Take a look around. Even in our classroom, many forms of life exist: our neighbors, the ants that sneak in anytime someone sneaks in food, organisms too small to see, the monsters under your desks, and the list goes on. Open the door to the building and the amount of living organisms explode. Life is an amazing thing and this year I would like everyone to spend more time looking closely and observing the forms of life around us. In doing this, there are a few habits I would like to work on:
How will we work on these habits? Well, I think it is important enough that we will begin most classes with a “free exploration” time. We will discuss what this means but in general you will come to class and begin working on observations from your to-do list.
To-do list
The Wall-blog
What in the world is this? You may have noticed the large space outside of the classroom that is gridded out. Well, this is the location of the Life Science Wall Blog. Since a lot of time in class will be given to you observing cool organisms and coming up with awesome questions, there needs to be a space for you to show off. The space chosen by you will be your space to keep updated. At a minimum, the wall blog must be updated every two weeks. Please make sure that you provide a place for people to place comments.
Can I do an electronic blog? Why, yes you can. Unfortunately, we will not have time in a computer lab so you will need to have equipment or do this outside of class. If you do choose an electronic blog, you will still need to provide an advertisement in your physical space that changes monthly.
- identify and observe cycles throughout the year
- independently explore and question what you observe
- write, write, write
- sketch
- look closely
How will we work on these habits? Well, I think it is important enough that we will begin most classes with a “free exploration” time. We will discuss what this means but in general you will come to class and begin working on observations from your to-do list.
To-do list
- Contribute to class data collection on scheduled dates
- Plant Cell drawings
- Animal Cell drawings
- Tracking of an outdoor plant – at least once every two weeks (5 classes) a student must photograph / sketch the same plant and monitor its changes through qualitative and quantitative observations
- One other theme of your choice (discussed with Frank)
The Wall-blog
What in the world is this? You may have noticed the large space outside of the classroom that is gridded out. Well, this is the location of the Life Science Wall Blog. Since a lot of time in class will be given to you observing cool organisms and coming up with awesome questions, there needs to be a space for you to show off. The space chosen by you will be your space to keep updated. At a minimum, the wall blog must be updated every two weeks. Please make sure that you provide a place for people to place comments.
Can I do an electronic blog? Why, yes you can. Unfortunately, we will not have time in a computer lab so you will need to have equipment or do this outside of class. If you do choose an electronic blog, you will still need to provide an advertisement in your physical space that changes monthly.
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