begin presenting projects on Wednesday.

8th Grade Yearbook

Please complete the following surveys for the 8th Grade Best section of the yearbook.

You are only allowed to choose one boy and one girl for each category.

Bridge Recommends: right click on survey and choose open in a new tab!

http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22C85PYUJ2W/

http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22C85WRUN7E/

http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22C86BXUW93/

Please complete ALL three surveys!!!!

Lost in Space....

Well, hopefully not!  But it could happen.
We have discussed the Apollo 13 space mission and all of the problems that mission encountered.  But, the hard work and problem solving of mission control along with the astronauts determination, they were able to make it home safely.
With this premise, 2 class periods were chosen to be NASA Mission Control.  These classes were given 4 problems with limited resources to try and solve in a limited time.  Each mission control wrote procedures for the astronauts to follow.
The other two class periods are the astronauts stuck in space!  They are given the procedures to try and follow.  However, our astronaut groups had to do a lot of tweaking to the procedures that they found to have lack some specific details to help them solve the problems.
I told each of the groups that this is not just a class grade, this a grade depending on the success of the astronaut groups.  Can they execute the procedures in order to make it back safely???
Third period received 4th period's procedures and successfully made it back to earth!  Yeah!
Second period received 7th period's procedures and...with just 11 minutes left to spare also completed all of the tasks!
Congratulations to all of the hard work and collaboration for all the classes!!!

This week...

1st off - Congratulations to Kaycee Miller for winning the 8th grade science fair!!

This week we are beginning our unit about space.  The classes will be working on different projects at different times to accomplish a common goal.  After watching Apollo 13 a couple of weeks ago, I had the idea to organize the classes to set up like NASA mission control and astronauts stuck in space.  I hope that it proves to be an interesting project with successful outcomes and that no one gets stuck in space!!

Beginning the space unit...

Today, we are beginning to discuss what we know (and don't know) about space.  There are a lot of misconceptions about space. Today, we explored the International Space Station- which students do not know much about -- check out this website to learn more -- http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/ISSRG/

Science Fair Time!

It's finally here...Thursday and Friday are the in-class science fairs!

I wish everyone the best of luck in their final preparations for the science fair and I want to encourage everyone to participate in the evening science fair.

Where: Mid-Prairie Middle School’s Student Center

When: April 5^th – 3:30 – 5 p.m.

Who: All 8^th Graders are invited to share their science fair project & earn extra credit – we’d love to see all their families come out to support them!

Why: The students created their own projects and it’s important to support and encourage their curiosity about the world!

Conclusions...last, yet so important

The conclusion is the last piece of the science fair puzzle.  Yet, it is probably the component that we need to take the most time with because it accounts for 20 points of our science fair project!
The conclusion has three parts: claim, evidence, and explanation.
Let's start with the claim. In the most simple terms, the claim is what you learned from your experiment.  If you use your hypothesis (if you wrote a strong hypothesis), it should be easy for you to write.  Your claim needs to be a statement of fact about your experiment, relating to your variables - independent and dependent.
For the evidence section, think just the facts!  I don't want any speculation in this section.  I just want the specific and relevant pieces of data that support your claim to be explained in this section.  This is the section where you are building up the case for your claim (if you claim were ever to go on trial, you would want a lot of evidence to help it out).
The explanation section is where we are getting into the science behind your experiment.  This section will show me how well you researched your topic before you started.  You'll be bringing in prior knowledge, scientific principals and facts to back up your findings.  Did they match what laws of science say?  If so explain this link and continually support and connect to your claim and evidence.  If not, make connections to your experiment and procedure as to why they don't match and start to create your own reasonings to make connections with what happened.

Data, data, data -

What are the best ways to display data?
The data is really the meat of your project.  As an observer, I look carefully at the data to be able to ask intelligent questions about your project.
The data needs to be able to speak clearly, even if you are not there to speak for it.
In class today, we discussed ways to display data: graphs and data tables.  As a minimum, I expect one data table and one graph on your science fair tri-fold.
For assessment of data on your board:  I'm looking for:

• Data to be organized using a table AND a graph
• Graphs and tables are correctly titled and labeled
• The correct graph is used to display the information

Remember, when/if you decide to work in excel, no labels on your numbers, and highlight only the information you want to graph.  Your graphs need to have main titles, and titles for the x and y axis.

