Last Class Period

Today, as promised to Ivan, we watched an episode of Human Planet: Oceans. As sea level rises, how will our behaviors change? How have the oceans shaped our lives? Check out the clip below to see how long one man can hold his breath.



Congratulations to Mathilde for winning the "Best Lab Report Award" and to Jose for winning "Most Improved in Science."

Have a great and safe summer!

Geology Jigsaw - Presentations

Today students presented their sections from the geology jigsaw. We learned about how fossils are made, how scientists use radioactive dating and the relative age of rocks. There was some confusion on how radioactive dating works, so if you're interested, you can check out this article, or watch this basic video on Carbon-14, or this more advanced video.

On Monday we don't meet because you get to go to Gardaland! Tuesday will be our last class, as promised, we'll watch an episode of Human Planet and have a few treats. If you would like to bring in something for the class, feel free, but no nuts :)

Geology Jigsaw

Now it's your turn to be the expert! Today students worked on a jig saw activity using Chapter 4 from Science Explorer. Below are the groups.

Fossils: Jon, Isabella, Antonella, Adam

The Relative Age of Rocks: Jose, Mathilde, Paul, Carlo

Radioactive Dating & Geologic Time Scale: Ivan, Gabriella, Francesca, (Malcolm)

Working with your group, you will create a 5-7 minute presentation on your topic to share with the class on Friday. You will have the first half of class on Friday to do any final organizing/editing.

Be a Paleontologist!

Today students had a chance to be a paleontologist and discover how tricky it can be to interpret fossil evidence when you don't have a complete picture. After a great display of teamwork, students discovered that they were looking at the bones of a Xenosmilus.

"From the partial skeletons found in Florida, Xenosmilus has been found to have the short, broad upper canines of the Scimitar tooth cats and the robust short legged build of the Dirk tooth cats. Xenosmilus was about the size of a modern lion, and more muscular than the Smilodon species. It is assumed that Xenosmilus preyed upon wild pigs, for several skeletons of this type were found in the cave deposits along with the cats." Read more here. This lesson came from UCMP Berkeley.

Homework: none :)

Finshing Great Transformations

Today we finished Great Transformations from the PBS evolution series. We learned about the importance of homologies and comparative embryology in understanding evolution. As you may recall, at the beginning of the film, we learned about paleontologists and how the discovery of fossils contributes greatly to our understanding of the fossil record. Tomorrow, you will have the chance to be a paleontologist.

Hooray Blogger is back up and running!

Since blogger was down for almost two days (which felt like an eternity), we are missing the post from Wednesday.

On Wednesday students made a 46 meter timeline that stretched from the gazebo almost all the way to the theater. Each meter represented 100 million years. We were able to take a walk through time and see just how recently the world came to be how we see it today.

Today we watched the first two segments of PBS's Great Transformations video. For Monday you have two assignments. First watch the third segment and answer the following questions:

A. What are three things you learned?
B. What are two things you have questions about?
C. What is one thing you'd like to learn more about?




Part 2:By Monday at 3:35 PM, email me the answers to the following questions:

1. What assignment are you most proud of from this class and why?

2. How does this work demonstrate your skills and abilities in science?

3. What was challenging or interesting about this project?

4. If you had to do this again, what would you do differently?

5. What did you work the hardest on? Was it a specific project, studying for a test, learning to be organized etc?

6. What was the most interesting thing to learn about this spring term? In case you’ve forgotten all that we have done, look back through the blog archive.

7. What were the biggest challenges to your success in this class?

8. How did you work to overcome these challenges?

9. How have you changed as a student from the start of the year to now?

10. What can you teach others about Biology that you couldn't before?

11. Is there a skill that you learned in this class that can help you in other classes, if so what it it? (don't you dare write "nothing" because you are tired of writing.

Part 2:

What are three things you think I do well as a teacher?


What are three things (or areas) where you think I could improve as a teacher?


What is one piece of advice you would give to students who are taking this class next year?


Anything else I should know?

