March 31, 2013

March 31, 2013

March 31, 2013

Hopefully all of your children had a restful, relaxing spring break and are ready to start 4th quarter with renewed energy!

Events of the Past Week

Monday - I began class by collecting the homework from over the weekend, then lectured for about 15 minutes on spontaneous generation and biogenesis.  The students were then given a radioactive dating activity to begin working on. 

Tuesday - I was gone on Tuesday at a conference.  The students watched a video on from the NOVA series "Origins."  However, my directions for the substitute were not clear enough and the wrong video was shown.  That was my fault, so we watched the correct video on Friday.

Wednesday - We completed the radioactive dating activity, and I lectured to the students about the age of the earth.  For homework, the students needed to complete the questions in the radioactive dating lab.

Thursday -  The students completed an ACT style passage related to evolution on Thursday.  They also had a reading to do on Alexandre von Humboldt.  For homework, they were to tell me about a place they liked to explore growing up.

Friday - We watched a video from the NOVA "Origins" series that explains some of the hypotheses for how the first organic compounds may have arrived or been formed on our planet.  Homework, that will be due the Tuesday after we get back from break, is to complete a study guide that goes along with Chapter 14 in the textbook.

Upcoming Events

Monday - The students will be introduced to the concept of natural selection.  After I lecture to them for a little bit, we will spend the rest of the class period doing a jigsaw reading activity about the different ideas presented in the 1800's that tried to explain the mechanism of change in organisms over time.  The ideas that we will be investigating were proposed by Charles Darwin, Alfred Russell Wallace, and Jean Baptiste Lamarck.

Tuesday - We will be doing a lab investigating natural selection using different colored dots punched out of paper placed onto different colored backgrounds.  The students will investigate the change in their dot "population" over time.  Homework will be to complete the questions in the lab.

Wednesday - Class will begin with the students getting an introduction to the evidence that supports evolution.  When that is complete, we will begin a lab investigation looking at different vertebrate skeletons to investigate homologous and analogous structures.  Your children should be able to explain the difference between those two types of structures when they come home on Wednesday night.  Homework will be to complete the lab questions that go along with the investigation.

Thursday - We will investigate a second type of evidence that supports evolution on Thursday - biochemical evidence.  This investigation will take a close look at amino acid sequences for the same protein in different organisms.  The students will find that the more closely related two organisms are, the more similarities there are between their amino acid sequences for the same protein.  Homework will again be to complete the questions associated with this investigation.

Friday - We will be watching a NOVA video called "Great Transformations" on Friday.  This video shows students the ways in which whales have changed over time, explains how tetrapods evolved, and looks at the genes that control the development of the embryo in organisms from Drosophila melanogaster (oh yeah!) to Homo sapiens.

Graba Geek of the Week

This week's Geek of the Week goes to the lab group of Melinda Coleman, Cara Ward, and Daniel Xu, who wrote an OUTSTANDING fruit fly report!  Good job, group!

March 17, 2013

March 17, 2013

March 17, 2013

Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone!  Enjoy your corned beef and cabbage - it is the one time of year I will eat either one of those!

Events of the Past Week

Monday - We finished up the last of our new content in the genetics unit.  The students learned about nondisjunction (the improper separation of chromosomes when sperm and eggs are formed that can lead to many different genetic abnormalities in the offspring), and some of the results of nondisjunction occurring.  When we finished, the students were given some review sheets and the opportunity to work on those or their fruit fly reports.  Homework was to work on the fruit fly reports and study for their test.

Tuesday - LATE START DAY.  The students were given the option of studying for their test or working on their fruit fly reports.  Most worked on their reports.  The answer keys for the 3 sets of review problems the students were given between Monday and Tuesday were all posted on www.mrgraba.net, so that the students could check themselves when they completed any of the review problems.  Homework was to work on the fruit fly reports or study for the genetics test.

Wednesday - Wednesday was day 1 of the genetics test.  The class average was a 32.7 out of 40, which is an 82%.  This day of the test was difficult.  The 82% works out to a B average, which is very impressive.  Homework was to work on the fruit fly reports or study for day 2 of the test.

Thursday - Day 2 of the genetics test was given on Thursday.  The class average for the second day of the genetics test was a 36.5 out of 40, which is a 91%.  Between the two days of the test, the average worked out to be a 69.2 out of 80, or an 86.5%, which is a B+.  The kids clearly worked hard during this unit, and it showed in their test results.

