Teaching & Curriculum – Fall 2011 Narrative / themes

-Group presentations & voting -(link to voting in Angel, after hearing

the presentations)

Ecology Biome Project – Team 2Walt Clark & Emily Lawlor

Our Project:

Entails allowing our students to team up to research a variety of biomes and then record pertinent details (biotic and abiotic factors, food chains/webs, etc) of one they find intriguing using various media sources.

Ecology Biome Project *The students will present

their findings to the entire class using videos, PowerPoint, posters, pictures, written work, brochures, or any other form of communication that relates their information to the class. Our students will also need to explain terms using pictures, drawings, and diagrams.

*Students will be encouraged to use blogs, the class website, You Tube, and other Internet based sources to expound upon and share their topics/ideas.

Final Project•Mid Latitude Cyclone Data Collection Project

•Students will be collecting a series of daily images and data from the same time each day over the course of three days. Their goal will be to observe the changes in the weather (temperature, pressure, etc.) and determine the characteristics of low and high pressure systems. •No handwritten submissions will be accepted. All questions must be answered in full sentences and well developed paragraphs.

•Data Collection•Days 1 to 3

•For each day download and save A surface analysis map, an IR Satellite image and a Radar image.•For each day, locate a low pressure system on the surface map and select three cities (one from each sector of the low) and record the current weather information in a spreadsheet.

•Day 4•Select a US city that the low pressure system passed through. Locate the meteogram from this city, download and save the plot.

•Day 5•Pretend you’re a pilot flying from here to either Miami, LA, Seattle, or Dallas. You need to check the weather along the way to make sure you aren’t going tot be flying through any bad weather. Pick three cities along your course (plus your starting point and destination (five total) and record the weather that you will see during your trip in a spreadsheet.

•Questions•Answer several questions about the satellite imagery and weather data downloaded. Draw conclusions about

Plots and Data Samples

Station: Hobart, OK (cool) Snyder, TX (warm) Clins, NM (cold)

Station ID: KHBR KSNK KCQC

Time: 2353 Z (3/26/10) 0006 Z 2353 Z (3/26/10)

Wind Direction:

160 180 300

Wind Speed: 25 Gust to 33 Kt 20 Gust to 37 Kt 27 Gust to 44 Kt

Precipitation/ Weather:

N/A N/A N/A

Lowest Cloud Cover:

Clear Clear Few at 5000 ft

Visibility: 10 SM 10 SM 10 SM

Temperature: 18 24 6

Dew Point: 5 -2 -6

Pressure: 29.63 in hg 29.57 in hg 29.68 in hg

Group 3Culminating ProjectLiving Environment

Unit: Immunity and Disease

The project: Students act as epidemiologists to investigate and report on a fictional outbreak that is taking place at the school.

Stages of the Project:

InternetResources

Choice of:PowerPoint

You TubeBrochure

Students develop

their own questions

Saving the Rain in Syracuse, NY

Problem Wastewater treatment plant overwhelmed during storm events Untreated wastewater overflow pumped into Onondaga Lake

Solution Rain harvesting program Divert stormwater One method is the rain barrel

Saving the Rain in Syracuse, NY

Class Project Components1) Research rain harvesting,

construct rain barrel

2) 4 stakeholder groups, each outline point-of-view

3) Groups choose an experiment for the harvested rainwater

All components will be presented to class using PowerPoint slide show

Code Blue The Circulatory System

Students will be introduced to the circulatory system with a scenario involving a life threatening emergency.The inquiry question is What would you do if you entered a room and found someone laying there unconscious?

7th Grade Science

Students will become first aid responder for one session. They will learn to take a pulse, use pressure point and perform cardiac resuscitation on a mannequin. They will also be shown a training defibrillator.

The Circulatory System5 session unit•Session 1: Emergency scenario – Students become first responders

• Session 2: The Heart – Students learn about the heart through a virtual activity) and by drawing a heart with labels.

