7th-8th Grade Science: Week of June 1-4

Hello,
Well, I hope you had a safe and relaxing Memorial Day weekend. We'll watch a film on the evidence for evolution tomorrow and wrap up our unit on Wednesday. Thursday will be spent moving school furniture/equipment into storage for next year. I really enjoyed being your teacher this year. I sincerely will miss all of you. See you tomorrow,

-Mr. Pfiester

Biology: June 1-4

Hello,
Well I hope you had a relaxing Memorial Day weekend. Our custodian has been instructed to hold all of Tuesday's garbage for us to study! On Wednesday, using gloves, we will analyze what the Xavier secondary community is throwing out. Tuesday we will contact local recycling agencies to find out how much recyclables are actually worth and discuss Wednesday's work. I'll be collecting your Biology textbooks all week- last day to turn them in is on Friday. Thursday will be spent moving furniture/science equipment out of the school and into the storage container. Have a great last week of school!

-Mr. Pfiester

7th-8th Grade Science: Week of May 24-28

Hello,
For those who want to work further on the Mystery Class travel brochures tonight, here are the guidelines for each panel:
Panel 1: "Welcome to [Insert Mystery Class location]"
Panel 2: Introduction to Mystery Class location, including latitude and longitude and include a simple map of the location (either regional, national, or world map).
Panel 3: Include a description of climate, vegetation, people, wildlife, foods, culture, currency, history, and/or language. You need to include 3 descriptions here. You also need to include a minitiarized Mystery Class Photoperiod Graph with a few sentences that describes that is happening.
Panel 4: Other selling points. What else is interesting about this Mystery Class location?

We are losing class time on Thursday (Spring Showcase) and Friday (substitute- I'm out that day). We will continue our discussion of the factors that are necessary for natural selection to function. There is no homework for this week,
-Mr. Pfiester

7th-8th Grade Science: Week of May 17-21

Hello,
It is hard to believe that we only have three weeks of school left; the year sure has flown by quickly. Due to the musical production of Aida this week (and requests by students and Mrs. J) there will be no homework assigned. We'll continue with our study of Charles Darwin and his observations and discoveries (in part by reading his book "The Voyage of the Beagle") that later led to the development of the theory of evolution. Have a great week,

-Mr. Pfiester

Biology: Week of May 17-21

Hello,
We have only three weeks of school left; the year flew by so fast. Especially with the musical production this week of Aida, there is no homework assigned. Most of the week is dedicated to parlimentarian debates. See the week's schedule below:
Monday, May 17- Tuesday, May 18: Debate groups will conduct Internet-based research relevant to their topics and position (pro or con)
Wednesday, May 19- Thursday, May 20: We'll conduct two debates per day to cover the four debates.
Friday, May 21: Guest speaker(s) from the College of Southern Idaho will talk about their recycling work and discuss how we can promote recycling here at Xavier (with is at a very low rate currently). The lecture will most likely be during 5th period, so I'll request that teachers allow the 7th period class be released to attend the lecture.

Have a great week,
-Mr. Pfiester

7th-8th Grade Science: Week of May 10-14

Hello,
Sorry for missing last week in adding to the blog. We finished our History of Earth and Lifeforms unit on Monday (most of you earned an excellent grade on the unit test) and have started on the last unit, Evolution. I am of course approaching the unit respecting the conflict that some students may feel regarding the unit. I am in no way demanding that students believe in evolution, but that they carefully consider the evidence. I very much respect and care for ALL of my students. So this week, we'll research the places the Charles Darwin visited on this five-year around the world voyage (and was the basis for much of his later conclusions). Have a great week.

-Mr. Pfiester

Biology: Week of May 10-14

Hello,
We will be finishing up Ch. 3 (The Biosphere) this week so that we may begin our spring bebates. So the schedule is as follows:
Monday, May 10: Powerpoint notes on Section 3: Cycles of Matter (and finish up any Invasive Species presentations).
Tuesday, May 11: Section 3 Assessment Questions DUE (pg. 80, questions 1-5).
Wednesday, May 12: Ch. 3 Practice Test and Review. You must bring your textbook to class (will be counted as a homework grade- an easy 100% for you)
Thursday, May 13: Ch. 3 Test
Friday, May 14: Begin spring debate preparations.

Have a great week,
-Mr. Pfiester