End of the Road

As Andrew so aptly pointed out yesterday, "Wow!  This is your last class at TASIS ever!"  This fact hadn't really dawned on my yet, so thanks Andrew for bringing it to my attention :)

Right now you're taking your final exam, hopefully feeling confident in your answers.   I'm aiming to have these graded by 10am on Thursday, so after that time you may email me if you want to know your grade.

Have a wonderful summer!

Ms. Saxe

Book Numbers

On Wednesday between 12:15 and 12:45 I will be in our classroom.  You must return your book to me during that time.  You only get credit for returning your book.  Sure you can help a friend and return his/her book, but you must return YOUR book.

Allocation of Scare Resources

Note: This homework is for C period to complete for Tuesday and G period to complete for Wednesday.

Below is a list of some of the criteria that are used to evaluate who should receive an organ transplant:

0Likely to live the longest after the transplant

0The sickest

0The youngest

0Considered the most valuable or socially usefully

0Not personally responsible for their disease

0Wins a random lottery

0Waited the longest for a liver

0First-come, first-served system

Using the criteria above (or one that you come up with on your own), answer the following questions:

1. Should a single criterion be prioritized?  Explain your answer with REASONS.

2. If so, which one? If you do not think that a single criterion should be prioritized, are there some criterion that you think are more important than others?  Explain your answers.  

3. What are the pros & cons of prioritizing a single criterion?

The Vaccine War

Today in class students watched Frontline's The Vaccine War which aired on April 27, 2010.  Since this show aired, it has come to light that Dr. Andrew Wakefield, misrepresented his findings to show a link between vaccines and autism.  Read more about the news here


For homework, answer the questions below.  Be sure to reference what you saw in the video as well as the activity we did in class (Gathering the Facts - Vaccines). 

Click the links below to access the video.

Part 1 (minutes 0-14)
Part 2 (minutes 15-29)
Part 3 (minutes 30-44)
Part 4 (minutes 45-end)

• Through a published schedule and set of guidelines, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and public health officials recommend that every child receive certain vaccinations by age 6. What are the benefits of this recommendation to public health officials, to the community and to other children?
• Some parents and health care professionals question the CDC’s recommendations and decide not to vaccinate their children, while others, like Jennifer Margulis, choose to vaccinate their children along an alternative schedule. How might her decision affect both her own children and others?
• In what ways is vaccination different from other types of personal health decisions?
  Who should be involved in deciding whether children receive a specific vaccine?
• Should the government have the right to compel vaccination? Should parents have the right to refuse it?
  
  
  

Gathering the Facts - Vaccines

Without animal testing, many of the vaccines we have today might not exist.  Polio is a perfect example of these efforts:

In the 1950s, after 40 years of research using mice, rats and monkeys, polio vaccines were developed and used to treat the disease. Today, polio is virtually unknown in the United States and Europe and instances of polio have decreased significantly throughout developing  countries. The World Health Organisation launched a worldwide vaccination programme in 1988. By 2002, the number of worldwide cases was reported to have fallen to just 480 a year, compared with 350,000 in 1988. However, several hundred cases were reported in India in 2007. 1


In the third class period this week, students worked through four stations in small groups to gather information about vaccines.  The information they collected addressed the following issues:

Risk of getting the disease before the vaccine
Magnitude of harm caused by the disease, if contracted
Risk of suffering that harm
Magnitude of harm caused by the vaccine & risks of suffering that harm
Interpreting data about measles
Exemptions to State vaccination policies.

Tomorrow we will discuss Community Immunity & Epidemics.

Your only homework is to study for the final exam.

Understanding Animal Testing

 For the first class period of the week, students did research on testing, focusing primarily on testing in the UK.  We used these two links below (click the picture to get to them) from Dr. Price.

During the second class of the week, you will use the information you have gleaned from these resources to identify: the relevant facts, who / what will be affected by decision on this case as well as the relevant ethical considerations.    

Four Questions

Whenever a bioethicist approaches a question s/he needs to address the following four questions

Ethical Questions: These are about what a person should do, how people ought to interact, what sort of person one should be, and what kind of communities it would be good to live in.

Relevant Facts: These are the biological, psychological, sociological, economic, and historical facts you need for thinking carefully about the ethical question and answering it.

Who or What Could Be Affected: The people and entities affected by ethical decisions are considered stakeholders. Stakeholders are not always human beings or human organizations; animals, plants, organisms, or the environment might be affected by the way an ethical issue is decided, so they can also be stakeholders.

Relevant Ethical Considerations: These are particular concepts in ethics that can help you analyze a case.

