August 26, 2012
Welcome to a new school year! My name is Brad Graba, and I am your child's accelerated freshman biology teacher. I will be using this blog as a way to communicate with you throughout the year so that you have a good idea of what is going on in our biology classroom.
Events of the Past Week
Thursday - Monday was a day to get ourselves organized and ready to go for the year to come. After checking schedules and handing out textbooks, we started to do some activities to become more comfortable with each other and high school. By the way, the students were instructed to write their names in ink in the inside front cover of their textbooks, and also to write down any damage they noticed to their book. Please check to see that this was done if you have the opportunity.
The first activity was for the students to place themselves in order by birthdate without speaking. This allows me to see who might be willing to think outside of the box to solve a problem. Most people simply hold up fingers to try and communicate, but this takes awhile and can be misinterpreted. I did see some students start writing their birthdays on the whiteboard, and others typing it into their phones, all of which were fine with me! After that, the students were placed into their seats by the way they arranged themselves. The final activity was a people search, where the students looked for members of their class with different interests and hobbies as a way to get to know each other.
For homework, the students had to read a brief fictional account called "Look Out Below!" They then were to type a short hypothesis explaining why the events they read about in the article may have occurred. Many of them had a little bit of fun with this, I believe. Also, the students were to read the prelab introduction for our first lab, and then read 4 hypotheses. They were to identify the hypotheses as well-written or not, and then to re-write the bad hypotheses to make them better. Due on Monday is a signed lab safety contract.
Friday - We began class on Friday by discussing our "Look Out Below!" homework. Lab teams were then chosen. Each student received a strip of paper with a word on it, such as Ford.
The students then had to find three other people in their class who had words that belonged in a group with their word. For example, the other choices that went with Ford were Chevy, Dodge, and Honda. The tricky part was that there was another group with four presidents, which made it a little more challenging!
We then spent some time talking about what makes a hypothesis a good hypothesis, and discussing the homework on hypotheses that the students had completed the night before. We jumped from there into discussing the elements of a well-designed experiment that would effectively test a good hypothesis. We then determined how we were going to test the effectiveness of antibacterial soap versus regular soap in lab on Monday. The homework for the weekend was to get the lab safety contract signed if it was not already signed, and to study for a prefix quiz scheduled for Tuesday. The quiz will be 20 matching questions, using the students knowledge of the prefixes listed under "Quiz #1" on their study guide.
Upcoming Events
Monday - We will be running our experiment to test the effectiveness of different types of soaps in removing bacteria from our hands. The students will be taking before and after washing swabs of their hands, and then growing bacteria on petri dishes in an incubator overnight. Once that is completed, the students will be given a worksheet that will have them apply their knowledge of the criteria for a good experiment to seven different scenarios. They will have to determine what is wrong with the experiments described in each of the different scenarios. Homework will be to complete the worksheet and study for the prefix quiz on Tuesday.
Tuesday - Class will begin with our prefix quiz. We will then check the results of our experiment by counting the number of bacterial colonies on both of their petri dishes. We will record our data, then discuss the importance of statistics in examining data, and then try to draw some conclusions from our data.
We will also be looking at the homework and discussing the students answers to the questions regarding what was wrong with the seven different experiments.
Class will conclude with the students setting up an experiment involving some "Mystery Matter." The "Mystery Matter" will be placed into four different Erlenmeyer flasks with some sugar and warm water. A balloon will be placed over the mouth of the flask, and the students will come back the next day to observe the balloons. This lab will be used to lead the students to a discussion of the characteristics of living things.
Wednesday - We will observe the results of our "Mystery Matter" experiment, and then discuss the characteristics shared by living things. We will also discuss the levels of organization in the living world, starting with the atom, and moving all the way up to the level of biosphere.
Thursday - We will review the scientific method, characteristics of life, and levels of organization in living things. The students will be reading a passage about how scientists solved the problem of yellow fever, and then answering 11 questions regarding the use of the scientific method in solving that problem as part of their review. Homework will be to study for our first test on Friday.
Friday - We will be taking our first test of the year on the topics of the scientific method and the characteristics of living things. When the students are finished with their test, they will begin a webquest that will help them review some of the characteristics of the periodic table. Homework will be to complete through the third page of the periodic table webquest packet.
Interesting Tidbits
Throughout the course of the year, I will be choosing one student a week to be the "Graba Geek of the Week." This award will be given to students who do something particularly outstanding in class, or who show a lot of improvement. As part of the Geek of the Week award, I like to post a picture of the winning student. If you would rather I not post a picture of your child, please e-mail me at bgraba@d211.org to let me know. I typically write this blog on Sunday's, so if you could let me know by next Sunday, it would be appreciated, as I would like to start handing out the Geek of the Week award next week.
Please feel free to leave any comments about this blog!
August 26, 2012
May 29, 2012
May 29, 2012
May 29, 2012
I hope you all enjoyed your Memorial Day Weekend. We had a fun weekend at our house with baseball, family, and friends, none of which could have been enjoyed as much as they were without the sacrifices of our military personnel, past and present.
Events of the Past Week
Last week we stuck to the script exactly as planned. The kids are doing a great job continuing to work hard as we near the end here. It's getting especially difficult to stay focused for everyone with the great weather outside and the end of the school year looming, but I have been impressed so far.
Upcoming Events
Tuesday - We will first review the homework on symbiotic relationships which the students completed over the weekend. Then, we will finish our biomagnification case study that we began on Friday. We will spend about 15-20 minutes reviewing some biogeochemical cycles after finishing the biomagnification (i.e. the water cycle, carbon cycle, and nitrogen cycle), and then begin our study of populations with two population density worksheets that will be finished for homework.
Wednesday - After we go over the homework together, we will continue our study of populations by looking at factors that influence the growth of populations. We will look at how the population size of predators affects the population size of their prey, and vice versa, by analyzing real-life data on the deer populations in the Kaibab plateau in Arizona, and also the population of moose of Isle Royale in Michigan. Homework will be to complete the activity.
Thursday - I will collect the students' homework, and then we will move on to look at how to create and interpret an age structure graph. This should take about 30 minutes for the students to complete. When they finish, we will learn about survivorship curves.
Friday - Friday is a half day. We will spend Friday learning about ecological succession, gross primary productivity, and net primary productivity. There will be a short quiz on ecology on Monday.
Graba Geek of the Week
This week's Geek of the Week is John Parzynski, who has been a wonderful student to have in class all year long. He has been very personable and engaging while also being respectful, and is also not afraid to ask questions. Congratulations, John!
I hope you all enjoyed your Memorial Day Weekend. We had a fun weekend at our house with baseball, family, and friends, none of which could have been enjoyed as much as they were without the sacrifices of our military personnel, past and present.
Events of the Past Week
Last week we stuck to the script exactly as planned. The kids are doing a great job continuing to work hard as we near the end here. It's getting especially difficult to stay focused for everyone with the great weather outside and the end of the school year looming, but I have been impressed so far.
Upcoming Events
Tuesday - We will first review the homework on symbiotic relationships which the students completed over the weekend. Then, we will finish our biomagnification case study that we began on Friday. We will spend about 15-20 minutes reviewing some biogeochemical cycles after finishing the biomagnification (i.e. the water cycle, carbon cycle, and nitrogen cycle), and then begin our study of populations with two population density worksheets that will be finished for homework.
Wednesday - After we go over the homework together, we will continue our study of populations by looking at factors that influence the growth of populations. We will look at how the population size of predators affects the population size of their prey, and vice versa, by analyzing real-life data on the deer populations in the Kaibab plateau in Arizona, and also the population of moose of Isle Royale in Michigan. Homework will be to complete the activity.
Thursday - I will collect the students' homework, and then we will move on to look at how to create and interpret an age structure graph. This should take about 30 minutes for the students to complete. When they finish, we will learn about survivorship curves.
Friday - Friday is a half day. We will spend Friday learning about ecological succession, gross primary productivity, and net primary productivity. There will be a short quiz on ecology on Monday.
Graba Geek of the Week
This week's Geek of the Week is John Parzynski, who has been a wonderful student to have in class all year long. He has been very personable and engaging while also being respectful, and is also not afraid to ask questions. Congratulations, John!
May 20, 2012
May 17, 2012
May 20, 2012
Sorry for the lack of an update this past week. With Mother's Day on Sunday, and also two baseball practices to run, a t-ball game, and a soccer game for my kids on Saturday I just ran out of time to get my post written! Anyway, I'll recap last week, tell you about the current week, and let you know about the events of next week all in this post.
Events of the Past Week
Monday - We discussed the organs of the digestive system last Monday. We went through the alimentary canal first (the organs through which food passes), and then through the role of the accessory organs (those organs through which food does not pass).
Tuesday - We spent time reviewing the organs of the digestive system to prepare for our quiz on Wednesday.
