Daily Recap: Tuesday, 9/1

A & P: Test prep day! We went over the first unit's progress report, and briefly discussed what will be on tomorrow's exam. The rest of the period was work time to prepare for the test.

Biology: We read Section 1.3 and completed a "contextual redefinition" worksheet over the key vocabulary.

Construction Update

Work is progressing on the new science rooms at EHS. Last week, crews poured the concrete foundation and floors, and we got the first glimpse of the "footprint" of our new space. Later in the week, they brought in a crane and erected the vertical support beams. This morning, the crane was back, and the roof beams were set in place:

With the skeleton of the new science pod now visible, it's hard not to start getting excited to move into the MUCH NEEDED new space. I'll continue to post updates and photos throughout the project.

Late Friday night, Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-128) lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a 14 day mission to rendezvous with the Internation Space Station (ISS):

Daily Recap: Monday, 8/31

A&P:
We reviewed the major organ systems of the body, covering the major organs and functions of each. After that, there was some work time to begin preparing for Thursday's exam. A new Physio-Phocus was also passed out.

Biology:
We spent most of the period reviewing the 8 characteristics of living things, including learning the mnemonic device "HOG RACER" to help remember them. (Homeostasis, Organization, Growth, Reproduction, Adaptation, Cells, Energy, Response) The rest of the class period was work time to get started on the section and chapter assessment exercises from Chapter 1.

In which I make worthless excuses...

I'm sorry that the posting has been slow for these first couple of weeks back. It's taken me a little longer to get "into the groove" than I thought it would...but I'm trying. I'm sorry to disappoint the one or two of you that actually check out this blog once in awhile.

I thought I'd give you a heads-up on the different regular features that you can expect here this semester:
Mondays: Weekend update...anything important that happened over the weekend
Tuesdays: Readers response/Ask Mr. Magette...I'll be soliciting your questions opinions on these days
Wednesdays: "Mystery M"...I had a lot of fun with this last year, so we'll do it again
Thursdays: Reading list/Blogroll...what I'm reading online and in print
Fridays: Friday's Final Four...the top four news stories of the week

In addition to these weekly features, I'll continue some of the other successful postings from last year. Look for the "daily recap" each afternoon, and also look for more guest posts throughout the school year.