No Bones About It!

SCIENCE
Why didn't the skeleton go to the school dance?
He had no body to go with!!!

The skeletal system was our focus this week as we continued on our journey on the human body systems. This week was full of science stations to include many small lab investigations on the skeletal system. Station 1 was called Keep Your Bones in Shape. We determined that the shape of the bone gives the skeleton a strong support system to carry a body's weight. The students tested three different shapes (triangular, square, and cylinder) made of index cards. We placed books on the index cards to test if the shape did support more or less books. Please ask your child what shape held the most books and why or bones are that shape. Bone is made of MANY layers of tissue. In the compact bone there are circular structures called the Haversian system. This system protects the blood vessels in the center of the bone tissue and keep the bones very strong. To test the Haversian system the students tested straws in a random pattern and straws in a circular pattern. They discovered that the Haversian pattern was much stronger. Station 2, Celebrate Vertebrates and Fight Friction tested the joints, synovial fluid and why our backbones are made of 26 vertebrae instead of one long bone. The 3rd station, Building the Framework recreated a skeleton on paper and applied the scientific name of the bone (humerus) to the picture of the bones.

The stations were a lot of fun and the students enjoyed the wide variety of activities!
We began working with our t-shirts this week. The students were introduced to the idea of wearing their interior body systems on the exterior t-shirts. We will be drawing the body systems on front and back of the shirt. We will continue working on our body system t-shirts on Fridays!

The last activity for the week was Chicken Wing Dissection. Your children had an amazing time dissecting grocery store chicken wings. We observed the dermis, muscles, tendons, ligaments, and bones. This activity really demonstrates that even though the body systems are separate they must work together for the organism to live!

Have a wonderful weekend and tell your children to get ready for more bones and muscles next week!

MATH
This week we reviewed all previous learning from the Data, Statistics, and Graphing Unit. The students worked collaboratively in pairs to analyze data collected during the worm dissection. Then, using this data, they composed test questions which was compiled into a subsequent “team test.” I once heard that a teacher’s ultimate goal is to work him/herself out of a job. Thomas Carruthers put it this way: “A teacher is one who makes himself progressively unnecessary.” I’m happy to report that this week I felt rather unnecessary! YAY! Watching these kids own their learning in this capacity is what every teacher strives for. My soul was definitely fed watching them in action this week.

Next week we move ahead to our final unit of the year – Geometry and Geometric Measurement. I can’t believe how quickly the time has passed as we are embarking on our concluding unit prior to testing! Wow! The geometry learning objectives for 7th grade focus heavily on surface area and volume of 3-dimensinoal figures, as well as the similar and congruent 2-dimensional figures. I look forward to the exciting learning that lies ahead of us!