Community Issue

We have been learning about the three kinds of environmental issues in Science class: population, resource use, and pollution. What is an issue that people in your community care about? Be Specific. Ask someone in your family or a neighbor. What is a possible solution to the problem? Post your answer this week!

Resource Use Around the World

We have learned that different countries around the world use different resources in different ways. What country did you make predictions about? What resource do they use the most? Think back to what you learned about the country to hypothesize why they use that resource the most.
In your answer be sure to name the country, name the resource they use the most (not your prediction), and hypothesize why they use that resource the most.

Owl Pellet Dissection

We just finished dissecting an owl pellet in Science today. The last part of the dissection involved reporting the contents of your pellet to a website which collects all of the data. After analyzing all of the data, answer the following questions as a group.
1.) What type of animal do owls prey on the most?
2.) How could it be helpful to collect this data from schools across the country?

Guess the Legos

We are estimating populations in Science class. One good test is to see if you can guess how many objects are in a container. In my classroom there are Legos in a 1,000 mL. How many do you think are in the jar? Post your answer and you may be the lucky kid that wins the prize - getting to sit in Mr. Honer's desk chair for a class period!

Ecology Questions

You have learned about the factors that can cause a population of organisms to go up and down. You have also learned about the complex relationships that exists between organisms in their environments. Answer the following questions about ecology.
1.) What is the difference between a food web and a food chain?
2.) In the Food Web game you learned about a producer organism called kelp. What might happen to the rest of the food web if a disease suddenly killed most of the kelp?

Krusty Krabs Breath Mints

Read about the following experiment and answer the three questions at the end.

Mr. Krabs created a secret ingredient for a breath mint that he thinks will “cure” the bad breath people get from eating Krabby Patties at the Krusty Krab. He asked 100 customers with a history of bad breath to try his new breath mint. He had fifty customers (Group A) eat a breath mint after they finished eating a Krabby Patty.
The other fifty (Group B) also received a breath mint after they finished the sandwich, however, it was just a regular breath mint and did not have the secret ingredient. Both groups were told that they were getting the breath mint that would cure their bad breath. Two hours after eating the Krabby Patties, thirty customers in Group A and ten customers in Group B reported having better breath than they normally had after eating crabby patties.

1. What is the independent variable?
2. What is the dependent variable?
3. What were some of the control variables?

New Year

Greetings New 6th Graders!
Welcome to your first week at Colonel Richardson Middle School! I know that coming to a new school can be really exciting and even a little frightening! Don't worry. If you just look around, you will see a whole bunch of kids that are in it with you. You don't know it yet but a lot of those new faces will become old friends before you know it!
This year in science we will be learning about Geology, Physics, The Environment, and Ecology. We will be doing experiments in the lab and investigating lots of different science concepts. I can't wait to start!
My question for you is "What are you most excited about for the coming year?" Please respond to this post during this first week.