Click here for the Understanding Volcanoes activity
Click here for the Geologic Time Webquest
Click here for the Tectonic Scavenger Hunt
Click here for the link to the last question on the scavenger hunt
Rocks are made of minerals. We have already learned about Sedimentary Rocks. The sediments that make them up are actually pieces of different minerals. The Berkshires are made up of metamorphic rocks. We will learn more about them later. Click here for notes on Minerals.
Click the minerals to see the websites for the mineral mystery project
Old Material
Sedimentary Rock test on Monday. Click here for the Sedimentary Rocks study guide
Click here to learn about Index fossils and Absolute dating
Soil Test tomorrow. Click here for study guide!
Our new unit is Climate. We learned that weather is the daily conditions of the atmosphere...raining, snowing, humid. We learned that climate is the average weather over a period of thirty years. Climates can be wet, dry, seasonally hot and cold. We are just finding out what factors affect climate. We determined that latitude affects climate with warmest temperatures at the equator. We also learned that this is true due to direct rays of sunlight, and that the Earth is actually farthest from the Sun in the summer. Click on Seasons below to see why the Earth's tilt, and not our distance from the sun, is responsible for seasons.
We also learned about the Greenhouse effect and how it keeps our planet warm.
Quiz on Wed. October 22nd
Click here to learn about seasons.
Click for Greenhouse scavenger page.
Click here for the Climate Scavenger Hunt
Click here for the Latitude Lab.
Click here to go to the Weather Channel
Click here to go to zipinfo.com
TEST ON TUESDAY, OCT. 7
Click here for study guide
Welcome to the seventh grade web page. On this page you will find useful information about the topic we are currently discussing. You should find useful links, instructions for projects and assignments, and study guides for tests and quizzes. I look forward to another wonderful year with you!!!
The Berkshires has been experiencing wonderful weather since school began. We have taken advantage of the great weather by going outside to learn about our current unit on ecology. Some important vocabulary terms can be found below. We chose three different locations around the schoolyard to investigate. We explored the hill near the upper soccer field, the woods along the fitness trail and the pond beside the lower soccer field. The students were asked to collect various examples of living and non-living things in these areas, and made posters of their findings. They also were asked to come up with questions about each location, and submit a few to professors who participate at the links below. So far we have received 5 responses!
During the third and fourth week, we have studied how energy moves throughout an ecosystem. We have practiced making food chains and food webs. You can find interactive online food web activities on my Cool Links page (see link at top of page).
Click here for the Eco-scavenger hunt due on Monday.
Click here for the endangered species of the world project
Click here for Ecology Vocabulary terms.
Click here for classification worksheet
Student Questions
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Hill
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Woods
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Pond
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Why is grass green? Why are some leaves larger than others? How do weeds grow? How do hills form? Why were there a few large rocks in the field and no small ones? What kind of insect made the exoskeleton that we found? Are there more than one type of grasshopper on the hill? How do mushrooms grow? When bugs shed their exoskeletons, why don't they break apart? Why do less tree roots show above ground on the hill? Is a pinecone a nut? Why are different berries different colors? Why do leaves die, but not the tree? What is the powdery stuff on a moth? Why do the trees grow in clumps on the hill instead of single trees? |
How many types of trees are there in our woods? Why is there more litter in the woods than the other two locations? There were lots of ferns in the woods, but none at the pond or the field. Why do ferns thrive in the woods? Why does fungus grow on logs? How do salamanders keep from getting crushed under fallen trees? If there were less trees in the woods, woul?d the branches be lower? Why was one part of the stream flowing, but the other part dry? Is the soil in the woods better for growing trees than on the hill? How much water do mushrooms need to grow? How does lichen stick to trees? How many different types of poisonous berries can be found in our woods? How do the houses in the area affect the growth of the trees in the vacinity? Are there poisonous mushrooms on the hill? Why are there so many different kind of trees in the woods? Why not just one kind? Why do birch buds taste minty? How many termites make up a colony |
How deep is the pond? How do spiders spin webs between two objects? We saw giant grass by the pond. Why does it grow so much taller than regular grass? Can turtles come out of thier shells? Will global warming cause our pond to shrink? Do reeds grow anywhere other than near ponds? Can water bugs fly? Can tree roots grow under ponds? Why are flowers different colors from other flowers? What is a spider web made out of? How do leaves, sticks and plants rot? Why do cattails grow in the water and not out? We found flowers that closed up when we brought them inside overnight. Why did this happen? |
