October 14, 2012

October 14, 2012

October 14, 2012

What a dreary fall weekend this was.  Hopefully the sun comes out before it's over!

Events of the Past Week

Tuesday - We spent class working on a lab working with the metric system on Tuesday. The students practiced measuring length, volume, and mass, and then converting their measurements into different metric units.  This took most of the class period to complete.  For homework, the students were to complete the prelab portion of the metric system lab, which had them converting more units in the metric system.

Wednesday - I collected the metric system lab from the students, and then introduced them to how to write numbers in scientific notation.  They were then given one last metric system practice worksheet.  When they finished that worksheet, they were given some practice scientific notation problems.  For homework, they completed problems 1 through 4 on that sheet.

Thursday - We began class by checking the metric system worksheet and problems 1 through 4 on the scientific notation worksheet for accuracy.  After taking a little bit of time for questions on those two assignments, we began a lab called "Measuring With the Microscope."  The students first determined the diameter of their field of view in millimeters under the microscope by looking at a ruler.  They then calculated the diameter of their high power field of view.  Once the diameters of their field of view were determined, the  students had to convert the diameters they determined into micrometers.  Following this, the size of five different objects were determined by looking at them under the microscope.  For homework, the students completed questions 5 and 6 in their scientific notation packet.

Friday - The students were introduced to graphing using Microsoft Excel at the beginning of class.  Then, they were allowed time to finish measuring objects under the microscope. Most groups had about 1 or 2 objects to finish looking at, and a few analysis questions to finish answering.  Then, they were given time to begin graphing four different data sets on Excel, and answering questions about those data sets.  For homework over the weekend, they were to complete any graphs that had not been completed.

Upcoming Events

Monday - We will review for our test on the metric system, microscope, scientific notation, and graphing.  The students will look at crossed threads under the microscope and also complete a review packet for the test.  Homework will be to study for the test.  The answer key to the review sheet is available at www.mrgraba.net on the accelerated biology 1st semester worksheets page.

Tuesday - The class periods are shortened on Tuesday due to the late start, so the students will only be given the multiple choice portion of the test on the metric system, the microscope, scientific notation, and graphing.  They will probably want to spend a little time studying for the short answer portion of the test on Wednesday.

Wednesday - The students will take the short answer portion of the test on Wednesday.  The students will be given 35-40 minutes to complete this portion of the test.  When everyone is done, the students will be introduced to their organelle campaign projects that I described on open house night.  The students will be shown some examples of some of the projects from last year, and be given the expectations for the project.  They will also pick their organelles out of a hat.  There will be no homework for Wednesday night.

Thursday - The students will be given the day to plan and work on their projects.  The project is done in pairs, so the students will need to start assigning parts of the project to each other to complete each night.

Friday - We will spend the day looking at plant and animal cells under the microscope.  The students will look at their own cheek cells as an animal cell example, then onion cells, and then cells from an aquatic plant called Elodea.  Homework will be to work on their organelle projects over the weekend.

Graba Geek of the Week

This week's Geek of the Week goes to Sarah Brand, who has become so good at finding objects under the microscope that she was helping groups around the class find their objects when they were struggling.  Thank you, Sarah, and good work!

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