February 20, 2012
Happy President's Day everyone. This post is one day late. Since we had a day off on Monday this week, I took the time I usually spend writing the blog on Sundays and spent it with my family instead. Now that everyone is in bed on Monday night, let me share with you what happened last week and what is going to be happening next week!
Events of the Past Week
Monday - We started the week off with an unannounced lockdown drill which set my plans back 10 minutes first hour. Since I didn't want all of my classes to be at different spots in the unit, all of them ended up getting pushed back by 10 minutes. After the lockdown drill, we celebrated Darwin Day. Charles Darwin was born on February 9, on the same day and in the same year as Abraham Lincoln. The kids answered some Charles Darwin related trivia questions for some Blue Footed Booby prizes. They were mostly lab safety pins or pens or pencils that I had laying around from hosting the regional science bowl competition at Fremd a few years ago.
When we were done with our trivia, I collected Problem Sets 1 and 2, and took any questions the students had. Afterwards, the students were introduced to traits being carried on the X chromosome, called sex-linked traits or X-linked traits, and assigned problems 1 and 2 in Problem Set 3. Your children should be able to name 3 X-linked recessive traits, identify which gender is more likely to get an X-linked recessive trait, and tell you from whom a male inherits an X-linked recessive trait.
Tuesday - The students were given the opportunity to ask about questions 1 and 2 from Problem Set 3, and then were introduced to doing dihybrid crosses where one of the two traits being used is an X-linked recessive one.
Once we did a couple of practice problems, the students were introduced to pedigrees, which are family trees using symbols. One fun thing that we did with pedigrees was to take a look at Queen Victoria's family tree, and trace the fact that Queen Victoria was a carrier for hemophilia to the downfall of the Russian Royal Family and the rise of communism. It all relates back to biology!
For homework, the students were assigned to finish Problem Set 3.
Wednesday - My guess would be that you may have heard a little bit about what we did in class on Wednesday! The students were taught how to identify a male and female fruit fly, as well as how to knock fruit flies out. Then, they were assigned into lab groups, and each group had to knock out the flies I put into their vials for them. They compared those flies to what are called wild type (normal) fruit flies, and determined what was different from normal about their flies. Every group was able to tell me what was different about their flies, and correctly distinguish between male and female fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) by the end of the period.
Thursday - We were supposed to have a quiz on Thursday. However, after grading Problem Sets 1 and 2, I did not feel that all of the students were prepared for the quiz. Therefore, we did some reinforcement activities (extra problems) working in our fruit fly groups. The idea was for those students who were absolutely getting it to help those who were struggling. In addition, students had the opportunity to talk to me if they needed help, and I had the opportunity to talk to those students whom I was particularly concerned for about coming in for some extra help. Homework was to finish the problems from the review packet that I had assigned as review for the quiz.
Friday - Due to the half period on Friday, the students did not take the quiz, as they would not have had time to complete it. Instead, they did some review pedigree problems, which will also be on their quiz. Homework was to study for their quiz that will be given on Tuesday.
Upcoming Events
Monday - NO SCHOOL. PRESIDENTS' DAY.
Tuesday - The students will be taking their genetics quiz on Tuesday. For some students, this will take the full class period. For many, it will not, and there will be a reading for them to do when they are done with their quiz. Homework will be to finish the reading. I will be gone from class on Tuesday with a field trip with my AP Biology students.
Wednesday - We will spend the day on Wednesday with our flies. This will be the first day of counting and classifying offspring based on gender and mutations for the students. This data will be used by them to start to determine how their flies' mutations are inherited. There will not be any homework on Wednesday night.
Thursday - Thursday will either be another day of counting or a day where the students are introduced to another type of inheritance referred to as codominance. The example for codominance will be human blood types. Homework will be to complete Problem Set 4 if the students are introduced to codominance. If they are given a day for counting, then they will be introduced to codominance on Friday and Problem Set 4 will be homework over the weekend.
Friday - We will either be counting or learning about codominance on Friday.
Graba Geek of the Week
This week's Geek of the Week is awarded to Perry Christodolopolous, whose knowledge of history was on display as he helped to tell the story of Queen Victoria's family tree. Thanks, Perry! Have a great week everyone.
February 20, 2012
February 12, 2012
February 12, 2012
February 12, 2012
Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!
Events of the Past Week
Monday - I collected the students' labs on meiosis. Afterwards, we learned about the differences between spermatogenesis (the formation of sperm) and oogenesis (the formation of eggs). Following that, we took a look at what happens if mistakes are made during meiosis (called nondisjunction). Homework was to study for our meiosis quiz.
Tuesday - Students took their meiosis quiz. Afterwards, they were given a genetics vocabulary sheet, a genetics fact or fiction sheet, and a reading from Scienfitic American. Homework was to complete the vocabulary sheet. The fact or fiction sheet was completed in class, and the reading, titled "Go Ahead, Kiss Your Cousin" was for those who were interested in reading it.
Wednesday - My son was sick Tuesday night, so I stayed home with him on Wednesday. The students watched a movie called "Ghost in Your Genes." The movie was about the effect that the environment has on your genes, and many of the students found it quite interesting!
Thursday - We spent time going over our meiosis quiz. Afterwards, I went over how to perform a monohybrid cross (those crosses involving just one trait) and a test cross. This took some time, as I made sure to incorporate all of our vocabulary into the lesson to see who had studied the words and who had not.
Following that, Problem Set 1 was handed out, and the assignment was to complete questions 1-7 for homework.
Friday - First, I introduced the students to incomplete dominance, where one trait is not dominant over the other. Then, I showed the students how to complete dihybrid crosses, where they look at two traits being inherited at once, rather than just one.
The students were then given a worksheet that reviewed chromosome numbers , since many of them struggled with that particular area of the quiz. There was an opportunity to earn points back on the quiz tied to that assignment. Afterwards, they were able to finish Problem Set 1, and get started on Problem Set 2. Both problem sets are due on Monday.
Upcoming Events
Monday - We will be learning about sex-linked inheritance on Monday. With this, we will be learning about traits that are carried on the X-chromosome such as red-green color blindness, hemophilia, and Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. It might be interesting for your kids to look into their family history and see which of their relatives (if any) are red-green color blind. If there are any, they should notice a pattern about the gender of the people in their family who were or are color blind.
After learning about sex-linked traits, the students will be given time to work on Problem Set 3, which will be completed up through number 7 for homework.
Tuesday - The students will be introduced to pedigrees (family trees). They will then complete a brief activity called "The Case of the Hooded Murderer" We'll also take a look at Queen Victoria's pedigree and see how the fact that she was a carrier for hemophilia led to the Russian Revolution, the rise of Communism, and the Cold War! The students usually think I'm a little geeky for drawing all of these connections, but it's also usually pretty fun for them and for me. Afterwards, they will complete Problem Set 3 and begin an assignment called Human Pedigree Genetics. The Human Pedigree Genetics worksheet will need to be completed for homework.
Wednesday - We will have our first genetics quiz on Wednesday. The quiz will cover monohybrid and dihybrid crosses, incomplete dominance, test crosses, and sex-linked traits. This will probably take most of the class period.
Thursday - My guess is that on Thursday the students will start identifying the mutations in their fruit flies and remove the parent flies from their vials. If the flies aren't ready for us to do this yet, then we will listen to a song called "I'm My Own Grandpa" by Ray Stevens. The students will then try to draw a pedigree based on the information in the song. After that, I will introduce the students to a type of inheritance referred to as Multiple Alleles, as well as another type of inheritance called codominance. They will then have time to begin working on Problem Set 4.
Friday - If the flies weren't ready on Thursday, then we will work with them on Friday. If they were ready on Thursday, then we will listen to the song and do the other things I listed on Thursday.
Graba Geek of the Week
This week's Geek of the Week goes to Konstantin Schroeter, who has been volunteering consistently all year long, and also asked some very good questions that led to some great discussions during the first week of our genetics unit. I look forward to answering a lot of questions during this unit, and hope that they keep coming!
Have a great week, everyone!
Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!
Events of the Past Week
Monday - I collected the students' labs on meiosis. Afterwards, we learned about the differences between spermatogenesis (the formation of sperm) and oogenesis (the formation of eggs). Following that, we took a look at what happens if mistakes are made during meiosis (called nondisjunction). Homework was to study for our meiosis quiz.
Tuesday - Students took their meiosis quiz. Afterwards, they were given a genetics vocabulary sheet, a genetics fact or fiction sheet, and a reading from Scienfitic American. Homework was to complete the vocabulary sheet. The fact or fiction sheet was completed in class, and the reading, titled "Go Ahead, Kiss Your Cousin" was for those who were interested in reading it.
Wednesday - My son was sick Tuesday night, so I stayed home with him on Wednesday. The students watched a movie called "Ghost in Your Genes." The movie was about the effect that the environment has on your genes, and many of the students found it quite interesting!
Thursday - We spent time going over our meiosis quiz. Afterwards, I went over how to perform a monohybrid cross (those crosses involving just one trait) and a test cross. This took some time, as I made sure to incorporate all of our vocabulary into the lesson to see who had studied the words and who had not.
Following that, Problem Set 1 was handed out, and the assignment was to complete questions 1-7 for homework.
Friday - First, I introduced the students to incomplete dominance, where one trait is not dominant over the other. Then, I showed the students how to complete dihybrid crosses, where they look at two traits being inherited at once, rather than just one.
The students were then given a worksheet that reviewed chromosome numbers , since many of them struggled with that particular area of the quiz. There was an opportunity to earn points back on the quiz tied to that assignment. Afterwards, they were able to finish Problem Set 1, and get started on Problem Set 2. Both problem sets are due on Monday.
Upcoming Events
Monday - We will be learning about sex-linked inheritance on Monday. With this, we will be learning about traits that are carried on the X-chromosome such as red-green color blindness, hemophilia, and Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. It might be interesting for your kids to look into their family history and see which of their relatives (if any) are red-green color blind. If there are any, they should notice a pattern about the gender of the people in their family who were or are color blind.
After learning about sex-linked traits, the students will be given time to work on Problem Set 3, which will be completed up through number 7 for homework.
Tuesday - The students will be introduced to pedigrees (family trees). They will then complete a brief activity called "The Case of the Hooded Murderer" We'll also take a look at Queen Victoria's pedigree and see how the fact that she was a carrier for hemophilia led to the Russian Revolution, the rise of Communism, and the Cold War! The students usually think I'm a little geeky for drawing all of these connections, but it's also usually pretty fun for them and for me. Afterwards, they will complete Problem Set 3 and begin an assignment called Human Pedigree Genetics. The Human Pedigree Genetics worksheet will need to be completed for homework.
Wednesday - We will have our first genetics quiz on Wednesday. The quiz will cover monohybrid and dihybrid crosses, incomplete dominance, test crosses, and sex-linked traits. This will probably take most of the class period.
Thursday - My guess is that on Thursday the students will start identifying the mutations in their fruit flies and remove the parent flies from their vials. If the flies aren't ready for us to do this yet, then we will listen to a song called "I'm My Own Grandpa" by Ray Stevens. The students will then try to draw a pedigree based on the information in the song. After that, I will introduce the students to a type of inheritance referred to as Multiple Alleles, as well as another type of inheritance called codominance. They will then have time to begin working on Problem Set 4.
Friday - If the flies weren't ready on Thursday, then we will work with them on Friday. If they were ready on Thursday, then we will listen to the song and do the other things I listed on Thursday.
Graba Geek of the Week
This week's Geek of the Week goes to Konstantin Schroeter, who has been volunteering consistently all year long, and also asked some very good questions that led to some great discussions during the first week of our genetics unit. I look forward to answering a lot of questions during this unit, and hope that they keep coming!
Have a great week, everyone!
February 5, 2012
February 5, 2012
February 5, 2012
What a Super Bowl game that was today! The commercials were a little bit underwhelming, but it was an enjoyable experience for our family. I hope everyone else enjoyed their day as well, whether or not you watched the Super Bowl.
Events of the Past Week
In an effort to save your time and mine, the events of the past week went almost exactly as planned. The only deviation from the plan was that we had to finish our pop bead meiosis simulation on Friday, and the quiz on meiosis was pushed back until this Tuesday. Many of the students told me that the simulation we did with playing cards on Friday really helped them in their understanding of meiosis. The concepts of haploid, diploid, and homologous chromosomes were throwing several students for a loop, but many of them said that after the playing card activity they felt much better. It is always great to get that kind of feedback (especially when it was unsolicited) from my students!
Upcoming Events
Monday - The students will be learning about spermatogenesis (the way in which sperm are formed) and oogenesis (the way in which eggs are formed) at the beginning of class. When we finish that, we will take a look at some of the consequences that mistakes made during meiosis can have. These consequences include children with Down's Syndrome and, like Rick Santorum's 3 year old daughter, trisomy 18. I will not be discussing anything related to politics with the students other than to relate trisomy 18 to someone that many of them may be familiar with right now because he is running in the Republican primaries. Homework will be to study for our quiz on meiosis on Tuesday.
Tuesday - We will begin class with a quiz on the topic of meiosis. When the students complete the quiz, they will be given a vocabulary list of terms that will be important during our genetics unit. They should bring their textbooks with them to class on Tuesday. It is really important that they learn these terms quickly, as we will start using them right away during our unit. Homework will be to complete the vocabulary worksheet.
Wednesday - The students will be introduced to monohybrid crosses, Punnett squares, test crosses, and incomplete dominance. Homework will be to complete Genetics Problem Set 1, which has 10 problems related to those topics. I will pick 5 of those 10 problems to grade at 2 points each. One point will be for showing work, and the other for the answer. No credit will be given for problems that have an answer with no work shown.
Thursday - I will collect Genetics Problem Set 1, and then introduce the students to dihybrid crosses (problems involving two traits). They will then be given Genetics Problem Set 2, which will be due on Friday.
Friday - The students will be introduced to sex-linked inheritance and pedigrees (family trees). We will try to pay close attention to patterns of inheritance with sex-linked traits. The students will then be given problem set 3 for homework, which will be due on Monday.
Graba Geek of the Week
This last week's geek of the week award goes to Hui Tian, who earned a perfect score on our biotechnology quiz. This was Hui's best showing of the year so far and I was very proud of him. Way to go, Hui!
What a Super Bowl game that was today! The commercials were a little bit underwhelming, but it was an enjoyable experience for our family. I hope everyone else enjoyed their day as well, whether or not you watched the Super Bowl.
Events of the Past Week
In an effort to save your time and mine, the events of the past week went almost exactly as planned. The only deviation from the plan was that we had to finish our pop bead meiosis simulation on Friday, and the quiz on meiosis was pushed back until this Tuesday. Many of the students told me that the simulation we did with playing cards on Friday really helped them in their understanding of meiosis. The concepts of haploid, diploid, and homologous chromosomes were throwing several students for a loop, but many of them said that after the playing card activity they felt much better. It is always great to get that kind of feedback (especially when it was unsolicited) from my students!
Upcoming Events
Monday - The students will be learning about spermatogenesis (the way in which sperm are formed) and oogenesis (the way in which eggs are formed) at the beginning of class. When we finish that, we will take a look at some of the consequences that mistakes made during meiosis can have. These consequences include children with Down's Syndrome and, like Rick Santorum's 3 year old daughter, trisomy 18. I will not be discussing anything related to politics with the students other than to relate trisomy 18 to someone that many of them may be familiar with right now because he is running in the Republican primaries. Homework will be to study for our quiz on meiosis on Tuesday.
Tuesday - We will begin class with a quiz on the topic of meiosis. When the students complete the quiz, they will be given a vocabulary list of terms that will be important during our genetics unit. They should bring their textbooks with them to class on Tuesday. It is really important that they learn these terms quickly, as we will start using them right away during our unit. Homework will be to complete the vocabulary worksheet.
Wednesday - The students will be introduced to monohybrid crosses, Punnett squares, test crosses, and incomplete dominance. Homework will be to complete Genetics Problem Set 1, which has 10 problems related to those topics. I will pick 5 of those 10 problems to grade at 2 points each. One point will be for showing work, and the other for the answer. No credit will be given for problems that have an answer with no work shown.
Thursday - I will collect Genetics Problem Set 1, and then introduce the students to dihybrid crosses (problems involving two traits). They will then be given Genetics Problem Set 2, which will be due on Friday.