Wednesday - We took our quiz on the digestive system. The quiz included a 5 question portion on the pigs where I had a picture of a pig's abdominal cavity that had been dissected, and asked the kids a few questions about the organs shown. My hope was that this would prepare them for the lab practical that we took this week a little bit better. When they were done with the quiz, the students were given the dissection guide for the circulatory system. Homework was to read the lab.
Thursday - We did our heart dissection on Thursday. This took about 35 minutes, so after the students had completed the dissection, they were given time to work on the questions in the lab. Homework was to finish the lab questions.
Friday - We did our final pig dissection on Friday. This dissection was of the respiratory and urinary systems. The students did a good job finding the larynx, trachea, lungs, diaphragm, kidneys, ureters, and urinary bladder. After they completed the dissection and cleaned up, they were given time to work on the lab questions. Homework was to finish those questions.
This Week's Events
Monday - We took the pigs out one last time on Monday. The students were given the opportunity to ask questions of me (if they had any) and quiz their lab partners on the parts of the pig and their functions. Most students made good use of this time, but there were a few who did not, and it showed for some of them who did not on the lab practical the next day. I also showed the students a good virtual pig dissection website they could use to study from home for the lab practical (since I assumed most of you did not want a preserved pig on your dining room tables Monday night!).
Tuesday - We took the lab practical on Tuesday. There were 9 stations set up around the room. The students were given one minute at each station to answer 3 questions about the pig in front of them. At the end of one minute, they rotated to the next station to answer the next 3 questions.
Homework was to do the first page of a study guide on the circulatory system.
Wednesday - We reviewed the results of the lab practical. Many students did well. Lab practicals are notoriously difficult, so I was pleased with the results, as most students earned A's or B's on the practical. After reviewing our results, we did two activities related to the circulatory system. One of them involved learning to read an electrocardiogram, and the other was a crossword puzzle with circulatory system vocabulary. Homework was to complete the second page of the circulatory system study guide they had received on Tuesday.
Thursday - We went over the circulatory system study guide together, and then completed a few worksheets related to the circulatory system. Homework was to complete a respiratory system study guide that went along with the textbook.
Friday - We reviewed the results of the respiratory system homework, then took a circulatory system quiz. The quiz was not taken for a grade, but to to help the students and me determine what it is about the circulatory system that the kids need me to help them learn and what they have already figured out. Afterwards, we began to go through some of the information about the circulatory system that I expect the students to know.
Upcoming Events
Monday - We will finish learning about the circulatory system as well as the respiratory and urinary systems. The students have a packet to help them take notes on the circulatory system, and most of the other two systems notes will be a quick review of what we have already learned during dissection lab and worksheets.
Tuesday - We will review for our test on the digestive, respiratory, circulatory, and urinary systems.
Wednesday - The students will take a 75 question multiple choice anatomy and physiology test. Homework will be to complete and introduction to ecology worksheet.
Thursday - We will review the results of the anatomy and physiology test. Then we will go over the homework from the previous night. Finally, we will begin our ecology unit in earnest by reading aloud an article called "A View From the Top of the Food Pyramid." After that, we will do an activity that will have the students look at how energy moves through an ecosystem, which they will finish for homework.
Friday - I will collect from the students their homework on energy flow in ecosystems. Then we will work on a case study to introduce the concepts of bioaccumulation and biomagnification. It is called "Tuna for Lunch," and the students will examine what happens to toxins such as mercury as they pass from one level of a food chain to the next. Your kids should be able to tell you the distinction between bioaccumulation and biomagnification after doing this activity. One neat memory trick that a student came up with last year was a rhyme that went something like, "Bioaccumulation occurs when an organism is single, biomagnification occurs when organisms mingle." That will make more sense to you after you ask your kids to explain the distinction if you don't already know what those two terms mean! Homework will be to finish the biomagnification activity.
Geek of the Week
This week's Geek of the Week is Ryan Moran, who earned a perfect score on his Fetal Pig Lab Practical. The lab practical test is one of the most challenging of the year, and to earn a perfect score is quite a feat! Also earning perfect scores, but I believe having already won Geek of the Week this year, were Christina Miller, Patrick Chen, and Jennie Yang. Way to go!
Sorry for the lack of an update this past week. With Mother's Day on Sunday, and also two baseball practices to run, a t-ball game, and a soccer game for my kids on Saturday I just ran out of time to get my post written! Anyway, I'll recap last week, tell you about the current week, and let you know about the events of next week all in this post.
Events of the Past Week
Monday - We discussed the organs of the digestive system last Monday. We went through the alimentary canal first (the organs through which food passes), and then through the role of the accessory organs (those organs through which food does not pass).
Tuesday - We spent time reviewing the organs of the digestive system to prepare for our quiz on Wednesday.
Wednesday - We took our quiz on the digestive system. The quiz included a 5 question portion on the pigs where I had a picture of a pig's abdominal cavity that had been dissected, and asked the kids a few questions about the organs shown. My hope was that this would prepare them for the lab practical that we took this week a little bit better. When they were done with the quiz, the students were given the dissection guide for the circulatory system. Homework was to read the lab.
Thursday - We did our heart dissection on Thursday. This took about 35 minutes, so after the students had completed the dissection, they were given time to work on the questions in the lab. Homework was to finish the lab questions.
Friday - We did our final pig dissection on Friday. This dissection was of the respiratory and urinary systems. The students did a good job finding the larynx, trachea, lungs, diaphragm, kidneys, ureters, and urinary bladder. After they completed the dissection and cleaned up, they were given time to work on the lab questions. Homework was to finish those questions.
This Week's Events
Monday - We took the pigs out one last time on Monday. The students were given the opportunity to ask questions of me (if they had any) and quiz their lab partners on the parts of the pig and their functions. Most students made good use of this time, but there were a few who did not, and it showed for some of them who did not on the lab practical the next day. I also showed the students a good virtual pig dissection website they could use to study from home for the lab practical (since I assumed most of you did not want a preserved pig on your dining room tables Monday night!).
Tuesday - We took the lab practical on Tuesday. There were 9 stations set up around the room. The students were given one minute at each station to answer 3 questions about the pig in front of them. At the end of one minute, they rotated to the next station to answer the next 3 questions.
Homework was to do the first page of a study guide on the circulatory system.
Wednesday - We reviewed the results of the lab practical. Many students did well. Lab practicals are notoriously difficult, so I was pleased with the results, as most students earned A's or B's on the practical. After reviewing our results, we did two activities related to the circulatory system. One of them involved learning to read an electrocardiogram, and the other was a crossword puzzle with circulatory system vocabulary. Homework was to complete the second page of the circulatory system study guide they had received on Tuesday.
Thursday - We went over the circulatory system study guide together, and then completed a few worksheets related to the circulatory system. Homework was to complete a respiratory system study guide that went along with the textbook.
Friday - We reviewed the results of the respiratory system homework, then took a circulatory system quiz. The quiz was not taken for a grade, but to to help the students and me determine what it is about the circulatory system that the kids need me to help them learn and what they have already figured out. Afterwards, we began to go through some of the information about the circulatory system that I expect the students to know.
Upcoming Events
Monday - We will finish learning about the circulatory system as well as the respiratory and urinary systems. The students have a packet to help them take notes on the circulatory system, and most of the other two systems notes will be a quick review of what we have already learned during dissection lab and worksheets.
Tuesday - We will review for our test on the digestive, respiratory, circulatory, and urinary systems.
Wednesday - The students will take a 75 question multiple choice anatomy and physiology test. Homework will be to complete and introduction to ecology worksheet.
Thursday - We will review the results of the anatomy and physiology test. Then we will go over the homework from the previous night. Finally, we will begin our ecology unit in earnest by reading aloud an article called "A View From the Top of the Food Pyramid." After that, we will do an activity that will have the students look at how energy moves through an ecosystem, which they will finish for homework.
Friday - I will collect from the students their homework on energy flow in ecosystems. Then we will work on a case study to introduce the concepts of bioaccumulation and biomagnification. It is called "Tuna for Lunch," and the students will examine what happens to toxins such as mercury as they pass from one level of a food chain to the next. Your kids should be able to tell you the distinction between bioaccumulation and biomagnification after doing this activity. One neat memory trick that a student came up with last year was a rhyme that went something like, "Bioaccumulation occurs when an organism is single, biomagnification occurs when organisms mingle." That will make more sense to you after you ask your kids to explain the distinction if you don't already know what those two terms mean! Homework will be to finish the biomagnification activity.
Geek of the Week
This week's Geek of the Week is Ryan Moran, who earned a perfect score on his Fetal Pig Lab Practical. The lab practical test is one of the most challenging of the year, and to earn a perfect score is quite a feat! Also earning perfect scores, but I believe having already won Geek of the Week this year, were Christina Miller, Patrick Chen, and Jennie Yang. Way to go!
May 7, 2012
May 6, 2012
May 6, 2012
Plans changed a bit last week, as I had to miss school on Monday to be home with my son, who was sick. The quiz that was originally scheduled for Friday will now be on Wednesday of this week.
