D block award winners & Plan for Friday

Congratulations to Anna and Jean-Mark for winning the peer science award for D block.

The F block winner will be announced soon....

At D block's request, you will have a quiz on Friday on Chapters 3 and 4, but it will NOT be graded. Please bring any questions you have and you can use the time to prepare you essays.

Our final exam is on Monday May 31st at 1:00PM in M1.

You should arrive no later than 12:55PM. Bring extra pens and pencils.

Awards and Work

Today we gave the class awards to Blair & German in G Block. Students had a quiz on chapters 15, 16, 17.

Workbook work:
p. 27, all
p. 28, all
p. 29, 1-6, 9-10
p. 30, all
p. 31, all
p. 32, 5, 6, 11
p. 33, 12-14
p. 37, all
p. 39, all
p. 40, 10, 12, 13, 16-20
p. 41, 1

Chapters 12 and 13 quiz

Today students took a quiz on chapters 12 and 13.
Today's workbook review:

p. 169, #1-2
p. 172, #7
p. 173, #7-10
p. 179, #4-7
p. 180, #10-12p. 182, # 4-9
p. 184, all
p. 185, #15
p. 186, all

NOTE: You were already assigned work for chapter 17 as homework a while ago. This doesn't mean this information isn't on your next quiz. You should still look over the work you completed for this section.

And now.... Don't be Ed.

Chapter 11 Quiz

Today students took a review quiz on chapter 11, voted for a class award and reviewed multiple choice test taking tips. To see the test taking tips, click here and under Test Taking, select "Test Taking Strategies for Multiple Choice Tests."

Below is the workbook assignment students started in class today. Homework: finish this assignment and review for tomorrow's quiz. Focus more on chapter 12 than chapter 13 when studying for the quiz.

Chapter 12
p. 130, # 17-19
p. 131, #22, 23, 24, 28
p. 132, #1-4
p. 133 - all, except for the reading skills box
p. 134, all
p. 135, all
p. 136, all
p. 137, just the table

Chapter 13
p. 147, all
p. 148, #9

Human Population Growth

The past few days we have been watching selected clips from The 11th Hour and sections of Design e2 (posted below). How can we build for a sustainable future? What is our addiction to oil doing to the environment? How is population growth related to environmental problems?

Today students worked with population growth data to see how populations are growing (or declining) in certain countries. We also looked at the World Health Organization's Life Tables. Want to see how quickly the world population is increasing? Check out the population clock here.
For homework, finish the population data packet and study for your chapter 11 quiz on Monday.

China: From Red to Green?


The Green Apple


Green for All

Flower Dissection Cont.

Today we finished the light microscope work from Friday's flower dissection. Since it seemed that most people enjoyed it, we have some more flowers from around campus to examine with the dissecting scope.

Advanced Notice

You have the following quizzes scheduled. You should also bring your workbook to class all of next week.

Monday May 24: Chapter 11
Tuesday May 25: Chapters 12 & 13
Wednesday/Thursday May 26/27: Chapters 15, 16, 17
Friday May 28: Chapters 18, 3 & 4

Final Exam May 31st @ 13:00

Flower Dissection

Today students completed a flower dissection. So see a virtual version of what we did, click here.

Photo Credit: Vascular Plants of the Gila Wilderness

Homework: Review for the final exam.

Tree ID

Yesterday students practiced making and using dichotomous keys. Today (and tomorrow) we will be in the computer lab using a virtual tree ID activity.

Below are the instructions for what you will be doing in class today.

Part 1:
1. Go to the Tree ID website here.
2. Do the dichotomous key activity worksheet.

Part 2:
On Friday we will be dissecting flowers. To prepare for class watch the animation here and fill out the worksheet on the flower parts.

If you finish both of these activities, choose one of the activities below to review for the final exam:

a. Evolution Multiple Choice Quiz (note: there are some topics in the quiz that we have not covered. This quiz does not come from our textbook).

b. Ecosystems Quiz (note: there are some topics in the quiz that we have not covered. This quiz does not come from our textbook).

Chapter 4 and Reflection

Today students had a quiz on Chapter 4.

This reflection has two parts. The first part is about YOU and YOUR experiences in the class. The second part is to help me improve this class for next year.

Part 1:

1. What assignment are you most proud of from this class and why?
1. How does this work demonstrate your skills and abilities in Biology?

2. What was challenging or interesting about this project?

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

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

3. What was the most interesting thing to learn about this spring term? In case you’ve forgotten all that we have done, look on the back of the sheet for a list of topics.

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

5. How did you work to overcome these challenges?

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

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

8. What will you take away from this class?

9. What questions do you still have?

10. Do you plan to continue to study biology, either at the IB or AP level? Why or why not?

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?


Do you think you would do better in this class if you were given outlines of PowerPoints and you took notes on the outlines in class?


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


Anything else I should know?


Spring Term Topics:

The work of Mendel, Probability & Punnet Squares, Mendelian Genetics, Meiosis, Linkage & Gene Maps, Beyond Mendel, DNA & RNA, Transcription & Translation, DNA Replication, Darwin’s Theory of Evolution, Evolution of Populations, History of Life, The Biosphere, Climate Change, Ecosystems & Communities. Coming soon: Dichotomous keys and populations!

Volcanoes and Ecological Succession

On Friday we learned about ecological succession after the eruption of Mount St. Helens. We watched two video clips and read the article Mount St. Helens: Disobeying the Rules of Recovery
by Sharon Levy. Click here for the full text of the article (scroll down to the bottom of the page).



The video above is better than the one we watched in class.

Ecological Succession Data

Yesterday and today students worked on graphing and interpreting ecological succession data. Click the picture to link to an animation that compares primary and secondary succession.

Homework: Finish the analysis questions from the ecological succession data activity.

On Monday you will have a quiz on Chapter 4.

Final Exam Essay Questions

Your final exam will consist of 90 multiple choice questions and two of the questions below.

NOTE: The essay questions on the exam may vary slightly in wording, but the general themes will be the same.

Final Exam Essay Questions

1. Three or four genetics problems. These could include interpreting pedigrees, solving punnett squares, variations on Mendel’s principles.
2. The importance of meiosis and the consequences and an example of a nondisjunction disorder.
3. Describe the structure, function and replication of DNA. Include all the enzymes involved.
4. Diagram and explain transcription and translation. Include where each process takes place, the importance of the process, the template strands, enzymes and ‘machinery’ used.
5. How does DNA extraction and gel electrophoresis work?
6. What are the mechanisms of microevolution, give an example for each. State the main cause of all evolution.
7. Choose a case study of microevolution and explain its significance.
8. Given 10 major events, put them in order on a geologic timeline. Explain the evolutionary logic behind the placement of at least three of the events.
9. Diagram two of the following three cycles: nitrogen, carbon or water cycles and explain their importance in the environment.
10. Choose a biome and explain how weather, topography and geography combine to give that specific biome it’s unique climate.
11. Given ten objects create a dichotomous key and explain the importance of dichotomous keys in science.
12. Choose any topic we have learned about this spring and give an example of how it relates to the real world. Cite a specific article you have read for class in your discussion.