A quiz & an evolution timeline

For the first half of the period, students completed the evolution case study quiz. After completing the quiz, we transitioned from learning about microevolution to macroevolution.

Natural selection is only one part of microevolution. There are three other components, that because of time, we were not able to study in depth. These are: mutation, migration and genetic drift (random loss of genetic variation). When these four parts components are combined with a substantial amount of time, macroevolution can occur.

The first hurdle in learning about macroevolution is understanding the immense amount of time involved. To help us, students hypothesized about the appearance of life on Earth by making a model timeline.

Our timeline was only 4.6 meters long. Tomorrow we will be creating a larger timeline on campus. Your homework is to research your two assigned events. Hopefully the weather will cooperate.

Ivan your assigned events are: Neanderthals and Mississippi River Formation
Carlo your assigned events are: Formation of the Himalayas and Pictograms (written communication)

Below are the events which will be placed on the timeline:

Geological Events: When (in millions of years)

Pleistocene Ice Age 1.6
Land bridge between North and South America 5.7
Antarctic Ice cap 24
Mississippi River 35
Separation of Antarctica and Australia 50
Formation of the Himalayas 55
Formation of the Rocky Mountains 70
Breakup of Pangea 165
Oxygen building up in atmosphere 600-2500
Formation of the earth 4600

Biological Events

Pictograms (written communication) .005
Modern humans .04
Neanderthals .10

Manufactures stone tools 2.5
Lucy 3.2
Hominids 4.0
Monkeys 35
Primates 65
Flowering plants 140
Birds 150
Mammals 225
Dinosaurs 235
Reptiles 300
Seed producing plants 350
Amphibians 360
Land animals 400
Land plants 430
Vertebrates 520
Animals with hard shells 590
Soft bodied animals 680
Multicellular organisms 1000
Eukaryotes 1400
Bacteria 3500

Note: 1 billion equals 1000 million

Why Evolution Matters Now

Today watched a segment from the PBS Evolution series, titled "Why Evolution Matters Now."


Homework: Tomorrow you will have a short in class writing assignment, that will count for a quiz grade where you will need to answer the question:

Give two examples of ways in which genetic variation and environmental factors are causes of evolution and the diversity of organisms. You will need to define evolution and state the four essential components of natural selection. You will be given these questions on paper to guide your answers. You will NOT be able to use your notes.

Quick Evolution Leads to Quiet Crickets

Over the past week, we have been addressing the learning standard that students should be able to:

Give examples of ways in which genetic variation and environmental factors are causes of evolution and the diversity of organisms

We learned about the fictional clipbirds which serve as a model for Darwin's finches. Charles Darwin was under the impression that evolution happens so slowly, we can't actually see it happen in a lifetime. While this idea is correct in many instances, there are some cases where organisms reproduce in a short time period, for example bacteria and crickets.

Today we read the article "Quick Evolution Leads to Quiet Crickets."

Attack of the flesh-eating parasitoid maggots!! Mutant mute crickets run rampant in tropical paradise!! The headlines may sound like a trailer for a cheap horror flick — but in fact, these sensationalist sound bites accurately describe the situation on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. The "flesh-eating parasitoid maggots" are the offspring of the fly, Ormia ochracea, which invaded Hawaii from North America, and the mutant crickets are the flies' would-be victims. The flies follow the chirps of a calling cricket and then deposit a smattering of wriggling maggots onto the cricket's back. The maggots burrow into the cricket, and emerge, much fatter, a week later — killing the cricket in the process. But this fall, biologists Marlene Zuk, John Rotenberry, and Robin Tinghitella announced a breakdown in business-as-usual in this gruesome interaction: in just a few years, the crickets of Kauai have evolved a strategy to avoid becoming a maggot's lunch — but the strategy comes at a cost... To read more click here.

For homework answer the three questions at the bottom of the last page of the packet.

Clipbirds Lab

Today students did the Clipbirds Lab to see how evolution and availability of resources work together.

Homework: Due Friday

You are a news reporter and are writing a story on Charles Darwin and his theory.

