Circulation Going 'Round the Nation

Today my 7th graders did a lab activity involving the circulatory system.  This activity involved a large circle of red tape being placed on the floor.  Every single class that entered our classroom made some comment about the tape, "Mrs. B, what's the tape for?"  Both of us thought it would be kind of fun to mess with them, so we said, "Oh, the blob died in here last night and that's the left over crime tape they put down."  Not very many kids believed us. 

Some other students decided they needed to "follow the red brick road" or skirt around it never touching it.  An 8th grader yelled at one of his classmates who was walking only on the red tape, "You're not doing the straight line test, so get off!"  Quite a few of them wanted to know if the tape was for their class, and some of the 8th graders were even sad that it wasn't for them.

However, the 8th graders have been able to do some cool stuff with baking soda and vinegar.  Since the two items react together, they're supposed to wear safety goggles.  Apparently the 7th graders think mud and filters are dangerous because a whole bunch of the guys were wearing those safety goggles as they did our filtration experiment today (modeling a kidney). 

The 8th graders did an activity involving rolling marbles down a ramp.  While they were doing this, I had the chance to supervise some of the groups.  Two girls decided they wanted some social time with the teacher and started asking me about my friendship with Kristy (the other student teacher and classmate of mine at this school).  The girls had seen us arrive at school and walk into the teacher's lounge together, so they assumed we're best friends.  When I said we were friends, one said, "Yes! I knew it!" The other said, "Yeah, they go to the same school."  I said, "We even drive here together in the morning."  One of the girls commented, "That's so great! You get to spend time together and it's efficient!"  Somehow we got talking about Kristy's wedding and they wanted to know if her husband was cute and if he treated her well and what her colors were at her wedding.  Once they knew that they started talking about their favorite colors and what they'd want for their weddings, and I decided it was about time we got back to talking about science.  Whew! Those 8th grade girls are something else.