Events of the Past Week
Monday - We watched the classic bio movie Hemo the Magnificent, about the parts of the circulatory system and how the circulatory system does its work. The movie does a very good job with the anatomy of the circulatory system and the role of the circulatory system, in my opinion.
Tuesday - This was a late start day, so our time was shortened. As a result, we spent the time reviewing the homework that had been due on Monday, and then we labeled a diagram of the human digestive system. Finally, I passed out the first pig dissection lab to the students to read for homework.
Wednesday - Wednesday was our first day of dissection. There were some students that I kept a close eye on throughout the dissection because I was worried they might not make it through, but everyone came through with flying colors, and many students genuinely enjoyed the learning experience (although there were definitely a few who were more than a little squeamish about it).
Thursday - We finished the dissection of the digestive organs of the abdominal cavity on Thursday. Everyone found all of the organs they were supposed to, and most groups were able to point out to me each of the organs I asked them to without much trouble. Homework was to finish the questions in the dissection lab.
Friday - I collected the pig dissection labs, and then we began a digestive system project. The students color-coded and cut out drawings of each of the organs of the digestive system, and then did the same with labels for each of the organs of the digestive system. The organs were then glued down in the proper locations, and the labels attached to the proper locations. Finally, the nutrients that are chemically digested in each organ were cut out and placed by the appropriate organ, as well. Homework was to complete the questions in the packet that went along with the project.
Upcoming Events
Monday - I will be collecting the questions from the project on Monday, and then we will be going through together the functions of all of the organs of the digestive system.
Tuesday - We will be reviewing for a quiz on the digestive system on Tuesday. Homework will be to study for the quiz, which is Wednesday.
Wednesday - There will be a 20 question multiple choice quiz. At the end of the quiz, there will be five fill in the blank questions where I will have a PowerPoint slide with a picture of a dissected pig, and the students will be asked questions about different organs that can be seen in the pig. There will be 5 questions on this part of the quiz, which is intended to help prepare them for the test at the end of the unit as well as assess their current knowledge of the anatomy of the pig.
Thursday - After reviewing the results of the quiz, we will be dissecting the circulatory system of the pig. Homework will be to finish the questions in the circulatory system dissection lab packet.
Friday - We will finish our dissection of the pig by looking at the respiratory and urinary systems. All of the systems we look at in the pig will be on a lab practical at the end of the unit. The students will be asked to identify different organs and their functions by looking at the pigs, which will have pins in different organs with questions associated with the pins. Homework will be to finish the questions in the respiratory and urinary system lab packet.
Graba Geek of the Week
This week's Graba Geek of the Week is Eli Pagones, who did a great job with his dissections this week and made me proud. Way to go, Eli!
Plans changed a bit last week, as I had to miss school on Monday to be home with my son, who was sick. The quiz that was originally scheduled for Friday will now be on Wednesday of this week.
Events of the Past Week
Monday - We watched the classic bio movie Hemo the Magnificent, about the parts of the circulatory system and how the circulatory system does its work. The movie does a very good job with the anatomy of the circulatory system and the role of the circulatory system, in my opinion.
Tuesday - This was a late start day, so our time was shortened. As a result, we spent the time reviewing the homework that had been due on Monday, and then we labeled a diagram of the human digestive system. Finally, I passed out the first pig dissection lab to the students to read for homework.
Wednesday - Wednesday was our first day of dissection. There were some students that I kept a close eye on throughout the dissection because I was worried they might not make it through, but everyone came through with flying colors, and many students genuinely enjoyed the learning experience (although there were definitely a few who were more than a little squeamish about it).
Thursday - We finished the dissection of the digestive organs of the abdominal cavity on Thursday. Everyone found all of the organs they were supposed to, and most groups were able to point out to me each of the organs I asked them to without much trouble. Homework was to finish the questions in the dissection lab.
Friday - I collected the pig dissection labs, and then we began a digestive system project. The students color-coded and cut out drawings of each of the organs of the digestive system, and then did the same with labels for each of the organs of the digestive system. The organs were then glued down in the proper locations, and the labels attached to the proper locations. Finally, the nutrients that are chemically digested in each organ were cut out and placed by the appropriate organ, as well. Homework was to complete the questions in the packet that went along with the project.
Upcoming Events
Monday - I will be collecting the questions from the project on Monday, and then we will be going through together the functions of all of the organs of the digestive system.
Tuesday - We will be reviewing for a quiz on the digestive system on Tuesday. Homework will be to study for the quiz, which is Wednesday.
Wednesday - There will be a 20 question multiple choice quiz. At the end of the quiz, there will be five fill in the blank questions where I will have a PowerPoint slide with a picture of a dissected pig, and the students will be asked questions about different organs that can be seen in the pig. There will be 5 questions on this part of the quiz, which is intended to help prepare them for the test at the end of the unit as well as assess their current knowledge of the anatomy of the pig.
Thursday - After reviewing the results of the quiz, we will be dissecting the circulatory system of the pig. Homework will be to finish the questions in the circulatory system dissection lab packet.
Friday - We will finish our dissection of the pig by looking at the respiratory and urinary systems. All of the systems we look at in the pig will be on a lab practical at the end of the unit. The students will be asked to identify different organs and their functions by looking at the pigs, which will have pins in different organs with questions associated with the pins. Homework will be to finish the questions in the respiratory and urinary system lab packet.
Graba Geek of the Week
This week's Graba Geek of the Week is Eli Pagones, who did a great job with his dissections this week and made me proud. Way to go, Eli!
April 30, 2012
April 29, 2012
April 29, 2012
Hello everyone! What a dreary weekend we had. Hopefully the weather turns around this week!
Events of the Past Week
Monday - On Monday, we did exactly what the blog last week stated we would do. We looked at the homework from the weekend together, then learned about phylogenetics and cladograms, and then learned how to create a cladogram. For homework, the students completed a study guide that went with Chapter 17 in their textbook.
Tuesday - No school due to PSAE testing.
Wednesday - We learned what a dichotomous key is, what it is used for, and practiced using one to identify different bacterial species. For homework, the students had to read the lab procedure for the lab we were going to do on Thursday.
Thursday - The students were given several different pieces of hardware ranging from nails to screws to bolts. The students had to determine the characteristics that would be best for classifying the types of hardware into different groups, and create a cladogram of their own from the decisions they made. They found this very challenging, but I also think it was very good for their brains. Homework was to complete the questions associated with the cladogram.
Friday - The students took a taxonomy quiz on Friday. There were 35 multiple choice questions and one written questions. They did pretty well as a group on the quiz. Afterwards, they let me know whether they wanted to be a dissector or a recorder for our pig dissections.
Upcoming Events
Monday - We will begin our pig dissection. The students will be assigned their groups and given their pigs. They will be determining the gender of their pigs, identifying external features, and perhaps beginning to look for salivary glands. I will need to make sure we are cleaning up with at least 10 minutes left in class for the students to get everything cleaned and done on time.
Tuesday - The students will be looking into the abdominal cavities of their pigs to identify several digestive organs, as well as some organs of the circulatory system and respiratory system. Homework will be to complete all of the questions in the lab.
Wednesday - We will begin a poster project on the digestive system. The students will be cutting out drawings of the organs of the digestive system, putting the pieces together like a puzzle, and color coding the pieces. The students will be completing through number 7 in the study guide that goes along with the poster.
Thursday - We will finish our project on the digestive system on Thursday. Homework will be to finish any parts of the project that are not completed in class.
Friday - We will be reviewing all of the parts of the digestive system and their functions on Friday. Homework will be to study for a quiz on the digestive system that will be given on Monday.
Graba Geek of the Week
This week's Geek of the Week is Anthony Fu. He did a great job figuring out how to put the cladogram on our quiz together, and his group did well on their Drosophila melanogaster lab report, for which he wrote an important portion. Way to go, Anthony!
Hello everyone! What a dreary weekend we had. Hopefully the weather turns around this week!
Events of the Past Week
Monday - On Monday, we did exactly what the blog last week stated we would do. We looked at the homework from the weekend together, then learned about phylogenetics and cladograms, and then learned how to create a cladogram. For homework, the students completed a study guide that went with Chapter 17 in their textbook.
Tuesday - No school due to PSAE testing.
Wednesday - We learned what a dichotomous key is, what it is used for, and practiced using one to identify different bacterial species. For homework, the students had to read the lab procedure for the lab we were going to do on Thursday.
Thursday - The students were given several different pieces of hardware ranging from nails to screws to bolts. The students had to determine the characteristics that would be best for classifying the types of hardware into different groups, and create a cladogram of their own from the decisions they made. They found this very challenging, but I also think it was very good for their brains. Homework was to complete the questions associated with the cladogram.
Friday - The students took a taxonomy quiz on Friday. There were 35 multiple choice questions and one written questions. They did pretty well as a group on the quiz. Afterwards, they let me know whether they wanted to be a dissector or a recorder for our pig dissections.
