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!
March 27, 2012
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!
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