Procedures!

Yikes!
I saw a lot of mistakes when I reviewed the formal research proposals this weekend!  We need to get these corrected before we get to the science fair date.
The biggest mistakes that I saw were:

• Did not use numbered steps
• Did not include specific measurements
• Did not tell me what data you are collecting
• Left out steps
• Include "extra" information that was not relative to the experiment

A procedure needs to be:

• Step-by-step - numbered steps
• Clear and specific
• Each step is a simple sentence that is a command
• Easy to follow - your procedure needs to be able to be reproduced by another person
• Needs to include a diagram

• 
  

To help guide you...

If you missed yesterday, or in case you forgot, here is an outline of what we discussed in class to help you get set up for the first few steps of the science fair.
The most important place to start is to figure out your variables - Independent (what you change) and Dependent (what you observe or measure).  Once you have those figured out, you'll be in good shape for forming and creating the rest of your experiment.
Let's move on to your question.  Your question needs to be:

• Labeled
• Clear
• have your independent and dependent variable that you'll be testing

Your hypothesis is your prediction of what you think will happen in the experiment based on your knowledge about the subject.  Your hypothesis needs to be:

• Labeled 
• Clear
• Predicts the results based on your variables
• have an element of reason behind it

On the hypothesis, most 8th graders won't go far enough.  Look at this example hypothesis:

I think that the red truck will have the fastest speed because it is the lightest in weight.

Many students will stop with completing the orange writing, but you need to take it a step further to add in the reasoning behind your thoughts.

Finally, your procedure needs to be:

• in numbered, small and direct steps
• avoid using pronouns - it, they or thing if you don't know the name of something
• include all step, don't skip any no matter how tiny they might be
• A diagram of your procedure step-up, labeled to give people an instant visual

There are two goals for this week:

1. work on completing an easybib for your resources
2. complete the research proposal form, have it signed by your parents, and returned by Thursday!

Getting Started...

Getting started with the science fair project may seem overwhelming, but as a class we are going to take it in steps.  The most important part is to stay on top of it!  Last week, we began brainstorming different ideas and I asked the students to come up with two possible ideas that they were interested in.  This week, we are going to focus on morphing those ideas into projects that can be investigated to collect data an compare the impact of changes made to a setting.
Today, we are going to discuss that before you can create your question and hypothesis you have to know what your variables are.  Independent variable is what you change in the experiment.  Dependent variable is what you observe or measure.  Finally, your control variable is what stays the same to help you control your experiment.
You question and hypothesis needs to include your independent and dependent variable in some way.
Lastly, we are going to talk about appropriate ways to set up your procedures.  Procedures are the backbone of your science fair project.  They help to stabilize and give purpose.  Procedures need to be specific!!! Details, details, details.  Here are some things to think about:

1. Be specific with measurements or sizes.  If you are adding water to a cup, include exactly how much 20 mL for example
2. Each step should be a short complete sentence. (capital letters, periods)
3. Don't skip any step no matter how important you think it is.  You write a procedure so that someone else could complete your experiment without you being there to tell them or show them how to do it.
4. Finally, as an 8th grade science fair experiment, I require a diagram to be part of your procedure.  A diagram is a visual image that helps to give your audience and better understanding of what you are doing.  The diagram needs to be labeled.

Science Fair...let's get thinking....

I love science fair time.  Science fair is the time of year where students can explore any topic they would like- so there should be no student who says they don't like science during science fair time, because they chose the topic!  It is really interesting to see student's interests and personalities come out through this time.  But topic choice is probably the most important decision that a student makes because they will be devoting a lot of time to this topic.
When considering a question, ask yourself these questions:

Is my topic realistic?  Is it something I can do?  Is my topic interesting to me?  Can I investigate my topic by experimenting and collecting data?