Upcoming Events
Monday - We will begin our pig dissection. The students will be assigned their groups and given their pigs. They will be determining the gender of their pigs, identifying external features, and perhaps beginning to look for salivary glands. I will need to make sure we are cleaning up with at least 10 minutes left in class for the students to get everything cleaned and done on time.
Tuesday - The students will be looking into the abdominal cavities of their pigs to identify several digestive organs, as well as some organs of the circulatory system and respiratory system. Homework will be to complete all of the questions in the lab.
Wednesday - We will begin a poster project on the digestive system. The students will be cutting out drawings of the organs of the digestive system, putting the pieces together like a puzzle, and color coding the pieces. The students will be completing through number 7 in the study guide that goes along with the poster.
Thursday - We will finish our project on the digestive system on Thursday. Homework will be to finish any parts of the project that are not completed in class.
Friday - We will be reviewing all of the parts of the digestive system and their functions on Friday. Homework will be to study for a quiz on the digestive system that will be given on Monday.
Graba Geek of the Week
This week's Geek of the Week is Anthony Fu. He did a great job figuring out how to put the cladogram on our quiz together, and his group did well on their Drosophila melanogaster lab report, for which he wrote an important portion. Way to go, Anthony!
April 22, 2012
April 22, 2012
April 22, 2012
Midterms are almost upon us. It's hard to believe that the school year is this close to being over. It seems like just yesterday these young people were walking through my classroom doors as wide-eyed, brand-new freshman!
Events of the Past Week
Monday - We put the finishing touches on our evolution unit. The students learned about convergent evolution, divergent evolution, and coevolution. Then we watched several clips of David Attenborough showing unique adaptations that have helped organisms from Leopard Slugs to Elephant Seals survive and pass down their genes. Homework was to complete an evolution review packet.
Tuesday - We began class by discussing the review packet and answering any questions students had about the packet. When that was done, we played a review game with remote control clickers and multiple choice questions that the students answered using their remote controls. Homework was to study for their evolution test.
Wednesday - The students took the multiple choice section of their evolution test. There were 56 questions on the multiple choice part of the test. They also took the district benchmark assessment on evolution, which consisted of 8 multiple choice questions.
Thursday - The students took the short answer portion of their evolution test. I had originally planned for all of the test to be taken on Wednesday, but realized it was going to be too long to take all in one day. When the students finished the test, they were given the opportunity to review the results from the multiple choice part of the test. Homework was to finish a study guide for the first section of chapter 17 in the textbook. The topic of the study guide was taxonomy (the science of classifying organisms), NOT taxidermy, which is what some students were hoping for!
Friday - We began class by taking a few notes on taxonomy, and then moved on to work on a packet called "Why Classify?" This packet had the students doing some thinking about the benefits of a classification system for organisms, and also learning some of the vocabulary associated with classification. Homework was to finish the packet.
Upcoming Events
Monday - The students will first be looking over their "Why Classify?" packets with me. Then, we will learn about phylogenetics (classifying organisms based on their presumed evolutionary relationships), and cladistics (essentially creating branching diagrams that show the evolutionary relationships between organisms). The students will then be creating a cladogram themselves. Homework will be to complete a study guide that goes along with chapter 17 in the textbook.
Tuesday - NO SCHOOL. PSAE testing. By the way, if you would like to read an interesting article about standardized tests, read this about New York's standardized English test: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/21/nyregion/standardized-testing-is-blamed-for-question-about-a-sleeveless-pineapple.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1
Wednesday - We will have 28 minutes of class time on Wednesday. We will take a look at the homework from Monday night, and then the students will be introduced to dichotomous keys. Dichotomous keys are made up of a paired series of statements that biologists use to help identify organisms when they are in the field. We will also review the characteristics of the 6 kingdoms and 3 domains of life.
Thursday - We will be completing a dichotomous key activity using various types of hardware. The students will have to design their own keys to classify the pieces of hardware. Homework will be to study for the quiz on Friday.
Friday - We will take a quiz on taxonomy on Friday with 35 multiple choice questions and 1 written question. The students will be letting me know whether they want to be a dissector or a recorder during our fetal pig dissections when they finish their quizzes. We will begin dissections on Monday.
Graba Geek of the Week
This week we have co-Geeks of the Week. Denae Gerasta is one, and Emma Gattuso is the other. Denae recently did a little research into her family's genetic history, as she noticed that one of her thumbs seemed to be rather short, much like the actress Megan Fox, who we learned has brachydactyly (a dominant genetic condition where one or more of the digits are shorter than normal). It turns out that the trait does seem to run in her family, and may be the same one we learned about in class (although there is no way to know for sure unless a genetic counselor were to be consulted).
Emma earned the honor by volunteering at a District 15 middle school to help students with some science projects. Talk about showing an interest in science! Way to go, girls!
Midterms are almost upon us. It's hard to believe that the school year is this close to being over. It seems like just yesterday these young people were walking through my classroom doors as wide-eyed, brand-new freshman!
Events of the Past Week
Monday - We put the finishing touches on our evolution unit. The students learned about convergent evolution, divergent evolution, and coevolution. Then we watched several clips of David Attenborough showing unique adaptations that have helped organisms from Leopard Slugs to Elephant Seals survive and pass down their genes. Homework was to complete an evolution review packet.
Tuesday - We began class by discussing the review packet and answering any questions students had about the packet. When that was done, we played a review game with remote control clickers and multiple choice questions that the students answered using their remote controls. Homework was to study for their evolution test.
Wednesday - The students took the multiple choice section of their evolution test. There were 56 questions on the multiple choice part of the test. They also took the district benchmark assessment on evolution, which consisted of 8 multiple choice questions.
Thursday - The students took the short answer portion of their evolution test. I had originally planned for all of the test to be taken on Wednesday, but realized it was going to be too long to take all in one day. When the students finished the test, they were given the opportunity to review the results from the multiple choice part of the test. Homework was to finish a study guide for the first section of chapter 17 in the textbook. The topic of the study guide was taxonomy (the science of classifying organisms), NOT taxidermy, which is what some students were hoping for!
Friday - We began class by taking a few notes on taxonomy, and then moved on to work on a packet called "Why Classify?" This packet had the students doing some thinking about the benefits of a classification system for organisms, and also learning some of the vocabulary associated with classification. Homework was to finish the packet.
Upcoming Events
Monday - The students will first be looking over their "Why Classify?" packets with me. Then, we will learn about phylogenetics (classifying organisms based on their presumed evolutionary relationships), and cladistics (essentially creating branching diagrams that show the evolutionary relationships between organisms). The students will then be creating a cladogram themselves. Homework will be to complete a study guide that goes along with chapter 17 in the textbook.
Tuesday - NO SCHOOL. PSAE testing. By the way, if you would like to read an interesting article about standardized tests, read this about New York's standardized English test: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/21/nyregion/standardized-testing-is-blamed-for-question-about-a-sleeveless-pineapple.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1
Wednesday - We will have 28 minutes of class time on Wednesday. We will take a look at the homework from Monday night, and then the students will be introduced to dichotomous keys. Dichotomous keys are made up of a paired series of statements that biologists use to help identify organisms when they are in the field. We will also review the characteristics of the 6 kingdoms and 3 domains of life.
Thursday - We will be completing a dichotomous key activity using various types of hardware. The students will have to design their own keys to classify the pieces of hardware. Homework will be to study for the quiz on Friday.
Friday - We will take a quiz on taxonomy on Friday with 35 multiple choice questions and 1 written question. The students will be letting me know whether they want to be a dissector or a recorder during our fetal pig dissections when they finish their quizzes. We will begin dissections on Monday.
Graba Geek of the Week
This week we have co-Geeks of the Week. Denae Gerasta is one, and Emma Gattuso is the other. Denae recently did a little research into her family's genetic history, as she noticed that one of her thumbs seemed to be rather short, much like the actress Megan Fox, who we learned has brachydactyly (a dominant genetic condition where one or more of the digits are shorter than normal). It turns out that the trait does seem to run in her family, and may be the same one we learned about in class (although there is no way to know for sure unless a genetic counselor were to be consulted).
Emma earned the honor by volunteering at a District 15 middle school to help students with some science projects. Talk about showing an interest in science! Way to go, girls!
April 16, 2012
April 16th, 2012
I hope everyone is getting those taxes taken care of if they aren't already! I apologize for the lack of a newsletter last week. With the Easter holiday weekend I did not have the opportunity to write it, but it's back this week!
Events of the Past Week
Monday - No school. Teacher Institute Day
Tuesday - On Tuesday, the students were introduced to a mathematical method for determining if a population's gene pool is changing over the course of time. The mathematical method is called the Hardy-Weinberg Theorem. Tuesday was a shortened day, so the introduction and example problem took the full period.
Wednesday - The students worked on practice Hardy-Weinberg problems. These problems take a little while to do (especially the first time through), so this took the full class period. Homework was to finish those problems.
