Science Department

Science Department

Science News and Announcements

Pershing
Science
2009-10

The Pershing Science Department Cookbook Fundraiser!

What students will sell: Countertop Cooking Cookbook
Cost: $10 per cookbook
Science Department Earns: $4.00 per cookbook
When: November 16 - December 13

The Science Department is currently selling copies of the Countertop Cooking Cookbook. (This cookbook has different recipes than the ones we have sold in past years.) Money earned will pay for science materials and technology for your child’s classroom. The fundraiser ends on December 13th.

Please note, as with all fundraisers, participation is optional.

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October, 2009

7th grade science students recently video-conferenced with the Bill Gerwick lab at Scripps Research Institute. They got to speak with post-graduates who are doing active research. Their lab's work involves gathering cyanobacteria/algae samples from the world's tropical oceans and then trying to isolate new chemical compounds that may show medicinal promise. Their work ties in perfectly with what our students are learning about the clinical trial process since they do pre-clinical work. Students got to hear about the sample collection process and how they process the samples back in the lab and what happens if/when they do discover something of promise. (There has been a compound that was discovered in this lab about 6 years ago that shows promise in stopping bloodflow to tumors. More recently a compound was discovered in an adjoining lab that is currently in phase II human trials for treating cancer.)

This was an interactive conference so students got to pose questions to the scientists about their personal/college life, their work in the lab and the clinical trial process. We are very fortunate that these scientists are willing to take time out of their day to do this.

*SKYPE is the free application that allowed us to do the conference.

Pershing Science
2008-09

8th Grade Science Fair Season ROCKED!

The following is a letter adapted for our website from Principal Sullivan to the faculty, staff, and administrators at Pershing about the 2009 8th Grade Science Fair Exhibition. We wanted to share her message with you. We thank Principal Sullivan for giving her permission to use it!

Dear Colleagues,

The Eighth Grade Science Fair Exhibition on January 28th was awesome! It was the kind of day that shows us all that our work does make a difference. And it makes visible our beliefs about what it means to educate and prepare children for adulthood.

Student accomplishments like we saw yesterday result from a tremendous amount of work over a long period of time by many, many people. The big picture is we are an extraordinary team that so knows how to work together to support children in becoming thinkers, writers, experimenters, doers, persuaders and good citizens. Our sixth and seventh grade colleagues delivered extremely well prepared students into the care of our eighth grade colleagues and each teacher of eighth graders continued our relentless insistence that all of our children can and will achieve. In particular, the dedication and thoroughness of our eighth grade science team - Mrs. Kellie Marcarelli, Mrs. Susan Benson, Mr. Lance Justice, Mrs. Jacque Montague and Mr. Norm Negus - is such an example to the rest of us. Their work is a strong reminder of the impact that daily dedication and determined follow-through have on the lives of children. The potential of children can only be transformed into actual accomplishments through the hard work of adults. The pattern of student achievement, such as we saw yesterday, is the result of a pattern of staff achievement. Kudos to each and every one of us for keeping our focus on contributing our best to all our students, regardless of the moment and particulars of curricular focus.

Mrs. Linda Lotze’s administrative support also deserves special mention. She reached out into the community and brought in an incredible, appreciative audience (and cookies). You can imagine the buzz out there now that so many different people have seen our culture in action.

By the way, I just checked our literacy and mathematics benchmark results this morning, and it is ever so clear that Pershing Rocks!

What a grand fall semester!

Sarah Sullivan

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Congratulations to the entire Pershing Community for such an outstanding Science Fair season! We are so proud of you and your hard work and dedication to this wonderful academic program.

165 of our 8th grade projects advanced to the Greater San Diego Science and Engineering Fair's Regional Screening, which was held on February 11th and 12th. At that competition, over 100 Pershing projects were chosen to compete at the Greater San Diego Science and Engineering Fair (GSDSEF) on April 1st. This was an amazing accomplishment for our school considering the GSDSEF only allows approximately 800 middle and high school student projects from throughout San Diego county to compete at this rigorous level. Congratulations!

The 2009 Greater San Diego Science and Engineering Fair

San Diego State's Cox Arena was the place to be on April 2, 2009, as many of San Diego's best middle and high school science students were honored at the GSDSEF Awards Ceremony. Pershing students accepted 13 first, 39 second, 35 third, and 17 fourth place honors as well as the prestigious Junior Sweepstakes Runner-up Award. Several of our students also earned Professional Society Awards from the following organizations: Hillcrest-Mission Valley Lions Club, Kiwanis Club of Grantville, San Diego Psychological Association, San Diego Nutrition Council, Association of Women in Science, Water Reuse Association - San Diego Chapter, and the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society - San Diego Chapter.

The 58th Annual California State Science Fair

Several of our students were selected to compete at the 58th Annual California State Science Fair (May 18-19, 2009). Only 1,000 middle and high school students from the entire state were invited to compete at this esteemed competition and we are very proud that Pershing was well represented at the 2009 event. With so many students competing from throughout the state and only a few awards given, it is very difficult to earn an award at the State Science Fair. We are very excited to share that Pershing students earned several awards including:

3rd Place in Behavioral and Social Sciences - Jr. Division
Clinical Chemistry Award - Jr. Division
Science Buddies Clever Scientist Award

Congratulations to our students, administrators, faculty, staff, parents, and our entire school community who together make the Pershing Science Fair program a grand success!