Ask yourself:

Is my project truly original?  Is the answer to my question already known?  Are there outside resources that can help me find my answer?   

Unique Minds...

As we start to gear up for science far, I really want to stress the importance of creativity and individual thinking.  Today, we are doing a series of creativity exercises to encourage our brains to think outside the box.

1. different thoughts - everyone draws a picture of a tree and compare drawings.  Everyone has a different vision of what a tree looks like.
2. Looking at things from a different angle - everyone brought things with them to class today. Can you use these things to make something new out of these everyday things?

Then, we took a look at the curious questions they created.  Each student will choose a question and brainstorm ways to solve - not find the answer - but, ways to find the answer.  But stretch yourself!  Don't just rely on google to give you the answer.

The best science fair projects are unique, creative, and based on your own personal interest.  Please think of this as we are starting to brainstorm projects.  You all have unique minds, use them!

Dedication...

I just wanted to share a quick note with you about dedication.  While we have finished up our animal study project and I have begun to review and grade the projects, the word dedication pops into my head.  The dedication of you effort to this project was evident.  Many of you did a wonderful job of using the resources to help make your project fantastic.  And some of your projects truly blew me away!  They were absolutely fantastic!  For those of you, your dedication to your effort in this project shined through and you will be rewarded for that when you see your grades.
For some of you, the lack of dedication was evident on the page.  Every possible opportunity was at  your doorstep: rubrics telling you exactly what I'm looking for in each section, work time in class to ask questions, and the opportunity of 1 to 1 conferences with a teacher to go over work. Yet, some fell short.  I will be calling some students in and giving you one last opportunity on this project.  I will talk with you and give you a new extended revision date to make changes to your project.  For me, it not just about the grade, it's about what you walk away from this experience learning and I want you to be very fulfilled from this experience.  If you do not take advantage of this last opportunity, the grade will stand.

Submitting your wiki...

When you have completed your wiki, you need to do 2 things.

1. On the home page of the science field notebooks (where all the pictures are), click on the discussion tab. Then click New Post.  In the subject line, type your name, and animal in the message type finished and then post the thread.
2. Next, check your email on the wiki.  I have sent you a message that you needs your response - a short reflection about this project as a whole.
3. Wait, I forgot there are 3 things!  I need your second curious question - either posted a sticky or the stixy.  If you post on the stixy, please make sure to note that this is your 2nd question.

Downhill Slide...

By now, you are probably in one of three categories.  Try to find where you fit into the categories and think about the suggestions that I’ve made to help you move forward in the next few days.

Category 1: I’m feeling good about the project.  I’ve read through all of the rubrics & I’m feeling good about what I’ve done so far.

Suggestions to go forward:
Print off the rubrics and actually try to check your page to see where you would line up with the expectations
 Where else can you go with this? The headings provided on the page are the minimum.  Is there anything you would want to add, fun facts or young animals for example?
Extra Credit – why not buff up your grade potential by adding more to either your research technique examples or using the research section

Category 2:  I’m feeling okay.  I still have some big pieces of the project to work on and it’s starting to make me nervous.

Suggestions to go forward:
Sign up for a conference with Bridge – Let’s take a look at one of the sections you don’t feel strong about together where I can make suggestions
 Focus on the Requirements – don’t worry about adding any extras to your page at this point.  Forget about pictures, focus on the biggies.  Make sure your observation journal is complete!  Make sure your research location section is good!  Then take the rest of the smaller components one piece at a time.

Category 3:  I’m nervous.  I have lots of blanks and not much completed.

Suggestions to go forward:
Use your time – Any extra time you have, use it.  Come and see Ms. Bridge in the morning before school, during study halls, and/or arrange a time with Ms. Bridge to come in early or stay after school.
 Use time outside of school – work on this at home.  As long as you can get to a computer with an internet connection, you can work on this project
 Ask for help – Ms. Bridge can give you help, you just need to ask for it!  I can help you create to-do lists to help you focus each day.  I can help you find resources if you are struggling with information.  But, you have to let me help you.  Tell me where you are struggling with this project.