You need to answer the questions of
Who was Charles Darwin?
What did he do and what were his discoveries?
When did do his research?
Where did his travels take him?
Why were his discoveries significant?
How has Darwin's discoveries shaped the current scientific view of evolution?

Important Notes:
You must cite at least three sources. No more than one of these can come from a wiki link. You must include the entire url. If you do not have proper citations, you will not receive credit for your work. You should use a combination of direct quotes and paraphrasing.

You can cite YouTube videos.

Not sure where to look? Below are some resources to get you started.
PBS's Evolution Series
Christ College's (Australian University) Darwin for Kids

Your article should use size 12, Times New Roman Font with 1.5 spacing.
You should write your article in a question & answer format.

Galapagos Exploration

Darwin was particularly inspired by what he saw, with regard to species, on the Galapagos islands. To help get us inspired, we watched segments of the IMAX film Galapagos Experience.

Tomorrow we will be doing a simulation that mimics what occurred in Darwin's finches (pictured below).

For Homework: Write a paragraph explaining why you think there is genetic variation in the bird beaks below. What advantages are there to such variation? Are there any disadvantages? Do you think one beak size (1,2,3 or 4) or is the best beak to have?

Welcome Back!

It's hard to believe, but as of today we only have three and a half weeks of school left! Our last unit of the year will be on evolution. What is evolution? In it's most basic form, evolution is change.

Today students completed a "what I know, think I know and want to know" brainstorm table as well as watched the video clips below.

It's important to know the difference between a hypothesis and a theory:



Who was Charles Darwin?



For homework, watch the video clip below and define the four components of natural selection.

Genetic Difference

Today we learned about characteristics that are inherited (come from nature) and those which are shaped by our environment (nurture). We also learned about blood types and how parents can have different blood types than their children.

Click the picture to link to the website we used to watch two short video clips and take a quiz on "nature vs. nurture."

Lastly, we started a segment from the BBC's four part documentary on "The Human Face." On Friday you will find out if the little girl with moebius syndrome had a successful surgery. If you are interested in continuing to watch the series on your own, that's great! But PLEASE don't ruin the surprise for the rest of the class. Thanks :)

Today, with our 5th grade visitors, we learned about Pedigree charts. We used the Weasley's family tree to look at how the trait for red hair is passed down through their family.




It's a lot of work to actually draw people on a pedigree, so instead, scientists use symbols.




Above is the pedigree for Queen Victoria's family. It traces the trait for hemophilia. A disease where the blood does not clot.


Homework: Read and take notes on the information below. You will have a 4 question reading quiz on this information at the start of class. Three questions will be definitions and one question will ask you to THINK!

An excerpt from ExploringNature.org's explanation on genetics

Gregor Mendel, was a monk in Austria in the mid-1800s who raised peas in the monastery gardens. While breeding his peas, he made some big discoveries. They were discoveries about genetics.

The peas had several traits he could see. Some plants were tall and some were short. Some had wrinkled pods and some had smooth pods. Some pods were green and some where yellow. The flowers were white or purple. Mendel looked at each trait and learned how they were passed down to the offspring plants. Since plants breed using pollen, Mendel controlled which plants pollinated other plants. This was how he discovered many important genetic rules.

How an individual looks and what their genetic code is sometimes do not match up. This is the difference between genotype and phenotype. The genotype is the actual genetic make up of an individual. The phenotype is what that individual looks like.

Traits that show up more often are called dominant traits. Traits that show up less often are called recessive traits. If an individual with dominant traits breeds with an individual with recessive traits, this can result in a hybrid offspring. Hybrid individuals can look like they have dominant traits (phenotype), but actually be hybrid (genotype).

Hybrid plants are different from dominant plants even if they looked the same. Each gene has two chances at a trait – two copies — two alleles. So a hybrid plant could be carrying the allele for a recessive trait even if you can’t see it. So, for example, a hybrid plant might be tall like its dominant parent, but it still could have an allele for shortness that you don’t see. This is the difference between genotype and phenotype. The genotype is the actual genetic make up of an individual. The phenotype is what that individual looks like.

