I am excited about the new year. We will be having so much fun that our class time will fly by. By now most of you all know that everyone calls me Mrs. Jarvie. This is my 7th year of teaching and I find every new year brings me new knowledge. My philosophy in teaching science is that science is a process. The expansion of this philosophy is such that science is as much about how you get the answer as it is the answer itself. I know what you are about to ask: Does this mean that all the anwers on a test are correct? Well that would be a "NO". There are right and wrong answers in science class. However, in the world outside the testing aspects of class, often there are numerous answers to a question. I want you to succeed in 8th grade science as well as prepare yourself for everyday problem solving. These problem solving skills will help you be a better employee, boss, and even family member. Keep in touch with the blog this year. I will have lots of informaiton on it.

I would like for you to give me some information on you now please. Leave me a comment telling me how you solve problems. Do you like to think awhile about them before you begin to find the solutions? Or are you more spontaneous and like to just jump in and try to solve it immediately?

Leave your comments in the comment section below.

http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/ Please refer to the attached website and do the work as follows:

List the 26 brightest stars.

Look up three constellations and give the following information for each:

Abbreviation

Translation

Stars used in the Constellation

Also look it up on the Star Chart to see what it looks like.

Matter is anything that has mass and takes up space. There are three states of matter: solids, liquids and gases. Draw a picture of the three states on your notes after writing "Objective 3 - Structures and Properties of Matter" for your next heading. If you run out of paper, just get another sheet of copy paper and continue. The pictures should show a solid with the particles very close together. The liquid should be a bit farther apart, and the gas particles will be spread out.

All matter is made up of atoms, Atoms are the smallest particle of matter. You will now scroll down this BLOG until you find the section titles "Atomic Structure" and the video with Hope, Clay and Mandy leading our atom cheer. Click on the video that reads "Atomic Structure Models2.avi". After that please take a sheet of notebook paper and complete the quiz above that of the atomic structure. Turn that into your substitute.

You will watch the other videos together at the end of class.

All systems are made up of different parts, such as an ecosystem or an organism. Living organisms are made up of cells. Some organisms are single-celled and some are multicellular. Plant and animal cells are similar, but not completely the same. Organisms have levels of organization as seen in the attached power point. If all systems of the organism are functioning or working properly, then the organism is balanced or in a state of equilibrium (also referred to as homeostasis). The body has to adjust to different conditions such as sweating when too hot or shivering when too cold. If the organism cannot maintain homeostasis then it will either adapt or die!!!! Just watrching LIFE on TV and there is an alkali fly that has a special adaptation. They live in a very salty lake. Its special adaptation is to create an air bubble around its body so that it can have air while eating the algae underwater. Pretty crazy!!!!!!!!

Now we need to look at the levels or organization within an ecosystem. An ecosystem must include the living (biotic) and nonliving (abiotic) parts of the environment.

An ecosystem is made up of communities of organisms and and their nonliving environment.

A community is made up of different types (populations) of living organisms such as plants and animals interacting in the environment.

A population is made up of a group of the same species living together in the same area.

Look at the following website and list the biomes or ecosystems in your folder. Click on each to make sure you know what they are.

http://library.thinkquest.org/11353/ecosystems.htm

Before leaving this blog, list the levels of organization for cells all the way to the ecosystem in your folder. Also make sure you describe equilibrium and homeostasis.

The nature of science is how you look at the world around you. Science is ever changing so the processes that you use to "figure things out" are very important. These processes can help you decide what to wear, what food to eat and even what car to buy. Learning to work through a problem is very important. We are going to review the scientific process quickly.

Make Observations/Ask Questions

Create a Hypothesis around your Questions (What do you think will happen)

Test your Hypothesis

Make sure to Report your Conclusions (Sometimes this will mean graph the results)

When we try to figure out problems, we must do some testing. Sometimes this testing requires work in the laboratory. Now we are going to review lab safety procedures. Please watch the following video.

When reporting conclusions, often we must use a graph. There are three main types of graphs; pie chart (percentages), bar graph (comparing quantities or amounts of different things) and line graphs (using pairs of numbers like speed and time).