7th+grade+Dowell+information

1. We were not impressed with the digital field trip nor the tour of Belize. Plus, we could not get either working on the computers here at Dowell. 2. Why is everything the rainforest? How is that relevant to our students here in McKinney? We know that mostof our students will never see a real rainforest unless it is a picture of one. 3. We would like to see more hands on with real animals. Can we get the zoo to bring rainforest animals to school to show the students? 4. How much do we love Inspiration? We never truely had a chance to really work with it. 5.Change the fall CAP to the LTF- Create a Species. Our kids just loved it! 6. More chemistry - Need to work more on the periodic table and the atoms, 7. We would like to see some more exciting genetics activities. 8. Flower CAP - we either need more time or something that will work better. Mine worked great. The others did not.
 * DMS notes**

Use of computers was difficult because of number of teachers and computers and the lack of computer labs.
 * FMS notes**
 * “Symbiosis is the Mostest”—add commensalisms, parasitism, mutualism
 * CAP 1st semester. We didn’t have time to get to this. We need more access to computers to be effective.
 * Size it Up: “Making a Scientific Drawing” delete
 * “Virtual Tour” delete little short segments
 * “Got Mac” delete
 * “Down to the Basics” delete
 * “Water Runs Through It” messy and expensive
 * “ MSDS Scramble” use #’s on pictures instead of cut-out
 * “Candle Games” use tea lights and burn longer—need electronic balances
 * The first lights bought for fast plants could be traded in for can lights? for “It’s Tilted”
 * “Slime Traveler” use tape and tape to shell instead of rubber band
 * “Hold Your Water” lines are too detailed
 * “Mind Your Buttress” nix it Too much time and not much meat.
 * “Excellent Analogy Concept Map” delete
 * As an alternative to fast plants, plant petunia seeds, grow, and dissect. It would save a lot of money and students would learn plant anatomy. They really enjoyed planting seeds and watching plants grow.
 * Fast Plants are very difficult to study. They are so fragile.
 * “Sweet Stuff” delete
 * “Hot Stuff”—don’t have necessary equipment
 * “DNA Isolation” didn’t work well
 * “I see DNA People” delete—rather boring
 * Playing with “Crazy Traits” was great

- Our results with the Fast Growth Project were very limited. Could it be reduced to class instead of groups of 2-3? - Science Fair takes up way too much class time for the benefits that the students received - Curriculum concerns:
 * EMS notes**
 * metric measurement...more!!
 * ecology does not include enough about consumer/producer relationships (prey/predator) or erosion
 * too much time spent on genetics
 * sequencing topics jumps in the wrong order
 * first: metric/safety/graphs/scientific method/science fair; chemistry
 * second: solutions/mixtures; physical/chemical properties
 * third: genetics (5-6 weeks)
 * fourth: ecology- biotic/abiotic, rainforest (life in the balance)

1. Looks like we all are having problems with the fast plants. I agree about changing the plants to something that will actually grow for everyone. 2. Evans - how much time do you actually spend on the science fair. We only use every Friday on it to help the kids along with what they need. Once they get to the point that they are testing, it is all theirs. 3. Connie and I have been talking and we need to add a lot more scientific method, graphing and metric measurements to the curriculum. It looks like we are not the only ones that think this. Thanks! Melissa - DMS
 * RESULTS -**

CMS NOTES: We would like to see the arrangement change next year. More chemistry, less time on genetics. Would the Let it Grow section be with the Genetics? I like EMS idea of changing the sequence but would that be possible? Would we be able to put a plant project in for a CAP for the fall? The Create a species does cover certain aspects of the curriculum but not others. If it was modified a little such as not having them use nomenclature and classification, we could use some ideas from last summer's workshops. Here is a sample of what we changed this year or would like to have changed for next year: 1. MSDS scramble changed to a card sort. 2. Candle Games-need changed if we don't have an electronic balance. 3. More latitude practice (add to biomes research) 4. It's Elemental-not much chemistry more technology-balance it out? 5. Periodic Table activities and practice 6. Food Webs-review and go deeper than 5th and 6th grades (Energy pyramids) 7. Interactions matching game; good buddies worksheet 8. Succession flipbook 9. Shapes activity (uses activities from last summer's workshop) 10. It's Tilted-did anyone make this easier **and** scientifically correct? 11. Doubling up-reworked; need to make directions on some computer labs more user friendly (not all bad) 12. Web soil survey; apple demo (usable soil); soil conservation websites offer free materials 13. All powerpoints for soil have c-notes but need more hands on activities 14. Would like to plant different seeds for plant unit and fastplants for class in genetics unit (too fragile for kids to handle so much) 15. Like EMS idea because the butterflies could be released when it is warm out (last time they were released on a cold day)