This can be illustrated with a simple chart. It’s called a Punnett’s Square.

DNA is the molecule of inheritance

We know that DNA makes us who we are and we know that we can inherit from our parents. But how does that happen? Do all organisms have do the same process we do? No!

Bacteria reproduce asexually, using a process called binary fission.



Humans and other animals use a process called Meiosis which produces sperm and egg cells. Instead of having 46 chromosomes each, these cells only have 23 chromosomes. Why? Because this way when a sperm and egg join during fertilization, the new cell has 46 chromosomes. Believe it or not, you all started as one single cell.




Sometimes there can be unusual events during Meiosis and instead of having 23 chromosomes, a cell has 22 or 24 chromosomes. These are called non-disjunction disorders. Today in class we spent some time discussing the symptoms of these disorders.

Homework:
Tomorrow we will be looking at how traits are passed from one generation to the next. For homework you need to complete the data collection sheet for the four traits. Your 5th grade friends have also been given the data sheet to do for homework, so they will be completing the activity as well.

Strawberry DNA lab report

Below is a PowerPoint with the requirements for your lab report which is due on Wednesday April 13th. In class. You must provide a printed copy. The data has been emailed to you.

Strawberry DNA lab report

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Strawberry DNA Extraction

Today we extracted DNA from strawberries. We had a very successful experiment. You can see our data below.











For homework: list every thing (variable) that was controlled in this experiment.

DNA Recap & Extraction Intro

Today we recapped what we know about DNA (see post below). Tomorrow we will be extracting DNA from Strawberries. You will have a three question quiz on the procedure tomorrow at the start of class.

What do all those letters in DNA do?

On Friday we built a strand of DNA as a class and touched on some very BIG ideas about DNA.
Here's what we took away from that class:

* A reminder that DNA is double stranded helix

* DNA is made up of small units called nucleotides. Each nucleotide has three pieces.

* There are four different bases, or letters that make up DNA. These are A (Adenine), T (Thymine), C (Cytosine) and G (Guanine).

* Just like when you build a puzzle, certain pieces fit together, the small pieces of DNA (nucleotides) can only fit together in certain ways. A pairs with T and C pairs with G.


* Every three letters on a strand of DNA = 1 codon.


* 1 codon = 1 amino acid and many amino acids put together = a protein. Just like one bead from a necklace isn't very unique, when beads are put together in a certain order, they can make something very special.

* Genes are segments of DNA that code for proteins. Our DNA is the blue print of life and the instructions in our genes, make us who we are.

And now you've read all of that,
it's time for your homework:

On Monday we will be starting a week long lab on DNA extraction from Strawberries. Your job is to make a list of at least ten genes that a strawberry has. For example, if you needed to list genes that a fish has, you might say, "a gene for gills, a gene for scales etc." You might be thinking, "Make a list of ten genes?! That's impossible!" First, it's not impossible. It turns out there are 33,294 genes in a strawberry, so simply think about what a strawberry is made of, what does it look like, what does it grow on/where does it grow.

Structure of DNA

Today in class we learned about the structure of DNA.

Homework: Color and cut out the base pairs, phosphate groups (the plus-sign shapes) and deoxyribose sugars (the pentagon shapes). Bring these to class on Friday so we can build a DNA molecule.

Use the following colors:
Adenine - pink
Thymine - yellow
Cytosine - blue
Guanine - green

The Power of Genes

Yesterday students started to learn about the Power of Genes, through a discovery education video. Today we finished the video (or rather, as much of the video as we are going to watch).
Click the picture to link to the DNA game on the Nobel Prize website. Before you begin playing, you will read about DNA. Take notes on what you read. Play the game. Write down how many mutations you have. Also, write down the name of the organism that the DNA from "unknown organism 1" belongs to.

You can do samples 2 and 3 for extra credit.

Making Wet Mount Slides

On Friday, students made wet mount slides using yeast cultures. Below is what yeast cells look like on medium power (100x) on our microscopes.


