Astronomy - Solar System - Review of the Rocky Planets and the Sun

Review the major features of the four rocky planets, particularly what they have in common.

Review the Sun.

Visit the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Planetarium

Earth Science - Meteorology - Forecasting - Barometric Pressure

The Kids' Book of Weather Forecasting by Mark Breen

Discussion:
How barometric pressure relates to weather
Making predictions based on barometric pressure

Activity:
Activities in The Kids' Book...

Earth Science - Review I

The student should be able to label correctly a picture of the Earth, from inner core to crust, including the following: inner core, outer core, mantle, mesosphere, asthenosphere, lithosphere, Moho, crust.

The student should be able to answer the following questions:

How do we know that part of the inside of the Earth is liquid?
What is the composition of the mantle and core?
What is a continental plate?  How have they changed positions over time?
Give four explanations that support plate tectonic theory.
Name five kinds of volcanoes and explain the differences among them.
What types of materials do volcanoes release?
What is the difference between lava and magma?
What are convergence, divergence, and subduction?
What is elastic rebound theory?
What is the difference between primary waves and secondary waves?

Explain how a seismograph works.

The student should be able to reproduce the geologic column and label it correctly, explaining how radioactive decay helps determine numerical age of rock strata.

Plants - Experiments

The student will make a poster presenting one of the plant-based experiments undertaken at the beginning of the unit.  The student can choose which experiment to feature.  The poster should include the following sections of the scientific method:

• Question
• Hypothesis
• Prediction
• Testing
• Analysis
• Conclusion

The poster should have at least two drawings or photographs, depending on the experiment chosen, as well as samples taken from the experiment.

Plants - Final Review

The student should be able to place a list of 50 plants in their correct place on a taxonomic tree.

The student should be able to answer the following questions:
What are the three things all plants need?
What is the word that means that plants convert sunlight to food?
What is chlorophyll?
What does it mean to "fix" nitrogen?
What are annual rings?
What is the difference between a spore and a seed?
What are the four parts of a flower?
What is pollination?  Name some pollinators.
How does a flowering plant reproduce?
Why or how do plants go extinct?
What does cooking do to a plant?
What is an invasive species?  Are there any in our yard?  Why are they a problem?

Plants - Dicots Review II

The student should be able to answer the following questions:
Why does mint spread so fast?
What kinds of Lamiidae plants would you find in your spice rack?
Why are daisies sometimes so different from each other?
What kinds of asters can you eat?
Name some uses of sunflowers.

Take the student outside and identify at least 10 plants from these two groups.

Plants - Dicots Review I

The student should be able to describe the distinguishing characteristics of a dicot.

The student should be able to answer the following questions:
Name one of the oldest dicots (magnolia).
Why do leaves change colors?
What does "deciduous" mean?
Why do some plants eat animals?  How do they do it?
Name some Rosidae plants that we eat.

Take the student outside to identify at least 10 different kinds of Rosidae plants.  Extra credit if the student can distinguish among Rosidae, Hamamelids, and Magnolids.

Plants - Monocots Review

The student should be able to give the distinguishing characteristics of a monocot.

Take the student outside.  The student should correctly identify at least 10 monocots.

The student should be able to answer the following questions:

Name some monocots we eat (banana, ginger, pineapple, grains, palms).
Name some monocots that grow especially well in or near water (sedge, cattail, rush, reed).
What is the purpose of the bulb in the bulb plants?

Plants - Primitive Plants Review

The student should be able to describe and identify basic characteristics of:

• algae
• moss
• clubmoss
• fern
• cycad
• gingko
• conifers

The student should be able to answer the following questions:

How does moss absorb water without roots?

What is lichen?

How do ferns reproduce?

Why are cycads different from conifers?

Why were people surprised to discover gingko?

How can you tell cypress from spruce?

What makes a pine tree different from most other conifers?

Human Anatomy - Reproductive and Skin/Hair/Nails Systems Review

The student should be able to draw and label the following:

• epidermis
• basal dermis layer
• hair follicle
• sebaceous gland
• sodoriferous gland

In the male system:

• testes
• vas deferens
• prostate gland
• Cowper's gland
• urethra
• penis

In the female system:

• vagina
• cervix
• uterus
• fallopian tubes
• ovaries
• lobules
• areola
• milk ducts

The student should be able to answer the following questions: 

Why do we sweat?

Explain what happens if you cut yourself.

What are your nails, hair, and epidermis made of?

Give examples in animals of unusual keratin functions.

Explain the human life cycle.

Name two disorders each of the Reproductive and Skin/Hair/Nails Systems. 