Friday - The students first turned in their fruit fly reports.  They then took the district benchmark assessment in genetics.  This is a 15 question assessment in genetics that all freshman throughout District 211 take.  Almost everyone in class earned an A on the assessment.  From there, we moved on to doing test corrections on the two days of our genetics test.  Finally, the students were given an activity to complete at home interpreting a graph of the geologic history of the earth.

Upcoming Events

Monday - After collecting the geologic history assignment, I will give about a 15 minute lecture on the theories of spontaneous generation, biogenesis, and earth's history.  The students will then begin to work on an activity to learn about radioactive dating of fossils and rocks.  We will focus on the radioactive isotope Carbon-14 in our activity, although there are many other radioactive isotopes that can be used for this purpose.

Tuesday - We will finish our radioactive dating activity, then complete the reading of a passage from an ACT exam related to evolution, and then a study guide that goes with Chapter 14 of their textbook.  Students need to be sure to bring their textbooks to class on Tuesday.  Homework will be to complete the study guide.

Wednesday - We will be watching a NOVA video called "Origins."  This video explores some of they hypotheses of where the first life on earth originated.

Thursday - The students will be reading an excerpt on Alexander von Humboldt from a book by Sean B.Carroll called Remarkable Creatures.  After students have read the article, they will be asked to write about a place they like to or used to like to go explore.  This will be an opportunity to encourage writing in the science classroom as well as have the students do some scientific reading.

Friday - We will be watching three separate 10-15 minute video segments on natural selection working in our modern world.  Each of the video segments was put together by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.  They are very interesting and very well done.  There will be no homework over spring break!

Graba Geek of the Week

This week's Geeks of the Week are Billy Maniscalco and James Qiu.  Each of these young men earned perfect scores on the second day of the genetics test, as well as A's on the first day of the test.  Very well done, gentlemen!

March 10, 2013

March 11, 2013

March 11, 2013

Thank goodness all of this snow is melting!  I've had enough of it - bring on the warm weather!

Events of the Past Week

Monday - On Monday, we took our second quiz on genetics.  The students did very well on the quiz.  I was very proud of them, and you should be, too!  Those students who finished early worked on solving "The Case of the Hooded Murderer."  They had to use their knowledge of pedigrees as well as their reading skills to solve the case.  Most students solved it pretty quickly.

Tuesday - SNOW DAY!

Wednesday - The students were introduced to genes being linked together on the same chromosome after we reviewed the results of their quiz.  While this is a challenging concept, most students understood how it worked by the end of class.  Homework was to complete problem set 5 involving linked genes.

Thursday - After collecting problem set 5, I introduced the students to a statistical analysis tool called Chi-Square.  This tool is used to determine whether or not the differences between your theoretical expected results in an experiment and the actual results of the experiment can be attributed to random chance, or if the experimenter made a mistake in their hypothesis or experimental methods.  Homework was to complete 5 problems that asked the students to evaluate some data using the Chi-Square statistical analysis tool.

Friday - After answering questions about the homework, I gave the students time to work on their Drosophila melanogaster reports.  They were all able to correctly identify the pattern of inheritance for the mutations in their flies, and many began the process of writing their report.  Homework for the weekend was to work on the report and/or start preparing for our genetics test, which has been pushed back due to the snow day on Tuesday.

Upcoming Events

Monday - The students will be introduced to nondisjunction and some genetic diseases related to chromosomal abnormalities on Monday.  Due to the snow day, we did not learn about them last week.  If there is any time left in class, then the students will be given some time to work on their reports.  I will also hand out some review problems for anyone who wants them to help prepare for the genetics test.

Tuesday - Students will be given the choice on Tuesday as to whether they want to work on review problems to prepare them for the genetics test that will take place on Thursday and Friday, or if they want to work on their D. melanogaster reports, which are due on Friday.  Homework will be to prepare for the test.  Tuesday is a late start day, which is why we are not testing on Tuesday and Wednesday this week.  There would not be enough time in the class period to test due to the late start time.

Wednesday - Day 1 of the genetics test.  Anyone who finishes early may work on their D. melanogaster reports.

Thursday - Day 2 of the genetics test.  Anyone who finishes early may work on their D. melanogaster reports.