4 days left...

Here are some suggestions to help guide you through the last four work days:

1. Focus on the requirements - don't worry about pictures or extras, get the required content down
2. Sign up for a conference - this is a one-on-one with me to help make your project better
3. The big stuff - really focus on your observation journal - its 37% of your project
4. Ask for help - it is hard for me to know that you are struggling unless you ask

Some Helpful Hints...

As it's Friday, I just want to give you some helpful hints to make your day easier.
**Reminder - your 1st Curious Question is due today!  You can either write it on a post-it or use stixy.

**If you don't know what to include in a section of writing, ask yourself 2 questions.  1) Did I read the rubrics on the 8th science page?  2) Did I look at the example page Bridge created?

** I created a new checklist for you to think BIG picture.  Download it at the 8th science site.

** Remember- you are writing from the perspective of a science actually in the field report your notes back.  So instead of saying "The desert is very hot." write it as though you are explaining it to someone.  "I have never experienced heat like this before."

**For those of you who want to use slide.  First go to slide.com.  You can totally make a slide show without making an account, but it goes a lot faster if you do.  You are more than welcome to use my account - Login: abridge@mid-prairie.k12.ia.us   -- password: abridge.
Once you create your slide show, save it!  Then when it asks how you export it - choose More on the left side - and choose blogger.  Copy the embed code.  Then go to the Widget feature in the wiki.  Choose slideshow and slide.  Then past the code into the box at the bottom of the screen.  Preview it to make sure it looks right.  Then save!

** Finally if you feel far behind - work on it at home this week.  The beauty of this project is that it doesn't matter if  you forgot your notebook at home, everything is online.  So, as long as you can access a computer with internet you can work on it.  Good luck!

Final Project Outlined

The final project is based on the fact that all of you have been accepted by the Bridge Ecological Institute as primary ethologists completing an in-depth study of an animal.  Congratulations!
Your field notebook findings will be reported on the Bridge Ecological Institute wiki.  I have created an example of a field notebook wiki for you to refer to for help setting you page up.
To get started, you'll need to create a new page, by clicking on the new page button on the side.  Name your page as your animal and your first name, last initial.  For example - Amber B. studying the chimpanzee would name her page as Chimpanzee - Amber B.

Below are the required components of the project and how the project looks overall.  On the 8th grade page, all of the rubrics and requirements for the project are attached at the bottom of the page.
Everything needs to be posted to the wiki on Friday, February 18.
Good Luck!

Project Component	Point Value	%
Why this Animal	9	5
Research Location	35	20
Research Technique	15	9
Observation Journal	65	37
Food Web	15	9
Fellow Researcher Profile	9	5
Research in Action	18	10
Resources	9	5
Total	175	100

Animal Monitoring

Currently, scientists are out in the world, all over the world, observing animals in their natural habitat.  How are they doing it?  Well, some definitely follow Jane's path of observation and journaling, but it goes so much further than that!  Scientists today are using technology to help understand the natural patterns of even the most elusive animals in the world and today we are going to explore this topic.
Today we'll focus on:

• radio telemetry
• motion sensitive cameras
• GPS
• all in relationship to species survival plans created by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association

Food Webs

One of the final requirements for our animal study project is to create a food web based on your animal.  You can use many resources to help you do this and I encourage you to use the resource you are most familiar with.  You can use Word and find pictures on the internet then add the arrows from the drawing clipboard.  Word can be tricky so be patient!  You can use Powerpoint in the same way.  Also, on our computers in the library only they have a program called Inspiration.  It's super easy to use.  Check out this demo.
There are many other resources out there that can work to help you make your food web.
The most important thing to remember is that the arrow goes to the thing that gets the energy. 
If you finish your food web, you need to start evaluating your notes to find a symbiotic relationship (remember from Monday/Tuesday) - examples are mutualism, parasitism, commensalism, or competitive.  Check Monday's blog for the definitions if you have forgot. 

