8th Grade ScienceDavid Grossman

September-October 2008

Bellringer: Imagine that you are a paleontologist living in Elizabethtown 500 years from now. You have just found a fossil. Write a letter to another paleontologist describing what you have found, what you think it is, and what it tells you about the history of the area.

Agenda: Fossil Dig

You have been assigned to a team of 8 paleontologists who will be examining a sample of soil for fossils.

Today you will be cataloging any and all fossils you find in your notebook. Please indicate which sample you have and draw a diagram showing how it relates to the other samples in your dig. Sketch and write the name of each fossil in your notebook

Safety: Sand is an irritant to eyes and nose. Be very careful to keep sand in the containers and not on the floors or in your eyes.

Reflection

How was this dig similar to and different from what an actual paleontologist would do?

Bellringer: Define the principle of superposition

Agenda: Explore Test TomorrowContinue Fossil Dig

Date: Monday, September 29Time: 6:30 – 7:30 p.m.

Join us to view student science projects completed so far this school year. All students who participate in Science Night will receive extra credit in their Science classes. Students: Check with your science

teacher for details about extra credit. You need to be prepared to stand beside your project to explain it to parents and other students who attend. Note: projects will not be officially judged this year, only displayed and eligible for “audience choice” voting. We know you will want to view other students’

projects, so you will only be required to stand by your project for 20 minutes, according to the schedule below.

Times to Remember:6:20 arrive and locate your project

6:30-6:50 8th graders stand by their projects6:50 – 7:10 7th graders stand by their projects7:10-7:30 6th graders stand by their projects

7:35 collect your project and take it home with you !

Science Night 2008

In undisturbed earth layers, the farther you move down into the earth, the older the rock layers are. The youngest layers of rock are on top, and the oldest layers are on the bottom.

What are some things that could “disturb” rock layers?

List factors that are common for the fossils you examined yesterday

Pair up so that #1 pairs with #2. #3 pairs with #4. Complete a Venn diagram comparing and contrasting the groups of fossils each of you found.

In your groups, use the principle of superposition to place your fossils in chronological order. Each person draw a simple order of fossils for your entire dig site.

In your groups, use one word to define each layer.

Come up with a sentence or a generalization that describes what happens to the fossils as you move from oldest to youngest.

Bellringer: Divide a sheet of paper into 4 sections. Label them as follows: facts, questions, thoughts, and main idea. You will be filling this in as you watch the movie.

Explore TestCrash VideoMeet in upstairs computer lab tomorrow

Date: Monday, September 29Time: 6:30 – 7:30 p.m.

Join us to view student science projects completed so far this school year. All students who participate in Science Night will receive extra credit in their Science classes. Students: Check with your science

teacher for details about extra credit. You need to be prepared to stand beside your project to explain it to parents and other students who attend. Note: projects will not be officially judged this year, only displayed and eligible for “audience choice” voting. We know you will want to view other students’

projects, so you will only be required to stand by your project for 20 minutes, according to the schedule below.

Times to Remember:6:20 arrive and locate your project

6:30-6:50 8th graders stand by their projects6:50 – 7:10 7th graders stand by their projects7:10-7:30 6th graders stand by their projects

7:35 collect your project and take it home with you !

Science Night 2008

Bellringer: List questions you have about a fossil or several fossils that you found in your “dig”

Agenda: Computer lab to research fossils

Date: Monday, September 29Time: 6:30 – 7:30 p.m.

Join us to view student science projects completed so far this school year. All students who participate in Science Night will receive extra credit in their Science classes. Students: Check with your science

teacher for details about extra credit. You need to be prepared to stand beside your project to explain it to parents and other students who attend. Note: projects will not be officially judged this year, only displayed and eligible for “audience choice” voting. We know you will want to view other students’

projects, so you will only be required to stand by your project for 20 minutes, according to the schedule below.

Times to Remember:6:20 arrive and locate your project

6:30-6:50 8th graders stand by their projects6:50 – 7:10 7th graders stand by their projects7:10-7:30 6th graders stand by their projects

7:35 collect your project and take it home with you !

Science Night 2008

This is your chance to find out as much about your fossils as you can.

Use google.com Type in the name of the fossil inside quotation

marksCan you narrow down when the animal that

made this fossil existed? If your fossil existed only during one period,

what can you learn about that period?

You may use your partner only to help you understand something that confuses you.

Stay on task!No Email.

Bellringer: Coming SoonAgenda: Fossil Formation

Date: Monday, September 29Time: 6:30 – 7:30 p.m.

