Science News October 27-31

AdVENTURE Science

All students are still on Reflective Blogs.

5th Grade: Interdependence of Organisms 

• 5-PS3-1. Use models to describe that that energy in animals’ food  was once energy from the sun. 
• 5-LS1-1. Support an argument that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water.
• 5-LS2-1. Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment.

Students will continue their investigations into how plants and animals interact with one another in order to gather evidence to present to Mr. Cuttatree. We will discover how energy flows within an ecosystem and introduce symbiotic relationships. Towards the end of the week, we will travel to the Costa Rican Rainforest where each student will pick an animal to investigate and use his/her research to create a class food web.

6th Grade: Natural Disasters - Safest Place in America

• MS-ESS2-5. Collect data to provide evidence for how the motions and complex interactions of air masses results in changes in weather conditions. 
• MS-ESS2-6. Develop and use a model to describe how unequal heating and rotation of the Earth cause patterns of atmospheric and oceanic circulation that determine regional climates. 

We are finishing up our Tectonic Convention. Students will end their presentations on Monday, and we will move on to the Natural Disasters Unit, where we will explore how changing weather patterns lead to different types of severe weather. This week our focus will be on wildfires and thunderstorms. 

7th Grade: Cells 'R Us - How do cells transport materials?

• MS-LS1-2. Develop and use a model to describe the function of a cell as a whole and ways parts of cells contribute to the function.
• MS-LS1-3. Use argument supported by evidence for how the body is a system of interacting subsystems composed of groups of cells. 

Monday we will finish our photosynthesis and cell respiration mini unit. We will then move on to how materials are transported into and out of cells, as we continue to study cell processes. We will use "naked" eggs to visualize the process, and the students will get a chance to develop their own investigations. The end of the Cells 'R Us project is in sight!

8th Grade: Periodic Table

• MS-PS1-1. Develop models to describe the atomic composition of simple molecules and extended structures.
• MS-PS1-4. Develop a model that predicts and describes changes in particle motion, temperature, and state of a pure substance when thermal energy is added or removed. 

Students will continue to delve deeply into Mendeleev's contributions to the development of the periodic table as they learn just how much information is at their fingertips. Students will take a "voyage through thought and imagination" as they explore Mendeleev's castle, before getting started on developing their very own periodic table of ___ !