Human Anatomy - Urinary, Lymph, and Endocrine Systems Review

The student should draw and label the following:

• kidneys
• ureter
• urethra
• bladder
• pineal gland
• pituitary gland
• thyroid gland
• parathyroid gland
• adrenal glands
• pancreas
• ovaries
• testes
• hypothalamus
• (locations of largest lymph nodes - groin, neck, armpits)

The student should be able to answer the following questions: 

• How is the female urinary system different from the male?
• How does liquid enter the urinary system?  What do the kidneys do?
• Why do we have bladders?
• Which glands regulate growth?
• What happens when you are suddenly nervous, excited, or scared?
• Why are the ovaries and testes part of the Endocrine System?
• Name a disorder of each system.

Human Anatomy - Nervous and Digestive Systems Review

The student should draw and label the following:

• central nervous system
• brain
• spinal cord
• peripheral nervous system
• autonomic nervous system
• mouth
• tongue
• esophagus
• epiglottis
• stomach
• small intestine
• large intestine
• liver
• pancreas
• spleen
• gall bladder
• rectum 
• anus

Draw and label the following:

• brain: cerebellum, cerebrum, medulla, pons, meninges
• eye: pupil, cornea, retina, iris, optic nerve, lens
• ear: pinna, hammer, anvil, stirrup, cochlea, tympanic membrane

The student should be able to answer the following questions:

• Give examples of experiences in each part of the nervous system (central, peripheral, and autonomic).
• What is a neuron?  
• How do neurons transmit information?
• What are the five senses?  What do they all have in common?
• Explain how food is absorbed into the body.
• Name two disorders each of the nervous and digestive systems.
• How does the epiglottis work?
• What makes the liver unique?

Human Body - Circulatory and Respiratory Systems Review

The student should draw and label the following:

• heart
• carotid artery/jugular vein
• subclavian arteries and veins
• iliac arteries and veins
• femoral arteries/saphenous veins
• axillary and brachial arteries/veins
• trachea
• lungs
• nose 
• nostrils
• bronchi
• pharynx
• larynx
• diaphragm

The student should be able to answer the following:

• Describe how blood flows through the heart, using the correct terms (right/left ventricle, aorta, superior/inferior vena cava, lungs, right/left atrium).
• Why do people need oxygen?
• What does blood do?
• How much blood is inside an adult?
• Name two disorders of the respiratory and two disorders of the circulatory systems.
• What is a hiccup?

Human Body - Skeletal and Muscular System Review

The student should draw the skeletal system and provide the following labels: 

• axial skeleton
• vertebral column
• thoracic cage
• skull 
• frontal bone
• maxilla
• mandible
• appendicular skeleton
• pectoral girdle
• pelvic girdle
• upper limbs
• lower limbs
• scapula
• clavicle
• humerus
• radius
• ulna 
• carpals
• metacarpals
• phalanges
• femur
• patella
• tibia 
• fibula
• tarsals
• metatarsals
• phalanges

The student should now match the muscles to the bones they cover, control, or near to which they are located:

• frontalis
• masseter
• temporalis
• rectus abdominis
• trapezius
• deltoid
• pectoralis
• biceps
• triceps
• external obliques
• extensors
• gluteus maximus
• quadriceps
• peroneus
• gastrocnemius
• soleus

The student should be able to answer the following questions:

• What is the difference between living bone and dead bone?
• How are muscles connected to bones?
• How can you tell a female skeleton from a male?
• Name two muscle disorders and two bone disorders.

Human Anatomy - Circulatory System - Blood Flow

Heart Disease by Johannah Haney

Activity:
Tinker toy replica of the heart, lungs, major arteries and veins - student explains order and direction of blood flow
Draw and label veins, arteries, and parts of the heart

Chordates - Review

Watch any films the student particularly enjoyed during the invertebrates unit.
Re-read any books the student particularly enjoyed during the unit.

Activities:
(over the course of five days)

1. What is the difference between a chordate and a vertebrate? 
2. How are sand dollars like sting rays?
3. Why is the coelacanth important?
4. Name three causes of extinction.
5. Why are pterosaurs and elasmosaurs not dinosaurs?
6. How do amphibians breathe? 
7. Why is a penguin not a ratite?
8. Name two places with unique mammal groups (Madagascar, Australia)
9. Why is a whale an ungulate?
10. [On a piece of paper, recreate the chordate branch up through Aves with the meanings of the scientific names.] Student pastes the correct scientific designations over the meanings, gives examples of each kind of animal.
11. [On a piece of paper, recreate the Aves branch with the meanings of the scientific names.] Student pastes the correct scientific designations over the meanings, gives examples of each kind of animal.
12. [On a piece of paper, recreate the Mammalia branch with the meanings of the scientific names.] Student pastes the correct scientific designations over the meanings, gives examples of each kind of animal.