JA 7A Science Schedule for Oct 27th - Oct 31st

MAJOR PROJECT: Students are working on a science project: To design and build an Earthquake-Safe House. This project is due on November 7th and it is worth 200 points. Most of the students got their plans approved and the students who haven’t gotten it approved yet should get it done by Monday. If students or parents have any questions regarding this project, please contact me at 855 8661 (Ex-34).

Monday: Discussion on sec-2, Earthquakes and Seismic Waves. We’ll talk about the types of seismic waves, measuring earthquakes, and locating the epicenter. Students will get time to work on the study guide in class and they have to finish it for homework.

Tuesday: Students will work on the skills lab; finding the epicenter. They will measure, infer, estimate, interpret data, draw conclusions, communicate, and explore their ideas.

Wednesday: Students will get a new handout on the “Monitoring Earthquakes”. We’ll discuss how seismic waves can be detected, the seismograph, reading a seismogram, instruments that monitor faults, motion detectors, using seismograph data, etc.

Thursday: Students will work on section-3 study guide in groups for part of the class period. Next we’ll discuss sec-4, Earthquake safety. We’ll talk about the earthquake risk, how earthquakes cause damage, steps to earthquake safety, and designing safer buildings. Do the sec-4 study guide for homework.

Friday: Students will work on the skills lab: design a seismograph. The skills focus on this activity are designing, evaluating, troubleshooting, working with design constraints, communicate, and the impact on society.

Biology Schedule for Oct 27th - Oct 31st

Monday: Discussion on sec-8.2, Structure of DNA. We’ll talk about the four types of nucleotides, model of DNA’s three-dimensional structure, X-ray evidence, the double helix, and the base pairing rules. Do the study guide for homework.

Project: Student should make a simple model of the DNA structure. It should include the four types of nucleotides and it should be a double helix.

Tuesday: Discussion on sec-8.3, DNA Replication. Do the study guide in class and finish it for homework.

Wednesday: Discussion on sec-8.4, Transcription. The main ideas in this topic are: RNA carries DNA’s instructions, transcription makes three types of RNA, and the transcription process is similar to replication. Students will get some class time to work on the study guide and they should finish it for homework.

Thursday: Review sec-8.1 to 8.4 during class to get ready for the test. Students will study for their test in corporate groups.

Friday: Test on ch-8.

Earth Science Schedule for Oct 27th - Oct 31st

Monday: Continuation of “Minerals of the Earth’s Crust” Powerpoint presentation by the students.

Tuesday: Discussion on sec-11.1, Mineral resources. In this section we’ll discuss about the formation of the ores, ores and contact metamorphism, ores and moving water, mineral conservation, etc. Next we’ll discuss sec-11.2, Fossil fuels. Here the main focus will be on formation of coal, types of coal, formation of petroleum and natural gas, petroleum and natural gas deposits, fossil fuel supplies, fossil fuels and the environment, etc. Students should work on the worksheet and the section reviews.

Wednesday: Discussion on sec-11.3, Nuclear energy. In this topic we’ll mainly discuss the nuclear fission and nuclear fusion, the chemical reactions, calculate the release of energy, nuclear reactor, the pros and cons of using nuclear energy. Then in sec-11.4, we’ll talk about alternative energy sources like solar energy, geothermal energy, hydroelectric energy, energy from tides and wind, etc. Students should work on the worksheet and section reviews for homework.

Thursday and Friday: Students will research the effects of automobile fuel on the quality of air. They will report their findings to the class on Friday.

JA 7A Science Schedule for Oct 13th - Oct 17th

Monday: Students should work on “What is the effect of a change in density?” activity at home over the fall break and write a narrative basing on their observations. Its due on Monday and we’ll discuss their observations for part of the class period. Also they should read the “Sea-floor spreading” handout and complete the study guide by Monday. We’ll go over the study guide during the other half of the class period.

Tuesday: Students will work on skills lab; modeling of the sea-floor spreading. They will make models, compare and contrast, apply the concepts, communicate, and explore their ideas.

Wednesday: Students will get a new handout on the “Theory of plate tectonics”. After we discuss how the plates move, the plate boundaries, and plate motions over time; students will work on another skills lab on modeling mantle convection currents. During this lab we’ll work on the following skills: observing, drawing conclusions, inferring, making models, and communicating.

Thursday: Students will work on section-5 study guide in groups for part of the class period. Next we’ll review sec-3, 4, and 5 to get ready for the test on Friday.

Friday: Test on sec-3; Drifting Continents, sec-4; Sea-Floor Spreading, and sec-5; Theory of plate tectonics.

Biology Schedule for Oct 13th - Oct 17th

Monday: Students should complete sec-6.2 and 6.3 study guides over the fall break. Both the study guides are due on Monday. We’ll go over the study guides during class and review the concepts again before moving on to the next section.

Tuesday: Test on Meiosis I and Meiosis II. Students should be familiar with the four phase’s prophase, metaphase, anaphase and telophase. They should also draw the diagram that illustrates the stages of Meiosis I and Meiosis II. Next we’ll discuss sec-6.4; Traits, Genes, and Alleles.

Wednesday: Students will spend part of the class period to work on the study guide for sec-6.4 in groups. Next we’ll discuss sec-6.5; Traits and Probability.

Thursday: Students will work on sec-6.5; study guide for some time and then we’ll discuss sec-6.6; Meiosis and Genetic Variation.

Friday: Work on sec-6.6; study guide and review the complete chapter for the test on Monday.

Earth Science Schedule for Oct 13th - Oct 17th

Monday: Students should work on sec-9.1 and 9.2 worksheet and section review, and also on ch-9 chapter review over the fall break. Students are working in two groups to complete their volcano projects and will be presenting it to the class on Monday.

Tuesday: We’ll go over ch-9 section reviews and chapter review during the class. Students will work on finishing the critical thinking and application questions during class.

Wednesday: Students will work on the following activities during class: “How are minerals important to us” and “Mineral properties”. They will get to work on several samples to identify the minerals.

Thursday and Friday: Students should choose a common mineral and do scientific investigation process. They should do research on where the mineral is found, how they mine it, how it is purified, the importance/role of the mineral in our daily life, and other interesting information about the mineral that will be presented to the class the following week.