Welcome to the Biology @ SPS Blog

Below are some questions (and answers) you might have about this blog. If you have a question that isn't listed below, feel free to post it as a comment -- just sign your name as "First Name and Last Initial."

Q: Why not just use blackboard instead?

A: Honestly, I'm a lot more familiar with blogging and have been doing this for the past few years. Also, it's easier (for me) to embed videos and pictures. Lastly, if your parents/guardians want to know what's going on in class or see the work you're doing, they don't need to remember a password to log in.

Q: How often am I supposed to check this?

A: You should check it everyday. A summary of what we did in class along with your homework and in some cases links for your homework/projects will be posted here.

Q: Will I ever have to post a comment?

A: Yes, you will. To post a comment you can either create an account or click "anonymous," just make sure that you sign your "First Name and Last

Q: If you don't tell us homework in class will you post something here?

A: Occasionally yes, which is why it is important to check the blog daily. However, to be fair, any assignments posted here that were not presented in class will be posted no later than 5pm.

Q: What if I can't find something that was posted more than a week ago?

A: Try looking in the blog archive, located at the very bottom of the right sidebar. You will be able to search by post title.

Q: What's with all the posts below this one?

A: Those are all posts from last year when I taught Advanced Biology at New Hampton School.

Tsunamis & Supplements

Today Sammy and Jun taught the class about Tsunamis and Supplements, respectively. Sammy had the class participate in a Tsunami simulation to give us the prospective of what it would have been like for individuals in the 2004 Tsunami in Thailand and Sri Lanka to try and escape the wave. After the simulation we headed inside where Sammy impressed us with his vast knowledge of the mechanics of this wave of destruction.

Jun brought in weights for us to use and samples of supplements for us to look at as well as explaining how these work (or don't work for that matter).

Both boys had excellent, engaging and well researched presentations! They certainly set the bar high!

Life in the tall grasses

Today students in B blocked continued to learn about animal behavior in the grasslands, particularly the savannas in Sudan and the plains of the central United States.

B block: Designing an Animal Behavior Experiment

After reviewing the homework from the weekend on animal communication, students designed a detailed experiment to test an animal behavior of their choice.

Students need to keep in mind: how long will the study take, what will be measured, possible sources of error etc.

D block: Lesson Plans

Today students turned in their lesson plans.  Students continued to work on what activity they will do with the class and had time to practice it.

D block lesson plan update

Reminder: D block your lesson plan is due in class on Monday. Make sure you have written down the details of the content you are going to present.

Birds of Prey Cont.

B Block finished watching Birds of Prey and looked out pictures of one of my college buddies trapping lynx in Montana.

Homework: Prepare a short (5 minute) presentation for the class on how your specific organism communicates with those of the same species. Have information on how it communicates to find a mate, food and protect its territory.

Nate...whales (have a specific specie)
Tak...star nosed mole
Rachel...orangutans
Ben...frogs (have a specific specie)
Pat...birds (have a specific specie).

B block: Animal Behavior & Communication

B block had a quiz today on sections 51.1 and 51.2. After the quiz we started to watch the Discovery Channel video Birds of Prey.

D block project information

D block has decided that they are each picking a topic to teach the class about for the remaining class periods. Below are the requirements and due dates for the project.

On Friday May 2nd the notes pages are due. This will count as a homework grade.
On Monday May 5th the lesson plan is due. The lesson must include a pre-assessment, involve everyone in the class and be no more than 25 minutes in length. Students have been emailed a lesson plan template. (click the picture to make it larger).
On Wednesday May 7th the activity or demo that you are doing in class is due.

Presentation Schedule:
Monday: Sammy (Tsunami), Jun (Muscles and Steriods)
Wednesday: Dana (?), Nicoya (Drug Controversy)
Thursday: David (photosynthesis), Mike (Jane Goodall's work)
Friday: Andrea (Human Nutrition), Ji (Brain/Nervous System).

Animal Communication

Today we started some notes on animal communication and even tried to "train" each other to perform basic tasks to get a feel for what it is like when two individuals don't communicate in the same way or have the same knowledge.

Homework for B block: read sections 51.1 and 51.2, you will have a reading quiz tomorrow in class. Any notes you take you can use.

Chapter 53 Project Rubric

Wondering how your project is going to be graded? Well here it is:

Content 62 points: 2 points for each word/concept (one point for each image and one point for each explanation)

Bibliography 10 points: all images and text are cited in the proper MLA format

Creativity & Formatting 14 points: the use of color and text style enhances the presentation.

Spelling & Grammar 14 points: there are no spelling nor grammatical errors.

Chapter 53 project updates

Some changes to the content for the project have been made. Please see the changes below. I will be on duty in Lindsey this evening and around on Sunday if you need help. Please email me to set up a time.