Join us to view student science projects completed so far this school year. All students who participate in Science Night will receive extra credit in their Science classes. Students: Check with your science

teacher for details about extra credit. You need to be prepared to stand beside your project to explain it to parents and other students who attend. Note: projects will not be officially judged this year, only displayed and eligible for “audience choice” voting. We know you will want to view other students’

projects, so you will only be required to stand by your project for 20 minutes, according to the schedule below.

Times to Remember:6:20 arrive and locate your project

6:30-6:50 8th graders stand by their projects6:50 – 7:10 7th graders stand by their projects7:10-7:30 6th graders stand by their projects

7:35 collect your project and take it home with you !

Science Night 2008

Agenda: Test review and textbook activity

Test improvement assignment due Wednesday

Missing Assignments due WednesdayNotes from Chapter 9 section 1Bellringer: Coming Soon

SRE ModelStatement-broad statement that

answers the questionsReason-why the statement is trueExample-an example to prove that

you understand what is being asked.

Is the interaction between the clown fish and anemone commensalism, mutualism, or parasitism?

StatementThis interaction is mutualism

ReasonBecause both organisms benefit

ExampleThe clown fish benefits from the protection,

and the anemone benefits by gaining food.

Bellringer: coming soonAgenda: Being a Paleontologist

activityTest corrections due tomorrowMissing assignments due tomorrow

Bellringer: Where might you observe the principle of superposition in the school or in your house (not in relation to rocks or fossils)?

Agenda: Chapter 9 Section 1Missing assignments due today; test

make up due today

Bellringer: coming soonAgenda: When superposition doesn’t work. Notes from Section 1 due WednesdayEarth science week video:

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/index.html

Discuss wiki informationLine up in order of your age. Use month and

day. Oldest at the front of the line.

Intrusion: When newer igneous rock pushes its way into older rock. The intrusion is always younger than the rocks into which it extends.

http://freelargephotos.com/?subject=Hance+Rapid

© Roy Tennant

Intrusion: Younger volcanic rock that pushes into older sedimentary rock.

Faults: Faults are cracks that result when rocks move in different directions. The fault is always younger than the rock layers that are moved to create it.

http://flickr.com/photos/davorg/51311928/

http://www.geology.wisc.edu/courses/g112/rock_deformation.html

Add to your notes the definition of unconformity. (page 252)

Use section 2 to help you complete page 256 in your textbook. FOLLOW DIRECTIONS

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Bellringer: Earth Science Week Video

Agenda: Radioactive decay modeling

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Bellringer: If you look at rock layers, how would you best be able to identify an unconformity?

Earth Science Week videoWork Period: Finish your notes from Chapter

9 Section 1 (main idea and details) pp 242-249Finish the lab activity on page 256.When you finish, pick up handout, read,

answer questions and be prepared to discuss.

Bellringer: Get your homework out (page 256)

Agenda: Lab activity—age of rocksCalculation of absolute age of rock

layers.

4000g radioactive elementNow has 250 grams

½ life is equal to 100 years

Bellringer: Write a letter to a 6th grader explaining what half-life means. (Hint, half-life is a measure of TIME)

Agenda: Putting it all together. What can we learn by looking at this fossil record?

Earth Science VideoScience Detention Monday

Half life: The amount of time it takes for half of a radioactive substance to decay (or change) into another substance. This predictable pattern of change can be used to determine the age of fossils and igneous rocks.

Bellringer: page KY12 in your textbook. Answer question 5.

Agenda: Virtual lab—fossil digHomework: Complete the diagram on

page 265. (Visualizing Main Ideas)Quiz Thursday

Bellringer: You find three undisturbed layers of rock. The middle layer is 120 million years old. What can you say about the ages of the other two layers?

Agenda: Carousel Walk of fossilsHomework: page 266 #1-9 write just the

correct vocabulary wordQuiz Thursday

1. Precambrian2. Cambrian3. Ordovician4. Silurian5. Devonian6. Mississippian7. Pennsylvanian8.Permian

9. Triassic10. Jurassic11. Cretaceous12. Tertiary13. Quaternary

Bellringer: Write a summary of what you learned from the fossil dig activity. Remember all of the steps we took during that activity.

Agenda: Review Game and making petrified wood

Homework: page 266 #10-17

Thursday, October 23, 2008Thursday, October 23, 2008

Bellringer: A sample rock once contained 2,000 g of a radioactive substance. It now contains 500 g. If the half-life of the substance is 1 million years, how old is the rock?

Agenda: QuizHomework: Due Monday: page 268-269

#9-13

After the QuizOn the back of the quiz, you need to

answer questions 21-22 and 25-28 on page 323 in the red/brown book.

Once you finish your quiz, turn it in.Read pages 49-53 in the blue book.

Write the definitions for the vocabulary words. Draw an illustration to help you remember each word as well.