Thursday - Our topic for Thursday was speciation, which is the formation of new species. In order to explain how speciation occurs and what it is, the students read a chapter from a comic book called Evolution: The Story of Life by Jay Hosler. The author is a PhD and an associate professor of biology at Juniata College. This was a much more interesting way to learn than listening to me lecture, and I hope the students got more out of it, too! There was a study guide that the students filled out as they did their reading.
Friday - The students were given 20 minutes to finish the study guide associated with the chapter on speciation, and then we watched the first 30 minutes of a movie from the PBS Evolution series called "Great Transformations."
Upcoming Events
Monday - The students will be finishing learning new material about evolution today. The topics that we will briefly cover are convergent evolution (when two organisms that are not closely related to one another actually appear to be related due to adapting to similar environments), divergent evolution (when two closely related organisms appear to be less and less related due to adapting to different environments), and coevolution (when two organisms change in response to one another, such as flowers and their pollinators). We will then watch a few clips of David Attenborough showing some unique adaptations driven by evolution. Homework is to start preparing for our test on Wednesday.
Tuesday - The students will be working on a review packet for their test on Wednesday. Homework will be to study for the test.
Wednesday - The students will be taking a test of approximately 70 questions in length on evolution. When they finish, they will be given a study guide for the next unit, which is taxonomy. They will need to use their textbooks to complete it for homework.
Thursday - The students will be taking notes from a lecture on the history of classifying organisms. After we finish taking notes, the students will be doing an activity where they will be using a dichotomous key to classify bacteria. If it is not finished in class, then they will have to complete it for homework.
Friday - We will do a couple of quick activities on Friday. One is called "Fun With Fictitious Animals," in which the students use the descriptions in a dichotomous key to try to determine the characteristics of various fictitious organisms. The idea is to demonstrate the importance of strong descriptors when classifying organisms. This will be followed up by an activity in which the students have to do some critical thinking to fill in missing information in a table used to classify various members of the primate order. Finally, the students will Finally, the students will be trying their hands at classifying the organisms found at this site: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/nature/classifying-life.html
Graba Geek of the Week
This week's Geek of the Week is Marty Chindblom, who has shown an incredible knack for thinking critically, and sharing his thoughts well with his lab partners. Great job, Marty!
Events of the Past Week
Monday - No school. Teacher Institute Day
Tuesday - On Tuesday, the students were introduced to a mathematical method for determining if a population's gene pool is changing over the course of time. The mathematical method is called the Hardy-Weinberg Theorem. Tuesday was a shortened day, so the introduction and example problem took the full period.
Wednesday - The students worked on practice Hardy-Weinberg problems. These problems take a little while to do (especially the first time through), so this took the full class period. Homework was to finish those problems.
Thursday - Our topic for Thursday was speciation, which is the formation of new species. In order to explain how speciation occurs and what it is, the students read a chapter from a comic book called Evolution: The Story of Life by Jay Hosler. The author is a PhD and an associate professor of biology at Juniata College. This was a much more interesting way to learn than listening to me lecture, and I hope the students got more out of it, too! There was a study guide that the students filled out as they did their reading.
Friday - The students were given 20 minutes to finish the study guide associated with the chapter on speciation, and then we watched the first 30 minutes of a movie from the PBS Evolution series called "Great Transformations."
Upcoming Events
Monday - The students will be finishing learning new material about evolution today. The topics that we will briefly cover are convergent evolution (when two organisms that are not closely related to one another actually appear to be related due to adapting to similar environments), divergent evolution (when two closely related organisms appear to be less and less related due to adapting to different environments), and coevolution (when two organisms change in response to one another, such as flowers and their pollinators). We will then watch a few clips of David Attenborough showing some unique adaptations driven by evolution. Homework is to start preparing for our test on Wednesday.
Tuesday - The students will be working on a review packet for their test on Wednesday. Homework will be to study for the test.
Wednesday - The students will be taking a test of approximately 70 questions in length on evolution. When they finish, they will be given a study guide for the next unit, which is taxonomy. They will need to use their textbooks to complete it for homework.
Thursday - The students will be taking notes from a lecture on the history of classifying organisms. After we finish taking notes, the students will be doing an activity where they will be using a dichotomous key to classify bacteria. If it is not finished in class, then they will have to complete it for homework.
Friday - We will do a couple of quick activities on Friday. One is called "Fun With Fictitious Animals," in which the students use the descriptions in a dichotomous key to try to determine the characteristics of various fictitious organisms. The idea is to demonstrate the importance of strong descriptors when classifying organisms. This will be followed up by an activity in which the students have to do some critical thinking to fill in missing information in a table used to classify various members of the primate order. Finally, the students will Finally, the students will be trying their hands at classifying the organisms found at this site: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/nature/classifying-life.html
Graba Geek of the Week
This week's Geek of the Week is Marty Chindblom, who has shown an incredible knack for thinking critically, and sharing his thoughts well with his lab partners. Great job, Marty!
March 27, 2012
March 27, 2012
Happy Spring Break, everyone! I hope some of you were able to get out of town to somewhere warm. I certainly did not. As a Cubs fan, I can confidently say, maybe next year!
Events of the Past Week
Monday - We began our evolution unit by taking a look at how carbon dating works. The students worked toward completing an activity about the way in which radioactive dating works for most of the period. Homework was to work on their D. melanogaster reports.
Tuesday - We began class with a fifteen minute lecture on spontaneous generation, the age of the earth, and radioactive dating of rocks and fossils. This was followed up by completing the carbon dating activity from the day before, as well as completing an activity on the geologic time scale. When the students completed these activities, they could use any remaining time to work on their reports. Homework was to continue working on their D. melanogaster reports.
Wednesday - I was at an AP conference at Northwestern University, so the students watched a NOVA video called "Origins." This explained the conditions of primitive earth to the students, and also showed them some hypotheses as to how the first organic compounds may have been formed. Homework was to work on the D. melanogaster reports.
Thursday - The original plan was to learn about natural selection. However, this is the key concept in the evolution unit, and it appeared to me that the students were really nervous about their reports. They also seemed a little distracted by spring break approaching. As a result, I decided to give them the day to work on their reports, which they were all quite thankful for! Homework was to complete their D. melanogaster reports.
Friday - After turning in their reports and completing a peer evaluation form, where the students graded themselves and their partners on their effort on the project, we watched three short clips from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute showing three examples of evolution in action, where scientists can pinpoint when the adaptations in the organisms observed arose, and what genetic changes caused those adaptations to appear. Homework was to enjoy spring break!
Upcoming Events
Monday - The students will be introduced to the concepts of natural selection. After I lecture to them for a little bit, we will spend the rest of the class period doing an activity learning about the different ideas presented in the 1800's that tried to explain the mechanism of change in organisms over time. The ideas that we will be investigating were proposed by Charles Darwin, Alfred Russell Wallace, and Jean Baptiste Lamarck.
Tuesday - We will be doing a lab investigating natural selection using different types of dried beans (pinto, kidney, and lima). The students will investigate the change in their bean "population" over time. Homework will be to complete the questions in the lab.
Wednesday - Class will begin with the students getting an introduction to the evidence that supports evolution. When that is complete, we will begin a lab investigation looking at different vertebrate skeletons to investigate homologous and analogous structures. Your children should be able to explain the difference between those two types of structures when they come home on Wednesday night. Homework will be to complete the lab questions that go along with the investigation.
Thursday - We will investigate a second type of evidence that supports evolution on Thursday - biochemical evidence. This investigation will take a close look at amino acid sequences for the same protein in different organisms. The students will find that the more closely related two organisms are, the more similarities there are between their amino acid sequences. Homework will again be to complete the questions associated with this investigation.
Friday - We will be watching a NOVA video called "Great Transformations" on Friday. This video shows students the ways in which whales have changed over time, explains how tetrapods evolved, and looks at the genes that control the development of the embryo in organisms from Drosophila melanogaster (oh yeah!) to Homo sapiens.
Graba Geek of the Week
This week's geek of the week is Liz Flavin. She worked incredibly hard on her group's project, helping to keep everyone in her group on task with their parts of the project, and also taking on the task of writing the discussion and bottle analyses for the report. This is an incredibly important, time-consuming task. Liz really stepped up to be a leader in her group, which was very impressive. Way to go, Liz!
Events of the Past Week
Monday - We began our evolution unit by taking a look at how carbon dating works. The students worked toward completing an activity about the way in which radioactive dating works for most of the period. Homework was to work on their D. melanogaster reports.
Tuesday - We began class with a fifteen minute lecture on spontaneous generation, the age of the earth, and radioactive dating of rocks and fossils. This was followed up by completing the carbon dating activity from the day before, as well as completing an activity on the geologic time scale. When the students completed these activities, they could use any remaining time to work on their reports. Homework was to continue working on their D. melanogaster reports.
Wednesday - I was at an AP conference at Northwestern University, so the students watched a NOVA video called "Origins." This explained the conditions of primitive earth to the students, and also showed them some hypotheses as to how the first organic compounds may have been formed. Homework was to work on the D. melanogaster reports.
