Thunder Cake

What's Schoolin'?

What an appropriate book to end our semester of personal narratives during Spring Thunderstorm Season!!  I just finished making about 30 "Thunder Cakes" (chocolate cupcakes) to share during our last class as we have a Read Around.  Fresh strawberries on top will make it even more special.  Hint:  there is a recipe at the end of the book.

Patricia Polacco is one of my favorite authors to break through reluctant writers.





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Apologia Biology Module 16

What's Schoolin'?

Wow, we made it through the entire Apologia Biology textbook with my 9th graders!!  Here are some resources for the last module...

We watched these videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4Xrq_xCC50

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOlGsH-ZpOo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPihrBlReXQ

Bird Beak Experiment ~ I did a combination of 2 different experiments:
http://www.education.com/science-fair/article/brilliant-bird-beeks/

http://it.pinellas.k12.fl.us/Teachers3/gurianb/files/8041AE1EF3B946ABB522A47B70C43974.pdf

Online interactive activities and quizlet quiz:
http://www.e-learninglinks.com/science/biology_apologia_vocabulary.htm

For their last module test I simplified the test and they had to learn the common characteristics for each class and the 7 vocabulary words from the study guide (closed book).

Other resources:

http://homeschoolersresources.blogspot.com/2011/05/biology-module-16-reptiles-birds-and.html

https://mindfulramblings.com/2011/05/09/apologia-biology-module-16/

We also did a cricket experiment which had absolutely nothing to do with the module but we had some time for extra labs.  We just did the towel part and then tested potato vs apple:
http://www.education.com/science-fair/article/cricket-behavior/

I hope to take a few pictures of some of their lab notebooks to upload.  They filled them a little over half-way and used graph (or quadrille) sewn notebooks (composition notebooks with squares).

It turned out to be a wonderful Biology year.  Hopefully these posts will help others track down resources and save time... and remind me later of the resources I need also!! :)

Lyme Disease Awareness Month!

May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month!

I'm kicking it off with this informational flyer from LymeDisease.org

https://www.lymedisease.org/get-ready-for-lyme-disease-awareness-month/