Long Day, Short Day

We are beginning our winter MAPS testing, which means...block scheduling!  I enjoy block scheduling because I feel like we can get a lot done in a class period.
During these long classes, we are going to focus on relationships in an ecosystem and animal monitoring techniques.  First, we are going to be taking a closer look at some ecological vocabulary words to help us define relationships in an ecosystem.  For those of you out there who are getting your science notes off of the blog you're in luck!

Niche- an organism’s role in an ecosystem

Symbiotic relationship is one in which two organisms from different species interact.

The next 4 vocab words are examples of symbiotic relationships:

Competitive Relationship is the struggle between individuals or different populations for a limited resource.

Mutualism- interaction between two species that benefits both

Commensalism- relationship between two species in which one species benefits while the other is not affected

Parasitism- is a relationship between two species in which one species benefits while the species it depends on, its host, is harmed

We are also going to begin to discuss animal monitoring techniques.  I'm sharing an excellent video segment from 60 minutes -http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7300063n&tag=contentMain;cbsCarousel

about observing jaguars!  Good stuff!

So, we'll have two long days of block scheduling and Wednesday (hopefully we won't get too much snow) will be an early out day, where I will begin to outline the big aspects of the final project.

Sources...

One of the most dreaded things when working on a research project is to cite your sources!!!

I know I always dreaded it, but I also had to go about it the hard way.  I had a small, narrow book that had 2 or 3 examples of how to cite sources in every kind of context from a book to an online journal to a newspaper article.  I would look at the book, then apply my own source to it and hand type in every source making sure not to miss any periods!

You have it so easy!  Some sites GIVE you the citation at the bottom of the page!

Check out the example from Animal Diversity Web --

However, every year I have students fail at this because they did not keep track of their sources.  For when the citation is not just given to you, there is a website called Easybib.  Easybib is really, truly easy!

Just choose the type of source you are trying to cite and Easybib does the work for you!  The most important thing to remember is to copy/download/export your citations into a word document to save in your student folder for later.  The BIG thing to remember when working with Easybib is to put the date that you ACCESSED the site, not today's date!  


Click here for a quick tutorial on easy bib.

What NOT to do?

Your bibliography should NOT look like this....

  

http://www.kidsplanet.org/factsheets/chimpanzee.html

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/mammals/chimpanzee/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimpanzee

Your bibliography SHOULD look like this:

"Chimpanzee -- Kids' Planet -- Defenders of Wildlife." Defenders of Wildlife - Kids' Planet. Web. 27 Jan. 2011. .

"Chimpanzees, Chimpanzee Pictures, Chimpanzee Facts - National Geographic." Animals, Animal Pictures, Wild Animal Facts - National Geographic. National Geographic, 2011. Web. 27 Jan. 2011. .

Jane Goodall's Wild Chimpanzees. Dir. David Lickley. SlingShot Entertainment, 2002. Film.

Videos...

Being able to watch video of an animal is one of the most immediate ways we can learn more about animals.  You get an immediate sense of the animal's movement and instincts seeing them interact with their surroundings.
I would encourage you to check out some videos to help you go deeper with your understanding of your animal. You know many sites to check for videos.  I would also encourage you to try out Discovery Education - which is a website for students & teachers that has clips from many of your favorite Discover Channel shows.  It does require a login (mpcs4271) and password (AEA10).  Also, Animal Planet has some excellent clips as well.  You Tube also has some great stuff, but like Wikipedia, remember that anyone and put up video that can be manipulated.
One last thought, video is ALSO a resource.  So, you also need to keep track of videos that you watch and get information from.

Beginning Animal Research...

