Investigations in Science 7 – May 4, 2018

Announcements:
Outsiders Day is coming up next week. Students will be having a spirit day
on Friday, either dressing up like a Soc or greaser. The students will also be
watching the movie, The Outsiders. Since the movie is rated PG, your child must
return a permission slip in order to watch. Permission slips will be going home from
your child’s English teacher and need to be returned before next Friday, May 11th.

PARCC is continuing next week. Please make sure your child gets a good
night’s rest, comes to school on time, and eats a good breakfast prior to taking the
PARCC test. Students need to bring headphones or earbuds for testing. Dates
of the PARCC Math test May 8-10.

Ms. Fultz is finishing up her student teaching. Her last day will be on Friday,
May 11th. She will be graduating from the University of Maryland. She has been
hired at Argyle Middle School for next school year. I know the students will miss
her so much.

Does your child want to meet Bill Nye? Bill Nye will be at Alice Deal Middle
School (NW, Washington DC) in celebration of his Jack and the Geniuses series
tonight at 6:30 (conflicts with Roadrunner Night Carnival). The event is free and
no RSVP is required. More information can be found here: https://www.politics-
prose.com/event/book/bill-nye-jack-and-geniuses-alice-deal-middle-school

Graded Assignments Turned in this week:

 Warm Ups: April 23 - May 4
 Lab: Mutation, Adaptations, and Natural Selection

Coming Up:
Topics:
 RFP
 Artificial Selection
Dates:
 May 1-6 – Roadrunner Week
 May 1-14 – No Tardies Challenge
 May 4 – FMS Gear/Colors Spirit Day
 May 4 – Roadrunner Night Carnival 6:30-9:00
 May 7 – PTA Meeting @ 7:00 p.m.
 May 7-11 – Staff Appreciation Week
 May 11 – 7th Grade Outsider’s Day
 May 8-10 – PARCC Math
 May 10 – 8th Grade Panoramic Picture @ 2:00 p.m.
 May 17 – Last Day of After-School Activities
 May 18 – Spanish Field Trip 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
 May 18 – 7th Grade Lock-In from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.
 May 22 – MAP-M
 May 23-25 – Chesapeake Bay Field Trip
 May 28 – No School
 May 29 – National Junior Honor Society Ceremony @ 6:30 p.m. in the
Cafeteria
 May 30 – Spring Band Concert @ 7:00 p.m. at Sherwood HS
 May 31 – Invention and Engineering Field Trip to Carderock
 June 4 – 8th Grade Cruise
 June 7 – Grandparents Day 9:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m. in the cafeteria
 June 8 – 8th Grade Promotion @ 5:00 p.m. at Blake HS
 June 11 – 8the Grade Hershey Park Trip
 June 13 – Diversity Day
 June 14 – End-of-the-Fourth Marking Period
 June 15 – Early Dismissal (12:30 p.m.)
 June 15 – Last Day of School (change from original calendar due to “snow”
days)
 June 26 – Report Cards Mailed Home

What we did this week:

We began the week continuing to learn about mutations. Changes

(mutations) to genes can result in changes to proteins, which can affect the
structures and functions of the organism and thereby change traits. Some changes
are beneficial, others harmful, and some neutral to the organism. We were
focusing on how a mutation and natural selection work together. Groups were
assigned a mutation. With their mutation they had to get a piece of candy from
their “home” to a container and back. Below is a list of the mutations. There was a
lot of laughing going on as we watched two groups go and timed them. We found
that some mutations didn’t slow students down that much, but others were very
difficult. If they had to get to that food to survive every day they may not
survive. This connected to natural selection, the animal best suited for their
environment will survive and pass on their traits. You can look at some pictures on
my blog and ask your child about which mutation they had.
Letter Characteristic produced by mutation
drawn by
groups
A Long fingernails (produced by plastic knives or spoons taped to
fingers)

B No fingers (taping hand)

C Lack of peripheral vision (produced by putting on goggles and

stuffing cotton on the sides to prevent viewing from the side)

D Hands fused together in front of body (produced by placing

hands together in front of body and taping/tying them together)

E Feet and ankles fused together (produced by taping the ankles

tightly together with duct tape/cravats)

F No arms (produced by securing arms down to the side of the

body)

G Arms fused together behind the back at the wrists (produced by

placing arms behind the back and securing at the wrists)

H Use of opposable thumbs (you can use your thumbs to open the
candy)

Most classes participated in the 1st Annual Asexual Reproduction Olympic

Games. My 7th period will compete on Monday. We decided to save some more
active lessons for after PARCC testing due to the students having some extra
energy built up after having to sit in silence for such an extended period during
PARCC. The 4 events that each represented a different type of asexual
reproduction were:
 Puzzle Mania – Student put together a magnetic jigsaw puzzle, of a picture of
strawberries, on the board.
 Take 1 – Students pass a container through their group members and each
student has to take out 1 card that has a picture of the Amoeba Sisters on it.
 Lego Tower – Students have only 30 seconds to build the highest freestanding
tower with Legos.
 Board Puzzle – Students get a few magnetic letters that they have to
unscramble to make a word that is related to asexual reproduction.
We then came back to the “clients” students picked at the beginning of the
unit. Each set of clients had a genetic disorder (along with other traits) that they
are trying to determine if they will pass on to their offspring. Students already
researched the 4 disorders earlier (Huntington’s, sickle cell, cystic fibrosis, or
achondroplasia), but we looked at different people living with the disorders to
getting a better understanding of their life with the disorder.
Today, students will complete a microarray lab to determine if their clients’
offspring has the genetic disorder. A microarray is a lab technique that they used
to determine the genotype for one trait of their client’s offspring.
A microarray works by allowing you to visualize what genes are expressed in
a cell. This is done by placing DNA samples on a plate that contains wells. If a
person is homozygous dominant, the sample will be the color PINK on the plate. A
person that is homozygous recessive will show the color BLUE on the plate. An
individual that is heterozygous will show a mix of both colors and appear PURPLE on
the plate. (See picture below)
Have a great weekend!