At the end of the mini lab, we review why yeast is a living thing. Yeast is alive because:
1. it is made up of cells
2. it grows and divides
3. it responds to its environment
4. it uses energy
5. it reproduces (asexually, by budding)
and lastly
6. it evolves.

In our experiment, we were able to see #1-5 on the list, but watching evolution is more challenging. As Jose correctly said in class, evolution takes a long time!

Our next unit, starting on Monday, will be on DNA, the code of life. It is changes to DNA that are the basis for all evolution!

Since you had a lab report due on Friday, you do not have homework due Monday. Have a great weekend!

Working on the yeast lab report

Today students worked on their lab reports. The lab report is due in class on Friday. It must be a printed copy. Late work will NOT be accepted.

Tomorrow in class we'll have a REAL, LIVE SCIENTIST, come to class! Please arrive on time :)

It's alive lab report

Today students worked on their lab reports for the "It's Alive!? Investigation." For homework you will need to make graph in excel.

Click through the powerpoint below to see what you need to do.

Making an xy scatter plot

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Yeast Lab Report Part 1:

Tomorrow a rough draft of your introduction is due in class. You need to have a scientific title that includes: the organism studied, the parameter measured, the factor you changed.

You should also write an introduction that includes the following information:

The hypothesis

3-5 sentences about yeast that answer the following questions:

What is yeast?

Is it alive?

What does yeast need to live?

Is yeast a plant, animal or fungi?

It's Alive Investigation Day 2

Yesterday we reviewed controls and variables and then collected data on how long it took the balloons to inflate at various temperatures. Below is the data we collected.



For Friday, you need to write out the procedure you will use to redo this experiment. You will all be working with 65 deg C water. Be detailed! You will use 2.5g of yeast, 1.5g sugar, 25mL of water.

Is it alive Investigation (Day 1)

Today students looked at two unknown samples (Y and Z) using a dissecting microscope. Next they did an experiment with sample Y to see if adding water and sugar would create any reaction. The results were mixed and students came up with some of the own hypotheses for how to change the results.

For homework:

With your partner (or individually and you can decided when you get to class which experimental set up to use) answer the following questions:

How many grams of sample Y will you use? (0.1g to 3g)
How many grams of food X will you use? (0.1g to 3g)
How many mL of water will you use (10mL-30mL)
What temperature will the water be? (10 degrees C to 100 degrees C).

Tomorrow you will do a second balloon test using these parameters. We will also do the balloon test on sample Z as a class.

It's Alive?!?!

Dr. Frankenstein exclaimed, "It's aaaaalllliiiiiivvvve!" He sure was excited about his creation, but what does it mean to be alive?


Today we learned about the six characteristics of living things:
1. All living things are made up of cells
2. Living things obtain and use energy
3. Living things grow and develop
4. Living things reproduce
5. Living things respond to their environment
6. Living things evolve.

In order to be a living thing, the organism must meet all six criteria. These salt crystals grow, but they aren't alive.

Make a table, like the one below and fill it in using the list of things below. If you don't know what one of the items is, LOOK IT UP! Not knowing an item is not an excuse for neglecting to complete the assignment.

Cell Type Presentations

Yesterday in class students did a great job teaching their peers about each of the five major types of cells. Below you can see one of the presentations that three students gave.

Muscle cell_Student Presentation

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When we return from the long weekend, we will be comparing single celled organisms and multicellular organism.

We'll try to answer the question: What does it mean to be alive?

Type of Cell Presentations

Today we reviewed the presentation guidelines (see below) and students worked in their groups on their presentations.

Presentation Guidelines:
1. 3-5 minutes in length

2. Everyone must speak

3. You should include general background information on the type of cell

4. The purpose of this type of cell in our body

5. 3-5 images

6. You must cite you sources! This means you need to have a bibliography for all of your text and images.

7. Your presentation must be emailed to me before 12:00 tomorrow! Why? This way I can have all of the presentations loaded and ready to go before class starts.