Thursday - The original plan was to learn about natural selection. However, this is the key concept in the evolution unit, and it appeared to me that the students were really nervous about their reports. They also seemed a little distracted by spring break approaching. As a result, I decided to give them the day to work on their reports, which they were all quite thankful for! Homework was to complete their D. melanogaster reports.
Friday - After turning in their reports and completing a peer evaluation form, where the students graded themselves and their partners on their effort on the project, we watched three short clips from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute showing three examples of evolution in action, where scientists can pinpoint when the adaptations in the organisms observed arose, and what genetic changes caused those adaptations to appear. Homework was to enjoy spring break!
Upcoming Events
Monday - The students will be introduced to the concepts of natural selection. After I lecture to them for a little bit, we will spend the rest of the class period doing an activity learning about the different ideas presented in the 1800's that tried to explain the mechanism of change in organisms over time. The ideas that we will be investigating were proposed by Charles Darwin, Alfred Russell Wallace, and Jean Baptiste Lamarck.
Tuesday - We will be doing a lab investigating natural selection using different types of dried beans (pinto, kidney, and lima). The students will investigate the change in their bean "population" over time. Homework will be to complete the questions in the lab.
Wednesday - Class will begin with the students getting an introduction to the evidence that supports evolution. When that is complete, we will begin a lab investigation looking at different vertebrate skeletons to investigate homologous and analogous structures. Your children should be able to explain the difference between those two types of structures when they come home on Wednesday night. Homework will be to complete the lab questions that go along with the investigation.
Thursday - We will investigate a second type of evidence that supports evolution on Thursday - biochemical evidence. This investigation will take a close look at amino acid sequences for the same protein in different organisms. The students will find that the more closely related two organisms are, the more similarities there are between their amino acid sequences. Homework will again be to complete the questions associated with this investigation.
Friday - We will be watching a NOVA video called "Great Transformations" on Friday. This video shows students the ways in which whales have changed over time, explains how tetrapods evolved, and looks at the genes that control the development of the embryo in organisms from Drosophila melanogaster (oh yeah!) to Homo sapiens.
Graba Geek of the Week
This week's geek of the week is Liz Flavin. She worked incredibly hard on her group's project, helping to keep everyone in her group on task with their parts of the project, and also taking on the task of writing the discussion and bottle analyses for the report. This is an incredibly important, time-consuming task. Liz really stepped up to be a leader in her group, which was very impressive. Way to go, Liz!
March 18, 2012
March 18, 2012
March 18, 2012
Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone! I hope everyone has enjoyed being outside these last few days as much as my family has. Too bad we're not on spring break this week so the kids could take full advantage of the weather!
Events of the past Week
Monday - We counted flies on Monday. After the weekend, many groups had more than 100 flies to count in each of their 2 vials. After they finished, the students were given a review sheet that touched on each of the topics that would be covered on the test. Homework was to finish those problems.
Tuesday - We counted flies again, and the students were given the opportunity to check their answers to the review packet against my key. Anyone that had questions could then ask me individually for help, so that everyone got the help that they needed. Homework was to study for the genetics test.
Wednesday - We took the 1st day of the genetics test. The average from my four classes was around a 31 out of 36. I was very proud of the group for their hard work during this unit, as it seems to have paid off for them on the test.
Thursday - We took the second day of our genetics test on Thursday. The students did even better on this day, averaging approximately 29 out of 32. Homework was to read an article titled "Drawing a Line Between Monkey and Kangaroos." The article was about the naturalist Alfred Russell Wallace, who came to the same conclusions as Charles Darwin around the same time as Darwin. Darwin, however, had much more evidence supporting his ideas, so he is the one remembered most for explaining how it is that organisms have changed over time.
Friday - This was our final day of counting flies. There were many, many flies to count because most groups had gone two days without counting (some did come in after school on Wednesday to count, so they did not have as many flies as others). When the students finished, they were given the opportunity to look at their genetics test if there was time. My third hour class needs to look at both parts of the test on Monday, and my fifth hour class needs to look at the first day of the test on Monday. Homework for the weekend was to total all of the data the students have collected during their Drosophila melanogaster experiments, and to read an evolution-related ACT passage and answer the seven questions that go along with it.
There was also an interesting study published in the journal Science this past week regarding the use of Drosophila melanogaster in the study of alcoholism. Here's a link to the article that summarizes the work:
http://yhoo.it/xgzbpo
Upcoming Events
Monday - We will begin our evolution unit by looking at how radioactive dating works. We have an activity that we will be doing investigating the use of Carbon dating to date fossils as old as 50-60,000 years old.
Homework is to work on the Drosophila melanogaster reports.
Tuesday - We will be finishing the carbon dating activity, then doing an activity looking at the Geologic Time Scale. I will then introduce the students to some of the material in Chapter 14. After we finish that activity, the students will be completing an activity comparing the ideas of Darwin, Wallace, and Jean Baptiste Lamarck. Homework will be to work on the D. melanogaster reports.
Wednesday - We will be watching a NOVA video called Origins, that ties very nicely into the concepts from Chapter 14. Homework will be to work on the D. melanogaster reports. There will be a substitute teacher Wednesday because I will be at an AP conference at Northwestern University.
Thursday - The students will be introduced to the concept of natural selection. After I have lectured for 15-20 minutes, we will be completing a lab activity to look at how natural selection works. We will finish the activity in class on Friday if we do not finish it Wednesday. Homework will again be to work on the D. melanogaster reports.
Friday - We will take whatever time is necessary to complete the natural selection activity. I then have some video clips from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute from a series that they put out called "The Making of The Fittest" which we will watch. The video clips explain natural selection, show the students examples of evolution in action, and explain how changes in DNA drive the evolution of organisms.
Graba Geek of the Week
This week's Geek of the Week award goes to Carson DeVries. Carson has done an outstanding job during our genetics unit. The improvement and growth he showed during this unit were tremendous, and culminated with him earning one of the highest scores in the class on our genetics test. Keep up the good work, Carson!
Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone! I hope everyone has enjoyed being outside these last few days as much as my family has. Too bad we're not on spring break this week so the kids could take full advantage of the weather!
Events of the past Week
Monday - We counted flies on Monday. After the weekend, many groups had more than 100 flies to count in each of their 2 vials. After they finished, the students were given a review sheet that touched on each of the topics that would be covered on the test. Homework was to finish those problems.
Tuesday - We counted flies again, and the students were given the opportunity to check their answers to the review packet against my key. Anyone that had questions could then ask me individually for help, so that everyone got the help that they needed. Homework was to study for the genetics test.
Wednesday - We took the 1st day of the genetics test. The average from my four classes was around a 31 out of 36. I was very proud of the group for their hard work during this unit, as it seems to have paid off for them on the test.
Thursday - We took the second day of our genetics test on Thursday. The students did even better on this day, averaging approximately 29 out of 32. Homework was to read an article titled "Drawing a Line Between Monkey and Kangaroos." The article was about the naturalist Alfred Russell Wallace, who came to the same conclusions as Charles Darwin around the same time as Darwin. Darwin, however, had much more evidence supporting his ideas, so he is the one remembered most for explaining how it is that organisms have changed over time.
Friday - This was our final day of counting flies. There were many, many flies to count because most groups had gone two days without counting (some did come in after school on Wednesday to count, so they did not have as many flies as others). When the students finished, they were given the opportunity to look at their genetics test if there was time. My third hour class needs to look at both parts of the test on Monday, and my fifth hour class needs to look at the first day of the test on Monday. Homework for the weekend was to total all of the data the students have collected during their Drosophila melanogaster experiments, and to read an evolution-related ACT passage and answer the seven questions that go along with it.
There was also an interesting study published in the journal Science this past week regarding the use of Drosophila melanogaster in the study of alcoholism. Here's a link to the article that summarizes the work:
http://yhoo.it/xgzbpo
Upcoming Events
Monday - We will begin our evolution unit by looking at how radioactive dating works. We have an activity that we will be doing investigating the use of Carbon dating to date fossils as old as 50-60,000 years old.
Homework is to work on the Drosophila melanogaster reports.
Tuesday - We will be finishing the carbon dating activity, then doing an activity looking at the Geologic Time Scale. I will then introduce the students to some of the material in Chapter 14. After we finish that activity, the students will be completing an activity comparing the ideas of Darwin, Wallace, and Jean Baptiste Lamarck. Homework will be to work on the D. melanogaster reports.
Wednesday - We will be watching a NOVA video called Origins, that ties very nicely into the concepts from Chapter 14. Homework will be to work on the D. melanogaster reports. There will be a substitute teacher Wednesday because I will be at an AP conference at Northwestern University.
Thursday - The students will be introduced to the concept of natural selection. After I have lectured for 15-20 minutes, we will be completing a lab activity to look at how natural selection works. We will finish the activity in class on Friday if we do not finish it Wednesday. Homework will again be to work on the D. melanogaster reports.