Friday - The students will be introduced to sex-linked inheritance and pedigrees (family trees). We will try to pay close attention to patterns of inheritance with sex-linked traits. The students will then be given problem set 3 for homework, which will be due on Monday.
Graba Geek of the Week
This last week's geek of the week award goes to Hui Tian, who earned a perfect score on our biotechnology quiz. This was Hui's best showing of the year so far and I was very proud of him. Way to go, Hui!
January 29, 2012
January 29, 2012
January 29, 2012
The first week of second semester is now in the books. We are just about to wrap up our biotechnology unit and begin our genetics unit, as the presence of Drosophila melanogaster (fruit flies) in our prep area attests!
Events of the Past Week
Monday - NO SCHOOL. TEACHER INSTITUTE DAY
Tuesday - At the beginning of class, I showed the students their final exam grades and their semester grades. After that was completed, we took out or data from the gel electrophoresis lab we did before final exams and graphed it on special graph paper called "semilog" graph paper. We graphed the data from one of our DNA digests, then we used our line to determine the length of other DNA fragments based on the distance they traveled in our gel. Some of the students had some pretty accurate results, while others did not. This lab, however, was more about the experience and learning to use the equipment than it was about getting accurate results. There was no homework on Tuesday.
Wednesday - We began class by completing a DNA fingerprinting activity. The students all solved "The Case of the Crown Jewels" correctly by using their knowledge of restriction enzymes and gel electrophoresis. When that was finished, we began watching our movie called "The Human Race" about the Human Genome Project. There was no homework on Wednesday.
Thursday - We finished our video on the Human Genome Project, and then learned some key vocabulary that will be important in understanding how recombinant DNA is made. We will complete an activity on creating recombinant DNA on Monday. My first hour class already completed this activity due to some technical difficulties with the connection between the DVD player and projector. We will finish the video on Monday.
Friday - I was out sick on Friday, but the plan was to watch a video on genetically modified organisms anyway. The video, called "Harvest of Fear", was a Frontline special that presented the benefits and the dangers of genetically modified organisms to the students.
Upcoming Events
Monday - We will begin the week by completing the recombinant DNA activity. Following that, the students will be directed to the website http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/, where they will learn about stem cells, cloning, gene therapy, and the polymerase chain reaction. This will probably take the rest of the class period on Monday and some of the class period on Tuesday. Homework will be to begin studying for a quiz on biotechnology, covering restriction enzymes, gel electrophoresis, the Human Genome Project, recombinant DNA, stem cells, cloning, gene therapy, and the polymerase chain reaction on Wednesday.
Tuesday - We will begin class by finishing working through the learn.genetics.utah.edu website. Afterwards, we will be processing all of the information from the website and reviewing for the quiz on Wednesday.
Wednesday - We will take our quiz on biotechnology to begin class. This will take approximately 15-20 minutes. Afterwards, we will begin learning about the process of meiosis by taking a look at some diagrams and readings on meiosis.
Thursday - We will learn about the process of meiosis by modeling it with pop beads. There will be some questions to answer related to the activity for homework.
Friday - We will review the process of meiosis by using playing cards. The playing cards will be used to simulate chromosomes, and the students will be moving around the class as though they are actually going through meiosis. Homework will be to study for a quiz on meiosis on Monday.
Graba Geek of the Week
This week's Graba Geek of the Week goes to Patrick Chen, who asked some very good questions about the Human Genome and the video that we watched on Thursday. Good questions lead to good discussions and everyone benefits, so way to go, Patrick!
The first week of second semester is now in the books. We are just about to wrap up our biotechnology unit and begin our genetics unit, as the presence of Drosophila melanogaster (fruit flies) in our prep area attests!
Events of the Past Week
Monday - NO SCHOOL. TEACHER INSTITUTE DAY
Tuesday - At the beginning of class, I showed the students their final exam grades and their semester grades. After that was completed, we took out or data from the gel electrophoresis lab we did before final exams and graphed it on special graph paper called "semilog" graph paper. We graphed the data from one of our DNA digests, then we used our line to determine the length of other DNA fragments based on the distance they traveled in our gel. Some of the students had some pretty accurate results, while others did not. This lab, however, was more about the experience and learning to use the equipment than it was about getting accurate results. There was no homework on Tuesday.
Wednesday - We began class by completing a DNA fingerprinting activity. The students all solved "The Case of the Crown Jewels" correctly by using their knowledge of restriction enzymes and gel electrophoresis. When that was finished, we began watching our movie called "The Human Race" about the Human Genome Project. There was no homework on Wednesday.
Thursday - We finished our video on the Human Genome Project, and then learned some key vocabulary that will be important in understanding how recombinant DNA is made. We will complete an activity on creating recombinant DNA on Monday. My first hour class already completed this activity due to some technical difficulties with the connection between the DVD player and projector. We will finish the video on Monday.
Friday - I was out sick on Friday, but the plan was to watch a video on genetically modified organisms anyway. The video, called "Harvest of Fear", was a Frontline special that presented the benefits and the dangers of genetically modified organisms to the students.
Upcoming Events
Monday - We will begin the week by completing the recombinant DNA activity. Following that, the students will be directed to the website http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/, where they will learn about stem cells, cloning, gene therapy, and the polymerase chain reaction. This will probably take the rest of the class period on Monday and some of the class period on Tuesday. Homework will be to begin studying for a quiz on biotechnology, covering restriction enzymes, gel electrophoresis, the Human Genome Project, recombinant DNA, stem cells, cloning, gene therapy, and the polymerase chain reaction on Wednesday.
Tuesday - We will begin class by finishing working through the learn.genetics.utah.edu website. Afterwards, we will be processing all of the information from the website and reviewing for the quiz on Wednesday.
Wednesday - We will take our quiz on biotechnology to begin class. This will take approximately 15-20 minutes. Afterwards, we will begin learning about the process of meiosis by taking a look at some diagrams and readings on meiosis.
Thursday - We will learn about the process of meiosis by modeling it with pop beads. There will be some questions to answer related to the activity for homework.
Friday - We will review the process of meiosis by using playing cards. The playing cards will be used to simulate chromosomes, and the students will be moving around the class as though they are actually going through meiosis. Homework will be to study for a quiz on meiosis on Monday.
Graba Geek of the Week
This week's Graba Geek of the Week goes to Patrick Chen, who asked some very good questions about the Human Genome and the video that we watched on Thursday. Good questions lead to good discussions and everyone benefits, so way to go, Patrick!
January 22, 2012
January 22, 2012
January 22, 2012
The school year is already half over! It's hard to believe how quickly each year goes by.
Events of the Past Week
As I'm sure you know that last week was final exams week, there is not much to report other than that students took their final exams. The classes did a great job of asking me questions, and I had several students come in to look at past exams during their free periods, before school, or after school.
Upcoming Events
Monday - NO SCHOOL. TEACHER INSTITUTE DAY.
Tuesday - On Tuesday we will be analyzing the results from our gel electrophoresis lab. Students will be graphing their data. They will then use the line graph they produce to determine the length of DNA fragments of unknown sizes. Homework will be to complete any questions from the activity that were not finished in class.
Wednesday - We will be doing a paper and pencil DNA fingerprinting activity on Wednesday. The students will have to analyze DNA collected from a crime scene, as well as that of several different suspects, to determine who committed the crime. We've talked about how this concept works in the past, but now the students are going to have the opportunity to get a hands-on experience with DNA fingerprinting. Homework will be to complete the activity if it is not completed in class.
Thursday - We will be watching our first movie of the year. It is from a very engaging series on DNA and will explain how the Human Genome Project worked. There are some interesting interviews with James Watson, J. Craig Venter, and others throughout the movie that help to bring the Human Genome Project to life.
Friday - We will watch our second movie of the year on Friday called "Harvest of Fear." This movie is about Genetically Modified Foods. Students will be presented with both the potential positive and negative impacts of genetically modified organisms so that they may be a little better educated about the debate that goes on about the use of GMO's.
Graba Geek of the Week
The final geek of the week from first semester is awarded to Walt Panfil, who earned one of the top 5 grades on the final exam and has done outstanding work all semester long. Way to go, Walt! Keep up the good work!
The school year is already half over! It's hard to believe how quickly each year goes by.
Events of the Past Week
As I'm sure you know that last week was final exams week, there is not much to report other than that students took their final exams. The classes did a great job of asking me questions, and I had several students come in to look at past exams during their free periods, before school, or after school.
Upcoming Events
Monday - NO SCHOOL. TEACHER INSTITUTE DAY.
Tuesday - On Tuesday we will be analyzing the results from our gel electrophoresis lab. Students will be graphing their data. They will then use the line graph they produce to determine the length of DNA fragments of unknown sizes. Homework will be to complete any questions from the activity that were not finished in class.
Wednesday - We will be doing a paper and pencil DNA fingerprinting activity on Wednesday. The students will have to analyze DNA collected from a crime scene, as well as that of several different suspects, to determine who committed the crime. We've talked about how this concept works in the past, but now the students are going to have the opportunity to get a hands-on experience with DNA fingerprinting. Homework will be to complete the activity if it is not completed in class.
Thursday - We will be watching our first movie of the year. It is from a very engaging series on DNA and will explain how the Human Genome Project worked. There are some interesting interviews with James Watson, J. Craig Venter, and others throughout the movie that help to bring the Human Genome Project to life.
Friday - We will watch our second movie of the year on Friday called "Harvest of Fear." This movie is about Genetically Modified Foods. Students will be presented with both the potential positive and negative impacts of genetically modified organisms so that they may be a little better educated about the debate that goes on about the use of GMO's.
Graba Geek of the Week
The final geek of the week from first semester is awarded to Walt Panfil, who earned one of the top 5 grades on the final exam and has done outstanding work all semester long. Way to go, Walt! Keep up the good work!
January 17, 2012
January 17, 2012
January 17, 2012
Sorry this is a couple of days late. I was out of town this weekend and away from a computer until Monday evening, when I didn't have a chance to write the weekly blog!
Events of the Past Week
Monday - The day began with me collecting both the DNA History project the students had completed at home, as well as the protein synthesis activity that was due. We then began our activity for the day. We were learning about mutations by looking at the DNA sequences for the myostatin gene in the Belgian Blue cattle and the sickle cell hemoglobin gene in humans. The students had to figure out what type of mutation occurred and what the result of the mutation was as they completed the activity. Some of the questions also guided students to think about the way in which genes change over the course of time. Homework was to complete the mutation activity.
Tuesday - The students were given the opportunity to ask me questions about their mutation activity, which was then collected. Following that, we looked at palindromes such as "race car," "a man, a plan, a canal, Panama," and "go hang a salami I'm a lasagna hog." We looked at these to introduce restriction enzymes, which cut DNA at short, 4-6 base sequences which are palindromes in the DNA. For homework, the students were given a web-based activity to learn about the process of gel electrophoresis. This is a technique used to separate DNA fragments based on their relative size. Some of you may have seen (or heard) the simulation as your children watched it.
Wednesday - The students ran a gel electrophoresis activity. They had the opportunity to use micropipettes to transfer DNA from stock containers to their own little test tubes, and then to transfer the DNA from there into the gel. At the end of class, they put their gels into our electrophoresis chamber, and I turned on the power to get the fragments to separate. The gels were stained overnight. For homework, the students were given a review sheet on protein synthesis which I obtained from Ms. Kim Foglia, a fantastic biology teacher from New York who passed away last year. Many of the wonderful labs and activities the students are doing this year were taken from her.
Thursday - First, the students measured the distance their DNA fragments traveled in their gels. This information was recorded in their notebooks. We will come back to that data after final exams, and it will be used to determine the size of the fragments in the gel.
Once everyone was done measuring the distances their fragments traveled, we moved on to reviewing for the test on Friday. We went over the answers to the protein synthesis review homework, and then the students completed a second review sheet on protein synthesis, DNA structure, RNA structure, and DNA replication. We then went over the answers to that sheet in class. With the remaining time, the students were given the opportunity to ask me any questions that they had. Homework was to study for their test on Friday.
Friday - The students took their DNA test in two parts. The first part was 50 questions that were my test on DNA, and the second part was made up of 9 questions given as part of the district assessment test that all freshmen in District 211 must take. Almost everyone did very well on the district assessment portion of the test. Homework was to begin reviewing for final exams. There are several review sheets for finals posted on the accelerated biology worksheets page of www.mrgraba.net.
Upcoming Events
Monday - NO SCHOOL. THANK YOU DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR
Tuesday - We will be reviewing for final exams. The first order of business will be to look at the results from the DNA test that was taken on Friday. While the students are doing that, I will be showing them their grades for both 1st and 2nd quarter, so they know where the stand for final exams. Once we are done with all of that, the students will be given the remainder of the class period to ask me questions that they have about the material that will be covered on the test. Homework, of course, is to study for finals.
Wednesday - My 1st, 2nd, and 3rd period classes will take their final exams. My final exam is 145 multiple choice and matching questions. There are also 17 additional questions from the school district that all freshmen will take on the topics of cells and biochemistry.
Thursday - My 5th hour students will take their final exams on Thursday.
Friday - None of my freshmen have a biology final on Friday.
Graba Geek of the Week
This week's Geek of the Week is Megan Spletzer. Megan was so excited about her plans for studying and the amount of time she was going to spend studying that her enthusiasm was infectious. I love it when a student is excited about school, which Megan certainly seemed to be!
Have a great week, everyone!
Sorry this is a couple of days late. I was out of town this weekend and away from a computer until Monday evening, when I didn't have a chance to write the weekly blog!
Events of the Past Week
Monday - The day began with me collecting both the DNA History project the students had completed at home, as well as the protein synthesis activity that was due. We then began our activity for the day. We were learning about mutations by looking at the DNA sequences for the myostatin gene in the Belgian Blue cattle and the sickle cell hemoglobin gene in humans. The students had to figure out what type of mutation occurred and what the result of the mutation was as they completed the activity. Some of the questions also guided students to think about the way in which genes change over the course of time. Homework was to complete the mutation activity.
Tuesday - The students were given the opportunity to ask me questions about their mutation activity, which was then collected. Following that, we looked at palindromes such as "race car," "a man, a plan, a canal, Panama," and "go hang a salami I'm a lasagna hog." We looked at these to introduce restriction enzymes, which cut DNA at short, 4-6 base sequences which are palindromes in the DNA. For homework, the students were given a web-based activity to learn about the process of gel electrophoresis. This is a technique used to separate DNA fragments based on their relative size. Some of you may have seen (or heard) the simulation as your children watched it.
Wednesday - The students ran a gel electrophoresis activity. They had the opportunity to use micropipettes to transfer DNA from stock containers to their own little test tubes, and then to transfer the DNA from there into the gel. At the end of class, they put their gels into our electrophoresis chamber, and I turned on the power to get the fragments to separate. The gels were stained overnight. For homework, the students were given a review sheet on protein synthesis which I obtained from Ms. Kim Foglia, a fantastic biology teacher from New York who passed away last year. Many of the wonderful labs and activities the students are doing this year were taken from her.
Thursday - First, the students measured the distance their DNA fragments traveled in their gels. This information was recorded in their notebooks. We will come back to that data after final exams, and it will be used to determine the size of the fragments in the gel.
Once everyone was done measuring the distances their fragments traveled, we moved on to reviewing for the test on Friday. We went over the answers to the protein synthesis review homework, and then the students completed a second review sheet on protein synthesis, DNA structure, RNA structure, and DNA replication. We then went over the answers to that sheet in class. With the remaining time, the students were given the opportunity to ask me any questions that they had. Homework was to study for their test on Friday.
Friday - The students took their DNA test in two parts. The first part was 50 questions that were my test on DNA, and the second part was made up of 9 questions given as part of the district assessment test that all freshmen in District 211 must take. Almost everyone did very well on the district assessment portion of the test. Homework was to begin reviewing for final exams. There are several review sheets for finals posted on the accelerated biology worksheets page of www.mrgraba.net.
Upcoming Events
Monday - NO SCHOOL. THANK YOU DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR
Tuesday - We will be reviewing for final exams. The first order of business will be to look at the results from the DNA test that was taken on Friday. While the students are doing that, I will be showing them their grades for both 1st and 2nd quarter, so they know where the stand for final exams. Once we are done with all of that, the students will be given the remainder of the class period to ask me questions that they have about the material that will be covered on the test. Homework, of course, is to study for finals.
Wednesday - My 1st, 2nd, and 3rd period classes will take their final exams. My final exam is 145 multiple choice and matching questions. There are also 17 additional questions from the school district that all freshmen will take on the topics of cells and biochemistry.
