Nervous System: Brain

This sheep brain includes the cerebrum, cerebellum, and brain stem!

Excretory/Urinary System: Kidneys

Kidneys filter the blood.

This is a pig kidney with a ureter attached.

Circulatory System: Heart, Blood Vessels, and Blood

Making Blood...

• Start with plasma (represented by yellow food coloring + water)
• Add red blood cells (cheerios soaked in red food coloring + water)
• Notice what happened to the color of blood!
• Add white blood cells (white marshmellows)
• Add platelets (tiny pieces of a peppermint marshmellow)
• Notice how sticky the platelets are!

Pig Heart Dissection...

The heart is made up of cardiac tissue. We looked at the structure of the heart: right atrium, left atrium, right ventricle, left ventricle, aorta, and vena cava. We also discussed the function of the heart and the function of valves in the heart.

Human Body: Moving Through the Digestive Tract

Did you know that the whole digestive tract can measure 914 cm when stretched out!?

Human Body: Digestion in the Stomach

Test Tube 1: Pepsin

Test Tube 2: Hydrochloric Acid

Test Tube 3: Gastric Juices (Pepsin + Hydrochloric Acid)

Egg whites were placed in all three test tubes. 

Test tubes were heated to body temperature, 37 degrees Celsius. 

Human Body: Bones!

You can even see the spongy part of the bone!

Genetics: Strawberry DNA Extraction Lab

Chemistry: Mentos, Sprite, Tempera Paint

Cells: Mitosis

Cells: Shrink Film Art

Seventh graders taught fifth and K-4 students that cells are essential to life. They also discussed the structures and functions of animal and plant cells.

Cells: Photosynthesis and Cellular Respiration - Gumdrop Chemical Equations

Photosynthesis

• Plants use light energy (for example sunlight) to combine carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O) to make simple sugars (C6H12O6).  
• Plant cells also release oxygen gas (O2).  
• Once the sugars are formed, they are either used by the plant or stored in the vacuoles.  
• Photosynthesis occurs in the chloroplasts.

Respiration

 

• All organisms, including plants and animals, break down simple sugars (C6H12O6) into carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O) and release energy.  
• The cell uses the energy to build, repair, and reproduce cells.  
• Respiration occurs in the mitochondria of cells.

Cells: Osmosis

Osmosis is the diffusion of water across a membrane.

Gummy Bear

(The gummy bear hibernated in water over night)

Cells: Diffusion

Diffusion is one way in which materials (for example molecules of sugar or water) move across the cell membrane. It occurs as materials are moved from an area of higher concentration to an area of lower concentration.

Strip of Fabric, Sharpies, and Rubbing Alcohol

Chemistry: WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

WHY IS CHEMISTRY IMPORTANT TO YOU?  <<< Click here to find out!

Chemistry: Martha Paige's Study Guide for Chemistry

This may be helpful to some of you for our mid-term exam in December. 

Thanks for sharing your study guide Martha Paige!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1P0PNh4ZZo62cHHuG6YKOiSw3EMVEJAbADl6r6l2pL3w/pub

Chemistry: Vocabulary for Flashcards

Chemistry: Baking Soda + Phenolphthalein & Water + Calcium Chloride

1. Add phenolphthalein & water mixture to baking soda -- color change (it turned magenta because baking soda is a base)
2. Add calcium chloride -- temperature change (mixture became really warm), formation of gas (bag expanded) , color change (changed back to white from magenta)

Chemistry: Dry Ice

Physical Change: Change in State of Matter

When a substance changes directly from a gas to a solid 

(example: the forming of frost from water vapor) 

or from a solid to a gas (examples: dry ice, solid air fresheners) 

it is considered a change of state and is called sublimation. 

This is still a physical change because the composition of the substance remains 

the same.

Chemistry: Limewater + Carbon Dioxide

Chemical Change: Formation of a Precipitate

When two solutions are combined, they may form a solid substance.

This solid substance is called a precipitate and indicates that a chemical change has occurred.

When carbon dioxide is combined with aqueous calcium hydroxide 

(limewater), solid calcium carbonate (chalk) is formed as the precipitate. The 

precipitate may be in the form of very small particles, appearing as cloudiness in the 

solution or as a solid which settles to the bottom of the container.

Chemical Equation:

Ca(OH)2 + CO2 → CaCO3+ H2O

(Limewater + Carbon dioxide → Calcium carbonate + water)

Chemistry: Burning Sugar

Physical Changes:

Change in State of Matter

When a substance changes from one state of matter to another and the

composition remains the same.

1. Started as a solid sugar cube
2. Melted into a liquid state
3. Cooled and returned to solid state