Here are the terms that you need to include AND have collected evidence (pictures or drawings) from the sites we visited:

species richness
relative abundance
predation
secondary succession
interspecific interactions
parasitism
herbivory
community
biogeography
cryptic coloration
ecological niche
ectoparasite
prey
realized niche
exotic/introduced species
disturbances

The terms below you need to include along with images and an explanation, however you can find these in your book or on the web.

individualistic hypothesis
interactive hypothesis
coevolution
aposematic coloration
Batesian mimicry
Mullerian mimicry
endoparasites
interspecific competition
interference competition
exploitative competition
fundamental niche
symbiosis
commensalism
mutualism
primary succession

You no longer need to include the following terms:

parasitoidism
predator
parasite
host
competitive exclusion principal
stability
recruitment
dynamic equalibrium hypothesis

You should get satellite and or terrain images from google. You do not need a separate slide for each term.

Last Day Outside

Today was the last for collecting organisms and Nicoya spotted a great newt as we were leaving. Tomorrow students will have another quiz on the terms and concepts for chapter 53 and we'll talk more about the expectations for the project due on Monday.

Sample Slides for Community Ecology Project

| View | Upload your own

And the results are in...

The quiz that you took on Monday told me that we have some serious work to do in order for you to be prepared for your projects due on Monday April 28th. To recap your projects you need examples of local flora and fauna that fit each of the terms from chapter 53. I will be posting a few slides sample sides later this evening.

Yesterday we had a lot of success catching various organisms (backswimmers, a large newt, a salamander, a tadpole and small fish).

Today we will be going to a new site where yesterday I saw several large frogs and lots of evidence of bacteria.

So what have we been doing this week?

Well, the big news is that you have an additional week to complete your projects, and as such those projects had better FANTASTIC.

Yesterday Nate caught a fish in the Pemi on his first try with the dip nets, we also caught numerous other aquatic insects and learned what not to wear when we go out in the field.

Below are some pictures that Mike took today.

As we pulled up to Burleigh we saw five wild turkeys, some of them were even engaged in displays by ruffling their feathers.

Moose scat (an example of evidence of a herbivore).
Moose Tracks and these were fairly far apart, meaning the moose could be quite large.
Spring is Here! This Red Maple (Acer rubrum) bud burst.

A walk in the woods

Today B block went up to Burleigh Mountain to look for examples of communities, species richness, introduced species and many of the other things for their community ecology project.

Click on the picture below to be taken to the "What Tree is That?" a free website from ArborDay.org

Chapter 53 Project:

Chapter 53 Assignment

Working in groups of 2 or 3, you and your partner(s) will need to become familiar with the following terms and find examples of them in the area around New Hampton School and in the Lakes Region. We will be going up to Burleigh and walking around campus (rain or shine) so that you can collect evidence (drawings, samples and photographs) so make sure that you dress appropriately. Terms marked with an asterisk (*) are ones that you do not need to find evidence for in person, but rather can look up on line or in a textbook. You will have one week to complete this assignment and you will present your findings to your peers in class. You can put together a PowerPoint, webpage, photo/sample album, video or use another form of media.

One of the goals of this project is for you to become more familiar with your surroundings and even to be able to identify various local plant and animal species.

species richness

relative abundance

species diversity

predation

individualistic hypothesis*

interactive hypothesis*

secondary succession

interspecific interactions

coevolution*

parasitism

parasitoidism

herbivory

community

biogeography

cryptic coloration*

aposematic coloration*

mimicry

predator

Batesian mimicry*

Mullerian mimicry*

parasite

hosts

endoparasites*

ectoparasites

interspecific competition

interference competition

exploitative competition

competitive exclusion principle*

ecological niche

fundamental niche

prey

realized niche

resource partitioning

character displacement*

symbiosis

commensalism

mutualism

keystone species

exotic species

stability

disturbances

ecological succession

primary succession

recruitment

dynamic equilibrium hypothesis

intermediate disturbance hypothesis

Cemetery Data Analysis

Today we went to the ARC and many students used excel for the first time (and realized what a nightmare it can be). Rather than use our data we will be using sample data which will be much easier to work with. You should use the paper I gave you in class for the data.

Please make graphs in excel comparing the following populations, all graphs will have age class on the X axis and survivorship on the Y axis. When you select the type of graph, make sure you choose scatter and then you can choose to have the points connected by lines. If you select line graph, it will not work!

Graph 1: Post-1900 females & Post 1900 males (this most closely resembles our cemetery)
Graph 2: Post-1900 females & pre 1820 females
Graph 3: Post 1900 males & pre 1820 males
Graph 4: The summary of both sexes comparing pre-1820 & post 1900.

In addition you will need to analyze this data and write in terms of any patterns or trends that you see. What type of surviorship curve (I,II or III) does each time period most closely resemble etc...

You will be graded on the following:
1. Whether or not the graphs are correct
2. Having a title and labels for each graph
3. How detailed, insightful and accurate your analysis of the graphs is.
4. There should be two graphs per page and your analysis should be no more than one page.

If you have lost the data I gave you in class you can see me tonight when I am on duty in Moore.

Click here for a link on how to make excel graphs

Class in the ARC today

Meet in the ARC today!