Thursday - My 5th hour students will take their final exams on Thursday.
Friday - None of my freshmen have a biology final on Friday.
Graba Geek of the Week
This week's Geek of the Week is Megan Spletzer. Megan was so excited about her plans for studying and the amount of time she was going to spend studying that her enthusiasm was infectious. I love it when a student is excited about school, which Megan certainly seemed to be!
Have a great week, everyone!
January 8, 2012
January 8, 2011
January 8, 2011
There is only one more week in the 2nd quarter - it's hard to believe the school year is almost half over already!
Events of the Past Week
Everything went exactly according to the plan I laid out for you in last week's blogpost, so I hope you don't mind, but in the interest of your time and mine, I will refer you to that if you have any questions!
Upcoming Events
Monday - I will be collecting the students' homework at the beginning of class. They have a study guide to complete on the discovery of the structure of DNA. They have had it since last Tuesday, so they have had plenty of time to complete it. In addition, we did a lab on the process of protein synthesis, which the students should have completed over the weekend.
After collecting homework, the students will be completing an activity to learn about the impact of mutations. The mutations they will be looking at will be a mutation to the gene that controls production of a protein called myostatin, which controls muscle growth, and to the gene that controls the production of hemoglobin, which carries oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood. For homework, the students will be completing the questions in the activity.
Here is a picture of a bull with a mutation to the myostatin gene, in case you were wondering what a mutation to that gene might cause:
Tuesday - We will be learning about special enzymes called "restriction enzymes." These enzymes cut DNA at specific places, and allow scientists to manipulate DNA in many ways. We will first be looking at how they are used in the process of DNA fingerprinting in class. For homework, the students will be going to a website to look at the process of gel electrophoresis, which is the technique used in DNA fingerprinting, after learning first about how restriction enzymes work. The website they will be looking at is http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/labs/gel/. There will be a study guide to go along with it.
Wednesday - We are actually going to run a gel electrophoresis experiment in class. The students will be working with micropipettes (which cost about $100 apiece, so please emphasize that they need to be careful with them) to draw DNA out of a tube, inject it into a gel, and see how far the various DNA fragments within the solution they pipetted will travel. The DNA will run through the gel for about an hour after class, then I will stain it overnight.
For homework, the students will be given 3 short review sheets on the process of protein synthesis, since there will be a test on that topic on Friday.
Thursday - We will analyze the results from our gel electrophoresis lab. The students will measure how far each DNA fragment traveled in their gel, then plot those points on semilog graph paper to determine how many base pairs long each DNA fragment was. After completing this, the students will be given a review sheet on DNA and protein synthesis to complete for the test on Friday.
Friday - The students will take a test on the history of DNA, DNA structure, RNA structure, protein synthesis, restriction enzymes, and gel electrophoresis. The test will be around 50 multiple choice questions long. When they finish, they can use the remaining time to work on their final exam review sheet. The review sheet is available at http://www.mrgraba.net/ on the accelerated biology worksheets page. It should be printed up at home or in the media center before class on Friday.
Graba Geek of the Week
This week's Geek of the Week is Emily Neal, who has been very proactive in asking questions when she is confused. As a result of those questions, her hard work, and the fact that she's a smart kid, she has been doing very well in class this year. Great job, Emily!
Interesting Tidbits
I thought some of you might find this infographic interesting. It is quite revealing about the world our kids are living in, and where we have to start going to reach them.
Infographic by- Shanghai Web Designers
There is only one more week in the 2nd quarter - it's hard to believe the school year is almost half over already!
Events of the Past Week
Everything went exactly according to the plan I laid out for you in last week's blogpost, so I hope you don't mind, but in the interest of your time and mine, I will refer you to that if you have any questions!
Upcoming Events
Monday - I will be collecting the students' homework at the beginning of class. They have a study guide to complete on the discovery of the structure of DNA. They have had it since last Tuesday, so they have had plenty of time to complete it. In addition, we did a lab on the process of protein synthesis, which the students should have completed over the weekend.
After collecting homework, the students will be completing an activity to learn about the impact of mutations. The mutations they will be looking at will be a mutation to the gene that controls production of a protein called myostatin, which controls muscle growth, and to the gene that controls the production of hemoglobin, which carries oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood. For homework, the students will be completing the questions in the activity.
Here is a picture of a bull with a mutation to the myostatin gene, in case you were wondering what a mutation to that gene might cause:
Tuesday - We will be learning about special enzymes called "restriction enzymes." These enzymes cut DNA at specific places, and allow scientists to manipulate DNA in many ways. We will first be looking at how they are used in the process of DNA fingerprinting in class. For homework, the students will be going to a website to look at the process of gel electrophoresis, which is the technique used in DNA fingerprinting, after learning first about how restriction enzymes work. The website they will be looking at is http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/labs/gel/. There will be a study guide to go along with it.
Wednesday - We are actually going to run a gel electrophoresis experiment in class. The students will be working with micropipettes (which cost about $100 apiece, so please emphasize that they need to be careful with them) to draw DNA out of a tube, inject it into a gel, and see how far the various DNA fragments within the solution they pipetted will travel. The DNA will run through the gel for about an hour after class, then I will stain it overnight.
For homework, the students will be given 3 short review sheets on the process of protein synthesis, since there will be a test on that topic on Friday.
Thursday - We will analyze the results from our gel electrophoresis lab. The students will measure how far each DNA fragment traveled in their gel, then plot those points on semilog graph paper to determine how many base pairs long each DNA fragment was. After completing this, the students will be given a review sheet on DNA and protein synthesis to complete for the test on Friday.
Friday - The students will take a test on the history of DNA, DNA structure, RNA structure, protein synthesis, restriction enzymes, and gel electrophoresis. The test will be around 50 multiple choice questions long. When they finish, they can use the remaining time to work on their final exam review sheet. The review sheet is available at http://www.mrgraba.net/ on the accelerated biology worksheets page. It should be printed up at home or in the media center before class on Friday.
Graba Geek of the Week
This week's Geek of the Week is Emily Neal, who has been very proactive in asking questions when she is confused. As a result of those questions, her hard work, and the fact that she's a smart kid, she has been doing very well in class this year. Great job, Emily!
Interesting Tidbits
I thought some of you might find this infographic interesting. It is quite revealing about the world our kids are living in, and where we have to start going to reach them.
Infographic by- Shanghai Web Designers
January 2, 2012
January 2, 2012
January 2, 2012
Happy New Year, everyone! It was exactly 1 year ago today that I began this blog. Hopefully everyone is still finding it useful.
Events of the Past Week
Monday - It seems like forever ago that we were in class, but on the last Monday we met, we took a quiz on photosynthesis. It took the kids approximately 30 minutes to finish the quiz. When everyone was done, the students had a chance to review their results from the enzyme quiz we had taken the previous week. At the end of reviewing the quiz results, there were about 10 minutes left for me to begin lecture on cellular respiration.
Tuesday - I lectured on cellular respiration for the whole class period. This was really one of our few (and last) days of bell-to-bell lecture of the school year. For homework, the students had a study guide from their textbook to complete on the topic of cellular respiration.
Wednesday - I finished up lecturing, and the students began to create graphic organizers to help them group all of the information from their notes on enzymes, photosynthesis, and cellular respiration. For homework, they were given a matching study guide asking them several questions about those same topics.
Thursday - We looked at the results from our photosynthesis quiz to begin our review. Then, we graded in class the study guide the students had completed for homework on Wednesday. Finally, the students worked on their graphic organizers that we had begun the previous day in class.
Friday - On Friday, the students took their test on bioenergetics. This was definitely our toughest unit of the first semester, and one of the toughest of the entire school year. The test took the entire class period for some students, and there was no homework over break.
Upcoming Events
Monday - NO SCHOOL
Tuesday - We will be using a webquest that I created using the http://www.dnai.org/ website to learn about the discovery of the structure of DNA. It really is a great example of the process of science, and is also a great way to introduce the structure of the DNA molecule to students. There is a study guide that they will complete to go along with it. Homework will be to complete the project by Thursday.
Wednesday - I will review the structure of DNA with the students, and then explain to them, briefly, how it is that DNA replicates. DNA replication is the first stage of what Francis Crick called "The Central Dogma of Molecular Biology." Your kids should be able, by the end of this week, to explain what that is to you. Afterwards, they will complete some reinforcement activities in class on the structure of DNA and DNA replication.
Thursday - The topic on Thursday will be protein synthesis. The kids will begin a two day paper and pencil lab on how the instructions encoded in DNA are used to build a protein. Homework will be a protein synthesis reinforcement worksheet
Friday - We will complete the two day lab on protein synthesis on Friday. Homework will be to complete the questions in the lab.
Graba Geek of the Week
This week's Geek of the Week award goest to Tara Nenninger, who missed a few days of class time during our last unit, but took the time to come in and meet with me, ask me questions, and make sure she was completely caught up with everything she missed. The extra effort paid off, as Tara tied for the highest grade in her class on our test on enzymes, photosynthesis, and cellular respiration!
Happy New Year, everyone! It was exactly 1 year ago today that I began this blog. Hopefully everyone is still finding it useful.
Events of the Past Week
Monday - It seems like forever ago that we were in class, but on the last Monday we met, we took a quiz on photosynthesis. It took the kids approximately 30 minutes to finish the quiz. When everyone was done, the students had a chance to review their results from the enzyme quiz we had taken the previous week. At the end of reviewing the quiz results, there were about 10 minutes left for me to begin lecture on cellular respiration.
Tuesday - I lectured on cellular respiration for the whole class period. This was really one of our few (and last) days of bell-to-bell lecture of the school year. For homework, the students had a study guide from their textbook to complete on the topic of cellular respiration.
Wednesday - I finished up lecturing, and the students began to create graphic organizers to help them group all of the information from their notes on enzymes, photosynthesis, and cellular respiration. For homework, they were given a matching study guide asking them several questions about those same topics.
Thursday - We looked at the results from our photosynthesis quiz to begin our review. Then, we graded in class the study guide the students had completed for homework on Wednesday. Finally, the students worked on their graphic organizers that we had begun the previous day in class.
Friday - On Friday, the students took their test on bioenergetics. This was definitely our toughest unit of the first semester, and one of the toughest of the entire school year. The test took the entire class period for some students, and there was no homework over break.
Upcoming Events
Monday - NO SCHOOL
Tuesday - We will be using a webquest that I created using the http://www.dnai.org/ website to learn about the discovery of the structure of DNA. It really is a great example of the process of science, and is also a great way to introduce the structure of the DNA molecule to students. There is a study guide that they will complete to go along with it. Homework will be to complete the project by Thursday.
Wednesday - I will review the structure of DNA with the students, and then explain to them, briefly, how it is that DNA replicates. DNA replication is the first stage of what Francis Crick called "The Central Dogma of Molecular Biology." Your kids should be able, by the end of this week, to explain what that is to you. Afterwards, they will complete some reinforcement activities in class on the structure of DNA and DNA replication.
Thursday - The topic on Thursday will be protein synthesis. The kids will begin a two day paper and pencil lab on how the instructions encoded in DNA are used to build a protein. Homework will be a protein synthesis reinforcement worksheet
Friday - We will complete the two day lab on protein synthesis on Friday. Homework will be to complete the questions in the lab.
Graba Geek of the Week
This week's Geek of the Week award goest to Tara Nenninger, who missed a few days of class time during our last unit, but took the time to come in and meet with me, ask me questions, and make sure she was completely caught up with everything she missed. The extra effort paid off, as Tara tied for the highest grade in her class on our test on enzymes, photosynthesis, and cellular respiration!
December 11, 2011
December 11, 2011
December 11, 2011
One more week left until winter break. The weather sure is starting to make it feel like the holidays are almost upon us!
Events of the Past Week
Monday - We took an enzyme quiz on Monday. It was a 20 question, multiple choice quiz that the students completed in about 25 minutes. When everyone was done, I introduced the students to the structure of the leaf, the structure of a chloroplast, pigments, and the colors of the visible light spectrum. This was all to prepare for our two labs on Tuesday.
Tuesday - We began class by setting up our labs. At each lab table, two students set up a chromatography lab to separate the pigments in a spinach leaf. This showed the students the presence of pigments other than the green ones that are obviously present. While the chromatography lab was being set up, one student was finding the cross-section of a leaf on a prepared slide under the microscope, and the other student at the lab table was looking for stomata (openings) and guard cells (that control the size of the openings) on the underside of a Tradescantia leaf under the microscope. Everyone at the lab table then observed the objects under both microscopes, and drew and labeled what they saw. Homework was to complete the analysis questions in the chromatography lab.
Wednesday - The students took lecture notes on the light reactions of photosynthesis. This took most of the class period. Homework was to complete the analysis questions at the end of the lab we did on Tuesday where we were looking at leaf structures under the microscope.
Thursday - The students finished taking lecture notes on the light reactions and then took lecture notes on the Calvin Cycle (the second stage of photosynthesis, named for the man who determined the steps of the cycle, Dr. Melvin Calvin). Homework was to study for a quiz on photosynthesis.
Friday - The photosynthesis quiz was scheduled for Friday; however, I received several panicked e-mails on Thursday night from students saying they did not feel prepared for the quiz. I felt this was reasonable because they really had not had much time to process the information from the previous two days of class. We instead did a review packet, went over it, and asked questions about photosynthesis. The quiz was pushed back to Monday.
Upcoming Events
Monday - We will spend the first 20 minutes of class taking our photosynthesis quiz. The students will then be given about 10 minutes to review their results from the enzyme quiz of the previous week. After everyone has looked at their enzyme quiz, we will move on and begin our cellular respiration lecture. This will take us to the end of the period.
Tuesday - I will finish lecturing on cellular respiration on Tuesday. When we are done, the students will be given a study guide to go along with their textbook on the topic of cellular respiration. It should be completed for homework.
Wednesday - We will review enzymes, photosynthesis, and cellular respiration by creating graphic organizers to help keep all of the information from the bioenergetics unit straight. Homework will be to study for our test on bioenergetics (enzymes, photosynthesis, and cellular respiration).
Thursday - Students will take their test on enzymes, photosynthesis, and cellular respiration. This should take most of the class period for some students.
Friday - We will review our results from our test, and then do some fun winter break/holiday activities.
Graba Geek of the Week
This week's Geek of the Week award goes to Jimmy Mullen, who has turned in consistently outstanding work all year long. He clearly puts in a lot of time on his work, and his efforts have been rewarded on tests and quizzes throughout the year. Good job, Jimmy!
Have a great winter break, everyone! Don't forget, anyone who wants to can enter a great science competition. Check out www.thechallenge.dupont.com for details. There are monetary awards and a trip to Disney available to talented students! The next newsletter will be after winter break.
One more week left until winter break. The weather sure is starting to make it feel like the holidays are almost upon us!
Events of the Past Week
Monday - We took an enzyme quiz on Monday. It was a 20 question, multiple choice quiz that the students completed in about 25 minutes. When everyone was done, I introduced the students to the structure of the leaf, the structure of a chloroplast, pigments, and the colors of the visible light spectrum. This was all to prepare for our two labs on Tuesday.
Tuesday - We began class by setting up our labs. At each lab table, two students set up a chromatography lab to separate the pigments in a spinach leaf. This showed the students the presence of pigments other than the green ones that are obviously present. While the chromatography lab was being set up, one student was finding the cross-section of a leaf on a prepared slide under the microscope, and the other student at the lab table was looking for stomata (openings) and guard cells (that control the size of the openings) on the underside of a Tradescantia leaf under the microscope. Everyone at the lab table then observed the objects under both microscopes, and drew and labeled what they saw. Homework was to complete the analysis questions in the chromatography lab.
Wednesday - The students took lecture notes on the light reactions of photosynthesis. This took most of the class period. Homework was to complete the analysis questions at the end of the lab we did on Tuesday where we were looking at leaf structures under the microscope.
Thursday - The students finished taking lecture notes on the light reactions and then took lecture notes on the Calvin Cycle (the second stage of photosynthesis, named for the man who determined the steps of the cycle, Dr. Melvin Calvin). Homework was to study for a quiz on photosynthesis.
Friday - The photosynthesis quiz was scheduled for Friday; however, I received several panicked e-mails on Thursday night from students saying they did not feel prepared for the quiz. I felt this was reasonable because they really had not had much time to process the information from the previous two days of class. We instead did a review packet, went over it, and asked questions about photosynthesis. The quiz was pushed back to Monday.
