Pathogen Project
We have started a Pathogen Project! Students have been given a bacteria pathogen to research and project ideas. The project is due on May 11th. For the information part of the project, students need to include the answers to the following questions:
What does it need to grow (temperature, etc)?
What are the foods/sources associated with it and possible contaminants?
What is the incubation period for the illness?
What are the symptoms associated with the illness?
How long do the symptoms last (duration)?
What are the steps for prevention?
Draw a picture or make a model of your bacterium.
What is your bacterium’s implication in the Farm-to-Table continuum? (Where in the food chain from start to finish does this bacteria show up and cause trouble?
Plus 5 other pieces of information about the pathogen, such as what part of the world is it mostly found in today, what are recent or historic outbreaks, how many deaths per year are caused from it, what are some new ways they are preventing the spread of this bacteria, does it have any unusual figures (not already mentioned in other answers)?
The students have many choices of how to do their project. If they like to do a performance, they may do a skit with the pathogen as the main character or dress up like the pathogen and do a monologue. Create a poem, song, dance, or rap about their microbe. They could do a game show type presentation, like “Who Wants to Be a Millionare?”. Or put on a news broadcast about a recent outbreak. Or make a picture book about their pathogen.
Other options are to do posters or models. If they choose a model, they need to be sure and include the required information in a museum-style sign. They could do a calender with each month being something about the pathogen. Or design a web page. Or so PowerPoints presentation. Or claymation video that gives us the required information. Or do a travel brochure. Or a flip book (but be sure it has the required info).
If they like to write, they can write a script of them interviewing their pathogen. Or do a comic strip/book. Or a recipe book that includes food safety tips about their pathogen. Or write a story about the life of your pathogen.
Computer time is being provided for research purposes today and on Monday. Students will be completing the project as homework, outside of class.
What’s UP!
Time is flying!
On Tuesday, we are going to the Wetlands to plant. Students will only be going during their regular science class period. They need to think about proper clothing. They can bring their own boots or borrow a pair of boots from here at school. We will go rain or shine so warm layers and water proof layers are a good idea. I would love to have a couple parents from each class period join us. Just email me if you can join us.
It is the end of the 3rd nine weeks on Wednesday. So that is the drop-dead deadline for any missing or late work. Work done last week will be put on next week’s grade. I should be done with all the rest of the Yeast Experiment write-ups by Sunday evening so students will know their 9 weeks grade unless they turn in something to improve their grades.
Conferences are Thursday and Friday. No school for students.
I just sent permission slips home with students on Friday for the Disney movie for Earth Day. It is called chimpanzee (they didn’t use a capital letter on it!). I have about 12 tickets for parent chaperones to go with us. So email me if you would like to see the movie with use. The cost for students is $8.00. Scholarships available upon request. Chaperones do not need to pay. Students may bring extra money for refreshments. We will be gone from 1st through 4th periods. Students will be back in time for lunch. There will be follow up assignments so students need to pay attention to the movie.
Genetics Make-up Test on Thursday!
It is very lonely here at school without any students! (Quiet, too! smile). But there are 2 big things to remember! First, if you haven’t taken the Genetics test, you will take it tomorrow (that’s Thursday!). So study for it . . . review! I am going to put some key words below to help you.
Also, don’t forget that your Science Write-up for the Yeast Experiment was due yesterday but with the grace period, you will not lose any points if you get it turned in by Thursday – actually, I will say on Friday since there was no school today! So figure out how you are going to get them finished, printed, and turned in by Friday!
Enjoy the day off . . .
Keys words for the Genetics test: genotype, phenotype, asexual reproduction, sexual reproduction, alleles, recessive dominant, genes, DNA, purebred, hybrid, heterozygous, homozygous, traits, genetics, heredity, Punnett Square, sperm, egg, fertilization, chromosomes, meiosis, mitosis, BB, Bb, Natural Selection, Selective Breeding, runners, bulbs, budding, nucleus.
Homework for Feb. 23rd!
Students have 2 different options of homework to do. One requires the Internet and the other does not. This is intended to take about 15 to 20 minutes
Option #1
Create a display to show Natural Selection. Create your own insect or other animal and show how natural selection would work on 2 different surfaces. Or create 2 animals and show how it would work on one surface.
Option 2
Do a google search to find out what Darwin did know. Then go to the chat room site to “chat” about what you found out 3 times. Use your first name only. Only appropriate comments. It needs to be done by 9:30 tonight.
The basic website is http://todaysmeet.com/ssdarwin
Then you add your period number to the end of the address. So first period will be http://todaysmeet.com/ssdarwin1
Study Guide for Friday’s Test
I have been giving students parts of this study guide over the past few weeks. But just in case they end up at home without spirals or haven’t gotten it all down, here it is in all in one place.
- The 10 cell parts and what they do . . . Nucleus– control center, Cell
membrane – protects, controls what goes in and out, Cell wall – provides support, plants only. Endoplasmic reticulum – transports proteins, Golgi bodies- packaging and shipping of proteins
Vacuole–stores food and water
Chloroplasts– contains chlorophyll for photosynthesis
Mitochondria– powerhouse, converts energy for the cell
Ribosomes– make proteins
Cytoplasm– jelly-like “stuff” inside the cell - Lysosomes – a garbage bin, digests waste
Vesicles – a general term for “bubble” with a membrane around it for moving particles through the cell. - How plant cells are different than animal cells -Plant cells have chloroplasts, cells walls, and a large, central vacuole which animals cells do not.
Lysosomes are more common in animal cells than plant cells - The Nucleus . . . is the control center, has a membrane with pores to let things in and out
- contains
the DNA (instructions for making another individual) - cells
that have a nucleus with a membrane are called eukaryotes- The
cell membrane . . . how things move in and out - Water
molecules and other small molecules can move across the cell membrane. This is called osmosis. Water moves toward
the side with more particles (that are not water molecules) - Some
particles move through protein gateways.
The proteins must match the gateways to be able to pass through them. - The
cell membrane can surround a particle to bring it into the cell or combine with
a vesicle’s membrane to send particles outside the cell (like the Tootsie roll
and the paper sack.(using the words endocytosis and exocytosis is worth extra
credit)- DNA molecule – found in the nucleus of
eurkaryotic cells - Watson and Crick
determined how the DNA molecule looks in 1953. - The
DNA molecule is a double helix – like a ladder
that twists. - DNA
is the molecule of life – it holds the
instructions for how to make copies of life (more cells or individuals). - The
basic parts of DNA are A, T, C, and G. These are nucleic acids that are the base
pairs. A always matches with T and C always matches with G. - DNA
can zip apart and then the missing bases match back up to create two new
strands of DNA. So DNA can make copies
of itself.
- DNA molecule – found in the nucleus of
- The
Link to Criterion
Here is a link to the Criterion website. Or you can type Criterion into a search engine like Google.
6th Grade Life Science!
Welcome everyone! This website if for my students and their parents! I am very excited about the new school year and all the new projects and connections that promise to make this a very interesting year in life science!
This website is where I put information about what is going on in class, assignment basics, upcoming field trips!
The best way to contact me is through email – stefni.stephens@corvallis.k12.or.us but if that is not possible, phone calls and notes are also just fine.
I will be sharing this website with students on the first or second day of school so everyone can start referring to it as soon as possible!
