Ecological Pyramids & Nutrient Cycles

Today (and yesterday) students took notes on how energy and matter moves through ecological systems. We compared three types of ecological pyramids, food pyramids vs. webs, and started to look at cycles of matter.

Homework: Read and take notes on pages 78-80 for a reading quiz on Friday.

We also watched two video clips (and of course the water cycle song is cheesy, but that's the point!)

The Water Cycle



The Carbon Cycle

Starting Ecology

For homework, finish reading section 3.2

Plant Cell Jeopardy Review

On Monday you will have a quiz on sections 22.1, 23.1, 24.1 and dichotomous keys. On Friday we played jeopardy to review these sections. You have been emailed the powerpoint if you would like additional review. Please remember, that just because it is NOT in the jeopardy game, doesn't mean it's exempt from the quiz.

Guest Lecture: Forensic Entomology

Today, for G and D periods (and Thursday for F period), we have Ryan K. (PhD candidate) and Dr. Merritt who visited classes to talk about forensic entomology. Students used fake maggots to determine the postmortem interval from a real case that Ryan worked on last year.

Flower Dissection!

Today in class we did a flower dissection. Tomorrow we will be looking more closely at the non-reproductive parts of plants. To prepare, please read section 23.1 and take notes for a reading quiz.

*** G and D periods, you luck out, because tomorrow you have a guest coming to class. So... you will not need to complete this assignment until Wednesday (G period) or Thursday (D period).

Private Life of Plants - Flowering

Today we watched part 3 of the Private Life of Plants - Flowering. For homework, read section 24.1 and take notes for a reading quiz. On Monday we will dissect flowers, so pay attention to the structure of the flower.

Private Life of Plants

Yesterday, for G period, and today, for D and F periods, we are watching part 1 of the BBC's Private Life of Plants. If you were absent, you can watch the video below.

BBC The Private Life of Plants, Travelling from Rutu D on Vimeo.

Homework: none.

Quiz, Dichotomous Keys and Plants

Because of Step 1 testing yesterday many students weren't in class and so they weren't able to take the quiz. In order to keep moving forward here's the plan for today:

If you took the quiz: You will complete the dichotomous key activity. Homework: Read and take notes on section 22.1 for a reading quiz in your next class period.

If you didn't not take the quiz: You will take the quiz in class. If you have time, you can start the dichotomous key activity. If you do not have time, it has been emailed to you. There are two attachments you will need to complete this activity (and a picture posted below).

The attachment titled "Tree ID_Student" are the leaves you will need for parts 3 & 4 of the worksheet. The attachment titled "Tree ID" is the key you will use for the leaves.

Since you will be completing the activity at home and will not be able to see your classmates, make a dichotomous key using the "creepy/crawly" things below. Click the picture to make it larger.


In addition, you will need to read section 22.1 and take notes for a reading quiz.

Folder 5: What did T-Rex Taste Like

Today students finished the webquest "What did T-Rex Taste Like?" It turns out that T-Rex is most closely related to the parrot, not the crocodile!

The blog archive has been relocated so you can easily find it to help you review for the final exam. Click on the picture to make it larger.

What did T Rex Taste Like?

Click the picture to link to the webquest. Today we completed folders 1-3.
For homework, please complete folder 4 and bring your computer to class on Wednesday/Thursday (depending on what day you have class).

Chapter 18

Today in class we started, and finished chapter 18. For those of you who were out sick, you can click through the PowerPoint below.

Phylogeny & classification

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