Upcoming Events
Monday - We will spend the first 20 minutes of class taking our photosynthesis quiz. The students will then be given about 10 minutes to review their results from the enzyme quiz of the previous week. After everyone has looked at their enzyme quiz, we will move on and begin our cellular respiration lecture. This will take us to the end of the period.
Tuesday - I will finish lecturing on cellular respiration on Tuesday. When we are done, the students will be given a study guide to go along with their textbook on the topic of cellular respiration. It should be completed for homework.
Wednesday - We will review enzymes, photosynthesis, and cellular respiration by creating graphic organizers to help keep all of the information from the bioenergetics unit straight. Homework will be to study for our test on bioenergetics (enzymes, photosynthesis, and cellular respiration).
Thursday - Students will take their test on enzymes, photosynthesis, and cellular respiration. This should take most of the class period for some students.
Friday - We will review our results from our test, and then do some fun winter break/holiday activities.
Graba Geek of the Week
This week's Geek of the Week award goes to Jimmy Mullen, who has turned in consistently outstanding work all year long. He clearly puts in a lot of time on his work, and his efforts have been rewarded on tests and quizzes throughout the year. Good job, Jimmy!
Have a great winter break, everyone! Don't forget, anyone who wants to can enter a great science competition. Check out www.thechallenge.dupont.com for details. There are monetary awards and a trip to Disney available to talented students! The next newsletter will be after winter break.
December 4, 2011
December 4, 2011
December 4, 2011
Welcome to December! Just 2 more weeks until winter vacation is upon us. I'm sure the kids are looking forward to that! We have a tough 2 weeks before break, however, so please work to keep them focused until they are on vacation.
Events of the Past Week
Monday - We began the week by looking at our results from our quiz on mitosis the previous week. The students were given the opportunity to ask me any questions that they might have had on anything they missed.
Once we were done reviewing our quiz results, we began a cooperative group project learning about enzymes. The students were allowed to pick their groups of 3. Since each of my 4 classes has 27 students in it, the numbers worked out very well! Each person in the group had some assigned information to research regarding enzymes. The students were asked to try to complete their portion of the project for homework.
Tuesday - The students completed any parts of their assigned portion of the project that they had been unable to complete for homework, and then began to share their information with each other. They were instructed that sharing needed to be more than, "Here's my paper, copy it." The groups did a good job of not only sharing what they wrote, but explaining what was meant by what they had written. In addition, there were many good questions for me from the groups when there was something they did not understand in their packet.
Wednesday - The groups spent about 25 minutes completing the sharing of information in their groups. Afterwards, they had the remainder of the class to ask me any questions they had about enzymes. For homework, there was a passage taken from an ACT exam about energy-releasing (exergonic) and energy-storing (endergonic) reactions. In addition, the students were given the lab handout for our experiment on Thursday and Friday. They were asked to read through it and answer the 8 prelab questions found at the beginning of the handout.
Thursday - We began our experiment. 3 lab pairs worked together on the experiment. One of the pairs of students researched whether or not an enzyme found in fresh pineapple juice, called bromelain, was also found in other fruit juices. One pair researched the effects of temperature on the functioning of the same enzyme. The final pair researched the effect of changing pH on bromelain. Homework was to create a data table that could be filled in during class the next day when we would observe our results from the experiment.
Friday - We observed the results of our experiment. Rather than telling you in this newsletter, I'd like you to ask your children to explain what happened in their experiment. They should be able to tell you about the results from all 3 experiments. After recording the results in a data table, each lab pair had to create a flow chart to explain the procedure that they followed during their experiment. Finally, each large group of 3 lab pairs worked together to answer the 5 postlab questions at the end of the experiment. Homework for the weekend was to study for a quiz on enzymes on Monday.
Upcoming Events
Monday - We will be taking our quiz to begin class. I don't anticipate this taking more than 20 minutes. Once the quiz is completed, we will begin to learn about the process of photosynthesis. My plan is to review the visible light spectrum, introduce the concept of excited electrons, and the role of pigments in plants by the end of the period. Homework will be to complete an assignment about ATP - the molecule living things use as the source of energy to drive all of their metabolic processes.
Tuesday - We will be doing two labs at once on Tuesday. Students will first set up a chromatography lab, where they will be separating the pigments found in a spinach leaf. Once this lab is set up it takes about 20-25 minutes to complete. Watching chromatography solvent inch up a strip of paper is about as exciting as it sounds, so while we are waiting for that to finish, the students will be looking at leaf cross-sections under the microscope, as well as looking at the underside of living leaves to look for stomata (openings where gases enter and exit the leaf). Homework will be to finish the questions that go along with both of the labs.
Wednesday - On Wednesday, I will be lecturing to the students about the light reactions and the Calvin Cycle (the two phases of photosynthesis). Homework will be to do a reading on the history of the discovery of the events in the process of photosynthesis and answer some questions about the reading.
Thursday - We will review the process of photosynthesis on Thursday using graphic organizers to help organize all of the information from Wednesdays lecture. Homework will be to study for a quiz on Friday.
Friday - The students will be taking a quiz on photosynthesis. When the quiz is completed, we will begin to learn about the process of cellular respiration. There will be a reading guide that goes with the textbook that the students will be working on, so they will need their books on Friday. Homework will be to complete the reading guide.
Graba Geek of the Week
This week's geek of the week goes to Lauren Hoffman. Lauren has done a great job this year, and especially this last week as we learned about enzymes (a topic that is brand new to most students), of asking good, specific questions when she is not completely understanding something. All of the questions she has been asking have been paying off as her scores on the last few quizzes and tests have been excellent. Way to go, Lauren! Keep up the good work!
Welcome to December! Just 2 more weeks until winter vacation is upon us. I'm sure the kids are looking forward to that! We have a tough 2 weeks before break, however, so please work to keep them focused until they are on vacation.
Events of the Past Week
Monday - We began the week by looking at our results from our quiz on mitosis the previous week. The students were given the opportunity to ask me any questions that they might have had on anything they missed.
Once we were done reviewing our quiz results, we began a cooperative group project learning about enzymes. The students were allowed to pick their groups of 3. Since each of my 4 classes has 27 students in it, the numbers worked out very well! Each person in the group had some assigned information to research regarding enzymes. The students were asked to try to complete their portion of the project for homework.
Tuesday - The students completed any parts of their assigned portion of the project that they had been unable to complete for homework, and then began to share their information with each other. They were instructed that sharing needed to be more than, "Here's my paper, copy it." The groups did a good job of not only sharing what they wrote, but explaining what was meant by what they had written. In addition, there were many good questions for me from the groups when there was something they did not understand in their packet.
Wednesday - The groups spent about 25 minutes completing the sharing of information in their groups. Afterwards, they had the remainder of the class to ask me any questions they had about enzymes. For homework, there was a passage taken from an ACT exam about energy-releasing (exergonic) and energy-storing (endergonic) reactions. In addition, the students were given the lab handout for our experiment on Thursday and Friday. They were asked to read through it and answer the 8 prelab questions found at the beginning of the handout.
Thursday - We began our experiment. 3 lab pairs worked together on the experiment. One of the pairs of students researched whether or not an enzyme found in fresh pineapple juice, called bromelain, was also found in other fruit juices. One pair researched the effects of temperature on the functioning of the same enzyme. The final pair researched the effect of changing pH on bromelain. Homework was to create a data table that could be filled in during class the next day when we would observe our results from the experiment.
Friday - We observed the results of our experiment. Rather than telling you in this newsletter, I'd like you to ask your children to explain what happened in their experiment. They should be able to tell you about the results from all 3 experiments. After recording the results in a data table, each lab pair had to create a flow chart to explain the procedure that they followed during their experiment. Finally, each large group of 3 lab pairs worked together to answer the 5 postlab questions at the end of the experiment. Homework for the weekend was to study for a quiz on enzymes on Monday.
Upcoming Events
Monday - We will be taking our quiz to begin class. I don't anticipate this taking more than 20 minutes. Once the quiz is completed, we will begin to learn about the process of photosynthesis. My plan is to review the visible light spectrum, introduce the concept of excited electrons, and the role of pigments in plants by the end of the period. Homework will be to complete an assignment about ATP - the molecule living things use as the source of energy to drive all of their metabolic processes.
Tuesday - We will be doing two labs at once on Tuesday. Students will first set up a chromatography lab, where they will be separating the pigments found in a spinach leaf. Once this lab is set up it takes about 20-25 minutes to complete. Watching chromatography solvent inch up a strip of paper is about as exciting as it sounds, so while we are waiting for that to finish, the students will be looking at leaf cross-sections under the microscope, as well as looking at the underside of living leaves to look for stomata (openings where gases enter and exit the leaf). Homework will be to finish the questions that go along with both of the labs.
Wednesday - On Wednesday, I will be lecturing to the students about the light reactions and the Calvin Cycle (the two phases of photosynthesis). Homework will be to do a reading on the history of the discovery of the events in the process of photosynthesis and answer some questions about the reading.
Thursday - We will review the process of photosynthesis on Thursday using graphic organizers to help organize all of the information from Wednesdays lecture. Homework will be to study for a quiz on Friday.
Friday - The students will be taking a quiz on photosynthesis. When the quiz is completed, we will begin to learn about the process of cellular respiration. There will be a reading guide that goes with the textbook that the students will be working on, so they will need their books on Friday. Homework will be to complete the reading guide.
Graba Geek of the Week
This week's geek of the week goes to Lauren Hoffman. Lauren has done a great job this year, and especially this last week as we learned about enzymes (a topic that is brand new to most students), of asking good, specific questions when she is not completely understanding something. All of the questions she has been asking have been paying off as her scores on the last few quizzes and tests have been excellent. Way to go, Lauren! Keep up the good work!
November 27, 2011
November 27, 2011
November 27, 2011
This school year is flying past right now! We just reached the midterm of second quarter and December is almost upon us. You can look for the midterm reports in your mailboxes sometime at the end of this week or beginning of next, depending on the mail.
Events of the Past Week
Monday - The students ran a lab experiment called "The Limits of Cell Size," where they learned that the larger the surface area to volume ratio of a cell is, the quicker it is able to get nutrients in and waste out. Cells have a larger surface area to volume ratio the smaller they are, which is why they need to divide after growing for a little while. They also turned in their "Mitosis" lab and "Time for Mitosis" lab. Homework was to complete the questions in the "Limits of Cell Size" lab.
Tuesday - The students first took a lab quiz over the cell size lab. It was a 10 question quiz that we give to all of our freshman, no matter what level of biology they are in, because this is a lab we do at all levels of biology. Most students did well on the short quiz. The students then got back their two labs that they handed in the previous day, as well as the questions to the mitosis reading assignment from the previous week.
After all of the papers were passed back and everyone was done with the quiz, we reviewed for our quiz the next day by doing a pattern puzzle. The students were given pictures of all of the stages of the cell cycle, as well as many statements about the events of the cell cycle to cut out and place in the proper order. This took them a little while to complete, and they had to show me their completed work when they were done. If they had made any mistakes, I pulled out the parts that were wrong and they had to go back and fix them to show me again until they had everything right. Homework was to study for the quiz.
Wednesday - The students took their quiz over the cell cycle, which did include the five microscopes with one question at each microscope about cells in the various stages of the cell cycle. This took the students most of the class period, so we did not do the cell energy assignment I had planned. This is because I did not want them to have any homework over the Thanksgiving break, which I feel should be spent with family.
Thursday - NO SCHOOL - THANKSGIVING!
Friday - NO SCHOOL - NON-ATTENDANCE DAY
Upcoming Events
Monday - After first going over the cell cycle quiz together, we will begin our next unit on cell energy. This is one of the toughest units of the year because there will be a lot of new information which the students have not seen much of before, and some of the concepts are very high level. The unit will begin on Monday with an introduction to enzymes, the molecules which speed up all of the chemical reactions in our bodies. The students will be working in groups of 3 on a cooperative group project. Each student will complete one part of a 3 part assignment on enzymes, and then be responsible for teaching the other members in his or her group the information in their part.
Tuesday - Late Start Day - We will continue with the cooperative group project. Students will complete the research on their part of the project, and then begin teaching each other. Because of the shortened day, this will probably carry over into Wednesday.
Wednesday - Students will complete teaching their part of the project, and then have the opportunity to ask any questions that they might have about enzymes. For homework, they will be looking at the lab that we will be running on Thursday and Friday with enzymes.
Thursday - This will be Day 1 of our enzyme lab. Students will be working with an enzyme found in fresh pineapples called bromelain, which digests collagen. Because of bromelain's function, gelatin, which is made of collagen, will not set up in the presence of fresh pineapple juice. Students will be investigating which fruit juices contain bromelain, the effects of temperature on enzymes, and the effects of pH on enzymes during the course of this laboratory experiment. If the enzyme bromelain is present and functioning, then the gelatin mixture they are working with will not solidify overnight in a refrigerator. If the bromelain is not present or not functional, then the gelatin solution they will be working with will solidify overnight.
One two member lab team will investigate whether or not bromelain is present in many different fruit juices, one two member team will investigate the effects of temperature on bromelain, and one two member team will investigate the effects of pH on bromelain. Homework for each lab team will be to design a data table in which to record their results, and to begin writing up the procedure for their experiment. The procedures will be written in the form of a flow chart.
Friday - Each two member team will observe their gelatin solutions to see whether or not they have solidified. After recording their results, the teams will share their results with the other two member teams in their group. They will then produce a procedure in flow chart form for each two member team, and answer 5 post-lab questions together as a big group. Homework will be to study for a quiz on enzymes on Monday.
Graba Geek of the Week
This week's Geek of the Week award goes to Katie Schuelke, who worked very hard during the course of this unit and earned herself a perfect score on the lab quiz we took on Tuesday, and also earned a perfect score on the regular quiz on Wednesday. That's the way to take yourself into Thanksgiving break!
This school year is flying past right now! We just reached the midterm of second quarter and December is almost upon us. You can look for the midterm reports in your mailboxes sometime at the end of this week or beginning of next, depending on the mail.
Events of the Past Week
Monday - The students ran a lab experiment called "The Limits of Cell Size," where they learned that the larger the surface area to volume ratio of a cell is, the quicker it is able to get nutrients in and waste out. Cells have a larger surface area to volume ratio the smaller they are, which is why they need to divide after growing for a little while. They also turned in their "Mitosis" lab and "Time for Mitosis" lab. Homework was to complete the questions in the "Limits of Cell Size" lab.
Tuesday - The students first took a lab quiz over the cell size lab. It was a 10 question quiz that we give to all of our freshman, no matter what level of biology they are in, because this is a lab we do at all levels of biology. Most students did well on the short quiz. The students then got back their two labs that they handed in the previous day, as well as the questions to the mitosis reading assignment from the previous week.
After all of the papers were passed back and everyone was done with the quiz, we reviewed for our quiz the next day by doing a pattern puzzle. The students were given pictures of all of the stages of the cell cycle, as well as many statements about the events of the cell cycle to cut out and place in the proper order. This took them a little while to complete, and they had to show me their completed work when they were done. If they had made any mistakes, I pulled out the parts that were wrong and they had to go back and fix them to show me again until they had everything right. Homework was to study for the quiz.
Wednesday - The students took their quiz over the cell cycle, which did include the five microscopes with one question at each microscope about cells in the various stages of the cell cycle. This took the students most of the class period, so we did not do the cell energy assignment I had planned. This is because I did not want them to have any homework over the Thanksgiving break, which I feel should be spent with family.
Thursday - NO SCHOOL - THANKSGIVING!
Friday - NO SCHOOL - NON-ATTENDANCE DAY
Upcoming Events
Monday - After first going over the cell cycle quiz together, we will begin our next unit on cell energy. This is one of the toughest units of the year because there will be a lot of new information which the students have not seen much of before, and some of the concepts are very high level. The unit will begin on Monday with an introduction to enzymes, the molecules which speed up all of the chemical reactions in our bodies. The students will be working in groups of 3 on a cooperative group project. Each student will complete one part of a 3 part assignment on enzymes, and then be responsible for teaching the other members in his or her group the information in their part.
Tuesday - Late Start Day - We will continue with the cooperative group project. Students will complete the research on their part of the project, and then begin teaching each other. Because of the shortened day, this will probably carry over into Wednesday.