Friday - We will take whatever time is necessary to complete the natural selection activity. I then have some video clips from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute from a series that they put out called "The Making of The Fittest" which we will watch. The video clips explain natural selection, show the students examples of evolution in action, and explain how changes in DNA drive the evolution of organisms.
Graba Geek of the Week
This week's Geek of the Week award goes to Carson DeVries. Carson has done an outstanding job during our genetics unit. The improvement and growth he showed during this unit were tremendous, and culminated with him earning one of the highest scores in the class on our genetics test. Keep up the good work, Carson!
March 11, 2012
March 11, 2012
March 11, 2012
What a beautiful Sunday! Let's hope this good weather continues for a long time!
Events of the Past Week
Monday - We reviewed our linked gene problems, and then discussed the requirements for their Drosophila melanogaster reports. There were lots of good questions.
Tuesday - Their were no second generation flies to count, so the students learned about how to perform a chi-square analysis of their data. When we were done learning, we spent some time applying our new knowledge to a problem set of chi-square problems. For homework, the students were to work on their reports.
Wednesday - We did our first counting of the second generation of flies. Some groups had a significant number of flies, and others not many. When they were done counting, the students went back to working on their chi-square practice problems. They will not have to complete any chi-square problems on their test this week, but they will have to use the chi-square test to analyze their data for their fruit flies in their lab report.
Thursday - The students counted flies again, and had time to work on their reports when counting was completed.
Friday - The students again counted flies. Then they did a few review problems and had time to work on their reports again.
Upcoming Events
Monday - We will count flies. There are likely to be a large number of flies in each vial, so this will probably take the students a significant portion of the class period to complete. There is a set of review problems for the students to complete when they are done counting. Any problems that are not finished will be done for homework.
Tuesday - LATE START DAY - Due to the late start day scheduled for Tuesday, the first day of the genetics test that was initially scheduled for this day will be taken on Wednesday. Instead, we will take time to go over the review problems that were done for homework and take any other questions the students may have about the test. Time will be given to count flies, as well. Homework will be to study for the test.
Wednesday - The students will take day 1 of the genetics test. I will be available after school for anyone who may want to come in to count flies so that their vials do not get overloaded with flies!
Thursday - The students will take day 2 of the genetics test. I will again be available after school for anyone who wants to come in to count flies.
Friday - The students will review the results of their genetics test, and then be given time to count flies.
Graba Geek of the Week
This week's geek of the week is Christina Miller. Christina is leading her group through this fruit fly project, doing a great job with gathering data, and also with determining her flies' patterns of inheritance. Keep up the good work, Christina!
What a beautiful Sunday! Let's hope this good weather continues for a long time!
Events of the Past Week
Monday - We reviewed our linked gene problems, and then discussed the requirements for their Drosophila melanogaster reports. There were lots of good questions.
Tuesday - Their were no second generation flies to count, so the students learned about how to perform a chi-square analysis of their data. When we were done learning, we spent some time applying our new knowledge to a problem set of chi-square problems. For homework, the students were to work on their reports.
Wednesday - We did our first counting of the second generation of flies. Some groups had a significant number of flies, and others not many. When they were done counting, the students went back to working on their chi-square practice problems. They will not have to complete any chi-square problems on their test this week, but they will have to use the chi-square test to analyze their data for their fruit flies in their lab report.
Thursday - The students counted flies again, and had time to work on their reports when counting was completed.
Friday - The students again counted flies. Then they did a few review problems and had time to work on their reports again.
Upcoming Events
Monday - We will count flies. There are likely to be a large number of flies in each vial, so this will probably take the students a significant portion of the class period to complete. There is a set of review problems for the students to complete when they are done counting. Any problems that are not finished will be done for homework.
Tuesday - LATE START DAY - Due to the late start day scheduled for Tuesday, the first day of the genetics test that was initially scheduled for this day will be taken on Wednesday. Instead, we will take time to go over the review problems that were done for homework and take any other questions the students may have about the test. Time will be given to count flies, as well. Homework will be to study for the test.
Wednesday - The students will take day 1 of the genetics test. I will be available after school for anyone who may want to come in to count flies so that their vials do not get overloaded with flies!
Thursday - The students will take day 2 of the genetics test. I will again be available after school for anyone who wants to come in to count flies.
Friday - The students will review the results of their genetics test, and then be given time to count flies.
Graba Geek of the Week
This week's geek of the week is Christina Miller. Christina is leading her group through this fruit fly project, doing a great job with gathering data, and also with determining her flies' patterns of inheritance. Keep up the good work, Christina!
March 4, 2012
March 4, 2012
Hello everyone! Spring is almost here, I hope.
Events of the Past Week
The only difference between what last week's blog said we would do and what we actually did was that the students took a 10 question district benchmark assessment on genetics. Almost everyone found the assessment to be relatively easy. We set a goal that all of our accelerated students would earn a 74% or better on that assessment (because that is our bottom B, which at the accelerated level is considered the lowest level of mastery). Out of approximately 110 students who took the assessment, only 2 did not meet the 74% goal, which means almost everyone earned an 8 out of 10 or better.
Upcoming Events
Monday - We will be looking at our second generation vials to see if we need to start counting the offspring in those yet. If not, we will be taking time in class to review the homework from the weekend. Afterwards, I will be introducing the students to the requirements of their lab reports on the fruit flies they have been working with for the past two weeks. I will be as specific as possible for them so that they have the best possible chance for demonstrating effectively to me their understanding of the experiment. Homework will be a writing assignment in relation to the reading they did last Thursday. The reading was about Charles Darwin and his explorations. The assignment will be to type a one page paper (double-spaced) about what they think they know about evolution, and what their opinions on evolution are. This will give me a baseline for what the students do and do not know about evolution.
Tuesday - My guess is that we will not have any flies to count on Monday, but will on Tuesday. If we do not, then the students will be introduced to a statistical analysis tool called a chi-square analysis. This will be used in their fruit fly lab reports to determine whether or not the difference between their observed results with the fruit flies and their expected results based on the way they think the traits are inherited is due to random chance events , or due to mistakes that they made either in their experimentation (most likely) or in determining how the traits were inherited. Homework would be some chi-square practice problems if we cover this topic in class.
Wednesday - If we count flies on Tuesday, then we will learn about chi-square on Wednesday. If we do not count flies on Tuesday, then we will count them on Wednesday.
Thursday - This will definitely be a day for counting flies. If there are any students who finish early, they will be given some genetics review problems.
Friday - We will again count flies on Friday, then review together the review problems from the previous day. The test on genetics will be the following Tuesday and Thursday. The genetics test is no longer in the number of questions than any of our previous tests; however, since genetics problems take longer to complete than most, the test is broken up over two days. We will not be able to take the test on back to back days because the students will need to count flies on Monday, and then again on Wednesday. If we went from Monday to Thursday without counting flies in between, there would be waaaaaaaaaaay too many flies in the vials.
Graba Geek of the Week
This week's geek of the week is Will Lefevre. Will has been working extremely hard on his genetics problems, even coming in for extra help on several of his lunch hours. As a result of all of his hard work, he earned himself a perfect score on our last genetics quiz. Way to go, Will!
Have a great week everyone!
Events of the Past Week
The only difference between what last week's blog said we would do and what we actually did was that the students took a 10 question district benchmark assessment on genetics. Almost everyone found the assessment to be relatively easy. We set a goal that all of our accelerated students would earn a 74% or better on that assessment (because that is our bottom B, which at the accelerated level is considered the lowest level of mastery). Out of approximately 110 students who took the assessment, only 2 did not meet the 74% goal, which means almost everyone earned an 8 out of 10 or better.
Upcoming Events
Monday - We will be looking at our second generation vials to see if we need to start counting the offspring in those yet. If not, we will be taking time in class to review the homework from the weekend. Afterwards, I will be introducing the students to the requirements of their lab reports on the fruit flies they have been working with for the past two weeks. I will be as specific as possible for them so that they have the best possible chance for demonstrating effectively to me their understanding of the experiment. Homework will be a writing assignment in relation to the reading they did last Thursday. The reading was about Charles Darwin and his explorations. The assignment will be to type a one page paper (double-spaced) about what they think they know about evolution, and what their opinions on evolution are. This will give me a baseline for what the students do and do not know about evolution.
Tuesday - My guess is that we will not have any flies to count on Monday, but will on Tuesday. If we do not, then the students will be introduced to a statistical analysis tool called a chi-square analysis. This will be used in their fruit fly lab reports to determine whether or not the difference between their observed results with the fruit flies and their expected results based on the way they think the traits are inherited is due to random chance events , or due to mistakes that they made either in their experimentation (most likely) or in determining how the traits were inherited. Homework would be some chi-square practice problems if we cover this topic in class.
Wednesday - If we count flies on Tuesday, then we will learn about chi-square on Wednesday. If we do not count flies on Tuesday, then we will count them on Wednesday.
Thursday - This will definitely be a day for counting flies. If there are any students who finish early, they will be given some genetics review problems.
