November 19

We investigated another member of Kingdom Fungi today:  yeast.  Who knew yeast were such special living organisms, right?

Please read pages 200-203.  Write the definitions of these vocabulary words:

• Mycology
• Yeasts
• Unicellular
• Parasite

Put your yeast experiment handout into your Nature Journal.  Make sure you’ve answered all the questions!

Next week we’ll review everything we’ve learned about botany this year by playing a team game!  You can prepare to be a good team player by looking back at your Nature Journal pages and remembering what you’ve learned.

And, last of all, your November Nature Journal pages are due.  This time I’ve created a checklist so that you’ll know exactly what to turn in.  I gave that to you today.  Staple all your November pages, in order, to the Checklist.

 

November 12

Fungus!  Aren’t they cool…and weird?  We found several interesting specimens today; good hunting, everybody!

This week, please read pages 200-201, and then skip pages to 207-214,  I’m sure you will recognize several of your specimens in the descriptions on those pages.

Vocabulary words:  mycelium, gill mushrooms, spores.

Then, do Activity 14.4 on page 215.  You don’t have to identify any mushrooms, but see what kinds you can find in your own backyard, and draw sketches of them for your Nature Journal.

November 5

We classified fruits today, and we realized how difficult it can be to group “stuff” into categories according to their similar characteristics.

This week, please read from page 80-91.  On a piece of notebook paper, write definitions for these terms:

1. Human dispersal
2. Water dispersal
3. Animal dispersal
4. Wind dispersal
5. Mechanical dispersal

October 29

Pumpkins are a fruit, containing the seeds of a plant.  Today you and your lab partners investigated properties of a little “pie” pumpkin.  Please make sure that you have completed all the questions on your Pumpkin Math & Science Investigation handout. Include it in the October section of your Nature Journal.

I asked you to record your group’s data in a table on the white board.  I’ve copied all of that in this document, if you need it.  Middle School Science Pumpkin Lab

Lastly, please read pages 76-80 in your Botany book.  In your journal, explain the difference between a fruit and a vegetable.

Next week you will give me all your Nature Journal papers from October!

October 22

Your big job this week is to watch your seeds germinate!  Remember, ask your mom if you can tape your thee seed bags to a window so that the seeds are facing the light.

Check them everyday, and use the recording chart to write down how much they grow each day.

Bring your seed bags to class next time; put your data charts into your nature journal.

Also, I gave you a handout on the Life Cycle of an Oak Tree today.  Complete the questions and exercises on this handout and keep it in your journal.

October 15

Tree Cookies were our lab activity today!  You completed an activity sheet and observation page in class today, so make sure you’ve put those both inside of your Nature Journal.

I also gave you a page titled “Tree Anatomy”.  This one requires you to color the layers of the tree, beginning with the bark and ending with the pith.  You may choose any colors you like, but I would like the bark to be brown!

Attached below is another Tree Cookie activity; this one is called “My Life in a Tree Cookie.”  Please complete it and put it also in your Nature Journal

Life in a Tree Cookie

Lastly, read pages 166-171.  Define these vocabulary words:  evergreen, gymnosperm, pollen cones, seed cones.

October 8

Good science today, junior scientists!  We “investigated” pinecones (which were actually Douglas Fir cones) and learned a few things about them.

For your lab report, write your discoveries on a piece of notebook paper.  Describe the pinecones, including their measurements and their mass.  What differences did you notice between the pinecone in hot water and the one in cold water?  How was my “special” cone different from both of them?

Explain the conditions (temperature, moisture, sunlight, etc.) you think are necessary for a pinecone to open its scales and release the seeds which are inside the cone.  Use your own words and answer from your experiment.

Now, this is going to sound very strange:  I don’t care about the correct answer.  I care that you’re using your science skills along with your good brain and making a good guess.  So, DO NOT look up the answer in a book or online – this is cheating. Got it?

Read Lesson 10, pages 152- 163.  Do Activity 10.5 on page 161.  Try to do more than one kind of tree!

October 1

Today we learned about leaf anatomy!  Please read pages 103 – 107 to see how botanists use leaf venation, margins, and shape to classify leaves.

Then, just like we did in class today, you will go outside and find at least THREE leaves.  Use them to do Activity 6.8 on page 108.  Draw each leaf (you can trace, or you can draw) including the leaf veins.  Then, label each one with venation (page 104), shape (page 105-106), and margins (page 107).  Of course, you are welcome to color your leaves, too!  The activity directions tell you to use Mod Podge and hang them to dry…but NO.  We’ll do something like that in class in a couple of weeks.

Your vocabulary words this week are below.  Please write their definitions and put them in your Nature Journal under the “October” tab.

1. Anatomy
2. Apex
3. Midrib
4. Margin

 

September 24

Photosynthesis is cool.  Just think – without plants’ God-given ability to make their own food and feed us too, we couldn’t survive.

Enjoy learning more about photosynthesis this week by –

1. Turning to CHAPTER 6, Leaves, in your Botany book and reading pages 94-98.
2. Writing definitions for
   1. Photosynthesis
   2. Stomata
   3. Stoma
   4. Producers
   5. Consumers
3. Using the Activity 6.1 handout I gave you, report your findings of the lab we did today.
4. Color the photosynthesis handout. Use these words to label parts of the handout if you didn’t already:
   1. Energy
   2. Water
   3. “energy + water + carbon dioxide = glucose + oxygen”
   4. Leaf stoma

Next week, October 1, I’m going to collect ALL of your homework pages, so have them ready!

September 17

Today we learned about “vascular” and “nonvascular” plants, and I told you that humans (and most animals!) do have vascular systems to move the blood around inside their bodies.

We did an experiment called “Walking Water Without a Vascular System”, and I gave you a Lab Report handout for that lab.

Here are your assignments for this week:

1. Read pages 23-28.
2. Write the lab report for Lab 15b, “Walking Water Without a Vascular System”, using the handout I gave you.
3. Put your lab report INSIDE your binder.
4. Make sure you have labeled your section dividers with the name of the months.

September 10

Hello Science Students and their Parents!

 

Welcome to the Middle School Science homework blog page.  This is the place you must come to each week to find out what is due for science homework.

Your assignments are always due the following week.  If you don’t turn in an assignment on time, I’ll allow you just one week – called a “grace week” – to get caught up.  If you don’t’ catch up within one week, you’ll earn a “0” for the work.

Of course, sometimes you may be ill or on a trip with your family.  If that happens, you’ll have more time.  (Always it’s a good idea to let me know if you know you’ll miss class; that way I can help you do your assignments ahead of time.)

So, let’s get to it, shall we?

This week, do these:

1. Read pages 14-20 in Exploring Creation with Botany.
2. Do Activity 1.1. Today I gave you Nature Journal handouts for this activity.  If you didn’t receive yours…or lost them…click the link here.
3. Create a Nature Journal cover for your binder. Your cover must include these elements:

1. 1. Title must be “My Nature Journal”
   2. Write your first and last name below the title.
   3. Write “Middle School Science” below your name, and “2024-25”.
   4. Then, draw and color a nature scene, or find one to use, or print my template from here.  Make sure it shows plants of our home, not of the Arctic or South America or Arizona!
2. Last of all, you should have seven section dividers for your Nature Journal.  Please label them for each month we are in class – Sept., Oct., Nov., Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr.  (See how I used abbreviations?)