Monday
8/24
Welcome!
1. Use your index card to find your seat.
2. Make a name tent with the directions below.
1. Fold your name tent
1. First Name and Last Initial in large letters on both sides.
2. On top left corner, list your favorite color.
3. On the top right corner, write your birthday.
4. Underneath your name, write 3 words that describe you.
Green
October 2
Friendly, Funny, Kind

VL 2
TASK: Make a square using your puzzle pieces
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Use the pieces of your puzzle to make a square.
2. When finished, put your finger on your nose.
3. Challenge: With the added piece, make a new square.

Answer the following on a post-it in complete sentence.
QUESTION: How does this activity relate to Science?
Your Name
VOICE LEVEL: 0
This activity relates to Science because…..

Tuesday
8/25
Answer on your index card:
My favorite lesson/lab last year in 7 th grade Science was….
VL 0
My least favorite thing about Science class last year was….
This school year, it would help me learn if Mrs. Gaffney could….

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:
How do scientists solve problems?
Why is lab safety important?
OBJECTIVES:
Students will reflect on problem solving skills in a cooperative setting.

Science
Problem-Solving

Agenda -Meet your Teacher
-Meet your Classmates
-Wood and Nail Lab
Homework
Supplies and Lab Safety
Contract DUE FRIDAY!!!

VL 0
Complete your People Hunt handout!

VL 2
TASK: Balance all 10 nails on top of the single nail in the wooden block.
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Each group receives a wooden block with a nail in it and 10 nails.
2. Try to balance all 10 nails on top of the single nail.
Solution Video

Think-Pair-Share REFLECTION
On the back of your index card, answer..
1. What were some strengths of your group?
2. What were some weaknesses of your group?
3. How does this activity relate to how scientists solve problems?

VL 0
Wed/Thrs
8/26-8/27
Draw a picture of a “Scientist” on the half sheet of paper.

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:
How do scientists solve problems?
Why is lab safety important?
OBJECTIVES:
Recognize different scientists and their contributions.

Science
Problem-Solving
Fire Blanket
Fire Extinguisher
Shower & Eye Wash Station

Agenda
Homework
-Who is a Scientist?
-Direct Yourself
-Define “Science”
-Science Posters
Supplies and Lab Safety
Contract DUE FRIDAY!!!

Students will share their drawings with their shoulder partner.
Stand up if…

TASK: Identify scientist vs non-scientist.
VL 2
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. With your shoulder partner, make a T-chart on your post-it note.
“scientist” and “non-scientist”.
2. Your teachers will show you pictures of 12 different people.
3. Make a guess! On your post-it note, record the picture # of the person under the corresponding column. Are they are a scientist or a non-scientist??

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

Bobak Ferdowsi
NASA Flight Director
In charge of landing Curiosity on Mars.

Jane Goodall
• World renowned for her work with chimps
• Lived among chimps for over 30 years in Africa
• Humanitarian

Mae Jemison
• American physician and
NASA astronaut.
• She became the first
African American woman to travel in space when she went into orbit aboard the
Space Shuttle Endeavour on September 12, 1992

Michio Kaku
Japanese-American theoretical physicist and
T.V. personality.

Marie Curie
(Born, 7 November 1867,
Died, 4 July 1934) was a
French-Polish physicist and chemist, famous for her pioneering research on radioactivity.

Albert Einstein
Theoretical physicist who developed the theory of relativity. While best known for the formula E = mc 2 , he received the 1921 Nobel Prize in
Physics ".

Stephen Hawking
• theoretical physicist, cosmologist, author and
Director of Research at
University of Cambridge
• Regarded as one of the most brilliant theoretical physicists since Einstein.

Rosalind Franklin
British biophysicist who made critical contributions to the understanding of of DNA, RNA, viruses, coal, and graphite.

Neil deGrasse Tyson
• American astrophysicist and science communicator.
• Went to the University of Texas

Elizabeth Blackburn
• Biological researcher at the University of
California
• Won the Nobel Prize in Medicine

Daniel Burd
• Plastic takes thousands of years to decompose, but 16-year-old science fair contestant Daniel
Burd made it happen in just three months!

Albert Baez
• Mexican Physicist
• Made contributions to the x-ray telescope and microscope.

TASK: Answer questions about the classroom, procedures, and lab safety.
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Students will go around the room finding the answers to the questions.
2. When students are finished, they will return to their assigned seats.
VOICE LEVEL: 0-1

1. Read the four definitions of “science”.
1
Science is a way to understand the physical world through observation and experimentation.
2
Science gives us answers to the natural world.
3
Science is a way to understand the universe we live in.
4
Science is a process used to arrive at an answer.

2. Choose the definition you agree with most and record that definition on your piece of paper.
1
Science is a way to understand the physical world through observation and experimentation.
3
Science is a way to understand the universe we live in.
2
Science gives us answers to the natural world.
4
Science is a process used to arrive at an answer.

3. Find your definition number in the room and go stand by it.
4. Discuss with the other members of the group why you chose this definition.
1
Science is a way to understand the physical world through observation and experimentation.
3
Science is a way to understand the universe we live in.
2
Science gives us answers to the natural world.
4
Science is a process used to arrive at an answer.

5. Return to your seat. With your table, create a new definition of science based on the thoughts and reasoning from your “corners”.
6. Create a poster with 3 illustrations that represent your definition of science.

From the National Academy of Sciences
1. Use of evidence to construct testable explanations and predictions of natural phenomena, as well as the knowledge generated through this process.
2. Use evidence to make and test hypotheses about our world and universe.

Friday
8/29
On the first page of your notebook, write the following…
Name
8 th grade
Period:
Tanner
Science
Fall 2014

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:
How do scientists solve problems?
Why is lab safety important?
OBJECTIVES:
Understand the purpose of the INBs and how it is organized.

Science
Problem-Solving
Fire Blanket
Goggles
Apron
Protective Gloves
Shower & Eye Wash Station

Agenda -INB Set-up
Homework
Supplies and Lab Safety
Contract DUE TODAY!!!

1. Number INB pages.
2. Set up beginning pages:
- Inside cover: Classroom Information
- Page 1: Name, semester, class, teacher
- Page 2: Special Assignments page
- Page 3: The Top Ten
- Page 4: Cornell Notes Outline
- Page 5: Prefix Page
3. Decorate INB cover.