Technology today!
First, students will be taking a technology survey for the district.  So, any students that are absent need to make up the tech survey.
Next, we need to dive into research about our animal.  Let's focus our research on:

• r  Physical description of the animal (including lots of adjectives)
  r  Biome description (where does the animal live) – climate, other animals, plants
  o   how is the animal you chose suited for the biome
  r  Could you make a food web for your animal? What does your animal eat?  What eats your animal? What type of animal is it (carnivore, omnivore, herbivore)?
  r  Behaviors – what does your animal do in a typical day?
  r  Relationships with in their animal community
  o   Families – mother/child/father/siblings
  o   Leaders in the communities – alpha male/female leaders
  o   Predator/Prey Relationships
  r  What are its limiting factors?  How does it get food, water, and shelter?  Are there any other factors that are threatening this animal’s population?
  
  
  Don't forget - so important - KEEP TRACK OF YOUR RESOURCES!!!!!!

Who survived?

Continuing on from our lesson from yesterday, we are going to how many bears can be supported in "Bridge Forest."  Yesterday we learned and studied about the American Black Bear and created a food web as a class.  We got our information off of a great site, Animal Diversity Web.  I also showed the students some of the basics of Diigo to help them with their note taking and organization.  Diigo allows students save all of their book marked websites in one place and highlight and leave notes for themselves that only they can see right on the website!  I offered to all classes that I could create a free student Diigo account if they want to try it out.  So, far though...no takers!
My students then "turned into bears" and collected as much food as they could in about 20 seconds. Today, we are going on focus on how much food a black bear eats in a day and how many bears could actually live in the forest.
After our discussion, each student will get a processing point at the last point that they left off with for Level of Science Comprehension to extend our understanding about this topic.

Food Webs & Food Chain Implications

We will be extending our knowledge about food webs with a short senteo quiz today.  On Friday, we learned about how food webs are set up using pictures and arrows.  The main purpose of the food chain is to show the exchange of energy in an ecosystem.  The arrow points from one picture to a picture of the object that received the energy.  For example, a plant receives energy from the sun, so the arrow would go from the sun to the plant.

Food chains are more linear form of showing energy exchange in an ecosystem.  They are great for showing predator/prey relationships, but then what happens if the line of energy is interrupted? Today in our lesson, we are going to explore and discuss this idea with the activity called bears in the forest.  From this we will also better understand energy flow in an ecosystem and the idea of limiting factor, which is any factor that limits the growth of a population in an ecosystem

Lastly, I want all of the students to keep thinking about what animal they would like to focus on for their animal study.  By Wednesday, hopefully all students have made their selection of an animal that lives on land at least 70% of the time.  And remember the more obscure the animal is that you choose the more difficult the journey will be for you.

The big discovery...

Jane Goodall was made famous by a big discovery.  Yesterday, we were able to observe this discovery on our video.  One day while Jane was observing the chimpanzees, she observed one of them taking a stick, stripping the leaves off of the stick, then climbing up in a tree and sticking the stick into the hole of a termite mound.  As they drew the stick out, many termites were stuck on the end of the stick, which they then ate!  Jane nicknamed this practice "termite fishing," but she also saw them practice this technique with army or fire ants.  With this, Jane observed chimpanzees using a stick as a tool.  Using tools was something that, at the time, was thought of to be only a human action.  With this discovery, many believed we needed to redefine man.

More notes on the video will be posted later today.

Today, we will finish the video and work on food webs.
A food web shows the flow of energy in an ecosystem.  Pictures and arrows are used to show the flow.  The arrows go from the picture of one object to the picture of the thing that gets the energy.  For example, if we had a picture of a plant and the sun, the arrow would go from the sun to the plant because the plant gets energy from the sun.

Behaviors Cont.

We viewed our first chimp yesterday!  Yesterday our note-taking focused on physical description and behaviors that we observed.  At the end of class yesterday, we reflected on our observations as a class.  Students pointed out some excellent physical descriptions focusing on adjectives that gave an excellent visual image of the chimpanzee some of the following are my favorites:

• frumped, hunched and slouchy to describe their walking appearance
• wrinkly faces
• Long, muscular arms with shorter bowed legs
• coarse, thin hair covering most of their body except their face and palms of their hands and feet
• no tail!

We also observed some behaviors and interactions between the chimpanzees and baboons.