Wednesday - Students will complete teaching their part of the project, and then have the opportunity to ask any questions that they might have about enzymes. For homework, they will be looking at the lab that we will be running on Thursday and Friday with enzymes.
Thursday - This will be Day 1 of our enzyme lab. Students will be working with an enzyme found in fresh pineapples called bromelain, which digests collagen. Because of bromelain's function, gelatin, which is made of collagen, will not set up in the presence of fresh pineapple juice. Students will be investigating which fruit juices contain bromelain, the effects of temperature on enzymes, and the effects of pH on enzymes during the course of this laboratory experiment. If the enzyme bromelain is present and functioning, then the gelatin mixture they are working with will not solidify overnight in a refrigerator. If the bromelain is not present or not functional, then the gelatin solution they will be working with will solidify overnight.
One two member lab team will investigate whether or not bromelain is present in many different fruit juices, one two member team will investigate the effects of temperature on bromelain, and one two member team will investigate the effects of pH on bromelain. Homework for each lab team will be to design a data table in which to record their results, and to begin writing up the procedure for their experiment. The procedures will be written in the form of a flow chart.
Friday - Each two member team will observe their gelatin solutions to see whether or not they have solidified. After recording their results, the teams will share their results with the other two member teams in their group. They will then produce a procedure in flow chart form for each two member team, and answer 5 post-lab questions together as a big group. Homework will be to study for a quiz on enzymes on Monday.
Graba Geek of the Week
This week's Geek of the Week award goes to Katie Schuelke, who worked very hard during the course of this unit and earned herself a perfect score on the lab quiz we took on Tuesday, and also earned a perfect score on the regular quiz on Wednesday. That's the way to take yourself into Thanksgiving break!
November 20, 2011
November 20, 2011
November 20, 2011
As many of us are getting ready to enjoy a Thanksgiving meal on Thursday, make sure to pause and take time to be thankful for the family and friends we have in our lives.
Events of the Past Week
Monday - NO SCHOOL - Teacher Institute Day
Tuesday - Periods were shortened to 37 minutes due to our late start meetings in the morning. During our late start time we were examining our grading practices and philosophies, which made for interesting discussions and reflections.
In class, I lectured to the students about the concept of chromosomes, chromatids, and chromatin, as well as the first stages of the cell cycle.
Wednesday - I was out of school on Wednesday, so the students did a reading on the cell cycle from a booklet put out by the National Institutes of Health. There were questions associated with it, which they completed in class. Homework was a coloring worksheet on the cell cycle. I find that colored diagrams make are a much better study aid than black and white diagrams because all of the parts stand out a little bit better.
Thursday - The students finished taking lecture notes on the cell cycle. When we were done with our discussion, the students then began a lab looking for cells in the various stages of the cell cycle under the microscope. We were looking at prepared slides of the tip of an onion root to find cells in various stages of their life cycle. Each lab team had to show me each stage as they found them so I knew that they had correctly identified all of the different stages of the cell cycle.
Friday - We finished identifying cells under the microscope, and then moved on to a lab where students were determining how long cells spend in each stage of the cell cycle. The big ideas the students should learn from this lab are: cancer cells go through their life cycle much quicker than normal cells, interphase is the longest stage of the cell cycle, and prophase is the longest stage of mitosis. Homework was to complete the questions in the two labs that we completed on Thursday and Friday.
Upcoming Events
Monday - Due to my absence on Wednesday of last week, we did not run the lab that we were going to do to learn about the importance of the surface area to volume ratio of a cell. That lab will instead be run Monday. Homework will be to complete the lab question for homework.
Tuesday - We will be spending some time reviewing the stages of the cell cycle on Tuesday, and I will be sharing with the students how cancer has impacted my life. I will invite anyone who would like to share to also do so after I have shared my story.
Wednesday - The students will take their quiz on the cell cycle that will consist of 20 multiple choice questions and five microscopes set up around the room. They will get 1 minute at each microscope to look at and identify cells in the different stages of the cell cycle. There is a pointer in the microscope that I will have pointing directly at one specific cell for them to identify. On the microscope portion of the quiz, they may also be asked questions such as, "Name two events that take place during this stage of the cell cycle."
After the quiz, the students will be given a packet where they will investigate a molecule called Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) that provides our cells with the energy they need to work.
Thursday - NO SCHOOL - EAT LOTS!
Friday - NO SCHOOL - ENJOY SOME QUALITY TIME WITH EACH OTHER\
Interesting Tidbits
For those of you looking for opportunities for your children to get involved in science outside of the classroom, I found this opportunity: http://thechallenge.dupont.com/. It is called the Dupont Challenge. The idea is that students pick a topic in science that interests them, and write about it in an essay of no more than 1,000 words. The winners of the competition can earn:
$5,000 U.S. Savings Bond
Expenses-paid trip to Kennedy Space Center and Walt Disney World® Resort with a parent
Subscription to Britannica Pathways: Science for entire school
26-volume Compton's by Britannica Encyclopedia
Full set of Britannica Mobile Apps
Britannica Ultimate Reference DVD
Graba Geek of the Week
This week's geek of the week award goes to Max Jahns in my 5th period class. During our lecture last week Max was really engaged and asked some excellent questions. It's a lot of fun to teach students who have good questions and are thinking critically about the information they are presented. That's one reason I enjoy teaching the accelerated students so much! Have a great week and a Happy Thanksgiving!
As many of us are getting ready to enjoy a Thanksgiving meal on Thursday, make sure to pause and take time to be thankful for the family and friends we have in our lives.
Events of the Past Week
Monday - NO SCHOOL - Teacher Institute Day
Tuesday - Periods were shortened to 37 minutes due to our late start meetings in the morning. During our late start time we were examining our grading practices and philosophies, which made for interesting discussions and reflections.
In class, I lectured to the students about the concept of chromosomes, chromatids, and chromatin, as well as the first stages of the cell cycle.
Wednesday - I was out of school on Wednesday, so the students did a reading on the cell cycle from a booklet put out by the National Institutes of Health. There were questions associated with it, which they completed in class. Homework was a coloring worksheet on the cell cycle. I find that colored diagrams make are a much better study aid than black and white diagrams because all of the parts stand out a little bit better.
Thursday - The students finished taking lecture notes on the cell cycle. When we were done with our discussion, the students then began a lab looking for cells in the various stages of the cell cycle under the microscope. We were looking at prepared slides of the tip of an onion root to find cells in various stages of their life cycle. Each lab team had to show me each stage as they found them so I knew that they had correctly identified all of the different stages of the cell cycle.
Friday - We finished identifying cells under the microscope, and then moved on to a lab where students were determining how long cells spend in each stage of the cell cycle. The big ideas the students should learn from this lab are: cancer cells go through their life cycle much quicker than normal cells, interphase is the longest stage of the cell cycle, and prophase is the longest stage of mitosis. Homework was to complete the questions in the two labs that we completed on Thursday and Friday.
Upcoming Events
Monday - Due to my absence on Wednesday of last week, we did not run the lab that we were going to do to learn about the importance of the surface area to volume ratio of a cell. That lab will instead be run Monday. Homework will be to complete the lab question for homework.
Tuesday - We will be spending some time reviewing the stages of the cell cycle on Tuesday, and I will be sharing with the students how cancer has impacted my life. I will invite anyone who would like to share to also do so after I have shared my story.
Wednesday - The students will take their quiz on the cell cycle that will consist of 20 multiple choice questions and five microscopes set up around the room. They will get 1 minute at each microscope to look at and identify cells in the different stages of the cell cycle. There is a pointer in the microscope that I will have pointing directly at one specific cell for them to identify. On the microscope portion of the quiz, they may also be asked questions such as, "Name two events that take place during this stage of the cell cycle."
After the quiz, the students will be given a packet where they will investigate a molecule called Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) that provides our cells with the energy they need to work.
Thursday - NO SCHOOL - EAT LOTS!
Friday - NO SCHOOL - ENJOY SOME QUALITY TIME WITH EACH OTHER\
Interesting Tidbits
For those of you looking for opportunities for your children to get involved in science outside of the classroom, I found this opportunity: http://thechallenge.dupont.com/. It is called the Dupont Challenge. The idea is that students pick a topic in science that interests them, and write about it in an essay of no more than 1,000 words. The winners of the competition can earn:
Graba Geek of the Week
This week's geek of the week award goes to Max Jahns in my 5th period class. During our lecture last week Max was really engaged and asked some excellent questions. It's a lot of fun to teach students who have good questions and are thinking critically about the information they are presented. That's one reason I enjoy teaching the accelerated students so much! Have a great week and a Happy Thanksgiving!
November 13, 2011
November 13, 2011
November 13, 2011
We are reaching that time of year where it seems like there are as many days off of school as there are days in school! Students have Monday off as we will be meeting with other science teachers from all of the schools in District 211, and then on Tuesday we will be meeting as biology teachers on our late start day to analyze data from our cell test that all accelerated biology teachers gave last week.
Events of the Past Week
Monday - We took the 10 question quiz on cell transport as planned. Afterwards, students worked on the analysis questions to their egg lab, and then began work on a review packet on cells. They also handed in the "Osmosis in a Plant Cell" lab from the previous Friday. Homework was to complete the review sheet.
Tuesday - I handed back the "Osmosis in a Plant Cell" lab to the students, as well as their egg lab analysis questions. We took the time to discuss the results of those labs. Then, the students got back their 10 question quizzes from the day before and were given time to ask me about them. The next item on the agenda for the day was to go through the review packet and see if there were any questions on that. After going through the review packet, we finally had time for our review activity with butcher paper on each lab table that has been described in previous posts. Homework was to study for the test on Wednesday.
Wednesday - Students took their test on cells on Wednesday. There were 55 questions on the test, the 48 common assessment questions that all accelerated biology teachers gave, and then seven questions that related directly to the labs we did in class. The other accelerated biology teachers also ended up giving those questions to their students after looking at what I had put together, so we all gave the same 55 question test. We plan to take a look at the results from that test together on Tuesday. There was no homework Wednesday night.
Thursday - Students got a chance to see how they did on the test. The majority of students received A's or B's on the test. The toughest portion of the test was definitely the portion on cell transport (diffusion, osmosis, active transport, etc.). When we were done with this, the students began a reading on cancer that I located on the American Cancer Society website. The students' homework is to finish the reading and take notes on it. Only a class set of the reading was run off, so I linked the handout to my website (www.mrgraba.net) on the accelerated biology "Worksheets and Presentations" page with a reminder of how far in the handout they have to read. The idea behind having the students do this reading was to give them a reason to care about our next topic, cell division. When cell division spirals out of control, cancer is the result. Since it is estimated that one out of every two males and one out of every three females will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their life, it is important to me that the students be educated about it.
Friday - NO SCHOOL. THANK YOU VETERANS FOR ALL THAT YOU DO!
Upcoming Events
Monday - NO SCHOOL. TEACHER INSTITUTE DAY
Tuesday - LATE START DAY. We will have shortened periods on Tuesday, so we will take a little bit of time to discuss the reading from the weekend (we will spend a little bit more time discussing cancer later in the unit), and I will lecture on the stages of the cell cycle, which includes the stages of mitosis.
Wednesday - The students will be doing a reading on the cell cycle and answering questions about it in class. There will also be a coloring handout on the stages of the cell cycle for the students to complete. Anything that is not finished in class will be homework.
Thursday - We will do a lab where the students try to grasp the concept of surface area to volume ratio. A cell needs a lot more surface area (cell membrane) than volume (cytoplasm and its contents) in order for nutrients to enter the cell quickly enough and waste to get out quickly enough for the cell to survive. The lab will use cubes of agar of various sizes with sodium hydroxide and an acid/base indicator called bromothymol blue, which is blue in the presence of a base and yellow in the presence of an acid, inside of them. The cubes will be placed into hydrochloric acid, and the amount of time it takes for the cubes to turn from blue to completely yellow will be recorded. The students will see that the greater the surface area to volume ratio is, the faster the acid diffuses throughout the whole cube. Homework will be to finish the lab questions.
Friday - Class will start with a quick lab quiz to see what students learned from our agar cube lab. We will look at slides of onion root tips, where cells are actively dividing as the root grows, to find cells in the various stages (interphase, prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase) of the cell cycle. Homework will be to finish the questions in the lab.
Graba Geek of the Week
This week's Geek of the Week award goes to Christopher Umeki. Chris earned a perfect score on his test on cells, getting all 55 questions correct! Way to go! In addition, when a student asked when we'd learned that the smooth endoplasmic reticulum was responsible for detoxifying poisons (which was a question on the test), he was able to pull out his presentation and show the student the part of his presentation where he addressed that. It always helps to be prepared!
Have a great week, everyone!
We are reaching that time of year where it seems like there are as many days off of school as there are days in school! Students have Monday off as we will be meeting with other science teachers from all of the schools in District 211, and then on Tuesday we will be meeting as biology teachers on our late start day to analyze data from our cell test that all accelerated biology teachers gave last week.
Events of the Past Week
Monday - We took the 10 question quiz on cell transport as planned. Afterwards, students worked on the analysis questions to their egg lab, and then began work on a review packet on cells. They also handed in the "Osmosis in a Plant Cell" lab from the previous Friday. Homework was to complete the review sheet.
Tuesday - I handed back the "Osmosis in a Plant Cell" lab to the students, as well as their egg lab analysis questions. We took the time to discuss the results of those labs. Then, the students got back their 10 question quizzes from the day before and were given time to ask me about them. The next item on the agenda for the day was to go through the review packet and see if there were any questions on that. After going through the review packet, we finally had time for our review activity with butcher paper on each lab table that has been described in previous posts. Homework was to study for the test on Wednesday.
Wednesday - Students took their test on cells on Wednesday. There were 55 questions on the test, the 48 common assessment questions that all accelerated biology teachers gave, and then seven questions that related directly to the labs we did in class. The other accelerated biology teachers also ended up giving those questions to their students after looking at what I had put together, so we all gave the same 55 question test. We plan to take a look at the results from that test together on Tuesday. There was no homework Wednesday night.
Thursday - Students got a chance to see how they did on the test. The majority of students received A's or B's on the test. The toughest portion of the test was definitely the portion on cell transport (diffusion, osmosis, active transport, etc.). When we were done with this, the students began a reading on cancer that I located on the American Cancer Society website. The students' homework is to finish the reading and take notes on it. Only a class set of the reading was run off, so I linked the handout to my website (www.mrgraba.net) on the accelerated biology "Worksheets and Presentations" page with a reminder of how far in the handout they have to read. The idea behind having the students do this reading was to give them a reason to care about our next topic, cell division. When cell division spirals out of control, cancer is the result. Since it is estimated that one out of every two males and one out of every three females will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their life, it is important to me that the students be educated about it.
Friday - NO SCHOOL. THANK YOU VETERANS FOR ALL THAT YOU DO!
Upcoming Events
Monday - NO SCHOOL. TEACHER INSTITUTE DAY
Tuesday - LATE START DAY. We will have shortened periods on Tuesday, so we will take a little bit of time to discuss the reading from the weekend (we will spend a little bit more time discussing cancer later in the unit), and I will lecture on the stages of the cell cycle, which includes the stages of mitosis.
Wednesday - The students will be doing a reading on the cell cycle and answering questions about it in class. There will also be a coloring handout on the stages of the cell cycle for the students to complete. Anything that is not finished in class will be homework.
Thursday - We will do a lab where the students try to grasp the concept of surface area to volume ratio. A cell needs a lot more surface area (cell membrane) than volume (cytoplasm and its contents) in order for nutrients to enter the cell quickly enough and waste to get out quickly enough for the cell to survive. The lab will use cubes of agar of various sizes with sodium hydroxide and an acid/base indicator called bromothymol blue, which is blue in the presence of a base and yellow in the presence of an acid, inside of them. The cubes will be placed into hydrochloric acid, and the amount of time it takes for the cubes to turn from blue to completely yellow will be recorded. The students will see that the greater the surface area to volume ratio is, the faster the acid diffuses throughout the whole cube. Homework will be to finish the lab questions.
Friday - Class will start with a quick lab quiz to see what students learned from our agar cube lab. We will look at slides of onion root tips, where cells are actively dividing as the root grows, to find cells in the various stages (interphase, prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase) of the cell cycle. Homework will be to finish the questions in the lab.