Friday - We will again count flies on Friday, then review together the review problems from the previous day. The test on genetics will be the following Tuesday and Thursday. The genetics test is no longer in the number of questions than any of our previous tests; however, since genetics problems take longer to complete than most, the test is broken up over two days. We will not be able to take the test on back to back days because the students will need to count flies on Monday, and then again on Wednesday. If we went from Monday to Thursday without counting flies in between, there would be waaaaaaaaaaay too many flies in the vials.
Graba Geek of the Week
This week's geek of the week is Will Lefevre. Will has been working extremely hard on his genetics problems, even coming in for extra help on several of his lunch hours. As a result of all of his hard work, he earned himself a perfect score on our last genetics quiz. Way to go, Will!
Have a great week everyone!
February 26, 2012
February 26, 2012
Hello everyone! I wonder who else has a sore back after dealing with that wet, heavy snow Friday morning. This is being written a a little bit late because today was my son's 9th birthday, so I didn't really have time to write it until after he went to bed!
Events of the Past Week
Monday - NO SCHOOL! PRESIDENT'S DAY!
Tuesday - While I was at a Genetics Update Conference with my AP students learning about the way that genes control the development of the embryo and the development of cancer, your children were taking our first genetics quiz. There were 15 multiple choice questions and one written question. If you have checked your child's grades online, you will notice that the two parts of the quiz were entered as two separate grades. It was simply a faster way for me to enter the grades, but will not change the way in which your child's grade is determined. This is because grades are determined based on the total points earned divided by the total points possible.
Homework on Tuesday was to read about the explorations of Alexander von Humboldt.
Wednesday - The students had their first day of counting and classifying their Drosophila melanogaster (fruit flies). This was a busy day for everyone, as I was moving around quickly from table to table putting out fires (not literally) and helping students with their classification of males and females.
Homework on Wednesday was to write approximately one page about a place that you like to explore, and what you look for when you explore there. Some students interpreted this as a place they would like to explore, rather than a place that they do like to explore, which was fine. It was a way for me to learn a little bit about each student on a personal level, and also to get the students doing some writing, which never hurts!
Thursday - We began class by learning about how blood type is inherited. This was used to introduce two concepts: multiple alleles (meaning there are more than two versions of a gene in the human population), and codominance (not to be confused with incomplete dominance). If you want to help your child a little bit, you might ask them if they can explain the difference between incomplete dominance and codominance. This will help them to review their notes a little bit as we approach the end of our unit.
When we finished learning about multiple alleles and codominance, the students were given time to count their fruit flies again.
Homework on Thursday was to complete questions 1-7 on Problem Set 4.
Friday - Students were introduced to polygenic inheritance. In this type of inheritance, one trait is determined by multiple pairs of genes. Classic examples of traits that show this type of inheritance are skin color and eye color. After we finished this, the students were given time to count and classify their flies.
Homework was to complete problems 9 and 10 in Problem Set 4 (we are skipping number 8). Anyone who finished counting their flies early on Friday got the opportunity to start their homework in class. It was unbelievable how much better the students were doing at identifying flies by Friday. Some of them have already gotten to the point that they can tell the difference between a male and female fruit fly without even looking at them underneath the dissecting microscope!
Upcoming Events
Monday - Monday will be spent counting flies. We will have plenty to count after a weekend away from them, so I anticipate this taking most of the class period. There will be some time to work on some practice problems and answer any questions students may have about any of the problems we have done so far. Homework will be to start reviewing for the second quiz we will have on genetics during this week.
Tuesday - The students will be introduced to the concept of epistasis. We will look at coat color in labrador retrievers and in mice as our example for this type of inheritance. The students will be learning, for example, why there are three different coat colors in labs. After being introduced to this concept, the students will have time to count their flies. Homework will be practice problems related to epistasis.
Wednesday - We will review the different types of inheritance we have learned since the last quiz in preparation for our quiz on Thursday. With any time that is left, there will be time to count our first generation of fruit flies one last time. After Wednesday, we will be getting rid of our first generation of flies. The second generation should be ready next week!
Thursday - On Thursday, we will take our second genetics quiz. There will be a reading assignment that follows the quiz. Homework will be to finish the reading assignment.
Friday - Finally, on Friday, we will be looking at the inheritance of genes which are located on the same chromosome, which we call "linked genes." This is probably the most difficult topic in our current unit, so please encourage your students to ask me questions if they have any after they are introduced to it. Homework will be some practice problems related to linked genes.
Graba Geek of the Week
This week's geek of the week is Will Helgren. Will has been working extra hard during this unit, and it has paid off for him. He earned one of the few perfect scores on our first quiz. Way to go, Will!
Have a great week everyone!
Events of the Past Week
Monday - NO SCHOOL! PRESIDENT'S DAY!
Tuesday - While I was at a Genetics Update Conference with my AP students learning about the way that genes control the development of the embryo and the development of cancer, your children were taking our first genetics quiz. There were 15 multiple choice questions and one written question. If you have checked your child's grades online, you will notice that the two parts of the quiz were entered as two separate grades. It was simply a faster way for me to enter the grades, but will not change the way in which your child's grade is determined. This is because grades are determined based on the total points earned divided by the total points possible.
Homework on Tuesday was to read about the explorations of Alexander von Humboldt.
Wednesday - The students had their first day of counting and classifying their Drosophila melanogaster (fruit flies). This was a busy day for everyone, as I was moving around quickly from table to table putting out fires (not literally) and helping students with their classification of males and females.
Homework on Wednesday was to write approximately one page about a place that you like to explore, and what you look for when you explore there. Some students interpreted this as a place they would like to explore, rather than a place that they do like to explore, which was fine. It was a way for me to learn a little bit about each student on a personal level, and also to get the students doing some writing, which never hurts!
Thursday - We began class by learning about how blood type is inherited. This was used to introduce two concepts: multiple alleles (meaning there are more than two versions of a gene in the human population), and codominance (not to be confused with incomplete dominance). If you want to help your child a little bit, you might ask them if they can explain the difference between incomplete dominance and codominance. This will help them to review their notes a little bit as we approach the end of our unit.
When we finished learning about multiple alleles and codominance, the students were given time to count their fruit flies again.
Homework on Thursday was to complete questions 1-7 on Problem Set 4.
Friday - Students were introduced to polygenic inheritance. In this type of inheritance, one trait is determined by multiple pairs of genes. Classic examples of traits that show this type of inheritance are skin color and eye color. After we finished this, the students were given time to count and classify their flies.
Homework was to complete problems 9 and 10 in Problem Set 4 (we are skipping number 8). Anyone who finished counting their flies early on Friday got the opportunity to start their homework in class. It was unbelievable how much better the students were doing at identifying flies by Friday. Some of them have already gotten to the point that they can tell the difference between a male and female fruit fly without even looking at them underneath the dissecting microscope!
Marty works hard at classifying his fruit flies.
Nathan and Carson show what teamwork is supposed to look like!
Konstantin transfers some of his fruit flies to a baby food jar to be knocked out.
Walt and Emily work together to separate males from females.
Jennie and Katie show that working with fruit flies can be fun!
Michael and Amy transfer fruit flies to their counting tray.
Working hard to get the fruit flies separated before they start to wake up again!
Prerana, Jenna, Jimmy, and Justin all work together to get their flies knocked out.
Ellen and Christina have almost completed separating the flies from one of their vials.
Tomas is focused on the task at hand.
Sunny and Alex seen from the point of view of one of our lab tables!
Upcoming Events
Monday - Monday will be spent counting flies. We will have plenty to count after a weekend away from them, so I anticipate this taking most of the class period. There will be some time to work on some practice problems and answer any questions students may have about any of the problems we have done so far. Homework will be to start reviewing for the second quiz we will have on genetics during this week.
Tuesday - The students will be introduced to the concept of epistasis. We will look at coat color in labrador retrievers and in mice as our example for this type of inheritance. The students will be learning, for example, why there are three different coat colors in labs. After being introduced to this concept, the students will have time to count their flies. Homework will be practice problems related to epistasis.
Wednesday - We will review the different types of inheritance we have learned since the last quiz in preparation for our quiz on Thursday. With any time that is left, there will be time to count our first generation of fruit flies one last time. After Wednesday, we will be getting rid of our first generation of flies. The second generation should be ready next week!
Thursday - On Thursday, we will take our second genetics quiz. There will be a reading assignment that follows the quiz. Homework will be to finish the reading assignment.
Friday - Finally, on Friday, we will be looking at the inheritance of genes which are located on the same chromosome, which we call "linked genes." This is probably the most difficult topic in our current unit, so please encourage your students to ask me questions if they have any after they are introduced to it. Homework will be some practice problems related to linked genes.
Graba Geek of the Week
This week's geek of the week is Will Helgren. Will has been working extra hard during this unit, and it has paid off for him. He earned one of the few perfect scores on our first quiz. Way to go, Will!
Have a great week everyone!
February 20, 2012
February 20, 2012
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.
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 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!
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