• They love to play!  Their play looks like: chasing, wrestling, somersaults, climbing trees (looking like climbing a ladder), swinging in trees, playing "king of the mountain" in the tree and throwing other monkeys out
• We also observed mother/child relationships - children cling to the mothers back and front side to travel, children observe mothers behaviors to learn new things
• Also the alpha male - Frodo- is the leader of the community.  Frodo rules with brute force.  The other chimps in the community show respect to Frodo by participating in social grooming, which is the process when the chimps pick through the hair looking for and removing bugs.

At the start of class today, students are going to participate in a quick write journal entry to create both a visual description of the chimpanzee and describe one behavior they observed yesterday.

While watching the video today, we are going to continue to focus on behaviors and look out for the chimpanzees role in the food web of this community.

Chimpanzees

We have two focuses today.  First, we are going to review our descriptive paragraphs.  I cannot stress enough how important it is to read and reread and correct your written work.  Even I review my work (and I need to do it more often since Jenna caught a mistake of mine yesterday!).  Let's start today by focusing on a few things like capitalization, using correct punctuation, and incorporating adjectives.
Secondly, we are going to continue on with the video.  We will focus our "virtual field trip" notebook on getting a physical description of the chimpanzee and making notes of their behaviors in the wild.  A big part of Jane's life was just observing and recording the behaviors and actions of the chimpanzees.

Reflecting on writing & introduction to Jane

I've looked through the biome essays over the weekend and saw a couple of things to keep in mind the next time you write a five paragraph essay.

1. Really think about your thesis!  The thesis is the heart of your essay and determines what each and every paragraph in your essay will be about.  Please make sure your thesis outlines what you will cover in your essay.  I had a few groups that created thesis sentences that were actually introduction sentences.  
2. Introductions are so important!  They will either hook your reader or not. This is why we call the first sentence of an essay the hook!  You want to grab the readers attention in some way to make them want to keep reading.  You could create a visual description (of a biome for example), you could ask a question, give an interesting fact, or a quotation.
3. Think before you capitalize.  Capitalize the first word in a sentence.  Capitalize a person's name.  Capitalize the title of a book.  But, don't capitalize biomes, seasons, or animals.
1. For example, look at this sentence -- In the Desert, Snakes burrow under the ground during the Summer season to avoid the heat.

Today, I'm introducing you to Jane Goodall.  She is a remarkable scientist (specifically ethologist), who started off with no science background at all.  Her research revealed remarkable insights to humans about our understandings of chimpanzees and all animal species in general.  I had the fantastic opportunity last year to hear Jane speak in Minnesota.  And I'll be sharing some of her insights along the way.  Today, if our short time permits, we'll begin watching Jane Goodall's Wild Chimpanzees, which was a movie created for IMAX theatres.  

As the movie begins today, we will focus on note taking about the biome.  What does it look like there?  How would you describe it to someone else?  Thinking about these questions, I'm going to ask that you write a descriptive paragraph about this biome to share with the class tomorrow.

Wrapping up our essay...

Today we'll be moving from the outlines to paragraphs.  I want stress the importance of rereading your written work to look for fluency from individual paragraph to individual paragraph.  

Some things to think about:

• Are all of the paragraphs focused around the thesis?  
• For Example: If your thesis talks about adaptations and your paragraph about animals only lists 5 animals that live in that biome, the person who wrote that paragraph may need to make some changes.
• Read the work out loud to your whole group.  If it sounds choppy, then something in the sentence/paragraph needs to change.  
• If the reader pauses but there is not period there, do a double check to make sure that you don't have a run-on sentence. 

If your group wants extra points on this assignment, print off a copy of the Titanpad, read it out loud, and mark changes (and make those changes) on the copy and hand it in.  This shows me that you're taking time and thinking about what you are writing and I will reward that.

Biome Swap!