Graba Geek of the Week
This week's Geek of the Week award goes to Christopher Umeki. Chris earned a perfect score on his test on cells, getting all 55 questions correct! Way to go! In addition, when a student asked when we'd learned that the smooth endoplasmic reticulum was responsible for detoxifying poisons (which was a question on the test), he was able to pull out his presentation and show the student the part of his presentation where he addressed that. It always helps to be prepared!
Have a great week, everyone!
November 6, 2011
November 6th, 2011
November 6th, 2011
We have a short week this week, and the students have a 4 day weekend followed by a late start on Tuesday. Everyone should be well-rested by next week!
Events of the Past Week
Monday - To begin class, we took the mass of our eggs and measured the volume of liquid in our cups after the weekend. They were then placed in distilled water and left to sit overnight.
We then went over our quiz from Friday. After that was done, we began a lab looking at plant and animal cells. We accomplished the task of looking at cheek cells during this class period. The students should have been able to identify the cell membrane, cytoplasm, and nucleus in the cheek cell.
Tuesday - The class periods were all shortened this day due to it being a late start. The students were able to look at onion cells stained with iodine during the class period, and should have identified the cell wall, cytoplasm, nucleus, and nucleolus. This was done after taking the mass of our eggs, measuring the volume of liquid left in our cups, and placing the eggs in 75 mL of corn syrup.
Wednesday - This was the 50th day of school, so no homework was allowed to be assigned, and no tests could be given on Thursday. We began class by taking the mass of our eggs, measuring the volume of liquid in our cups, and throwing everything away. Since the lab questions could not be assigned to be due on Thursday, I let the students know that they would be due on Friday.
After we were done cleaning up our lab, I began to lecture about the structure of the cell membrane, as well as the concepts of diffusion, osmosis, facilitated diffusion, hypertonic, isotonic, and hypotonic solutions. In the past, the concepts of hypertonic, hypotonic, and isotonic have been confusing for my students (as well as for the students of other teachers). If you can encourage your children to study those terms it will help them on their upcoming quiz and test.
Thursday - I finished lecturing about the way materials move into and out of cells by introducing the concept of active transport. When the students were done taking notes, we moved on to a worksheet that helped to review the concepts from the lecture. Students were to finish that worksheet for homework, in addition to completing the egg lab questions.
Friday - Due to the shortened periods and amount of time needed in each class period to complete our egg lab, the quiz that was originally scheduled for today was pushed back until Monday. Instead, we did two labs investigating osmosis and diffusion. The first lab experiment involved putting a solution of egg white (protein), glucose (monosaccharide), and starch (polysaccharide), into a semipermeable bag, and then putting the bag in a beaker of distilled water. The purpose of this lab was to investigate what effect the size of a molecule has on its movement through a membrane. Through testing the solution in the beaker for the presence of monosaccharides, proteins, and polysaccharides, the students learned that small particles like monosaccharides can pass through a membrane, while larger particles, like proteins and polysaccharides, are too big to fit through a membrane.
While the students were letting their bags sit in the beaker of distilled water, they looked at two wet mounts I had set up at microscopes at my desk. The students did not set up the slides themselves because 13 of the 15 microscopes in the classroom were in use for a lab practical that was set up for my seniors. The freshmen observed purple onion cells that were soaked in deionized water on one slide, and purple onion cells that were soaked in salt water on the other slide. Ask them to show you their drawings and explain what happened on each slide. They should be able to use terms like: plasmolysis, hyptonic, and hypertonic in describing what they observed. For homework, the students were to complete the questions associated with the purple onion lab. They will be given time on Monday to work on the questions associated with the semipermeable bag lab.
Upcoming Events
Monday - Class will begin with a short, 10 question quiz on the topics that were covered in lecture and lab during the previous week. Afterwards, students will be given time to work on finishing the questions from the semipermeable bag lab. Finally, when they complete those questions, they will be given a review packet on the topic of cells. Homework will be to finish the review packet.
Tuesday - We will begin by going over the questions in the review packet together. Then the students will do the review activity with the butcher paper on each lab table that I described in the previous post. Homework will be to study for a test on Wednesday.
Wednesday - The students will take a test of approximately 60 questions on cells. The other accelerated biology teachers and I have a set of 48 questions that we will all be giving so that we can compare data on how our students are doing on several different topics within our unit. Hopefully, this will lead to discussions of what each of us is doing that helps our students learn the material in this unit to find what approaches work best for students. The other 10-12 questions will be specific to material done in our class.
Thursday - We will take a good amount of class time on Thursday to review the results of our cell test. Students will analyze which topics they did well on, and which they could have performed better on, and do test corrections on those questions that they missed. Finally, students will be given a brief reading assignment for homework over the weekend.
Friday - NO SCHOOL. THANK A VETERAN!
Graba Geek of the Week
My geek of the week actually goes back to our organelle presentations. Alexandra Baumgart's presentation was one of the best presentations I have seen a freshman give in 14 years of teaching. She took the risk of singing her part of the presentation solo in front of her peers. This was very brave. Alexandra did an outstanding job of singing her part, the information was factually accurate, and everyone was paying attention to her. Great job, Alexandra! I would not have been brave enough to do something like that when I was in high school!
We have a short week this week, and the students have a 4 day weekend followed by a late start on Tuesday. Everyone should be well-rested by next week!
Events of the Past Week
Monday - To begin class, we took the mass of our eggs and measured the volume of liquid in our cups after the weekend. They were then placed in distilled water and left to sit overnight.
We then went over our quiz from Friday. After that was done, we began a lab looking at plant and animal cells. We accomplished the task of looking at cheek cells during this class period. The students should have been able to identify the cell membrane, cytoplasm, and nucleus in the cheek cell.
Tuesday - The class periods were all shortened this day due to it being a late start. The students were able to look at onion cells stained with iodine during the class period, and should have identified the cell wall, cytoplasm, nucleus, and nucleolus. This was done after taking the mass of our eggs, measuring the volume of liquid left in our cups, and placing the eggs in 75 mL of corn syrup.
Wednesday - This was the 50th day of school, so no homework was allowed to be assigned, and no tests could be given on Thursday. We began class by taking the mass of our eggs, measuring the volume of liquid in our cups, and throwing everything away. Since the lab questions could not be assigned to be due on Thursday, I let the students know that they would be due on Friday.
After we were done cleaning up our lab, I began to lecture about the structure of the cell membrane, as well as the concepts of diffusion, osmosis, facilitated diffusion, hypertonic, isotonic, and hypotonic solutions. In the past, the concepts of hypertonic, hypotonic, and isotonic have been confusing for my students (as well as for the students of other teachers). If you can encourage your children to study those terms it will help them on their upcoming quiz and test.
Thursday - I finished lecturing about the way materials move into and out of cells by introducing the concept of active transport. When the students were done taking notes, we moved on to a worksheet that helped to review the concepts from the lecture. Students were to finish that worksheet for homework, in addition to completing the egg lab questions.
Friday - Due to the shortened periods and amount of time needed in each class period to complete our egg lab, the quiz that was originally scheduled for today was pushed back until Monday. Instead, we did two labs investigating osmosis and diffusion. The first lab experiment involved putting a solution of egg white (protein), glucose (monosaccharide), and starch (polysaccharide), into a semipermeable bag, and then putting the bag in a beaker of distilled water. The purpose of this lab was to investigate what effect the size of a molecule has on its movement through a membrane. Through testing the solution in the beaker for the presence of monosaccharides, proteins, and polysaccharides, the students learned that small particles like monosaccharides can pass through a membrane, while larger particles, like proteins and polysaccharides, are too big to fit through a membrane.
While the students were letting their bags sit in the beaker of distilled water, they looked at two wet mounts I had set up at microscopes at my desk. The students did not set up the slides themselves because 13 of the 15 microscopes in the classroom were in use for a lab practical that was set up for my seniors. The freshmen observed purple onion cells that were soaked in deionized water on one slide, and purple onion cells that were soaked in salt water on the other slide. Ask them to show you their drawings and explain what happened on each slide. They should be able to use terms like: plasmolysis, hyptonic, and hypertonic in describing what they observed. For homework, the students were to complete the questions associated with the purple onion lab. They will be given time on Monday to work on the questions associated with the semipermeable bag lab.
Upcoming Events
Monday - Class will begin with a short, 10 question quiz on the topics that were covered in lecture and lab during the previous week. Afterwards, students will be given time to work on finishing the questions from the semipermeable bag lab. Finally, when they complete those questions, they will be given a review packet on the topic of cells. Homework will be to finish the review packet.
Tuesday - We will begin by going over the questions in the review packet together. Then the students will do the review activity with the butcher paper on each lab table that I described in the previous post. Homework will be to study for a test on Wednesday.
Wednesday - The students will take a test of approximately 60 questions on cells. The other accelerated biology teachers and I have a set of 48 questions that we will all be giving so that we can compare data on how our students are doing on several different topics within our unit. Hopefully, this will lead to discussions of what each of us is doing that helps our students learn the material in this unit to find what approaches work best for students. The other 10-12 questions will be specific to material done in our class.
Thursday - We will take a good amount of class time on Thursday to review the results of our cell test. Students will analyze which topics they did well on, and which they could have performed better on, and do test corrections on those questions that they missed. Finally, students will be given a brief reading assignment for homework over the weekend.
Friday - NO SCHOOL. THANK A VETERAN!
Graba Geek of the Week
My geek of the week actually goes back to our organelle presentations. Alexandra Baumgart's presentation was one of the best presentations I have seen a freshman give in 14 years of teaching. She took the risk of singing her part of the presentation solo in front of her peers. This was very brave. Alexandra did an outstanding job of singing her part, the information was factually accurate, and everyone was paying attention to her. Great job, Alexandra! I would not have been brave enough to do something like that when I was in high school!
October 30, 2011
October 30, 2011
October 30, 2011
Happy Halloween, everyone! We had a really busy week in class this week. The campaign projects turned out great! There are some really creative students in my classes this year!
Events of the Past Week
Monday - Monday was our first day of presentations. The first 10-15 minutes of class were spent passing out flyers and campaign extras to try and earn people's votes! Then we began presentations on each organelle. We made it through about six presentations in each class. Obviously, I underestimated how long the presentations would take, so plans had to be adjusted for the rest of the week. Most of the presentations were very strong both factually and creatively. The groups did an outstanding job learning the functions of their individual organelles.
Tuesday - Tuesday the last 7-8 groups gave their presentations. This took the full class period in most classes. For those that it didn't take all period, the students were able to move around the room and look at everyone's campaign flyers and smear campaigns. There were some excellent smears against organelles such as the nucleus (i.e. "Do you really want a control freak telling you what to do?" and "Just another in a long line of dictators").
Wednesday - On Wednesday I was at the administrative building working with a group of Fremd teachers looking at ACT data and enrollment in accelerated and AP class data. As a result, the students were given a lot of review material to work through. There was a matching review sheet, a crossword puzzle, a short answer and multiple choice review sheet, cell diagrams to label, and Venn diagrams to complete comparing plant and animal cells as well as prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. My student intern in fifth hour ran a flyswatter review game. If you have a child in my 5th hour class, you can ask them to explain how the review worked. Most of the kids really liked it!
Thursday - We began class by voting on the most important organelle in the cell. There was a poll on my website for each class to use to vote. The students were allowed two votes. One was a vote for their own organelle, and the other was a vote for somebody else's organelle. The winners were:
1st Hour - The Ribosome - Matt Cheng and Nathan Cornwell
2nd Hour - The Vacuole - Gina Pfister and Reilly Siepka
3rd Hour - The Mitochondria - Will Lefevre and John Thiel
5th Hour - The Lysosome - Elizabeth Chick and Dan Pinderski
Particularly impressive from that list of winners were the vacuole and the lysosome. The vacuole simply stores water and nutrients, so to convince people to vote for them, Gina and Reilly did an outstanding job on their project. Also, the lysosome was smeared by almost every group because it destroys worn out organelles. It can also rupture and destroy the entire cell. This, of course, made it an easy target, but Elizabeth and Dan did a great job of convincing people to vote for them.
After voting was completed, we took time to look at each review activity the students had completed the day before, and I answered any questions that they had about the review activities or organelles in general.
Friday - This was quiz day. I was anxious to see how the students would do after the project. Since this was the first time doing the project, I wasn't sure whether or not it was going to be an effective way for them to learn the material until there was actually some proof. I had the sense that they had learned the organelle functions well, and they seemed to enjoy the project, but the proof would be in the pudding. The class averages on the quiz were:
1st Hour - 23.4 out of 25
2nd Hour - 22.8 out of 25
3rd Hour - 23.1 out of 25
5th Hour - 23 out of 25
The quiz itself was 50 multiple choice and matching questions about the cell organelles, plant and animal cells, and prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. Each question was worth half of a point. The results show that most students only missed around four questions out of fifty, which I consider to be outstanding. As a result, this is a project that will probably be continued in the future.
After everyone was finished with the quiz, we began one of several lab experiments we will be doing to investigate how materials move into and out of cells. The lab we began will be completed over several days. Day one involved measuring 150 mL of vinegar, taking the mass of an egg, placing the egg in a plastic cup, and pouring the vinegar over the egg. The eggs will sit in the plastic cup over the weekend, and we will come back to look at them on Monday. Does anyone know what will happen to the egg while it sits in the vinegar?
Upcoming Events
Monday - We will take our eggs out of their cups and take their mass. We will also measure the amount of vinegar remaining in the cup, then rinse the cups, put the eggs back into the cups, and add 150 mL of deionized water to them. When this is completed (it should take about 10-15 minutes), we will begin our next activity.
One activity we did not get to before the quiz that I would still like to have the students do is look at plant and animal cells underneath the microscope. They will look at cheek cells, onion skin cells, and elodea (a green aquatic plant sold as Anachris in pet stores). They should be able to observe plasma membranes, nuclei, nucleoli, cell walls, chloroplasts, and central vacuoles in this lab. This will be what we do after the egg lab at the beginning of class.
Tuesday - We will again begin class by taking the mass of our eggs and measuring the amount of deionized water left in the cups. Then we will put the eggs back in the cups and add 150 mL of corn syrup to the cups.
After setting this portion of the lab up, we will first finish looking at the onion and elodea. Then I will begin lecturing to the students about the structure of the plasma membrane, diffusion, osmosis, and facilitated diffusion. If there is time, I will do a demonstration with ammonium hydroxide, water, and phenolphthalein (an indicator that turns pink in the presence of a base).
Wednesday - The final day of our egg lab will involve carefully drying the outside of the egg, taking its mass, and measuring the amount of corn syrup in the plastic cup. Students will complete the questions in the lab for homework.
Once this is complete, I will finish lecturing on passive transport and active transport.
Then the students will be looking at red onion cells under the microscope, first in deionized water, then with salt water added to them. The idea will be to look to see what happens to the central vacuole when the salt water is added. Students should notice it shrinks as the cell loses water.
Thursday - We will be doing a lab activity with a selectively permeable plastic bag that allows some materials to pass through it but not others. Small particles can pass through microscopic pores in the bag, while larger particles cannot. The students will be putting a solution of egg white, starch, and glucose into the bags. The bags will then be put in a beaker containing deionized water and let sit for about 15-20 minutes.
After 15-20 minutes of the bags sitting in the water, the students will test the contents of the solution in the beaker to see which nutrients were able to pass out of the bag, and which were not. They will run a benedict's test, a biuret test, and an iodine test on the contents of the beaker. It is always interesting to see who retains the information learned about these indicator tests during our biochemistry unit. Students should note that the glucose was able to pass out of the bag (because it is small enough), while the protein and starch were not able to pass out of the bag (because they are too big). They should also see that iodine enters the bag and causes the solution in the bag to turn purple as it reacts with the starch still in the bag.
Students will complete the questions in the lab experiments with the selectively permeable bags and the red onions. They will also observe two sets of vegetables that will have been soaked overnight. One will have been soaking in salt water, and the other in deionized water. The salt water vegetables should be very flimsy, while the deionized water vegetables will be extremely crisp. Your children should be able to explain why that is the case when they come home from school. I will then lecture on the topic of active transport. When that is completed, the students will be given a review packet on the topics of passive and active transport.
Friday - Students will be given a short, 10 question quiz on the topics of the structure of the cell membrane, passive transport, and active transport. After completing this activity, we will review everything we learned during our cell unit.
