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Email Updates Science – Vol. 5- Number 7 – March 20, 2011
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Greetings from Mr. Brewer,
You are receiving this mass email because either you are a student or the parent/guardian of a student in one my Seventh Grade Science classes at Eckstein Middle School.
In this mailing you will find:
1). What have we been doing in the last few weeks?
2). What will we be doing in the next few weeks?
3). The Human Body Research Project – Reminder
4). Please Welcome Our Student Teacher – Amber Robison
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1). What have we been doing in the last few weeks?
We will spend the rest of the year focusing on the Human Body System. We began by examining the digestive system. We have investigated how the digestive system works, breaks down foods into molecules that the body can use, and information about how these molecules are incorporated into energy for the body.
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2). What will we be doing in the next few weeks?
We will begin investigating how the digestive system links to the respiratory system and how this relates to respiration in general by defining the differences between cellular respiration and photosynthesis. We will examine the circulatory system. We will have the opportunity to feel a sheep heart so that we could learn how the most important muscle in our body — the heart — looks and works. We will focus our attention to the importance of the circulatory system and how it affects our overall health.
We will examine how the field of bioengineering makes it possible to better treat heart diseases. We will simultaneously be examining the importance of how health effects the ability of the heart to function effectively.
At the end of this unit students will have the opportunity to try their own expertise at developing an alternative blood vessel in much the same way that a bioengineer would test common materials. Students will write their results in a formal lab.
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3). The Human Body Research Project – Reminder
The Human Body Research Project is up and running. Students are expected to present at Science Night May 5, 2011. An alternative assignment will be given to those students that are not able to attend closer to the actual date.
Have you started yet? If yes, keep on working. If not, better get started!
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4). Please Welcome Our Student Teacher – Amber Robison
I have agreed to welcome a student teacher in the classroom for the remainder of the year. Please welcome Amber Robison into the class. She will work with me to make any and all transitions as smooth as possible and allow me to focus energies into assisting and improving the existing curriculum.
Here is a letter that Ms. Robison has created for your information:
“Greetings 7th grade families!
My name is Amber Robison and I’ve started student teaching this semester for Mr. Brewer’s science classes. The last month I’ve been doing a lot of classroom observations and getting to know your children as students. As it gets closer to the end of the school year I will take an increasingly active role in each class including teaching, grading and classroom management as I work towards my teaching certification.
My background includes several years of informal science education with K-8th grade students. I’ve taught summer camps at both Woodland Park Zoo and the Pacific Science Center, as well as I spent a year teaching environmental science in Massachusetts with AmeriCorps. The last three years I’ve worked in research with nonhuman primates studying reproduction and infant behavior, and in my spare time I’ve volunteered in wildlife rehabilitation and with the orangutans at the zoo.
I graduated in 2006 from the University of Washington with a B.S. in Biology, and I will be graduating at the end of summer 2011 with my Master’s in Teaching from Western Washington University.
The students at Eckstein have been very welcoming and I look forward to teaching and learning with your children for the remainder of the school year. Please feel free to contact me with any questions at arrobison and I hope to meet you all at Science Night in May!
Sincerely,
Amber Robison”
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