Week Eight

Eighth Grade - A4.2-3: Geologic Time.

Last week, we learned that fossils give us a glimpse back in time. We also learned that thousands of fossils were found at the Rancho la Brea. That's one site! Millions of pounds of fossils covering only a few tens of thousands of years! The Earth is more than four and a half BILLION years old! In Social Studies you may cover 100 to 1000 years in a year at school. How do we take all that information and laid down over 4.5 billion years and learn about it in a week?

Answer this: How are these facts put in chronological order? How do we know that fossils are really that old? What can we learn from looking at the whole history of the Earth? What did Wisconsin look like in the various ages of the Earth? How did the changes to Wisconsin affect life in Wisconsin during those ages?

Contract 8 to be presented on Friday.



Seventh Grade - C4.3-4: From Clams to Insects.

This week we end our look at invertebrate animals animals. When we started, we thought all animals were generally the same. Hopefully, we are seeing there are some bizzare behaviors out there. Who knew that some animals try to save their lives by eviscerating themselves and regenerating. Weird stuff.

Answer this: What special adaptations do these animals have for survival? Compare and contrast each type of invertebrate we talk about to other invertebrates and to other animals in general.

Contract 8 asks you to again research a specific invertebrate from selected phyla.

Week Seven

Eighth Grade - A4.1: History set in stone.



We start our geologic time unit this week. As we look back at times when Wisconsin was a shallow sea, when giant carnivorous birds roamed the earth, or when mass extinctions occurred, we ask ourselves, "How do we know that?"

Answer this: What types of fossils are there? What can we learn from them? How do fossils form? What processes expose these long buried fossils?

Contract 7 to be presented on Friday.


Seventh Grade - C4.1-2: From Sponges to Jellyfish.

This week we start with the beginnings of multicellular animals.

Answer this: What do these animals look like? How are their bodies oranized? What invertebrates can we find in our aquarium?

From Frogger

Here's a hint on one.

Contract 7 to be presented on Friday.