Good morning Parents,

September 25th Newsletter

What we did this week:

This week, we started off by going into more depth with what osmosis and diffusion
mean. We started with an air freshener demonstration. Students stood up near their
seat. I started spraying air freshener. The students sat down as soon as they were able
to smell the air freshener. We watched to see how the front of the class sat down first,
and how the air freshener molecules slowly moved to the back of the classroom. We
talked about the area of high concentration was near the front of the class and the area
of low concentration was towards the back of the class but the molecules continue to move
until they reach equilibrium.
Students then continued to finish their, Honey, I Shrunk the Carrots! lab. In 7th
grade, a decent amount of the final grade will be coming from labs that students complete
in class. I talked with the students about the importance of putting in their best effort
during labs and working with their lab partners. I always say, four brains are smarter than
one. Students have received their carrot lab back with feedback on it. Ask to see your
childs lab paper to see what areas of improvement are needed to make sure they dont
make the same mistakes again on future labs. Labs are not retakable in 7th grade science.
I have put some pictures of some exemplars on my class blog if you would like to see what
types of answers were expected. If your child did not perform well on this lab, know that
we will be having plenty more labs to diffuse this grade.
Tuesday and Friday, we started looking at the parts of a cell, organelles. We drew
both a plant and animal cell. We talked about the function of each organelle. Afterwards,
they tried to use what they learned to compare and contrast plant and animal cells. Lab
groups were challenged with coming up with an analogy for an organelle of their choice.
They started creating posters that showed their analogy for the organelle chosen.
Example: The golgi bodies are like the post office because they package up materials and
deliver them.
Thursday, the counselors (Mr. Ingram for 1st period and Mrs. Finch in all other
classes) came into my science class to talk about the Roadrunner Way. They talked about
behaviors that we look for throughout the building that include: kindness, respect,
responsibility, self-control, and honesty. They also mentioned some of the upcoming
events that will be occurring in the building for Red Ribbon Week in October.
7th Grade Information:
o This week we continued with the agenda book challenge. If 85% of the 7th grade
have their agenda book filled out with all their classes, they will earn a spirit day.
The challenge will go for 3 weeks. Last week, we had 78% of the 7th grade
successfully fill out their agenda book in all classes. Please check your childs
agenda book when they get home to help support our challenge .

o Students should be returning their Medieval Times Field Trip permission forms in
their social studies classes. You can ask your child for the blue packet. Please let
me know if you have any questions about it.
o This week, students received a packet to attend the Frontiers Field Trip. This field
trip is free. Students will be asked to bring a bag lunch on the day of the field trip,
October 9th. The permission forms should be returned in their science class.

Coming Up:
Topics:
Research in the Computer Lab on Hydroponics

Finish Cell Analogy Poster

Organellympics

Dates:
September 29th After School Activities Begin

October 2nd - Half Day

October 9th - Frontiers Field Trip for all 7th Graders at Shady Grove Life
Sciences Center
http://mcc.jhu.edu/news/students-explore-new-frontiers-in-science-and-medicine