Published September 30, 2011 | 
- Warm Up – Page 36. Define renewable and nonrenewable.
- Homework reminders.
- Energy organizer started. See below for PowerPoint (ignore page numbers – we are on pages 36 and 37).
Blog Challenge #2 – two activities and Blog Challenge #3 – one activity is due on Monday.
Science Fair Resources and Hypothesis due Friday, October 7.
Science Interim Exam over rocks, paleontology, and ecology/energy resources is Friday, October 7th.
Published September 29, 2011 | Today, our counselor Ms. Jones visited our class to talk about anti-bullying. We also learned about what cyber bullying is.
Homework:
Make sure you are customizing your new Edublogs blog. Remember, your log in is your last four digits of your student ID number and your initials. Your password is our school mascot.
Blog Challenge #2 – two activities and Blog Challenge #3 – one activity is due on Monday.
Science Fair Resources and Hypothesis due Friday, October 7.
Science Interim Exam over rocks, paleontology, and ecology/energy resources is Friday, October 7th.
Published September 28, 2011 | We continued our research today in the media center. Remember, you need at least 5 sources for bibliography, and this is due on October 7. We will not be spending any more time as a class working on our science fair research. However, the media center is open 8:15-5:00 Monday-Thursday. You need me to sign you a pass to come early and a parent to sign you a pass to stay late.
Homework: Continue to work on Blog Challenge 2 and 3.
Published September 27, 2011 | We met in the media center again today to continue working on our media center research. Remember, we are using Noodle Tools to gather our research. You should start finding information via the school databases, and once you have exhausted those you can do an internet search. Remember what Mrs. Garrison said today: research takes persistence!
Go to the Lanier Media Center Site for more information.
Homework: Continue working on blog challenges due next Monday.
Also – don’t forget: International Observe the Moon Night is October 8, 6:30-8:30 pm in the media center. Everyone is invited. We will have hands on activities, moon rocks, planetarium shows, and telescopes from the Atlanta Astronomy Club.
Published September 26, 2011 | - Warm Up – Page 34: What if the sun did not exist but we could still live on the Earth. What would it be like?
- Blog Announcements: All of your blog portfolios have been migrated to Edublogs as of Saturday. Anything you did after Saturday, you will need to copy over yourself. Your username is the last four digits of your student ID number and your initials. The password is the school mascot (plural) all lower case. When you log in, be sure to go to Users–>–>My Profile and change your password. From now on, always use Edublogs for your site. I will be deleting your accounts on the class site this weekend.
- Finish What are ____________? lesson with the skull reflection.
- Sun energy lesson and reflection
Published September 25, 2011 | I have migrated all of your blogs to Edublogs. All of your posts and pages that you have worked on are on your new blog account. Edublogs looks very similar to what we have here, so you will not have any trouble knowing what to do when you log in. I will give you your log on details tomorrow.
Please refrain from updating your blog here. Next time you update your blog, it should be on Edublogs, not here. This should fix the problems we were having in class last week. I’ll go over more details in class tomorrow.
Published September 23, 2011 | Today we met in the media center and Mrs. Garrison talked to us about research. We also set up our accounts on Noodle Tools. Make sure to check out the media center web site for more information.
Published September 22, 2011 | - Warm Up
- Major announcements: we are having some issues with the web servers. I am planning to do maintenance this weekend. If you cannot access your blog this weekend, that is why. I will extend the deadline for the blog challenge.
- Complete radioactive decay lab.
- Concept attainment lesson started.
Published September 21, 2011 | - Warm Up – Page 30: What is the difference between the absolute and relative age of a rock?
- Space/Aeronautics Club starts next week on Tuesday. We will meet after school in the media center. Make sure you have a ride pick you up at 5 pm. Everyone is welcome!
- Name the GRAIL satellites opportunity. If you are in 1st, 4th, or 6th period and would like to be part of the contest entry committee, please let me know. Seventh period decided to do this as a class.
- Carbon Dating Brain Pop video.
- Radiometric (radioactive) dating lab.
Published September 20, 2011 | Millions of years ago, long before there were any people, there were dinosaurs. Dinosaurs were land-dwelling reptiles that walked upright. There were lots of different kinds of dinosaurs that lived at different times. Dinosaurs were one of several kinds of prehistoric reptiles that lived during the Mesozoic Era, the “Age of Reptiles.” Dinosaurs are believed to have shared some of the same characteristics of modern day reptiles. Modern reptiles are ectothermic (cold-blooded) vertebrates (have a backbone). Cold-blooded animals cannot control their own body temperature, so they rely on the sun’s energy to warm their bodies. Presently, reptiles can be found in various places throughout the world, including most of the world’s oceans. They are found in a broad range of habitats, from the bottom of ponds and lakes to the high mountains. However, they are especially abundant and diverse in the tropics and in deserts. The factor that limits where they can live is their inability to produce their own body heat. Therefore, no reptiles are found in extremely cold regions such as the polar oceans or Antarctica . (From http://www.solarnavigator.net/animal_kingdom/reptiles.htm)
Questions/Steps:
- Consider the locations listed in the chart for #3 below. Based on the reading, predict which of these locations you would expect to have the most different kinds of dinosaur fossils. Why?
- Predict which of these locations would have the least. Explain why.
- Go to the following website: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/dinosaurs/
- Use the website to determine the information about dinosaur fossils found at these locations:
| South Africa | Alberta, Canada | Antarctica | Romania | Queensland, Australia | |
| Past Environment of Location | |||||
| Current Environment of Location | |||||
| Number of Different Kinds of Fossils |
- Based on the reading, what is the one factor that limits reptiles (even dinosaurs) geographic distribution?
- If dinosaurs lived on Earth today, which of these locations could they live?
- Is there any location that presently does NOT have a climate that is suitable for dinosaurs? If so please explain how dinosaur fossils could be found there.