Major Types of Cells

Today we talked about five major types of cells: nerve, muscle, skin, fat and reproductive. Tonight for homework, you should begin working on your presentation.

Remember: your presentation should be 3-5 minutes.
You should include:
General background information on the type of cell.
The purpose of this type of cell in our body
3-5 images

Since there is only a short amount of time to prepare this presentation, you do not need to make a handout. Your peers will take notes during your presentation.

Notebook Test & Tour of the Cell

Today students had a notebook test for which anything we have done since the beginning of the semester was fair game.

Students also received a letter that described their next assignment (click the picture below to view a larger copy of the letter).

You should start working on this assignment tonight for homework and you will have all of class tomorrow to work on the assignment as well. You may do this by hand or on a computer.

Parts of the cell

On Friday, students presented their want ads for the parts of the cell.

Reminder: Tomorrow you will have a notebook test for the Human Body unit. Make sure to bring your notebook and that your table of contents is up to date.

Last day of Microscopes

Today we had our last day working with the microscopes. We looked at complete organisms, including ticks, daphnia and fruit flies. In the second half of the class, we compared plant and animal cells.

Tonight for homework, you need to click on your name below. That will take you to a specific part of the cell. You should make a want ad for that cell part. Your want ad should include a description of the function of that cell part and a picture.

Do NOT include the name of the cell part, you will present your ad to the class on Friday and we will guess to what cell part it is.

Below is an example,
you can make your want ad on the computer or by hand, it doesn't matter :)
Click on your name to find out your cell part.

Malcolm
Francesca - the smooth one
Paul - the rough one
Adam
Jose
Antonella
Gabriella
Isabella
Ivan
Mathilde
Jonatan
Tomi

More Microscopes!

Today we looked at more things under the microscopes, some of favorites were Spirogyra (see above) Dogfish skin and the xylem of plants.

Homework: Use the information below to answer the questions about cells on the second page from class today. Click on the pictures to make them larger so you can read them more easily.


For the box at the bottom of the worksheet you will need to draw a cell.

If your name is:
Carlo
Malcolm
Francesca
Paul
Adam
Jose
Antonella

Click here and draw this type of cell

If your name is
Gabriella
Gianromano
Isabella
Ivan
Mathide
Jonatan
Tomi
Edo

Click here and draw this type of cell.

Today we continued to look at slides using light microscopes. Below is a cross section of the gallbladder. In addition to slides of the digestive system, we looked at slides of the circulatory system.


Homework: Read and take notes on the information on this webpage. You will have a reading quiz. A good ol' fashioned paper quiz.

Sorry for the delay!

I'm still working on getting the pictures up, I've been having a problem with my uploader :(

On Friday we used microscopes to look at tissue samples, we'll continue this on Monday.

There is no homework due on Monday.

Stomach Dissection

Today we dissected pig's stomachs outside on the DeNobili terrace....during lunch! Pictures will be posted later tonight.

On Friday you will be looking at some of the tissues samples you selected under dissecting microscopes. You will also be using a new type of microscope, called a compound light microscope.

Watch the video below on how to use a compound light microscope. You will have a short prelab quiz on how to use a microscope.

Digestive System Day 1

Today students took a quiz to recap the circulatory and respiratory systems. Then we started to learn about the digestive system.

For homework, watch the video clip below. You will need to take notes. Pause the video to write down key points about how food is digested.



You will have a quiz on this video tomorrow, so any notes you take you can use.

Wrapping up the Respiratory System

Today we wrapped up our investigation with the dialysis tubing. We used this as a model of capillaries to learn about osmosis and diffusion.

To survive we rely on the the diffusion of oxygen into our blood from our lungs and the diffusion of carbon dioxide from our blood into our lungs.

We also saw that only the red food coloring and the water were able to move through the membrane, but oil and the black food coloring didn't move through membrane. From this we learned that membranes are selectively permeable.

Homework: you have a quiz on the circulatory and respiratory system.

