We have started discussing bringing animals into the classroom. As a class, each group is brainstorming appropriate reptiles, fish, birds, and mammals. I’ve had to reject some of the ideas (elephants, attack dogs, anacondas). Students are choosing based on available space, difficulty in maintanence, allergies, feeding requirements, interactivity, distraction quotient, and several other critieria.Before anything is brought into the classroom, I will send out a notice so that parents can get involved (especially if there are allergies or other factors). This will lead into building several environments - aquatic and vivariums.

ATTTENTION PARENTS!!!!!!This is an assignment for you. Please download this file. Take a few minutes to fill out the worksheet. When you are done, please e-mail it to me. Due date is Monday.

We are coming to the end of our first week of school. I just don’t have words for how impressed I am with the students in my science classes. We’ve had some spirited discussions and remained courteous. We are beginning to form a true learning community. This is going to be a great year.We have started a unit on microorganisms, plant and animal cells with a webquest covering the use of microscopes and slide preparation. We’ll be collecting samples outside to investigate in addition to the prepared slides I have. We are using this website - http://www-pbm.stjohns.k12.fl.us/teachers/jacobsd/microscope_webquest This will lead us into a unit on classification, which takes us into rocks and minerals.