•Session 3: The blood Vessels – Students learn about arteries, veins and capillaries. They learn how blood vessels are organized through their body.

• Session 4: The blood – Students learn about the different components of blood.

•Session 5: Learning evaluation – Student engage in a cross word puzzle game. The also write an two paragraph essay describing how oxygen is carried to body cells.

7th Grade Science

Unit-Genetics/HeredityThe Case of the bludgeoned

Investigator

The Case

Background: On a chilly winter’s night of December 21, 2010, Dr. Yang was finishing an important investigation before the Christmas holiday break. He was excited of the prospect of a new discovery in the area of gene manipulation. Dr. Yang wanted to be the first to unveil his research for the top prize, a 1 million dollar research grant from the NIH (the National Institute of Health) at the upcoming symposium in January 2011. If he won the top prize, his work will be published in the most prestigious science journal in the world-SCIENCE. No one at the institute has ever won this prize before and he wanted to be the first. Dr. Yang worked tirelessly every night for the past two years and is very careful not to reveal his work to anyone in the department because his competitor Dr. Gilchrist is working on similar projects in gene manipulation and will be in the running for the top prize as well.

On that night around 8:30 pm, Dr. Yang was working at his desk in the far corner of the lab. He was hunched over his desk carefully analyzing his latest set of data. Suddenly in the darkly lite room, a shadow appeared before him and with a swift blow, hit Dr. Yang on the head with a large solid object. Dr. Yang fell on top the large pile of papers on his desk with a loud thud. The perpetrator quickly hurried out of the lab, knocking a large flask of buffer that was sitting on the lab bench next to the door unto the floor cutting him/her on the leg. Immediately the noxious odor alarm in the lab was triggered by the spilled buffer alerting campus security. Dr. Yang was taken to the hospital and was listed in guarded conditions and the police was called to investigate. Missing from the lab was Dr. Yang’s lab notes and data from his gene manipulation experiments.

Background: On a chilly winter’s night of December 21, 2010, Dr. Yang was finishing an important investigation before the Christmas holiday break. He was excited of the prospect of a new discovery in the area of gene manipulation. Dr. Yang wanted to be the first to unveil his research for the top prize, a 1 million dollar research grant from the NIH (the National Institute of Health) at the upcoming symposium in January 2011. If he won the top prize, his work will be published in the most prestigious science journal in the world-SCIENCE. No one at the institute has ever won this prize before and he wanted to be the first. Dr. Yang worked tirelessly every night for the past two years and is very careful not to reveal his work to anyone in the department because his competitor Dr. Gilchrist is working on similar projects in gene manipulation and will be in the running for the top prize as well.

On that night around 8:30 pm, Dr. Yang was working at his desk in the far corner of the lab. He was hunched over his desk carefully analyzing his latest set of data. Suddenly in the darkly lite room, a shadow appeared before him and with a swift blow, hit Dr. Yang on the head with a large solid object. Dr. Yang fell on top the large pile of papers on his desk with a loud thud. The perpetrator quickly hurried out of the lab, knocking a large flask of buffer that was sitting on the lab bench next to the door unto the floor cutting him/her on the leg. Immediately the noxious odor alarm in the lab was triggered by the spilled buffer alerting campus security. Dr. Yang was taken to the hospital and was listed in guarded conditions and the police was called to investigate. Missing from the lab was Dr. Yang’s lab notes and data from his gene manipulation experiments.

The project• Students: By working in groups of threes, determine which of persons of

interest is the perpetrator? What do you think was the motive for this crime? Write the results of your findings and convince a jury of your peers. Also student will conduct a mock trial of the crime investigation.