Builing a Model Lung

Today students worked in groups to build a model of a lung. Below are some of the key points we learned during this activity:

When the diaphragm contracts (flattens/pulls down), air is pulled into the lungs. When it relaxes, air is expelled from the lungs.

There are thousands of bronchioles in the lungs, at the end of these are small air sacks called aveoli. Gas exchange happens at these aveoli.

Homework: Make an observations/patterns/explanations table for the respiratory system. This should be a new page in your notebook and go directly behind the orange 'o/p/e' table in your notebook.

We will be using this table for an experiment tomorrow.

Take a deep breath!

We are starting a two week unit on the respiratory system. Today we brainstormed what we know, think we know and want to know about the respiratory system. We also compared the lung capacity of two students and started our first engineering challenge of the year.

Tomorrow you will build a model of a lung. You can certainly do research before coming to class to learn more about how the lungs work.You will have rubber bands, tape, plastic bottles, straws, balloons, plastic bags, modeling clay and paper to make your model. You can not breathe into the model to inflate the lungs.

Observations, Patterns, Explanations

Today we recapped what we have learned so far on the circulatory system in an "Observations, Patterns, Explanations" table. This is a new feature of your notebooks and will be something that we continue to build on over the course of the year.

Homework: You will need to rewrite your lab report. This is due on Monday. In the introduction you also need to take 1-2 sentences to compare the number of chambers in a heart for mammals, amphibians and fish.

Heart Dissection

Today we had "the coolest science class ever!" Students dissected cow hearts and used dissecting microscopes to take a closer look at parts of the heart. Click the picture below to link to all of the pictures.

Homework: finish your observation tables from today.

Cow Heart Dissection Prelab

Today in class we took a few more notes on the heart and compared fish circulatory systems to human circulatory systems.

Tomorrow we will be doing a how heart dissection. Watch the video below to have an idea of what you are in for.

Notes on the heart & your lab write up

Today in class students took some notes on heart beats, the importance of valves in the circulatory systems and causes of heart attacks.

To listen to a regular heart beat, click here.
To listen to an irregular heart beat, click here.

Homework:
On Monday you have a lab report due. Instead of having all of the sections, you only need to include the following information.

Click through the slide show below to see what is required for this lab report.

Heart rate lab report

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The data you need is below, it has also been emailed to you in an Excel file. Click on the picture below to make it larger. Your data table should include the average resting heart rate and average jumping heart rate for each person.

Heart Rate Lab - Data Collection

Today we collected data on how stimuli affects our heart rate. The stimuli we tested were dancing, running and jumping.

Homework:
Your Choice! You may either read and take notes on pages 101 & 102 or watch the animation we watched in class and take notes from that.

You will have a short reading quiz on this material on Friday.

The Plan from Jan 19-28

Click on the picture below to see our plan from now until Jan 28. Remember: this is subject to change!

Heart Rate Lab Intro

Today we started the heart rate lab. Students learned some basic information on the flow of blood through the heart and practiced taking their pulse.

Homework:
Finish writing the procedure for the experiment. In class we wrote the procedure for the dancing test (see it below). You need to write the procedures for tests 2 and three (running and jumping).

NOTE: change the activity and recovery times to one minute, instead of two minutes.

Test 1: Dancing procedure
Students sat quietly for 2 minutes before taking their resting pulse. The pulse was taken for 30 seconds, multiplied by 2 and entered into the data table. Students danced for one minute. At the end of one minute, their pulse was taken for 30 seconds, multiplied by two and entered into the data table. The procedure was repeated two more times, for a total of three trials.

Welcome Back!

From now until Academic Travel we will be focusing on the following two objectives:

Students will be able to identify the general functions of the major systems of the body and describe ways that these systems interact with each other.

Students will be able to describe the hierarchical organization of multicellular organisms from cells to tissues to organs to organ systems.

We are starting our anatomy unit with the circulatory system. Tonight for homework read page 98 and answer the questions at the bottom of the page. You do not need to write the question, just the answer. Write you answer using complete sentences.