Lab practicals were passed back. We're into our new environmental books. Just to shake things
up, students were asked to illustrate their vocab.(Sect 1 key terms found on page 39) in an ecosystem scene and label everything with their terms. They could use "ecology" in their title.
Today we're in the computer lab working on their scientists book reports which will be due June 1st. Section 2 will be assigned for Thurs. night.

Students were issued a packet to work up to and include Sect.3 in class for the remainder of last week. Today we did a flower lab and finished the last page.
Their homework was to read Section 4 & 5 of Chapter 5 and complete Sections 4 & 5 of their packet as a guided reading assignment.
On Friday they will have a practical test which will be to identify many plant examples from Chapter 5 that we have had "hands on" labs in class.
All books should be handed in on Friday and we will start our 3rd book (environmental) next week.

Students were handed back the 4 Section Reviews from last week. Each assignment was worth 25 points for a total quiz mark of 100. A graded class assignment involving 10 questions answered completely was averaged with their homework for a test mark on Chapter 4. Any student that realized they were outstanding in homework assignments or the class assignment has until Tues. to make up the missing assignments for partial credit.
We have started Chapt. 5- Seed Plants with an assignment to read Sect. 1, pages 140-149. An oak tree with its roots, trunk/stem, leaves, and seeds(acorns) was modeled to them on the board to illustrate the 10 key terms of Sect. 1. They also could use the corn plant on page 178 as an example with a little more detail included.
Tues. will be an MCAS day with the classes that meet with me working independently on their biography rough drafts or moving ahead with Section 2 (pages 150-155).
Wed. will be a formal Section 2 presentation and once again due to MCAS on Thurs. there will be no assigned homework.
Thurs. will be an MCAS day with a reading assignment of Sect. 3 (pages 156-161) and the key terms for that Section found on page 171.
They have to hand in their rough drafts of their science book reports on Friday, May14th.
Some students will have 4 white lined pages with notes while others may actually have turned those notes into organized paragraphs. I would like to be able to take the students to the computer lab next week and have them working from their own notes / rough draft to a finished product. They have been asked to bring either their science book choice or another reading book to occupy themselves when finished working on MCAS.