Last week, the 8th graders finished their second genetics case study.  This case study focused on two mutant traits exhibited by fruit flies–curly wings and yellow body.  Students analyzed data collected on three different fruit fly families with the goal of identifying the inheritance pattern the mutant traits follow.  I was so impressed with the deep thinking I witnessed in class.  Students used pedigrees, Punnett squares and all they have learned about genetics to figure out the inheritance pattern.  I heard a lot of “I got it…oh, no…that’s not it…let’s try….”  They synthesized their thinking into a written scientific argument answering the scientific question.  It was an amazing demonstration of the analytical skills they have developed at MJDS.   I’m so proud of what these kids have accomplished!

The 7th and 8th graders are embarking upon a new journey in ETC.  Second quarter starts a new venture called Entrepreneur Fair during which students will have the opportunity to start their own business.  Students will develop business plans, products or services and marketing materials.  All of their hard work will be displayed in June at an Entrepreneur Fair at MJDS.  Last week, students started thinking like entrepreneurs by attempting to solve real-world business problems.  They used this experience and some work looking at the kinds of qualities an entrepreneur possess to begin to brainstorm some ideas.   Next week they will meet with business owners from our community to collaborate with them and learn more about what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur.  Ask them about their initial ideas!

The 8th graders are using their knowledge of genetics to analyze a case study.  Their goal is to determine the probability that a couple, Greg and Olga, will pass two different genetic diseases onto their children.  Students began their analysis of Greg and Olga’s case by creating a pedigree to outline the family history of the diseases and to try to figure out what genotypes Greg and Olga might be for each condition.  This will help them counsel the couple as they consider a family.

Periodically, throughout the year, students will have the opportunity to read about and discuss current science issues.  Today, they were fired up about climate change.  Talking about complex issues takes skill.  To help students formulate their ideas and discuss the issues effectively they used a discussion strategy called Save the Last Word.  Students read an article and documented ideas they 1) agree with, 2) disagree with, 3) have questions about, 4) can make connections to or 5) want to talk more about.  They then shared these ideas with a small group of peers discussing their ideas further.  This strategy challenges students to develop their own ideas, share them with their peers and respond to others’ ideas.  Ask them how they feel about our changing environment and nations’ reactions to it.

The seventh graders have been busy running their experiments and collecting data.  This week they analyzed what their data means and explained how it answered their scientific question.  Ask them what they learned!

The 8th graders spent last week learning that not all traits are passed on from one generation to the next in the same ways.  Autosomal, incomplete dominance, codominance and X-Linked are some of the inheritance patterns that determine how traits present themselves in an organism.  It is so exciting to see students making connections between traits in their own families and what they are learning in class.  In the next weeks, students will use what they have learned about genetics to analyze two case studies.   Stay tuned for updates!

This week the 8th graders began learning how traits are passed on from parent to offspring.  Words like deoxyribonucleic acid, genes, chromosomes, alleles, genotype, phenotype, homozygous, heterozygous and Punnett square were being used regularly.  Students practiced using Punnett squares to determine the probability a trait will show up in offspring given a certain set of parents.   I’ve heard a lot of “ooohs and aaahs” and “that’s why I have blue eyes and my parents don’t!”  Ask your children what they know so far!

The seventh graders have been learning about the scientific process by designing their own experiment.  So far they have asked a scientific question, identified independent, dependent and controlled variables,  made a prediction by developing a hypothesis and started the process of writing an experimental procedure.  This week they spent time giving and receiving feedback in order to finalize their procedures, list of materials and design of data tables.    Students are spending a lot of time thinking, rethinking, planning and planning again and learning that the scientific process is not a linear practice.  Instead, it involves some exploration and trial and error and is an ongoing process one that leads to further questions and continuous experimentation.  Ask your child about their scientific question and how engagement in this process has been for them so far.

The 8th graders have been spending the week analyzing the traits of three different types of beetles in order to answer the question-How do beetle traits vary across and within a species?  From this analysis they will develop a scientific argument by making a claim, supporting their claim with qualitative and quantitative evidence and explaining how their evidence supports their claim through sound reasoning.  The ability of a student to develop a strong scientific argument based upon evidence is a critical skill in scientific inquiry.  Students often find writing the reasoning piece to be the hardest part of writing the argument.  What they don’t realize is that I already see so much improvement in their ability to think and express their thinking aloud and in writing since last year.  They are all making huge strides!  The writing process begins next week…be sure to ask your child how it’s going :).

At the end of this week, the 8th graders began thinking about the driving question to their next unit-Why do organisms look the way they do?  Every unit in science class begins with a carefully chosen phenomenon.  This phenomenon is used to drive student inquiry.   It gets students to make observations and develop ideas.  From this thinking student begin to ask questions.   It is these questions that gives students ownership of their learning and drive the learning journey forward.  Students continually add questions to the Driving Question Board as they have them and develop answers to the questions over the course of their study with the intention of answering the big driving question by the end.  Ask them what questions they have about genetics.  But, don’t give them the answers!  They will figure it out on their own :).