Investigations in Science 7 – March 8, 2019

Announcements:

All missing work for this unit is due today! Any Z work that is not turned in
today will be marked as a zero and will not be able to be completed later on this
quarter.

Students can clean out their science section today. This was their assigned
homework Thursday night. Have them leave their papers in a safe place at home
and not throw the papers out.

Coming Up:

 Research on Diseases

 Asexual and Sexual Reproduction

Dates:

 March 12 – PTA Meeting

 March 14 – Joe Corbi’s Fundraiser forms and money due
 March 19 - Bay Trip Parent Meeting at 7:00 pm
 March 21 - Orchestra Festival
 March 29 - Mary Poppins School Play at 7:00 pm
 March 30 - Mary Poppins School Play at 7:00 pm
 March 31 - Mary Poppins School Play at 2:00 pm
 April 5 - Career Day
 April 5 - Roadrunner Night

What we did this week:

Monday, we started off the week by taking an open lab assessment on the
frog dissection.
 Tuesday, we finished the Chemistry of Life DesignFolio. If you recall,
groups designed a menu for school lunches that fit the design requirements. After
learning about all the systems of the body, they were able to describe how the
different food items they picked helped each system of the body. They also
created a slide presentation to describe their groups menus.

Wednesday and Thursday, we competed in Body Systems Olympics. Earlier

this year we did a version with the organelles. For this activity we did 7 different
events that connected to one of the systems of the body. Some of the events
involved filling pitchers with water from a sponge or cup, moving a marble with the
air of a balloon, creating a card tower, playing telephone, and sorting
substances. We had a lot of fun competing.

Today, we started the new unit, Inheritance and Variation of Traits

(Genetics). Students randomly selected a client’s identity that they will be using
throughout the unit. Below are tasks they will be doing with the identity.
o Learn about several genetic disorders/traits.

o Play the role of a genetic counselor for the clients and create a
genetic counselor’s report for your clients.

o Learn about the probability of your clients passing on genetic

disorders to their offspring.

The four diseases we will be studying are Huntington’s disease, cystic fibrosis,
sickle cell anemia and achondroplasia. We ended the week by researching the four
genetic diseases.
After learning about their role and what genetic counselors do, we took a
closer look at their clients. They created a profile for both clients that includes
information like having dimples, rolling their tongue, and if they do or do not have
one of the genetic diseases. Some students began researching the four diseases:
Huntington’s disease, cystic fibrosis, sickle cell anemia and achondroplasia.

Have a great weekend!