ATTACH STUDY GUIDE

Investigations in Science 7 – June 1, 2018

Announcements:
Starting next week, we will no longer have Tech Grab. Students will be reporting
directly to 1st period at 8:15. I have the new schedule below:

There are only 2 weeks left of the school year. Can you believe how quickly it
went? Instruction will continue in science through the end of the year. Please let
me know of any upcoming absences that you are aware of.

Graded Assignments Turned in this week:

 Warm Ups: May 21 - June 1
 Lab: Quick Fossil
 Owl Pellet
 Determining Geologic Ages
Coming Up:
Topics:
 Relative Age
 Mass Extinctions

Dates:
 June 4 – 8th Grade Cruise
 June 6 – REVIEW SHEET DUE: RELATIVE AGE AND FOSSILS
 June 7 - ASSESSMENT: RELATIVE AGE AND FOSSILS
 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:

Tuesday, we finished our Quick Fossil Lab. The cast was removed from the
clay and some were able to keep their fossil.
Tuesday and Wednesday, we dissected owl pellets. Owls swallow prey whole
and aren’t able to digest the bones and hair of their meal. They regurgitate (throw
up) the bones and hair in a pellet. Scientists (and budding scientists) dissect the
pellet to learn about what the owl is eating. These pellets act as small fossil
collectors. We identified the bones based on the animal and part of the
body. Pictures are on my blog.

We then turned our attention to relative dating. Relative dating is the

science of determining the relative order of past events (i.e., the age of an object
in comparison to another), without necessarily determining their absolute age (an
estimate). We looked at different examples of rock layers and determined the
order from oldest to youngest. We used four principles help to determine the ages.
Along with studying the layers to determine age, we studied how index
fossils can help determine the age of rocks and other fossils. Index fossils are
fossils that were only around during a particular time period and used to help
identify the time period of other fossils. Students practiced determining the age
of the rock layer based on the fossils present.

Have a great weekend!