Weekly Newsletter

Investigations in Science 7
November 8, 2019

Announcements...
​ What We Did This Week…
Students can now clean out their science section of
their binder. They should be taking out all papers
from the Hydroponics unit. Please have your child
leave the papers in a safe place at home rather than
recycling them since our units build on one another.
They need to leave any papers about nutrients in
their binder (new unit started Wednesday).
Next week, look for homework every night in science
from your child. ​ We will be tracking the food we eat
for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We will also be
estimating the quantities we ate of each food.     student a reflection sheet where students had to check off
Click on the link below for additional resources:
Additional Science Opportunities
Ask Your Child…
​ Proposal). The scenario they will be working with this unit
● What rewards did you receive in science
class today and what did you do to earn
them?
● What was your favorite part of quarter 1 in
science?
Upcoming...
​ bars, protein bars, cookies, etc.). They are starting out by
Topics:
● Human Nutrition
This week we finished up our hydroponics unit by
completing a reflection about their hydroponics system.
They created graphs and data tables to see how their
plant grew compared to other lab groups within the class.
They reflected on what they felt went well and what they
would change for next time.
Tuesday, each student received a grade sheet that has
their 1st quarter grade (as of Tuesday but some students
turned in an assignment to slightly change the grade) and
their grades for each individual assignment. I gave each
what they felt were their strengths, and have to pick things
that they feel they needed to focus on as being their
biggest challenges.
Wednesday, we started our new unit: Matter and Energy
Flow in Organisms. A fancy long title for Body Systems
and Nutrition. We looked at the new RFP (Request for
is: Montgomery County Public Schools is requesting a
group of student scientists to develop new middle school
lunch menus. The menu will be piloted at participating
schools in hopes of developing a county wide program.
Each small group of scientists must construct a 5 day
school lunch menu that is balanced, nutritional, and
affordable. Additionally, once students have created a
menu, they will use their understanding of human body
systems and nutrients to create a healthy snack
alternative to one of the current choices on the menu (fruit
learning what nutrition, calories, and essential nutrients
are.
After we discussed why would be learning the topics this
unit, we then started looking at what malnutrition means.
 ● Levels of Organization
Dates:
● November 8 - Early Release/End of Quarter 1 or disorders you can get if your body lacks an essential
● November 11-15 - Book Fair in the Media
Center
● November 11-15 - HOMEWORK - 5
NIGHTS OF MEAL TRACKING
● November 11 - Parent/Teacher Conferences
● November 11 - Early Release
● November 12 - Early Release
● November 12 - No after school activities
● November 13 - Town Hall Meetings
● November 13 - PTA Meeting - MedStar
Montgomery presents the Dangers of Youth Vaping
at 7:00 pm
● November 13 - No after school activities
● November 14 - Joe Corbi Pick Up
● November 14 - No after school activities
● November 15 - Medieval Times
● November 18 - Honor Roll Celebration during
Lunches
● November 20 - Chick Fil-A Spirit Night
● November 26 - No after school activities
● November 27 - No after school activities
● November 27 - Early Release
● November 28-29 - No School
● December 5 - International Night
● December 23 - January 1 - No School
● January 20 - No School
● January 24 - Early Release/ End of Quarter 2
● January 27 - Professional Day/Possible
Instructional Day
● February 17 - No School
● February 28 - Early Release
● March 23-25 - Bay Trip - I will be out of the
building
● March 27 - Early Release/End of Quarter 3
● April 6 - 13 - Spring Break
● April 23 - Take Your Child to Work Day
● April 28 - No School
● May 25 - No School
● June 15 - Early Release/Last Day of School
They determined that malnutrition is when your body does
not get all the required nutrients it needs. They were able
to figure out that this is why it is important to eat from all
food groups. They also learned about different diseases
nutrient.
After all their hard work they got to EAT THEIR BASIL!
They could eat their own basil with tomato and mozzarella
or they could have basil from the class systems.. Students
will also start bringing home their supplies they brought.
We also have our first ever Restroom Raffle! We first
talked about advantages of minimizing our time in the
restroom during core academic classes. We talked about
some advantages being that you don’t miss instruction,
announcements, you have more time to complete work
and also how I can look in my gradebook and students
that generally use the restroom frequently, tend to have
lower grades. I want them all to have A’s! Then we talked
about great times to use the restroom: before or after
school, 4 minutes of passing time, lunch, PE, electives, or
Tech Grab. We even discussed how as an adult, you will
also have to prioritize your time. If you are facilitating a
meeting, or in the lifeguard chair; or at a cash register; in
an interview; it isn’t always a great time to use the
restroom so planning ahead and “trying to go” even if you
don’t feel you need to is a good thing. I made sure to
stress to students that emergencies happen to ALL of us
and there are times we need to use the restroom and that
is okay. After all that talk about going #1 and #2, I chose
numbers at random (each student was given a number)
and depending on how many times they used the
restroom this quarter, there were tiered prizes they could
choose from when they gave me (or my student aide) their
winning raffle tickets. Can you believe I talked about the
bathroom this long?
We also celebrated all students that had no tardies during
quarter 1 by they each received a reward for coming to
class on time each and every day.
Lastly, we celebrated those students that did any
extension activities about the topics we are learning about
during quarter 1 by completing their Tic-Tac-Toe sheet.