Activity #4: How scientists test medicine

Today students did activity #4 which was a reading about how scientists test medicine. The reading focused on the steps we take to test medicine. Before scientists test medicine, the volunteers have to sign a informed consent form to waive liability to the doctors and scientist. Then when the tests begin, only a few volunteers actually get the medicine. Most of the volunteers get the placebo which is a fake or inactive pill. This is to make sure that no one is faking and to make sure the medicine is actually effective. This also controls the experiment.

The students answered stopping to think questions 1-3 and analysis question #3 on pages A-16 through A-19.

They finished the day by reflecting on whether testing medicine is important or not!

Activity #3: Testing Medicine

Today students participated in a simulation of a clinical trial that tests headache medicine. Students did not actually test medicine!!!! Students started out by trying a yellow drink which represented their headache. They then tried a red drink that represented their medicine. They then decided if it tasted the same, better than, or worse than the yellow drink. The class then collected the results and analyzed them. They then created a bar graph to show the results. Only two groups were actually given medicine all other groups had no medicine so it should have tasted the exact same. This was to make sure it was truly working and that students were not faking the results. Overall, the students did a great job with the simulation.

I did grade notebooks today so students should have 3 new grades!!!!

Activity #2 : Pellegra

Today students studied Pellegra. This was a prevailing disease in the 1910's that infected poor southern people. This was a new disease that no one really knew what caused it. There were 3 predictions for the cause of Pellegra: Corn, insects, and Bacteria. Dr. Goldberger came into the picture and started studying people's diets. He focused on orphans and prisoners and looked at their diet. He found that they were not eating fruits or vegetables which contain vitamins. He later concluded that people getting Pellegra had no Niacin or vitamin B in their diet. This changed people's lives forever. Today, scientist inject most foods with vitamin B to prevent Pellegra. Students had to answer analysis questions from the movie.

Homework: Look at food at your home and find one food that contains Niacin and write it down!

Have a great weekend!

August 25th and August 26th

Today and tomorrow are block days so we will be doing the same thing in class for both days. We will be doing Activity #1: Save Fred. This activity involves problem solving using the scientific method. Students have to work with a partner to save Fred who is a worm stuck on a boat without his life jacket. Students have to work together to get Fred into his boat and to get the life jacket around him. There are three rules: no touching Fred, the boat, or life jacket with your fingers, no hurting Fred, and Fred can not fall into the ocean. The students can only use paperclips to move things around. After the students save Fred the right down the steps they used to solve the problem. They then write a conclusion about their results including what went wrong or what they could have done different. We used pages 4 and 5 in our science notebook. There is no homework as long as students finished the conclusion and wrap up question.

Tuesday August 24th

Today students did the year long pre-test. This test was to show how much they already knew about Life Science and what areas they may struggle with. The test had 25 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions. Students are not receiving an actual grade on this test but must show effort when taking it. When students finished taking the test they had to silent read. Students need to remember to fill in their planner for every class, every day.

Please make sure you keep your science notebook up to date.

No homework tonight!

Monday August 23

Today students set up their science notebook. We started off by numbering the pages 1-20 using both sides of the paper. Next, we made the table of contents on pages 1 and 2 with four columns: date, activity name and #, score, and pages. Then, we added science vocab to the very last page in our notebook. We then filled out the scientific method on page 3 which is: step 1: Question, Step 2: Hypothesis, Step 3: Procedure, Step 4: Data, and Step 5: Conclusion. After we set up our science notebook, we gave out group jobs at each table. The four jobs are supply master, procedure specialist, team manager, and recycling engineer.

Homework: There is no homework tonight!

If you have not brought kleenex or hand sanitizer please try to bring hand soap!

2nd Day of School

Today students worked on a couple different activities. For first period students looked at their CSAP scores and wrote goals to improve their scores. In second period students practiced the fire drill and discussed lunchroom expectations. Students then looked at Areas of Interaction, International Mindedness, Learner Profile, and Service Learning. The last period of the day, students will practice writing a reflection using RAP. Please remember to bring your science supplies due Monday!

First Day of School

Welcome back to Henry Middle School and welcome 7th graders to Life science. At this blog you will find our daily activities, homework, and upcoming events. You may also find hints or clues to homework questions or test and quiz questions. If you were absent, come here to find out what you missed. Put your first and last name under the comments section so I know you visited the class website. Also leave any questions or concern for me under the comments section and I will get back to you as soon as possible. For those who missed today, we spent the day going over expectations, planner and binder use, grading, and other school wide policies.

Homework: Bring all supplies for science class including 2 spiral notebooks, pens, pencils, a box of kleenex or hand sanitizer, and a ruler. This is due Monday!

I hope you all had a fantastic first day and I look forward to getting to know you all!!!