7th Grade Alternative Assignment

Here is the assignment for students who are not going to the Bronx Zoo.

You are going to get "up close and personal" with some animal.

Click here for the details.

The assignment is due Monday. Please give it to Mr. Ardito or Mr. Wulfhop.

Bronx Zoo Field Study

Here is the assignment for those of us going to the Bronx Zoo.

Have fun!
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We have been studying ecology, which teaches us about how living things are related to their environment. The way the living things are put together – their structure, functions, and behavior – are all adaptations to the habitats in which they live.

On the trip to the Bronx Zoo, you will see many, many different organisms. For at least 5, make careful observations about the places they live in the zoo. How do these match or differ from their natural habitats. If they differ, why do you think they were designed this way? With what other animals does your animal live? Why are they together?

You will write a brief reflection sharing what you have learned about these organisms and their habitats in the zoo.

For extra credit, interview a zoo employee about what he or she does and why they decided to work at the zoo. You can add what you learned to your reflection.

This assignment is due Monday, June 23rd. Please turn it in to your homeroom teacher at the beginning of the day.

Australian Project Resources

You are all doing a really good job learning about your Australian organism.

I thought it might be helpful to put the various resources in one place.

Mrs. Gow's Web Page for the project -- click here.
A good resource for Australian animals -- click here.

Here's what you are doing:
1. You claim an organism (which you have all already done).
2. You research the organism. Keep track of the sites you visit with the "Virtual Bibliography" that Mrs. Gow made for us.
3. You answer the questions on the "Scaffolding" worksheet. On this worksheet, you are answering 3 basic questions:
a. Structural Stuff - Cool stuff about how your organism is put together.
b. Functional Stuff -- Cool stuff your organism does with its parts.
c. Behavioral Stuff - How your organism uses what it has.

The next step will be presenting it to Mrs. Gow and her class. We'll discuss that next.

Have fun!

Period 3 - North American Organisms

Please post here your suggestions for North American organisms that our Australian friends should research.

Have fun!

Period 3 - Claim Your Australian Organism

Okay, this is a first come first served situation.
Respond to this post with which organism you are going to research.

Period 7 - Claim your Australian Organism

Okay, this is a first come first served situation.
Respond to this post with which organism you are going to research.

Good luck!

Practice Voicethread

The Australia Project

Mrs. Gow has set up a web site where the two classes (hers and ours) will work together.

Please take a look and get familiar with the site and the assignments. You can get to it by clicking here.

Also, please visit Voicethread and get yourself an account. All you need is an email address and a password.

Bad Weather in the US

There was a story in the NY Times this week about bad weather events happening in the United States. It fits right in with what we have been studying in terms of ecosystems responding to changes.

You can read it here.

Reflection Assignment - Period 3

Here is the reflection assignment for Period 3 science.
Remember that you are pretending to be paid by the word.
I look forward to reading your reflection.

Biome Map and Info

Here is a great website to use for studying biomes.
It has a cool map and lots of information about the biomes and the species that live there.
Let me know what you think about it.

Period 7 - Applying What We Have Learned

Hello all.

Your assignment this week (due by the time you come to class on Thursday, May 22nd) is to apply what you've learned about Ecology from one another to the movies we watched in class. I want you to put together about a one-page paper that discusses where you saw each of the 8 topics in either or both of the movies we watch in class. Then, you'll post the paper to the blog.

Remember to use your fake names. No anonymous comments, please!

Just in case you want to see them again, here are links to the movies:
Elk and Wolves
Grizzly Bears

Have fun. I am really looking forward to reading what you've written.

Period 3 - Applying What We Have Learned

Hello all.

Your assignment this week (due by the time you come to class on Thursday, May 22nd) is to apply what you've learned about Ecology from one another to the movies we watched in class. I want you to put together about a one-page paper that discusses where you saw each of the 8 topics in either or both of the movies we watch in class. Then, you'll post the paper to the blog.

Remember to use your fake names. No anonymous comments, please!

Just in case you want to see them again, here are links to the movies:
Elk and Wolves
Grizzly Bears

Have fun. I am really looking forward to reading what you've written.

Our Pictures

I thought it might be fun for our Australian friends to see our pictures.

Population Notes

Here are the notes from class today.
And don't forget to invent a story to explain the changes in the squirrel populations.

Change In Population - Upload a doc

Read this doc on Scribd: Change In Population

Mrs. Gow's Document

Parts of Plants we Eat - Upload a doc

Read this doc on Scribd: Parts of Plants we Eat

Connecting with Our Australian Friends

As we discussed in class, we are going to reach out to our new Australian friends and colleagues. We are going to do this in three ways:
1. I am asking that some of you respond to Mrs. Gow's question about our garden. You might share with her how we researched the plants and organized themselves.
2. Please find one of Mrs. Gow's students and introduce yourselves to them. You can find their blogs here.
3. Please look over the joint Australian/American assignment on animals that we will be collaborating on. You can find it here.

Have fun!

Garden Slideshow

Here is a slideshow of photos from our first day of gardening (Thanks, Jamie).

Happy Feet Reflection - Period 7

Here is the place for you Happy Feet reflection.

I look forward to reading your work.

Happy Feet Reflection - Period 3

This is the place for your Happy Feet Reflection.


I look forward to reading your work.