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Extremely cheesy 1997 commercial for V-8 Splash, a fruit juice blend marketed to young people. The commercial touts its 100% Vitamin A and Vitamin C content, but does not mention other ingredients such as V-8 Commercial Video (commercial) 40, and sucralose. Will be sure to preface that I do not intend to advertise this product. In fact, we are going to take a critical scientific lens to the claim in the comes from V-8"

high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), Red commercial that "You know it's good, because it

It takes a lot of work to find appropriate data for these packets, which means I won't have time to differentiate them. Students of all levels in all classes will receive the same data packets, and some (all) may struggle to interpret some of the data. But I believe struggling to interpret data is a These data packets contain information about four of the key vitamin C, high-fructose corn syrup will supply students with this Data packets compiled from primary and secondary literature Graphs, tables, and articles information in the spirit of the "Document-Based Lesson," after Reisman (2012). valuable experience, and since they are placed in groups of 6-9 students, they will have peers to an effort to include several different tables, text, and even a map. Finally, these are all types of data that 8th graders ought to be able to comprehend for standardized tests and for life as responsible and literate adults.

ingredients in V-8 Splash: vitamin A, help them understand. Furthermore, I have made (HFCS), and Red 40 (food coloring). I representations of data in each packet: graphs,

I was somewhat concerned that my CM would have reservations about allowing the students to use this book, because it's definitely sensitive and just a couple of weeks ago one student "defaced" a new test-prep book after specific instructions not to do so. But she agreed that it is a great learning tool, and everybody used it with respect. The This is a book I found in my CM's classroom, languishing on a pop-ups are fantastic; they're more like working models than simple visuals. There is one page for the digestive system, one for the "Pop-Up Facts: The Human Body" Book (pop-up) circulatory system, and one for the respiratory system. reading level is probably closer to 5-6 than 8, but many of our students are below grade level in the more advanced readers, the pop-ups and the content itself should be engaging enough to avoid boredom. http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/human-bodyricharddungworth/1102213889?ean=9780760793633

bookshelf. It's really beautiful and the reading, so I don't see this as a problem. Even for

I had originally intended for students to copy the drawings into their science notebooks, so I only distributed three copies of the diagram for a station of 10 students. This was a mistake. Students tended to trace the diagrams instead of In keeping with Howard Gardner's I believe that having students draw (or trace) a diagram of each of these Traceable diagrams of the digestive and circulatoryrespiratory systems Handout systems is a valuable way to communicate and internalize knowledge about the human body drawing them, which meant that there were not extra copies, some handouts vanished (presumably students took them, wittingly or unwittingly), and many students did not have an opportunity to finish the tracings in their notebooks. (1983) theory of multiple intelligences, enough copies to go around. Even after I made

This was a book that half of our students (the 3 lower-tracked classes) read recently in their Language Arts class. It centers around the murder trial of a young man named Steve Harmon. Students completed an assignment in which they argued, based on the evidence presented, whether they believed Steve was guilty or innocent. I did not use the book directly, but referred to it several times over the course of the unit to emphasize the importance of citing reliable evidence when engaging in Book (multimodal "Monster" novel) scientific debate (as in historical, literary, or judicial debate). http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/monster-walterdean-myers/1100488550?ean=9780064407311

Links Week 1 (inquiry project into the healthiness of V-8 Splash) to Week 2 (crash-course review of several interrelated biological topics, including food webs and humanThe Omnivore's Dilemma, Young Readers Edition, Chapter 1: How Corn Took Over America Non-fiction chapter is all about corn, in particular how many of our modern foodstuffs are made with corn products. Journalism, not science, but still a great resource. Natural segues into discussions of (1) food chains cycle, (3) natural and artificial selection, and (4) sustainable agriculture. The reading level should be pretty manageable.

environment interactions). Chapter 1 and food webs, (2) photosynthesis and the carbon