There will be long pieces of butcher paper on each lab table. Each piece of paper will have a different heading on it. The headings will be Cell Theory, Prokarytic Cells, Eukaryotic Cells, Plant Cells, Animal Cells, Passive Transport, and Active Transport. At each station will be colored pencils, and the students will be given 1 minute at each lab station to write down anything that they can think of about the topic on the paper. They will then move from table to table doing the same thing on each piece of paper. As they move, they can correct any mistakes they think they notice and add new material that they think is missing. Finally, students will be given 1-2 minutes at each station to go back around and look at each sheet again and see what was added after they left the station. We will then talk about what they observed and I will answer any questions that they have. Right now, the test on this unit is planned for Monday, November 7th.
Graba Geek of the Week
The Geek of the Week goes to the students whom I thought had the most creative and factually accurate smear campaigns. Ryan Moran and Matt Nicholson did an outstanding job with their smears, and for that, they have earned the Graba Geek of the Week. Congratulations, guys, and congratulations to all of my students who did an outstanding job with their projects. I was really impressed with the work that was done by these kids. The t-shirts, stickers, buttons, posters, websites, facebook pages, twitter accounts, food, and many other things that were created were really well done!
Happy Halloween, everyone! We had a really busy week in class this week. The campaign projects turned out great! There are some really creative students in my classes this year!
Events of the Past Week
Monday - Monday was our first day of presentations. The first 10-15 minutes of class were spent passing out flyers and campaign extras to try and earn people's votes! Then we began presentations on each organelle. We made it through about six presentations in each class. Obviously, I underestimated how long the presentations would take, so plans had to be adjusted for the rest of the week. Most of the presentations were very strong both factually and creatively. The groups did an outstanding job learning the functions of their individual organelles.
Tuesday - Tuesday the last 7-8 groups gave their presentations. This took the full class period in most classes. For those that it didn't take all period, the students were able to move around the room and look at everyone's campaign flyers and smear campaigns. There were some excellent smears against organelles such as the nucleus (i.e. "Do you really want a control freak telling you what to do?" and "Just another in a long line of dictators").
Wednesday - On Wednesday I was at the administrative building working with a group of Fremd teachers looking at ACT data and enrollment in accelerated and AP class data. As a result, the students were given a lot of review material to work through. There was a matching review sheet, a crossword puzzle, a short answer and multiple choice review sheet, cell diagrams to label, and Venn diagrams to complete comparing plant and animal cells as well as prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. My student intern in fifth hour ran a flyswatter review game. If you have a child in my 5th hour class, you can ask them to explain how the review worked. Most of the kids really liked it!
Thursday - We began class by voting on the most important organelle in the cell. There was a poll on my website for each class to use to vote. The students were allowed two votes. One was a vote for their own organelle, and the other was a vote for somebody else's organelle. The winners were:
1st Hour - The Ribosome - Matt Cheng and Nathan Cornwell
2nd Hour - The Vacuole - Gina Pfister and Reilly Siepka
3rd Hour - The Mitochondria - Will Lefevre and John Thiel
5th Hour - The Lysosome - Elizabeth Chick and Dan Pinderski
Particularly impressive from that list of winners were the vacuole and the lysosome. The vacuole simply stores water and nutrients, so to convince people to vote for them, Gina and Reilly did an outstanding job on their project. Also, the lysosome was smeared by almost every group because it destroys worn out organelles. It can also rupture and destroy the entire cell. This, of course, made it an easy target, but Elizabeth and Dan did a great job of convincing people to vote for them.
After voting was completed, we took time to look at each review activity the students had completed the day before, and I answered any questions that they had about the review activities or organelles in general.
Friday - This was quiz day. I was anxious to see how the students would do after the project. Since this was the first time doing the project, I wasn't sure whether or not it was going to be an effective way for them to learn the material until there was actually some proof. I had the sense that they had learned the organelle functions well, and they seemed to enjoy the project, but the proof would be in the pudding. The class averages on the quiz were:
1st Hour - 23.4 out of 25
2nd Hour - 22.8 out of 25
3rd Hour - 23.1 out of 25
5th Hour - 23 out of 25
The quiz itself was 50 multiple choice and matching questions about the cell organelles, plant and animal cells, and prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. Each question was worth half of a point. The results show that most students only missed around four questions out of fifty, which I consider to be outstanding. As a result, this is a project that will probably be continued in the future.
After everyone was finished with the quiz, we began one of several lab experiments we will be doing to investigate how materials move into and out of cells. The lab we began will be completed over several days. Day one involved measuring 150 mL of vinegar, taking the mass of an egg, placing the egg in a plastic cup, and pouring the vinegar over the egg. The eggs will sit in the plastic cup over the weekend, and we will come back to look at them on Monday. Does anyone know what will happen to the egg while it sits in the vinegar?
Upcoming Events
Monday - We will take our eggs out of their cups and take their mass. We will also measure the amount of vinegar remaining in the cup, then rinse the cups, put the eggs back into the cups, and add 150 mL of deionized water to them. When this is completed (it should take about 10-15 minutes), we will begin our next activity.
One activity we did not get to before the quiz that I would still like to have the students do is look at plant and animal cells underneath the microscope. They will look at cheek cells, onion skin cells, and elodea (a green aquatic plant sold as Anachris in pet stores). They should be able to observe plasma membranes, nuclei, nucleoli, cell walls, chloroplasts, and central vacuoles in this lab. This will be what we do after the egg lab at the beginning of class.
Tuesday - We will again begin class by taking the mass of our eggs and measuring the amount of deionized water left in the cups. Then we will put the eggs back in the cups and add 150 mL of corn syrup to the cups.
After setting this portion of the lab up, we will first finish looking at the onion and elodea. Then I will begin lecturing to the students about the structure of the plasma membrane, diffusion, osmosis, and facilitated diffusion. If there is time, I will do a demonstration with ammonium hydroxide, water, and phenolphthalein (an indicator that turns pink in the presence of a base).
Wednesday - The final day of our egg lab will involve carefully drying the outside of the egg, taking its mass, and measuring the amount of corn syrup in the plastic cup. Students will complete the questions in the lab for homework.
Once this is complete, I will finish lecturing on passive transport and active transport.
Then the students will be looking at red onion cells under the microscope, first in deionized water, then with salt water added to them. The idea will be to look to see what happens to the central vacuole when the salt water is added. Students should notice it shrinks as the cell loses water.
Thursday - We will be doing a lab activity with a selectively permeable plastic bag that allows some materials to pass through it but not others. Small particles can pass through microscopic pores in the bag, while larger particles cannot. The students will be putting a solution of egg white, starch, and glucose into the bags. The bags will then be put in a beaker containing deionized water and let sit for about 15-20 minutes.
After 15-20 minutes of the bags sitting in the water, the students will test the contents of the solution in the beaker to see which nutrients were able to pass out of the bag, and which were not. They will run a benedict's test, a biuret test, and an iodine test on the contents of the beaker. It is always interesting to see who retains the information learned about these indicator tests during our biochemistry unit. Students should note that the glucose was able to pass out of the bag (because it is small enough), while the protein and starch were not able to pass out of the bag (because they are too big). They should also see that iodine enters the bag and causes the solution in the bag to turn purple as it reacts with the starch still in the bag.
Students will complete the questions in the lab experiments with the selectively permeable bags and the red onions. They will also observe two sets of vegetables that will have been soaked overnight. One will have been soaking in salt water, and the other in deionized water. The salt water vegetables should be very flimsy, while the deionized water vegetables will be extremely crisp. Your children should be able to explain why that is the case when they come home from school. I will then lecture on the topic of active transport. When that is completed, the students will be given a review packet on the topics of passive and active transport.
Friday - Students will be given a short, 10 question quiz on the topics of the structure of the cell membrane, passive transport, and active transport. After completing this activity, we will review everything we learned during our cell unit.
There will be long pieces of butcher paper on each lab table. Each piece of paper will have a different heading on it. The headings will be Cell Theory, Prokarytic Cells, Eukaryotic Cells, Plant Cells, Animal Cells, Passive Transport, and Active Transport. At each station will be colored pencils, and the students will be given 1 minute at each lab station to write down anything that they can think of about the topic on the paper. They will then move from table to table doing the same thing on each piece of paper. As they move, they can correct any mistakes they think they notice and add new material that they think is missing. Finally, students will be given 1-2 minutes at each station to go back around and look at each sheet again and see what was added after they left the station. We will then talk about what they observed and I will answer any questions that they have. Right now, the test on this unit is planned for Monday, November 7th.
Graba Geek of the Week
The Geek of the Week goes to the students whom I thought had the most creative and factually accurate smear campaigns. Ryan Moran and Matt Nicholson did an outstanding job with their smears, and for that, they have earned the Graba Geek of the Week. Congratulations, guys, and congratulations to all of my students who did an outstanding job with their projects. I was really impressed with the work that was done by these kids. The t-shirts, stickers, buttons, posters, websites, facebook pages, twitter accounts, food, and many other things that were created were really well done!
October 23, 2011
October 23, 2011
October 23, 2011
Happy Mole Day! The mole is an important number to chemists, and it is equal to 6.02 x 10^23; hence, October 23 is Mole Day.
Events of the Past Week
Monday - Monday was a day to finish measuring objects under the microscope. I added to objects for the students to measure in order to give them more practice. Afterwards, we spent a great deal of time reviewing for the test we took on Tuesday and Wednesday. This included reviewing the many things we had learned about the microscope.
Tuesday - We only had 37 minute periods on Tuesday, so I split up the test over two days to make sure that everyone had enough time to take both parts (the written and the multiple choice) of the test. We took the written portion on Tuesday because the class periods were longer on Tuesday than they were on Wednesday. Most students finished early. When everyone was done, the students were given the remaining time to work on their cell organelle campaigns.
Wednesday - Due to College Night we had only 28 minutes in each class period. Most students completed the multiple choice part of the test early. Students were given a reading on the cell theory, with 6 questions to answer at the end of it. Many completed the assignment in class, but a few had to finish for homework.
Thursday - The students began Thursday by taking notes on the similarities and differences between plant and animal cells, as well as prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. Feel free to use their notes to quiz them on the similarities and differences between the different types of cells! That took about 15 minutes, and once I was done lecturing to them they had the rest of the time to work on their campaigns.
Friday - We began class by looking at the results of the test the students took on Tuesday and Wednesday on graphing, the metric system, scientific notation, and the microscope. I answered any questions the students had about anything they got wrong, and then the students had time to work on their campaigns. A lot of campaigning began on on Friday, as stickers and business cards were handed out, and posters were hung all over the room! It is quite a colorful place right now!
Upcoming Events
Monday - Monday is the big day for students to present their campaigns to the class! Each time will have 3 minutes to try to convince the class to vote for their organelle as the most important organelle. I've seen some really clever slogans, posters, and smear campaigns. I can't wait to see what they are able to come up with for their presentations! The students posters will be hung in the hallway outside of the classroom after school.
Tuesday - If we have to finish any presentations, we will do that first on Tuesday. Then, we will be looking at various plant and animal cells under the microscope. We will look at a water plant called Elodea, the skin of a yellow onion, and cheek cells which the students will obtain from the inside of their own mouths. Don't worry, nobody will be hurt in this endeavour!
Wednesday - We will finish our plant and animal cell labs if need be. Then, we will review for our quiz on cell organelles, prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, plant and animal cells, and the cell theory, which will be on Friday.
Thursday - Class will begin with voting for the most important organelle in the class. I wanted to give the students time to check out people's campaign materials, whether it be a brochure, flyer, sticker, webpage, facebook page, twitter account, video, or anything else that was produced. There will be a little extra credit for the organelle that wins the election, but I don't want to make the vote worth actual points toward the final grade. The reason is that sometimes these can become popularity contests, and I don't want a student's grade to be impacted if they are not the most popular person in class.
When the voting is completed there will be a review sheet for the students to complete in order to help prepare for the Friday quiz.
Friday - This is the final day of first quarter! It's hard to believe how quickly the school year is going. There will be a 50 question, 25 point matching and multiple choice test on everything from our cell unit so far. This will probably not take the full period. Once everyone is done with the quiz we will probably be taking a look at our first quarter grades.
Graba Geek of the Week
We have co-geeks of the week this week, as one lab team from my first period and one from my second period class went above and beyond with their campaign project. Michael Pautler and Katie Zara came in before school on Friday with their completed poster and multiple copies of their flyers to post on the board to surprise people when they came into class. The posters were very clever, colorful, and definitely got a reaction from the class. Here is one of them:
In my second period class, Evan Wieczorek and Aditya Deshpande were bringing in campaign materials as early as Thursday to hand out to the class. They had made up stickers and very colorful flyers for the lysosome. Many people were wearing their campaign stickers and their flyers were all over the classroom. The work done by these two groups so far has been impressive, as has the work I have seen from many other groups. I'm very excited to see what comes to class tomorrow!
Happy Mole Day! The mole is an important number to chemists, and it is equal to 6.02 x 10^23; hence, October 23 is Mole Day.
Events of the Past Week
Monday - Monday was a day to finish measuring objects under the microscope. I added to objects for the students to measure in order to give them more practice. Afterwards, we spent a great deal of time reviewing for the test we took on Tuesday and Wednesday. This included reviewing the many things we had learned about the microscope.
Tuesday - We only had 37 minute periods on Tuesday, so I split up the test over two days to make sure that everyone had enough time to take both parts (the written and the multiple choice) of the test. We took the written portion on Tuesday because the class periods were longer on Tuesday than they were on Wednesday. Most students finished early. When everyone was done, the students were given the remaining time to work on their cell organelle campaigns.
Wednesday - Due to College Night we had only 28 minutes in each class period. Most students completed the multiple choice part of the test early. Students were given a reading on the cell theory, with 6 questions to answer at the end of it. Many completed the assignment in class, but a few had to finish for homework.
Thursday - The students began Thursday by taking notes on the similarities and differences between plant and animal cells, as well as prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. Feel free to use their notes to quiz them on the similarities and differences between the different types of cells! That took about 15 minutes, and once I was done lecturing to them they had the rest of the time to work on their campaigns.
Friday - We began class by looking at the results of the test the students took on Tuesday and Wednesday on graphing, the metric system, scientific notation, and the microscope. I answered any questions the students had about anything they got wrong, and then the students had time to work on their campaigns. A lot of campaigning began on on Friday, as stickers and business cards were handed out, and posters were hung all over the room! It is quite a colorful place right now!
Upcoming Events
Monday - Monday is the big day for students to present their campaigns to the class! Each time will have 3 minutes to try to convince the class to vote for their organelle as the most important organelle. I've seen some really clever slogans, posters, and smear campaigns. I can't wait to see what they are able to come up with for their presentations! The students posters will be hung in the hallway outside of the classroom after school.
Tuesday - If we have to finish any presentations, we will do that first on Tuesday. Then, we will be looking at various plant and animal cells under the microscope. We will look at a water plant called Elodea, the skin of a yellow onion, and cheek cells which the students will obtain from the inside of their own mouths. Don't worry, nobody will be hurt in this endeavour!
Wednesday - We will finish our plant and animal cell labs if need be. Then, we will review for our quiz on cell organelles, prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, plant and animal cells, and the cell theory, which will be on Friday.
Thursday - Class will begin with voting for the most important organelle in the class. I wanted to give the students time to check out people's campaign materials, whether it be a brochure, flyer, sticker, webpage, facebook page, twitter account, video, or anything else that was produced. There will be a little extra credit for the organelle that wins the election, but I don't want to make the vote worth actual points toward the final grade. The reason is that sometimes these can become popularity contests, and I don't want a student's grade to be impacted if they are not the most popular person in class.
When the voting is completed there will be a review sheet for the students to complete in order to help prepare for the Friday quiz.
Friday - This is the final day of first quarter! It's hard to believe how quickly the school year is going. There will be a 50 question, 25 point matching and multiple choice test on everything from our cell unit so far. This will probably not take the full period. Once everyone is done with the quiz we will probably be taking a look at our first quarter grades.
Graba Geek of the Week
We have co-geeks of the week this week, as one lab team from my first period and one from my second period class went above and beyond with their campaign project. Michael Pautler and Katie Zara came in before school on Friday with their completed poster and multiple copies of their flyers to post on the board to surprise people when they came into class. The posters were very clever, colorful, and definitely got a reaction from the class. Here is one of them:
October 16, 2011
October 16, 2011
October 16, 2011
Events of the Past Week
Monday - COLUMBUS DAY!