Friday - The D. melanogaster reports will be collected.  The students will then work on test corrections for their genetics test.  With any remaining time, the students will complete a Geologic History worksheet that will be for homework if it is not completed in class.

Graba Geek of the Week

This week's Geek of the Week is Alex Johnson, who has earned a perfect score on our last 3 genetics problem sets, and done very well on both of our genetics quizzes so far this unit.  Way to go, Alex! Keep up the good work!

March 3, 2013

March 3, 2013

March 3, 2013

We had the first day of meteorological spring on Friday, but it sure doesn't look or feel like anyone has told Mother Nature yet!

Events of the Past Week

Monday - We took a quiz on Monday that consisted of 15 multiple choice questions and 1 written question. There was no homework on Monday.

Tuesday - To begin class, we reviewed our results from our first genetics quiz.  We then learned about two types of inheritance (multiple alleles and codominance) by learning about how we inherit our blood type.  When we were done with that, the students were given the opportunity to get started on their homework, which was to complete questions 1-7 in Problem Set 4.

Wednesday - The students were introduced to polygenic traits.  Those are traits controlled by more than one pair of genes, like height, skin color, and eye color, to name a few.  In fact, most of our traits are probably not as simple as many of the practice work we do, but rather more complex, polygenic traits.  For homework, the students completed numbers 9 and 10 in Problem Set 4.  We skipped number 8 in that problem set because it covers a topic we will learn about during our evolution unit, instead.

Thursday - Problem Set 4 was collected, and we spent the day reviewing much of the material we have learned throughout the unit with a couple of practice problem sets.  Homework was to finish any work not completed in class, and then to watch my video lecture on a type of inheritance called epistasis.  Fur color in labrador retrievers, mice, and sheep are all controlled by epistasis.

Friday - The students were given an open note quiz on the notes they should have taken from watching the video that was linked to my website.  The questions were simple.  I asked for the definition of epistasis, two examples of epistasis (I gave 3 in the lecture), and one expected ratio from a cross involving epistasis (2 were given in the video).  11 out of 27 students could answer those questions, which means 16 students did not watch the video.  It is tough to be successful in an accelerated class if you don't do some of the assigned work, especially when the assigned work is to watch an explanation of content that is new.  Those students who had completed watching the video at home were then given two practice epistasis problems, while the others had to watch the video in class first, and then worked on the two practice problems.  There was a review packet given to those students who were able to complete the two epistasis problems in class.  Homework is to study for our quiz on Monday.

Upcoming Events

Monday - We will take our second genetics quiz on Monday.  Any content we have covered during our genetics unit up to this point is fair game for the quiz.

Tuesday - The students will be introduced to linked genes.  These are genes located on the same chromosome.  They do not follow Mendel's Law of Independent Assortment, so their inheritance pattern is somewhat unpredictable.  Homework will be to complete Problem Set 5.

Wednesday - Problem Set 5 will be collected.  The students will then be introduced to Chi-Square Analysis.  This is a statistical tool that can be used to compare the expected outcome of an experiment with the actual outcome.  This tool will need to be used by the students in writing up their Drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly) lab reports.  We will then conduct a lab experiment where we look at the percentage of different colored M&M's in a bag of M&M's.  The Mars candy company says that there is supposed to be a certain percentage of each color M&M in one of their bags.  We can use those expected percentages and compare them to the actual percentages of each color using the Chi-Square Analysis tool to see if the company's claims are accurate.

Thursday - The students will be introduced to nondisjunction, which is when chromosomes do not separate properly during meiosis.  As a result of nondisjunction, many genetic disorders arise, such as Down Syndrome, Klinefelter's Syndrome, Turner's Syndrome, and many others.  We will learn a little bit about those on Thursday.  After the students are done, they will be given a group of Chi-Square practice problems to complete for homework if they do not complete them in class.

Friday - We will review for our genetics test, which will take place on Monday and Tuesday of the next week (March 11 and March 12).  It is a two day test because it is the same length as my other tests in terms of the number of questions, but genetics problems take much longer to do.  As a result, we decided to split the test up over two days in order to be fair to the students.

Graba Geek of the Week

This week's Geek of the Week is Chase Jauch, who came in for extra help a few times, and, after initially struggling a little bit in our genetics unit, was able to earn himself a perfect score on our first genetics quiz!  Way to go, Chase!