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7th Grade iVIE Competition

April, 2009 - From the 7th Grade Science Team - "Students have been working hard researching and creating videos about topics related to cell biology and infectious disease. In this project, students were asked to almost completely take over the inquiry-based process of science. They were asked to choose their own topic, research it and decide for themselves what message needed to be relayed to the audience about their topic. We have submitted 11 of our 7th grade videos to the local video competition called iVIE. iVIE stands for "Innovative Video in Education" and it is an annual competition that recognizes student-produced videos that help students meet standards. It is very competitive! Of all videos submitted, only a few are nominated in each category. The categories we entered were Math/Science, Broadcast Journalism, PSA and Documentary. All nominated videos will be announced on April 29th. All nominated videos will be shown at the Ultrastar theatres from 9:00am to 5:pm on Saturday, May 9,2009 - located at 12905 El Camino Real. We will let you know if any Pershing videos receive a nomination!”

May, 2009 - Congratulations to the 7th grade iVIE Film Finalists!! The iVIE program is a county-wide program that recognizes innovative videos in education. This year there were over 275 entries submitted from around the county. Pershing has four nominees in two different categories this year! In the 6-8 grade Science and Math category, the Pershing videos are "Fight the Bite" and "Flu Attacks". "Tick Irwin" and "West Nile Virus Report" will represent Pershing in the category of Special Achievement. We are extremely proud of these students and their projects and wish them luck in the competition.

Winning videos will be announced at an Academy Awards style show on Thursday June 9, 2009 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at the San Diego Civic Theatre. All nominated and winning videos will be posted following these events at www.ivieawards.org.

June, 2009 - Congratulations to our four teams of Pershing 7th Grade Science students who competed at the 2009 iVIE awards! All four teams of Pershing students earned awards at this year's competition, which was held at the San Diego Civic Theatre on June 9, 2009. The evening's festivities were emceed by Kathleen Bade from Fox 5 News San Diego.

In the 6-8 Math/Science Category, Pershing won two of the four awards given in this category. The winning videos were "Fight the Bite" and "Flu Attacks". Two other Pershing videos won Special Achievement Awards - "Tick Irwin" won for Special Achievement in Creative Story Telling and "West Nile Virus Report" earned Special Achievement in Field Reporting.

Science Department Overview

Sixth grade students study science for 80 minutes per day during the spring semester. Seventh and eighth grade science is a 80-minute daily class that lasts the entire school year.

The course work is taught with significant use of technology. In 2005/2006, the district included Pershing in a grant, Enhancing Science Education Through Technology (ESETT). ESETT uses sixth, seventh, and eighth grade middle school Science classrooms as the setting where students and their teachers utilize technology-based learning strategies in support of the district-adopted science curriculum. Science is an optimal choice for technology integration. The teaching approaches (i.e., connections with real time data and natural phenomena) that are used in contemporary science curriculum and instruction are conducive to the integrated use of technology. For more information about the ESETT project, see: http://edtech.sandi.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=201&Itemid=300

All science students maintain an academic notebook. The notebook is a structured method for recording notes, writing up labs and activities and supporting reasoning through the collection of evidence and observations. It is also a method to extend learning through personal interest and is an important strategy for developing the habits of mind that give student ownership of the ideas and concepts studied.

Pershing students are required to conduct a Science Fair project. The Pershing Science Fair supports all students in the learning of both academic and workplace skills. Academically, it gives students the opportunity to think like a scientist - to ask a question and do some initial thinking. It requires students to take notes, refine the question, research it, design a test and follow through with the testing process, keep records in a notebook, evaluate the testing using a sample of significant size, control variables, make sense of the data, reconcile the results with their understanding of Science content, explain the results in writing, represent the data, write up the full process including a research paper, and finally to present the project visually and orally. The Science Fair requirement also prepares students for the world of work by requiring the student to accomplish parts of the project throughout the fall semester, to meet a series of deadlines and to persuade a panel that the project has merit. Project management is an important workplace skill.

We require Science Fair projects from all our students in all grades believing that through this structured opportunity many children will learn that they are capable of rigorous thinking and work. We think of the Science Fair as an opportunity to find oneself as a student, to identify as a thinker and to come to see oneself as eligible for scientific and engineering careers. The project is a critical element of our GATE curriculum and provides all students the opportunity to extend learning far beyond the curriculum.

Sixth Grade Science is a hands-on/minds-on class. Earth Science is the major topic studied. Sub-topics include plate tectonics, earth systems, the forces that shape and reshape the earth’s surfaces, and the sources of energy for the earth. The Earth Science focus is a great preface to the work students will study in the spring with geography.

Seventh Grade Science & Technology is a hands-on, thought-provoking class focused on Life Science. Topics include cell biology, genetics, earth and life history, structures and functions of living systems, and physical principles of life systems. Teachers use experiments and simulations as well as readings and other media to enrich learning. Computer based technology is used regularly to make students computer literate through the science curriculum.

Eighth Grade Science curriculum is based on California ’s state standards. Physical Science is the main topic studied. Sub-topics include motion, forces, reactions, density, buoyancy, the periodic table, the structure of matter, and earth in the solar system. Students are expected to learn many computer programs and use other classroom technological applications. They will have opportunities to integrate scientific questioning skills, conduct evidence collection, and prepare formal summaries by working as individuals and teams on laptops in the classroom. Students are also taught a two-week course of Sexual Education.

More Information:

San Diego Unified School Course Description:

Science: http://studata.sandi.net/cos/pdf/Science.pdf

For information on Pershing's GATE program, please click here.