G period  - Started Oscar Pistorious' case.  If you have not already addressed the question, "Should he be allowed to compete in the Olympics?" write an answer to this questions and provide REASONS.


C period - Now that you have read the background on Carl's Case, complete Part 1 of the Case Study Sheet.  

Starting Bioethics

Today C period started our last unit of the year: Bioethics.

For homework, you need to read the case about Oscar Pistorious and answer the questions on the back of the paper.  Curious as to how he runs?  Watch the clips below.

Hans Rosling on Global Population Growth

Today we watched Hans Rosling's talk on Global Population growth.

If you are in G period - we will watch this in class tomorrow and use the rest of the class period to prepare for the Harkness Discussion.

Population Growth

Yesterday and today we talked about factors that influence human population growth.  Today students worked on human population calculations and graphing.  Remember:  You have a Harkness discussion on Friday.

Test today & Homework for Next Class

Today students had a test on communities, ecosystems and biomes.  In preparation for next week, please read section 5.1 - How Populations Grow and take notes (you'll have a reading quiz).

Aquatic Ecosystems Presentations

Today G period gave mini presentations on the various aquatic ecosystems.  Tomorrow you have your test on Chapter 4 and section 3.1.

Chapter 4 and section 3.1 test

Here's some information about your test on Friday:

There are multiple choice and short answer questions.  You do not need to focus on the specific plants and animals found in each biome, instead, focus more on the human impacts to these biomes (this will also help you to prepare for your Harkness discussion).  You should know about the different types of community interactions, as well as the different types of ecological succession.  You are not responsible for pages 88 and 89.

Test on Friday

This is your reminder that on Friday you have a test on section 3.1 and chapter 4.  

Terrestrial Biomes

Today C period reviewed the characteristics of the eight major biomes.  Tomorrow C period you will have your mini-presentations on the  aquatic biome that you were assigned in class.

You only need to refer to information from the book and your talk should be no more than 5 minutes long.  Each person must speak.

Climate Graphs

Our essential question for this week is: Why are there different biomes and what is the relationship between a biome and an ecosystem?


Today for C period (tomorrow for G period) students created climate graphs using actual data for 16 sites around the world.  


Part 1: 
Data from the Bates Institute for Climate Research was not saved properly.  You have been asked to match up the sample sites with the data.  


1. Using the information on the index card, plot the latitude and longitude of the two sites you have been given.


2. Based on what you know about the shape of climate graphs and your knowledge of geography  use the space on the back of the worksheet to make predictions about the shape of the climate graphs for the two unknown sites.


3. Once you have completed the predictions, open the file you have been emailed "Climate Graph Data."  Watch the video below for how to create a graph that displays multiple types of data.  Be sure to label and title your graph appropriately.  





If you do not have Excel, you should make the graphs on paper.

4.  Use this map to determine the biome for each of your sites.

Homework:
5. Write a paragraph for EACH site that describes the general characteristics of that biome.  Make sure you include:

The major types of vegetation
Dominant species
Human threats to this biome (this information you may need to research independently of the map site).

TED Talks for your next Harkness Discussion

On Friday May 4th you will have a Harkness discussion that will open with the following prompt:


Discuss the relationship between human population growth and impacts on the biosphere.  


To begin your preparation, watch the following TED Talks.  Take notes and think about how you can craft strong discussion questions.  


Was the last Harkness discussion a blur?  Check out this website with all the reminders you need. 


Brian Skerry Reveals Oceans Glory -- and Horror



Jeremy Jackson: How we wrecked the oceans

Marine Succession

Today we learned about succession in Marine ecosystems.  We listened to Radio Lab's Loops Podcast (minutes 28 to 35) and watched Sharon Shattuck's Whale Fall (below).


Whale Fall (after life of a whale) from Sharon Shattuck on Vimeo.

See what organisms you can identify from the puppets and the Podcast in this actual footage of a decomposing whale.

 

Community Interactions

Today G period learned about the following types of community interactions:

Competition
Predation
Symbiosis
     - mutualism
     - commensalism
     - parasitism

Below are the video clips we watched in class to illustrate these concepts.

Mutualism - "What good for one is good for two."


Mutualism-


Parasitism-

Ecology Part 2

Yesterday (or today for G period) we started the second half of our unit on ecology with this essential question:

What is an ecosystem and what are the factors that shape an ecosystem?

We began by learning about the levels of organization in the Biosphere, biotic and abiotic factors as well as comparing a habitat and a niche.

Today C period expanded on the concept of a niche by learning specifically about various types of interactions between species (G period will do this tomorrow).