Investigations in Science 7 – May 25, 2018

Announcements:
Students will be receiving information in their English classes today about
technology violations and how that will account for loss of time on Fun Day at the
end of the school year. Some examples include:
 earbuds in at inappropriate times
 cell phones not in their locker during school hours
 using their Chromebooks in the halls during transition time
 using their Chromebooks for non-academic activities during inappropriate
times
They will also hear about academic detentions for students that have poor grades
or multiple Zs. Please ask your child about it.

Graded Assignments Turned in this week:

 Evolving Planet Introduction
 Geologic Time Scale Web Quest
 Student Life Timeline

Coming Up:
Topics:
 Owl Pellets 
 Relative Age

Dates:
 May 28 – No School
 May 29 – National Junior Honor Society Ceremony @ 6:30 p.m. in the
Cafeteria
 May 30 – Spring Band Concert @ 7:00 p.m. at Sherwood HS
 May 31 – Invention and Engineering Field Trip to Carderock
 June 4 – 8th Grade Cruise
 June 7 – 8th Grade Grandparents Day 9:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m. in the cafeteria
 June 8 – 8th Grade Promotion @ 5:00 p.m. at Blake HS
 June 11 – Fun Day
  June 11 – 8th Grade Hershey Park Trip
 June 14 – Diversity Day
 June 14 – End-of-the-Fourth Marking Period
 June 15 – Early Dismissal (12:30 p.m.)
 June 15 – Last Day of School (change from original calendar due to “snow”
days)
 June 26 – Report Cards Mailed Home

What we did this week:

We have spent the week looking at geological time and how the Earth has
changed over time. Students took a walking station tour from 4.6 billions of years
ago to the present day, learning about the major events that occurred during each
time period. The changes of the land masses along with temperature/climate
changes had a huge impact on the organisms that were around during the different
time periods. They completed a web-quest to learn more about each time period
and the events that occurred.
Then, students create a timeline of their life. They compared their timeline
to classmates and learned a lot of interesting facts about each other. I was
amazed to learn all the fun things that they have already experienced in their
lives.
Thursday, we started learning about the different types of fossils. The 5
types are molds, casts, carbon films, trace fossils, and petrified fossils. Petrified
fossils are when an animal is trapped in amber, frozen in ice, trapped in tar,
etc. This type of fossil was the premise for the movie Jurassic Park (the mosquito
that bit the dinosaur and then was found in amber).
Today, groups will start a quick fossil lab. Using clay, glue, and an object
(shells.) students will first create a mold fossil and then start the process of
creating a cast fossil. A mold is the indentation of the fossil and the cast is
created when it is filled in. The glue will fill in the mold and then sit over the
weekend. The cast will then be removed from the clay on Monday and they will be
able to keep their fossil. We will also complete a foldable to practice with the
different types of fossils.

Have a great weekend!