Complete questions 1-5 on page 53.

Bellringer:Agenda: Begin How the Earth Was Made

video

Bellringer: Write a quick paragraph to a friend telling them some of the highlights of the video from Friday. Also include at least one question you hope is answered by the rest of the video.

Agenda: superposition/radiometric dating packets

7th period homework: List 10 things you remember from the video

8th grade test tomorrow 1-3 periods.

Look at your quiz. Which group are you in? Superposition circled Radiometric Dating circled Enrichment (nothing circled)

Regardless of the group, you must correct the questions you missed.

Strategy check

Bellringer: coming soonAgenda: Continue video “How the Earth was

Made”7th period homework: List 10 questions you

have from the videoWiki SummariesScience Projects not taken home by Friday will

be thrown away.

Bellringer: What conditions are necessary for natural selection to occur?

Agenda: Bird Beak lab activity7th Period Homework: List 10 things you could

learn from today’s activityWiki SummariesScience Projects not taken home by Friday will

be thrown away.

What conditions are necessary for natural selection to occur?

Toothpick Activity DirectionsThe toothpicks represent worms that are the

prey for a certain kind of birds, the Stonebirds. Natural variations among the worms include different skin colors.

You may pick up only one toothpickYou may not search for a toothpick; rather

you must pick up the first one that you see. This is not a raceAdd your data to the tally chart when you

return to the room

Beginning Questions

1. Which color toothpick do you expect to survive the best? Why?

2. Which color do you expect to be “eaten” the most? Why

Red Blue Yellow Green Tan

Toothpick Activity Questions

How did the toothpick activity show natural selection/survival of the fittest?

Write a scenario where the outcome would be much different.

ClipBeak Activity

How did the clipbeak activity show natural selection/survival of the fittest?

What factors influence the survival of a clipbeak?

Clipbeak Activity

There are three variations of clipbeak’s beaks—bigbill, mediumbill, and smallbill. How will they affect the bird’s chances of survival?

Food Value (megacalories)

Marblefruit 10Big Fruit 5Tiny Fruit 2Clipbeak Megacalories for

SurvivalMegacalories for Reproduction

Bigbill 80 160Mediumbill 50 100Smallbill 25 50

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Bellringer: make a quick list of the most important ideas from yesterday’s lab activity

Agenda: “How the Earth was Made”7th Period Homework: Write a movie review

for “How the Earth was Made.”Wiki Summaries

tks8thgradescience.wikispaces.comScience Projects not taken home by Friday will

be thrown away.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Bellringer: What is magic?Agenda: Halloween presentations in the LabNo homework Test—coming soon (next week possibly)Science Projects not taken home by Friday will

be thrown away.

Friday, October 31, 2008

Bellringer: What is magic?Agenda: Halloween presentations in the LabNo homework over the 4-day weekend. Test—coming soon (next week possibly)Wiki summaries due WednesdayTks8thgradescience.wikispaces.com Science Projects not taken home today will be

thrown away.

Friday, October 31, 2008

Bellringer: make a quick list of the most important ideas from Wednesday’s lab activity

Agenda: “How the Earth was Made”Wiki Summaries due Wednesday

tks8thgradescience.wikispaces.comScience Projects not taken home today will be

thrown away.

Bellringer: List 4 ways that science affected you this weekend.

Agenda: toothpick lab on page 54-55.

Read all directions on page 54-55 in the textbook.

Any questions??Complete this experiment with a partner. All data and questions need to be completed

in your notebook.

Bellringer: What kind of long term conditions might lead to giraffes having longer necks over time?

Agenda: Finish the Lab and analyze data Test next Wednesday

Bellringer: write a scenario where you think natural selection might occur over a period of time.

Agenda: natural selection notes and writing assignment

Test next Wednesday

Copy the following topics to study in your notebook: Law of superposition (also faults, intrusions, and

unconformities) Radiometric dating (how do you do it?) Natural selection Fossil formation Different kinds of fossils (trace, mold, cast,

permineralized remains, carbon film, original remains) Read the lab instructions on page 287. Find a partner,

begin.

Bellringer: Write one question that you think might be on the test tomorrow.

Agenda: Discuss Lab from Yesterday; Test Review

Test Tomorrow!! Study tonight—get your notebook in order

Bellringer: Get your notebook ready for the test and get out a clean sheet of paper.

Agenda: Test. Read if you finish

Bellringer: On a separate sheet of paper, define and give examples of each of these:

WeatheringErosionDepositionAgenda: Wegner’s theory

From http://www.websitetoolbox.com/tool/post/apologia/printadd?id=2532923&pid=25766887 on 10 Nov 2008