The biome swap has begun.  Each group will draw a new biome to dive into to complete their understanding about biomes.  As a group, you will swap notes and the mini presentations and collaboratively write a 5 paragraph essay.  Five paragraph essays are the heart of important writing you will do in the future (college applications, SAT writing, etc.).  It is really good to practice, practice, practice!
We are going to use everyone's favorite web 2.0 app called Titanpad!  We love Titanpad in 8th grade science!  As a group, you'll work on an outline for your essay, then divide up the paragraphs and write your paragraph.  You'll post your outline and your essay to Titanpad due at the end of class on Thursday.

Short day & catch up...

Since the snow interrupted our schedule today, we are going to take advantage to get caught up.
Our objectives today are:

1. Finish up the textbook page presentations
2. Get back with your original biome group to "bulk up" your maps
3. Self-evaluate your biome page

If we have anymore time, like the speedsters in 7th period, we'll discuss where this project is going next with the Biome Swap.

Share it Out...

Today, we are going to take a look at our textbook pages we created.  I'm going to be dividing up your biome groups and you'll be in a group with people from all different biomes.  You'll share out the pages you created to your new group members, who will be creating either a mind map or mind sketches over your biome.

A mind map is an organizational strategy we have done before (remember mindmeister?).

A mind sketch is a new way of note taking.  Instead of writing down bullets or notes, sketch a quick image.  The images should end up flowing together to help you to remember key ideas about the biome being presented.  Whichever option you chose, just make sure that you are clear because you will be reporting back to your group.  

Everyone is their own author of their textbook page and different authors may present different types of information.  So as a biome group, you'll swap information to get a clear view of the different biomes.  With your biome group swap, you'll add to your mind map or mind sketches.

Tomorrow is 1/11/11 - the nexus of time (aka Seinfeld reference) and we'll change things around and shake things up to build on our understanding of different biomes.

Last work day...

Here we go!  Last work day today.
Let's try to keep in mind the following things:

1. everyone needs to post their found information to the wiki in the format we discussed
2. textbook pages are DUE MONDAY
3. the pages can be sketched or done on the computer, but MUST BE IN YOUR OWN WORDS AND IN YOUR NOTEBOOK.  Meaning I'm not going to let you go to the library to print them off.
4. The rubric that you will be evaluated on is on the 8th grade website.  Use it to help you get a good grade!

More research, more time...

Students seem to be getting the hang of using the wiki.  I love seeing students teaching each other and teaching other teaching associates!
We literally used every single second of class in 2nd period in fierce concentration!  We were bell to bell today!
Hopefully as students start wrapping up research they can begin their textbook pages.  Again check the 8th grade website for the rubric.

Beginning Research...

Today, we began research over the biomes using the wiki sites to post our notes.  I shared some great websites to help students find information on the 8th science wiki.
My favorite is Operation Conservation, created by a teacher for her students to do a webquest about biomes.

After students find information, they need to share this information with the group members by posting their finds to the wiki sites for their biome.

A new textbook...

To kick off today's class, students were assigned one of the following biomes to research: tundra, taiga, temperate deciduous forest, grasslands, savanna, chapparal, or a specific type of desert.

We also discussed how textbooks have changed.  We viewed several pictures old verses new textbooks and focused on specific ways textbooks are changing.  This is the basis for our biome assignment.
Each student will work with a group to create a "new" textbook page for their lab notebook about their assigned biome specifically focusing on the three parts of a biome: climate, animals, and vegetation.

The pages are going to be evaluated by including required information, quality & depth of the information, the visual aspect of the pages, and the overall presentation.  See the 8th grade website for the specific rubric.

Beginning definitions...

Today we took a technology survey and a pretest over biomes.  All classes have a good understanding of the desert biome, but lacked in applying knowledge about the other biomes.  Most classes had no idea what the taiga biome is and asked questions about it.  Levi even said it was his favorite word today.  Tomorrow we'll begin learning more about the biomes.  But today, we got a basis with some definitions to keep in mind. 

Biome: an area with a specific climate and specific animals and plants inhabit this area. 

Climate: weather averaged over time in an area. 
Vegetation: plants from a specific region

Tomorrow students will be assigned a biome to research with a group.