• Groups will incorporate concepts learned in unit-basic genetics-DNA replication(transcription and translation), DNA structure, pedigree analysis, application of DNA technologies-cloning, PCR, gel electrophoresis, forensics

Evidence must include analysis the crime scene: • Blood samples- trails leading from broken flask to the door, dr. Yang’s and on the

object used to hit him on the head• Fibers-hairs, clothing • Footprints• Finger prints samples

• Research • How a crime scene is process and analyze? What instruments are used in the

analysis? How are the evidence stored and the data gathered from the analysis?• What techniques are used in the processing and analysis of a crime scene?• How are persons of interest interviewed and recorded?

Culminating Project: Jury Trial of Suspect• Description of the unit: for two weeks, students (in groups of 3) have been

investigating a crime scene. The crime scene took place in our school building, and all the teachers on staff that day are possible suspects. Students have gathered evidence from multiple sources (blood work, hair samples, fiber samples, footprints, interviews, fingerprints, etc.). Now, students are ready to charge a suspect with the crime and defend their accusation in the courtroom.

• Students, now acting as prosecutors, must present their findings in front of a jury (their fellow classmates, and a few administrators, will be the jury). I will serve as the judge.

• Students must present all of their evidence, and explain how their evidence led them to believe the suspect is guilty.

• Students must also call on an expert witness, who will appear via Skype to corroborate their findings, technique, or logic.

• Students must project an excel sheet that rules out other suspects in the school, they must explain how to run a gel electrophoresis (which will be used to analyze the “blood” samples), and they must provide a visual aide that supports their presentation.

• Finally, the accused and his defense attorney will have the opportunity to question the prosecutors scientific method (I will ask them ahead of time to quiz the students on their knowledge of the microscope, gel electrophoresis, sterile procedure, etc.). Students must convincingly defend their position.

Unit:

See their MindMeister for more details

Physics – Work and Energy UnitGET A JOB!

Eric H, Larry H, Stephen MStudents conduct labs and write the corresponding reports from the perspective of a variety of professionals trying to solve real world problems. References to how the science they are learning is used in real applications outside of class pop up frequently during lessons. Culminating project: groups of students use their knowledge of physics to design amusement park rides.

Group members take on professional roles: Project manager, research scientist, architect, engineerGroups present their design proposal the same way real professionals would to a “town board meeting” acted out by their classmates. Students should be practiced at thinking like professionals from their work during the GET A JOB! unit.

Literacy and Communication• Translating scientific/mathematical

concepts into written and spoken language

•Transposing a real world situation into a mathematical format• Summarizing observations and data in

written language• Formulating necessary limitations and

assumptions• Documentation and explanation of

changes to original plans

Challenge•Group cooperation•Creative design•Data collection and analysis•Defending their designs•Public speaking•Applying what they know•Pretty much flying solo

Technology•Computers•PowerPoint and data analysis in Excel•Wiki posting to discuss their work•Simulations

Motivation•Future careers?•Student driven creations•Creating a product, not just filling in the blanks!

Physics – Work and Energy UnitGET A JOB!

Eric H, Larry H, Stephen M

Culminating Project T&C: Science

Team 7: Dan Harris  Karen Larkin

Nov. 30, 2011Theme: The use of a narrative in the form of a mystery will guide the students along and incorporate

information from several topics within the unit. Science often uses deductive reasoning to investigate

unknowns. Each Organic Chemistry topic will provide a piece of the puzzle in the inquiry.  Once all the topics are discussed, the student investigators will have the

information necessary to connect common materials to organic functional groups and their mystery molecule. 

1.Culminating ProjectMystery Molecules and their relationship to chemicals more familiar to the students:

Students will form groups and actively construct a 3D model both graphically and with a modeling kit.  Each group will have a different functional groupStudent will then pick one of these commonly found products that are made from one of the functional group.They will then research both the model and the product.  They will report their findings on the class web site.  Students will then collaborate to see which product matches their mystery molecule. The groups will then research the relationship between the mystery molecule and the product and report their findings in a power point presentation.  Each individual student will also produce a well researched paper.Finally, each group will be asked to try and guess what the over all unit themed mystery molecule was.    Each group that reports correctly will receive 5 bonus points!