Tuesday - We learned how to properly use the microscope through a peer teaching lab. Included in the lab was the proper way to calculate total magnification, the parts of the microscope, how to focus on an object, how to prepare a wet mount, and how to put the microscope away.
Wednesday - Due to testing, this day was shortend significantly. We began to look at objects under the microscope, including Drosophila melanogaster, Paramecium, human blood, frog blood, and blood with sickle-cell anemia.
Thursday - We finished looking for objects under the microscope. The students found Euglena as well as potato cells underneath the microscope.
Friday - We looked at money underneath the microscope. The students found it very interesting to find many different details on the five dollar bill that they had not noticed before. We also began measuring objects underneath the microscope in this lab.
Upcoming Events
Monday - We will finish measuring objects under the microscope, and then review for our test on graphing, metrics, scientific notation, and the microscope. This will include looking at the review sheet students were given on Friday.
Tuesday - Students will take the short answer portion of our test. This day is shortened due to a late start.
Wednesday - We will take the multiple choice portion of the test. This day is also shortened due to college night.
Thursday - Students will be given a day to work on their cell organelle campaign project. They should bring anything they need to work on this day. Homework will be to complete an assignment comparing and contrasting the difference between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells.
Friday - We will be looking at the difference between plant and animal cells under the microscope.
Graba Geek of the Week
This week's geek of the week is Nathan Cornwell. Nathan earned a perfect score on our biochemistry test, and also brought in a microchip to look at under the stereoscope. It was very interesting to see the details of his chip underneath the microscope. Congratulations, Nathan!
Events of the Past Week
Monday - COLUMBUS DAY!
Tuesday - We learned how to properly use the microscope through a peer teaching lab. Included in the lab was the proper way to calculate total magnification, the parts of the microscope, how to focus on an object, how to prepare a wet mount, and how to put the microscope away.
Wednesday - Due to testing, this day was shortend significantly. We began to look at objects under the microscope, including Drosophila melanogaster, Paramecium, human blood, frog blood, and blood with sickle-cell anemia.
Thursday - We finished looking for objects under the microscope. The students found Euglena as well as potato cells underneath the microscope.
Friday - We looked at money underneath the microscope. The students found it very interesting to find many different details on the five dollar bill that they had not noticed before. We also began measuring objects underneath the microscope in this lab.
Upcoming Events
Monday - We will finish measuring objects under the microscope, and then review for our test on graphing, metrics, scientific notation, and the microscope. This will include looking at the review sheet students were given on Friday.
Tuesday - Students will take the short answer portion of our test. This day is shortened due to a late start.
Wednesday - We will take the multiple choice portion of the test. This day is also shortened due to college night.
Thursday - Students will be given a day to work on their cell organelle campaign project. They should bring anything they need to work on this day. Homework will be to complete an assignment comparing and contrasting the difference between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells.
Friday - We will be looking at the difference between plant and animal cells under the microscope.
Graba Geek of the Week
This week's geek of the week is Nathan Cornwell. Nathan earned a perfect score on our biochemistry test, and also brought in a microchip to look at under the stereoscope. It was very interesting to see the details of his chip underneath the microscope. Congratulations, Nathan!
October 9, 2011
October 9, 2011
October 9, 2011
Happy Columbus Day, everyone! Enjoy the beautiful Indian Summer we're having right now, because it sounds like Chicago is supposed to have a rough winter.
Events of the Past Week
Monday - We started the week by learning how to use Microsoft Excel to create graphs. This was new for several students, as was e-mailing the partially completed assignment to themselves. Most students have a pretty good graphing foundation, so it was good to be able to teach them how to use technology to create those same graphs for them. We also learned how to use the slope of a line in a graph to make predictions and draw conclusions about the data that has been gathered. It was fun to see the light bulb go off in students' brains as they finally saw a point to all the slope calculating they have been doing in their math classes!
Tuesday - The graphs the students created were collected on Tuesday. One issue we had was that several students came up to me at the beginning of class to tell me they couldn't use Excel at home, or their printer wasn't working, or that they had other problems with the technology at home. I understand that those problems do happen, but I need to be made aware of the problem before class starts, either via e-mail (if the computer is working but Excel is not), or by stopping in to the science office before school starts. Otherwise, I do not know that a student isn't just trying to cover up the fact that they simply did not do their homework. I let the students know this, as well.
After collecting the graphs, the students were introduced to metric prefixes they will use in class or that they will see in their lives outside of class. The students are expected to know: tera, giga, mega, kilo, hecto, deka, deci, centi, milli, micro, and nano. After a brief review of the metric system, we began a lab where the students measured the length, volume, and mass of various objects using the metric system. They then converted their measurements to other units in the metric system and answered a few questions about the metric system when they finished. Most students did not finish all of their measurements in class due to shortened class periods because it was a late start day.
Wednesday - On Wednesday, students worked on two different metric conversion worksheets. After completing each worksheet, they checked their answers to the sheets with answer keys that were provided for them.
Thursday - On Thursday, we completed the metric system lab. Afterwards, the students were given an activity that reviewed using scientific notation with them. They were asked to convert standard notation to scientific notation, and scientific notation to standard notation. They were also asked to multiply and divide in scientific notation, convert from one metric unit to another in scientific notation, and then given some problems that had them apply what they learned about multiplying and dividing in scientific notation. Homework was to complete any problems in the activity that they did not finish in class.
Friday - Class began by checking the homework from the previous night, and then I answered any questions the students had about the homework. There were not too many questions that had to be answered.
After checking our homework, everyone got to work on an online activity that had the students learning about the history of the microscope. There is a link to the document on my website, www.mrgraba.net, which the students can access if they forgot their worksheet at school. The worksheet is located under the Accelerated Biology --> Worksheets and Presentations link on the website.
Upcoming Events
Monday - Monday will begin with the students being given a cooperative group project. Each student at the lab table will be responsible for teaching the other people at the table about one important technique for the proper use of a microscope. One person will be responsible for teaching how to calculate total magnification and the parts of the microscope. One person will be responsible for teaching how to find objects under the microscope. A third person will teach the other members of the group how to create a wet mount properly. The final person will be responsible for teaching how to properly clean the lenses on the microscope and how to properly put the microscope away. Each individual will be given instructions for how to do the things they are responsible for teaching, as well as a little bit of time to practice before they teach.
Tuesday - We will finish teaching each other about the proper use of the microscope. Afterwards, we will look at various prepared slides and wet mounts under the microscope for a little bit of practice using the microscope.
Wednesday - This is a late start day due to testing. On this shortened day, we will be finishing looking at the materials we began looking at on Tuesday. Afterwards, I have a new lab to try where we will be looking at money under the microscope. It will hopefully really catch the interest of the students in class!
Thursday - We will finish looking at money under the microscope, then begin learning how to measure the size of objects under the microscope with our fourth and final introduction to the microscope lab.
Friday - We will finish measuring with the microscope, and then the students will be given a review sheet on graphing, the metric system, scientific notation, and the microscope. The answer key to the review sheet is posted on my website. This way, after they complete the review sheet, the students can check their work over the weekend. The test on this unit will be on Monday.
Happy Columbus Day, everyone! Enjoy the beautiful Indian Summer we're having right now, because it sounds like Chicago is supposed to have a rough winter.
Events of the Past Week
Monday - We started the week by learning how to use Microsoft Excel to create graphs. This was new for several students, as was e-mailing the partially completed assignment to themselves. Most students have a pretty good graphing foundation, so it was good to be able to teach them how to use technology to create those same graphs for them. We also learned how to use the slope of a line in a graph to make predictions and draw conclusions about the data that has been gathered. It was fun to see the light bulb go off in students' brains as they finally saw a point to all the slope calculating they have been doing in their math classes!
Tuesday - The graphs the students created were collected on Tuesday. One issue we had was that several students came up to me at the beginning of class to tell me they couldn't use Excel at home, or their printer wasn't working, or that they had other problems with the technology at home. I understand that those problems do happen, but I need to be made aware of the problem before class starts, either via e-mail (if the computer is working but Excel is not), or by stopping in to the science office before school starts. Otherwise, I do not know that a student isn't just trying to cover up the fact that they simply did not do their homework. I let the students know this, as well.
After collecting the graphs, the students were introduced to metric prefixes they will use in class or that they will see in their lives outside of class. The students are expected to know: tera, giga, mega, kilo, hecto, deka, deci, centi, milli, micro, and nano. After a brief review of the metric system, we began a lab where the students measured the length, volume, and mass of various objects using the metric system. They then converted their measurements to other units in the metric system and answered a few questions about the metric system when they finished. Most students did not finish all of their measurements in class due to shortened class periods because it was a late start day.
Wednesday - On Wednesday, students worked on two different metric conversion worksheets. After completing each worksheet, they checked their answers to the sheets with answer keys that were provided for them.
Thursday - On Thursday, we completed the metric system lab. Afterwards, the students were given an activity that reviewed using scientific notation with them. They were asked to convert standard notation to scientific notation, and scientific notation to standard notation. They were also asked to multiply and divide in scientific notation, convert from one metric unit to another in scientific notation, and then given some problems that had them apply what they learned about multiplying and dividing in scientific notation. Homework was to complete any problems in the activity that they did not finish in class.
Friday - Class began by checking the homework from the previous night, and then I answered any questions the students had about the homework. There were not too many questions that had to be answered.
After checking our homework, everyone got to work on an online activity that had the students learning about the history of the microscope. There is a link to the document on my website, www.mrgraba.net, which the students can access if they forgot their worksheet at school. The worksheet is located under the Accelerated Biology --> Worksheets and Presentations link on the website.
Upcoming Events
Monday - Monday will begin with the students being given a cooperative group project. Each student at the lab table will be responsible for teaching the other people at the table about one important technique for the proper use of a microscope. One person will be responsible for teaching how to calculate total magnification and the parts of the microscope. One person will be responsible for teaching how to find objects under the microscope. A third person will teach the other members of the group how to create a wet mount properly. The final person will be responsible for teaching how to properly clean the lenses on the microscope and how to properly put the microscope away. Each individual will be given instructions for how to do the things they are responsible for teaching, as well as a little bit of time to practice before they teach.
Tuesday - We will finish teaching each other about the proper use of the microscope. Afterwards, we will look at various prepared slides and wet mounts under the microscope for a little bit of practice using the microscope.
Wednesday - This is a late start day due to testing. On this shortened day, we will be finishing looking at the materials we began looking at on Tuesday. Afterwards, I have a new lab to try where we will be looking at money under the microscope. It will hopefully really catch the interest of the students in class!
Thursday - We will finish looking at money under the microscope, then begin learning how to measure the size of objects under the microscope with our fourth and final introduction to the microscope lab.
Friday - We will finish measuring with the microscope, and then the students will be given a review sheet on graphing, the metric system, scientific notation, and the microscope. The answer key to the review sheet is posted on my website. This way, after they complete the review sheet, the students can check their work over the weekend. The test on this unit will be on Monday.
October 2, 2011
October 2, 2011
October 2, 2011
It's hard to believe October is already here! I hope all of the kids had a safe and fun Homecoming weekend.
Events of the Past Week
Monday - We reviewed for our test on biochemistry on Wednesday. First, the students were given an opportunity to ask questions regarding the lab experiment we did on Thursday and Friday of the previous week. Then they completed a graphic organizer that helped them go through their notes and put think about all of the information they had learned about carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids. Finally, they were given a graphic organizer for each different type of biomolecule (carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids) that we learned about. Homework was to complete those graphic organizers. This again was a way to get them thinking about the information they had in their notes on that information.
Tuesday - I handed back to the students their labs that they had turned in on Monday, and we discussed some of the topics that were commonly misunderstood. Students were then given the opportunity to ask questions if they had them about the lab.
After going over the lab, we played a review game with remote control clickers. There were several multiple choice questions that were timed and similar in difficulty level to the questions that would be on the test.
I made the students aware that all of the topics from our quiz, as well as the topics of carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids would be covered on the exam in 60 multiple choice questions.
Wednesday - Students took the biochemistry test. There was no homework, as I felt that they had worked extremely hard over the past few days to prepare for their test.
Thursday - On Thursday, I was home with a sick kid, so the students watched a movie in class called "Deep Forest: Monsters of the Jungle". This showed how science is working even now to make new discoveries in a way that really catches the kids' interest!
Friday - We began class by finishing the movie. I don't always do that, but with this video, it was definitely worth the extra 7 minutes of class time to finish. When the movie was over, we reviewed the results from the exam. I was very impressed by how well most students did on the test!
Upcoming Events
Monday - Monday we are going to review some of the rules of graphing, and learn how to use Excel to create graphs. There will be 4 graphs that need to be completed, along with questions to answer using the completed graphs. Any graphs that are not finished will have to be finished for homework.
Tuesday - We are going to be doing a lab on the metric system after I collect and review the graphing homework. I will do a very quick review of the units of the metric system and how to convert from one unit to another before we get started on the lab.
Wednesday - Wednesday will be spent practicing metric conversions and possibly beginning a review of scientific notation.
Thursday - On Thursday, I will review quickly with the students how to write numbers in scientific notation, and we will practice converting numbers into scientific notation.
Friday - We will begin reviewing how to use the microscope with a peer teaching lab. The students will be in groups of 4, and each student will have a different job related to the proper use and care of the microscope that they will practice, and then be responsible for teaching to their classmate.
Graba Geek of the Week
This week's geek of the week is Soumyaa Mazumder. Soumyaa earned a perfect score on the biochemistry test this week. That means she got 60 questions correct on the topics of chemistry and biochemistry, which is really impressive! In addition, Soumyaa was informed this last week that she was accepted into the medical internship program through Northwest Memorial Hospital. Way to go, Soumyaa!
It's hard to believe October is already here! I hope all of the kids had a safe and fun Homecoming weekend.
Events of the Past Week
Monday - We reviewed for our test on biochemistry on Wednesday. First, the students were given an opportunity to ask questions regarding the lab experiment we did on Thursday and Friday of the previous week. Then they completed a graphic organizer that helped them go through their notes and put think about all of the information they had learned about carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids. Finally, they were given a graphic organizer for each different type of biomolecule (carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids) that we learned about. Homework was to complete those graphic organizers. This again was a way to get them thinking about the information they had in their notes on that information.
Tuesday - I handed back to the students their labs that they had turned in on Monday, and we discussed some of the topics that were commonly misunderstood. Students were then given the opportunity to ask questions if they had them about the lab.
After going over the lab, we played a review game with remote control clickers. There were several multiple choice questions that were timed and similar in difficulty level to the questions that would be on the test.
I made the students aware that all of the topics from our quiz, as well as the topics of carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids would be covered on the exam in 60 multiple choice questions.
Wednesday - Students took the biochemistry test. There was no homework, as I felt that they had worked extremely hard over the past few days to prepare for their test.
Thursday - On Thursday, I was home with a sick kid, so the students watched a movie in class called "Deep Forest: Monsters of the Jungle". This showed how science is working even now to make new discoveries in a way that really catches the kids' interest!
Friday - We began class by finishing the movie. I don't always do that, but with this video, it was definitely worth the extra 7 minutes of class time to finish. When the movie was over, we reviewed the results from the exam. I was very impressed by how well most students did on the test!
Upcoming Events
Monday - Monday we are going to review some of the rules of graphing, and learn how to use Excel to create graphs. There will be 4 graphs that need to be completed, along with questions to answer using the completed graphs. Any graphs that are not finished will have to be finished for homework.
Tuesday - We are going to be doing a lab on the metric system after I collect and review the graphing homework. I will do a very quick review of the units of the metric system and how to convert from one unit to another before we get started on the lab.
Wednesday - Wednesday will be spent practicing metric conversions and possibly beginning a review of scientific notation.
Thursday - On Thursday, I will review quickly with the students how to write numbers in scientific notation, and we will practice converting numbers into scientific notation.
Friday - We will begin reviewing how to use the microscope with a peer teaching lab. The students will be in groups of 4, and each student will have a different job related to the proper use and care of the microscope that they will practice, and then be responsible for teaching to their classmate.
Graba Geek of the Week
This week's geek of the week is Soumyaa Mazumder. Soumyaa earned a perfect score on the biochemistry test this week. That means she got 60 questions correct on the topics of chemistry and biochemistry, which is really impressive! In addition, Soumyaa was informed this last week that she was accepted into the medical internship program through Northwest Memorial Hospital. Way to go, Soumyaa!
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